Originally Posted by
garykung
Allow me to answer for Pat - the difference of GS/1K are somehow minimal. 1 more million BIS for GS? It may not worth it.
I'd prefer to answer for myself.
Originally Posted by
STEPHANKOENIG
I would love to have your problems ... I need to pay for my own flights through my own little business.
As do I.
Originally Posted by
ck3kk
Hi Pat with a bunch of numbers: I'm wondering why your goal is 3M for 1K lifetime status and not 4M for GS lifetime status? I was in your position 4 years ago (I was 300K short of 3M), had an opportunity to change to a cool job with mucho UA travel (which I took), and promptly (within 18 months) blew past 3M. I'm now at 3.5M and thinking I might make 4M before I retire if I make an effort. I haven't decided whether to make the effort yet or not and always interested in hearing someone else's thoughts about the merit of such a crazy goal... I envy your HNL location...
I looked at it this way. I wanted to have lifetime 1K status as soon as possible before the proverbial rug is pulled out from under me. Who knows what the future will bring, both for myself and what the Kirby regime will think of next. I regret that I didn't push for 2MM before the Club benefit was taken away. It was a conscious decision to MR this year to get me closer. I put in around 250K BIS, consisting of regular travel/commute supplemented by few long haul mileage runs. I was able to keep the out-of-pocket cost to .05/mile (even though I had 20 premium fares in the mix). I could continue to do another 250K a year for the next 4 to get GS, but I think I'd rather spend a little more time flying *A carriers now (I'm not a fan of the Polaris seat--I find it a bit claustrophobic). If GS happens in the future, that's great, but it'll happen in the ordinary course of flying. I won't MR to get there unless I had fewer than 200K to go. Plus I'm really annoyed that they raised the spend for 2019. I take pride in the fact that I won't have to meet that spend to be a 1K in 2019 onward.
Good luck in your reach for 4MM! I hope you make it before retirement.