Originally Posted by
tcugrilla
I just got a job that will require travel to the Northeast from DFW at least twice a month, four days per trip. This will be my first job that has required me to spend time on the road. I will fly American since I have almost 100,000 AA advantage miles, and would like to stay at the same hotel and drive the same rental car on each trip. Some of the hotels and rental car companies reward you with additional advantage miles, and i want to maximize rewards. I have no idea which hotels and car rental companies have the best offers for someone like myself and would like your suggestions on where to start.
Ok, UNLV grad going to help out TCU guy (assuming that from your handle). It's ok that you want to keep it all in AA, but it may be beneficial to look at other options depending on where/when you fly. You are in AA hub which may mean lots of non-stops. Another carrier may mean a connection which adds a minimum of 1K miles per trip. At two trips per month that will add up quickly and get you to status in short order.
Also, CO/NW only require 75K for top-tier and have automatic unlimited free space-available upgrades. Their lounges are nice and the booze is FREE. MR is sometimes fun with them when you can connect through two or three of the hubs, often available on a lot of fares; easy to do because MSP-DTW-MEM all in rather close proximity. I used to live in CLT and triple-connected to OMA routinely and hit elite without blinking an eye.
As far as hotels and car rentals go you may not want to be 'so loyal' there as you can always find deals and bonuses that can really rack up some serious miles.
...and drive the same rental car on each trip...
That way you could hide your favorite CD's in the trunk so you don't have to pack them all the time. LOL
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Good luck and let us know how you made out.