If seeing some place I have never seen before is the reason for the trip - isn't that really a vacation (and not a mileage run) ?

I love to visit new places, and try to do it frequently. I think of those trips as vacations because my primary reason for the trip is to go to the location, not just earning more miles.

Perhaps I am just a dork, and we are all looking at the same thing, but through different glasses. I see a vacation (with the added bonus of more miles if the price is cheap enough to warrant actually paying), whereas others may see cheap miles (with the added bonus of a vacation).

Food for thought...