Bradford – Thanks for the tip about HKG. I will look into it – but it will only help if I route on AA metal to NRT first – because I can only earn the FLY04 bonus on AA metal.
PrivatePilot – Yes, I am thinking about incidentals. But from where I live in Chicago I can easily get to either airport for $1.50 each way (evn at night). All my London trips are fly to London Sat night, and return Sun – so no need for hotels – and after my first RT I will have lounge access so great for my 2-4 hours in London. Elsewhere I will either book a bottom line hotel, stay at a youth hostel, and sleep in the airport sometimes.
tom911 – You’re right - there are many cheaper ways to gain EXP – but what is most important to me is total miles earned (not status miles). I really would appreciate any help I can get in increasing my $/total miles earned ratio.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by rbAA:
[B] With that said, $7500 is way too much. Look at AA's A fares SFO-FPO at $500 RT and nest it in a cheap ORD-SFO RT. Also, LAX-LHR in M is $529 plus/graft.
ORD-LHR in M is only $469 and can be done leave on Sat return on Sun, cutting down the on the ground costs. Routing via MIA generates 11,200 actual miles, so it gets your cost down to about 5 cents/status mile.
Keep in mind that you can get LH M&M SEN status for about $1500.
P. S. I forgot to mention that you could get a RTW OW product for less and actually save some money. Maybe not as targetted to the promos (as you will have a hard time getting to Oz or from Asia to Europe on AA) but a better deal.
B]</font>
rbAA – Thanks for your input! Yes - $7500 is a lot – but is a there a much cheaper way to gain approximately 500K AA miles? That is what I am going for, not just the status. What might one give you for your advice as a travel consultant? I realize I am only a novice at this and you could probably find me some great routings.
Yes, all 7 of my CHI-LON runs are Sat to London and Sunday returns using either the M fare you mentioned or a lower V fare on some of the runs. The $$ amounts I gave above were after taxes. The only trip I have ticketed so far I routed through DFW – about the same mileage as routing through MIA. I can’t seem to get anything to price nicely routed through LAX even though it should be a valid routing.
Could I really get LH SEN status for $1500? Wouldn’t I have to add the cost of a ticket to FRA, ticket from CHI to SFO, and accommodations in FPO as I couldn’t do a quick return like I am on my other runs… It is an interesting idea though – does LH have anything like VIPOWs?
Can I really earn miles for less using a round the world? I would love to hear how. (Can I use FLY04 with a round-the-world? What I am really concerned about is total miles earned, not status miles as I will hit EXP regardless. I’m all ears.
Thanks everyone for your input!