Originally Posted by
JohnneeO
Dig out a map, draw a straight line (as the non-stop flies) from EZE to LAX, and according to
http://www.geobytes.com/CityDistanceTool.htm, the distance is 6126. For the separate legs of EZE-ATL, and ATL-LAX, the distances are 5021 & 1938, for a total of 6959.
Essentially, you would only earn 6126 miles for the 'direct' routing through ATL, instead of the mileage of 6959 you could receive by earning credit for each leg. The difference is 833 miles. YMMV.
First of all, I'd like to say that I had never heard of the CityDistanceTool before but I followed your link to check it out. I think
you should take a look at the Great Circle Mapper (
http://gc.kls2.com/) -- it is far more useful.
Anyway, taking your example in the GCM, we get 4999 for EZE-ATL and 1946 for ATL-LAX, or 6945 total. Compare this with the 'direct' EZE-LAX distance of 6115, for a difference of 830. The slight differences in the numbers of course do nothing to invalidate your point.
However ... there is another side to this coin, one that I and others are very happy about. While the miles credited to an FFP may be lower because of this single-flight-number gimmick, anyone including this route on a mileage-based round-the-world ticket (such as those offered by Star Alliance, for example) will be pleased because you are 'charged' only the shorter distance against your total limit. I have taken a number of RTWs and the prospect of having 830 miles 'slack' to be used elsewhere on the trip would be very welcome indeed.
cheers,
Henry