Originally Posted by
RAD_PDX
I feel like I'm in a tiny minority, maybe even all alone
, but OWE means nothing to me
Your minority is less tiny than you think because I am in it.
I am inevitably doing J/F travel internationally for leisure, and doing it on either a J/F award or (new as of the last couple of years) a surprisingly reasonably priced J cash fare.
I also just don't value lounges THAT highly. Yes, the LH FCT or Pier F is amazing. Is it amazing enough for me to spend extra time in a metal tube? Eh.
Originally Posted by
RAD_PDX
Mileage running is enough of a vacation for me and being able to fly often is all the reward I need.
I've done short weekend vacations that end up being quasi-mileage runs, but it's been a long time since I've made an immediate turn (the last one was in the mid-10's to go to the LAX In-N-Out for a burger, to nail down MVPG for $98 round trip + the cost of the burger, and before that it was some trip in the early 10's to BOS to also nail MVPG).
The thing is that when miles are cheap in cash to purchase or accrue via credit card, I don't really see a need to do travel outside of organic travel. My organic travel will usually get me somewhere between qualifying for MVP and barely over the hump for MVPG- plus enough travel scattered to other non-AS or partner airlines (or on awards) that doesn't usually make a difference (in other words, I don't usually hose myself out of status by occasionally booking WN/DL/AA/UA or whatever). Looking at TripIt, I've
never done 75,000 miles in a year, including award travel. But I've flown plenty (multiple RTWs in J and F, multiple CX F trips, LH F/J, LX F/J, BR J, NH J), TripIt says my lifetime miles flown in over a decade are 575,000, AS miles flown (which overlap a lot with TripIt but include some flights before then) is about 455k (there's also some WN and AA/US/HP not included there as well).
So I just look at mileage runs and go "I don't really need them" (outside of "really close, this is worth maybe $100"). If someone else does, good for them.
Originally Posted by
simonsuo
Really curious the access on Admirals club when travelling domestically.
I think it's a sucker bet that AS OWEs will be excluded from AA/AS lounge access via status on domestic just like AA OWEs are currently excluded. Get the
Citibank AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard and you'll get AA/AS lounge access for $450 a year (plus a brace of AA miles as well if you meet the signup bonus conditions).