BlondeBomber:
This was precisely my point. You can do your
great circle math and look in the various
routing tables, but it doesn't seem like you
know exactly until you hear the "Program
members will receive XXXX miles for today's
flight. If you're a frequent traveler...."
announcement just before takeoff.

I would also wonder if there aren't seasonal
routes on certain long-haul flights that might result in a discrepancy of several hundred miles. I know from my ATC background
that the route you fly isn't always just
the straightest GC route either. Sectors,
overflight treaties, and other administrivia
have an impact as well.

JAWS II: I was thinking an SQL-based DB would
be a good approach to the airline info as well. Probably use something like MySql or
SQLuelch and then export/convert to M$ as
necessary. I've also seen some Tk apps that
make use of constructing CGI requests and
directing them to a specific URL to pull data back w/out actually using a web browser.
This could be a way around SOME of the database stuff.

I am going to see about starting up a development list for this over email 'cause
I don't want things to go too far OMNI here.
Unless the CatPolice think that we're still
w/ in bounds given the nature of the software
being discussed.

JD