Last year, I was about to come up just short in hitting Silver on CO--by a frustratingly small 200 miles. Much to my girlfriend's horror, I booked a $150 RT from DCA to EWR on the very last Saturday in December just to get those darn miles. So I flew up and flew back, all stocked up with complementary shuttle mags. (I had to justify it in some tangible way) Luckily, I got my gfriend to promise not to tell our friends (who would think I'm crazy) nor her family (who would disinherit her immediately) about this madness. She now gets a real kick out of the fact that I have found some same-minded folks here on FT-- plus, it lessens the amount of what she thinks is frequent flyer blather I throw her way!

I've also convinced my twin bro to use my FF number in exchange for flight coupons for being bumped. He saves money; I get miles!