Yep. see, you were nicely scammed. FWIW it is called the "great circle" distance, ie the minimum distance as measured on a smooth globe. It can really matter for those people trying to get to the next higher elite level late in the year. FWIW I missed getting Year Five in the fabled Continental NonePass(tm) Infinite Elite Program many years ago because if it. I ended the year with something like 49,912 miles rather than what I thought was to be 50,112 miles or whatever (50,000 mi was the top elite leve then and if you did it 5 years in a row, you got it grandfathered for lifel).

MisterNice