That was my point. Rather than doing transcons or hopping over to the islands and back on immediate turns, my suggestion was to hop over to Europe to take advantage of the cheap J fares, especially if you are in NYC already, not as an MR. You can do a vacation before the outbound or simply turn around. In the example I provided, starting ex-EU alllows a return to Europe for a vacation in the summer for $700 ($1400 rt) in paid J while earning EQM/RDM. If you play around with it, you may even get a few AS plated flights that count as segments in Mileage Plan. How far will AS take you next July in F for $700? All of my ex-EU J itineraries have been vacations.

I did a lot of Mileage Runs on AS, moreso for the RDM, even an immediate turn LAX-SJO on a 10 segment itinerary with a companion certificate. Those aren't as viable anymore with current AS fares. From YVR, AA in J YVR-DFW-PHX is sometimes cheaper than AS YVR-SEA-PHX in Main.

I considered ATL-JNU return, 6 segments, or incorporating part of the Milk run for $488 in F, but the connections were terrible.

AS hasn't been impressive. My focus has been away from AS and AS Mileage Runs, mostly because of fares, but also because of poor reliability. Perfecting booked itineraries with instability in scheduling is also an issue. Cancelations may require an overnight or you find yourself in Main when you confirmed in F at booking. When AY canceled my LAX-HEL J(I) flight, BA moved me onto AA LAX-DFW & AY DFW-HEL in fare class D. Those two flights earned 16,148 EQM & 32,296 RDM.

My strategy isn't for everyone so very much a YMMV situation. I offered it for those that might not have been aware and possibly find it useful.

Ultimately, it would be fantastic to get enough AS plated segments to requalify for 100K without ever spending a penny directly with AS. It is possible.


James