I took my first absolute "mileage run" trip last month (with no activity in the destination city whatsoever) and wasn't too keen on it. I've been plenty of places "for the night" and "for the miles", but to fly, go right to the airport hotel, wake up, and go right back to the airport was not such a hot trip. When you add in the same few crappy old UA movies that I have seen in 2 languages......

That said, a mileage run is a need for miles for no other reason than needing the miles, and for most of us, its for status, not for the account miles. One friend thought I was crazy when July came and went and I was "nervous" because I barely had 50K UA miles for the year and had no planned trips.