Greetings -

I need a cheap MR or two out of SDF on NW/CO to reach gold status in the next couple of months - I would like to have it for the 100% mileage bonus plus better upgrading. I am about 10,040 miles short of Gold right now with Elite Qualifying Miles. I only have 7 Elite Qualifying Segments this year, so I would need to do this on elite qualifying miles.

Anyone have any suggestions? Looking to do it as cheap as possible... (spent lots o' money with NW already this year on a few last minute high dollar short hauls!)

I'd like to stay domestic (or Canada) on these and do it with quick turn-arounds (i.e. a day or night at my destination at most). Asia sounds tempting, but I don't have the time right now (I understand one must spend 6 days & the fares would be higher from SDF vs LAX/SFO). I'd like to do these over a weekend (i.e depart Sat / return Sun).

I have a couple of small trips coming up which will snag me a few thousand miles (SDF-EWR & back on CO), SDF-MEM-TPA and return on NW... but other than that, I'd like to hit gold before the end of August so that I have access to better benefits (companion upgrades, ahead of silvers, and the 100% bonus) for my fall travel.

I will have some overseas long-hauls (plus an HNL) this fall which would snag me some mega-miles with the 100% bonus, which is what I'm mostly interested in (along with companion upgrades).

Any ideas? I've never done a "true" MR run before (flying just for miles) other than an SDF-CVG r/t on Comair once to go DL Gold several years ago (sadly, the fare I used didn't qualify and I felt like a fool!).

I enjoy flying, aviation photography, and a/c spotting, so I'd be quite content hopping around to a few cities just for the heck of it to get the needed EQMs.

Best,

SDF_Traveler

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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Ben Franklin