I, too, was amazed at the whole concept at first. I mean, I had thought of it myself, I had a friend who had done SFO->JFK (redeye), had lunch with a friend and saw "Hairspray", and came home the next day to get miles, but I didn't know this concept had a name and a web site until I came across FlyerTalk!
Then I really started thinking about it...I had gotten Elite status on my airline of choice for several years running without even thinking about it (and one year had elite status on two different airlines). But because of life changes in 2007 I wasn't getting enough miles/segments and I suddenly realized in September that if I didn't do something I'd have no status at all in 2008 -- for the first time in about five or six years. I didn't want to lose it -- I liked the priority security lines, the occasional upgrades, the redeemable mileage bonuses, and the acces to Economy Plus (my airline of choice is United). So I bit the bullet and planned a couple of segment runs.
I did my first one two weeks ago and it was fun! I had gotten a rock-bottom fare, and I flew on a beautiful day with a great view of lovely coastal scenery. I did some shopping at my destination, saw a celebrity on the way home, watched a 747 lift off from close range while waiting to taxi across an active runway (amazing and gorgeous), and got back in time for dinner. I'm going again this week (same run), and have picked out a museum to spend a few hours in before I turn around to come home. To me it's all a small price to pay to maintain some kind of status for next year, plus I'm having a nice time exploring a city that I had only visited on business in the past -- albeit in 4-hour chunks in the middle of a segment run!
I am planning ahead for 2008 so I don't end up in the same situation is this year, though! I'll make sure I stick to my airline/alliance of choice, will take longer routings to get more miles/segments, and hopefully at the end of the year I won't need to go out for more miles/segments.
But really, I understand wanting to do this. It's nice to meet people through FT who actually enjoy flying. Some people I know think I'm crazy, but I really do love to fly -- one just has to know how to do it to enjoy it. I was talking to a man today who told me he simply doesn't understand me at all, and that he hates flying and that everyone he knows does the best they can to avoid it. Personally, I think if one flies smart (pack smart, pick times and itineraries smart, shop for flights smart, use upgrades smart, knows where the shorter security lines are, etc) one can have a nice time traveling by air.
Thanks, FT!