I like that definition, opus17.

During the last big Southwest-matching sale, I gave in and scheduled my first-ever mileage run to keep NW elite. 3 BUF-DTW-LAX roundtrips on 3 consecutive days, featuring 3 redeyes. DTW-LAX-DTW, of course, being on a coach-class NW 757. Excitement and horror are fighting it out for control of my brain. "I'm gleeful because there's no way I could've stayed elite for cheaper" or "this is a completely idiotic way to waste money and nonrenewable fossil fuel?" I'm still not sure.

There's a clear line in my mind between "mileage run" and "vacation." "Mileage run" to me implies a mentality that the goal is some elite level and that you want it for _as low a price as possible_, and therefore are willing to make some sort of sacrifice (like 3 redeyes in a row) to get the "goods" cheaply.

For me, the priority is not simply minimizing the cents/elite mile spent on airfare, but the total cost of ownership per elite mile. TCO includes the extra money you had to spend as a result of doing the mileage run, e.g. hotel stays, car rentals, parking at your home airport. It seems that many of the trips that are had for fantastically low cents/FF mile often have a much higher TCO. The periodic dirt-cheap flights to expensive destinations (NW example: NRT) that require a 7-day stay, for example.

Also, unless you have loads of free time from your job, you can argue that TCO must also include the productivity at work lost from spending your time travelling in continent-sized circles for no socially beneficial reason.

So, I can't really understand those who can manage to make fun vacations out of mileage runs. I didn't choose to fly LAX because of any reason other than it was the destination that absolutely minimized my TCO per elite mile for this particular fare sale. The month after my mileage run I have a 4-day convention at the Newport Beach Marriott, during which time I'll get to see the parts of LA that aren't in LAX. But that's business -- the month before is the mileage run -- and neither of them are vacation.

I get the impression that my "puritan mile run" mentality is a minority. Many of the flyertalk regulars seem to 1) have more friends stashed around the globe 2) have jobs that are flexible about time off 3) have more money than a grad student like me.

But given friends, freedom, and finances, I can see how mileage runs could become more recreational and less stressful.

[This message has been edited by V21 (edited 09-05-2000).]