Earn Your Wings (EYW) 2019

Old Aug 15, 2019, 11:50 am
  #31  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: YVR - MILLS Waypoint (It's the third house on the left)
Programs: AC*SE100K, wood level status in various other programs
Posts: 6,171
While there is no way I'd want to do this (it makes my knees ache just thinking about a bunch of Dom/TB multi-hop flights in Y), once again I look forward to the vicarious entertainment which is EYW.

Especially towards the end when the Cow shows off his annual floor covering of boarding passes. Priceless!
canadiancow, jc94 and codfather like this.
Bohemian1 is online now  
Old Aug 15, 2019, 1:10 pm
  #32  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,187
Originally Posted by Bohemian1
While there is no way I'd want to do this (it makes my knees ache just thinking about a bunch of Dom/TB multi-hop flights in Y), once again I look forward to the vicarious entertainment which is EYW.

Especially towards the end when the Cow shows off his annual floor covering of boarding passes. Priceless!
I actually didn't do that last time

I kept thinking "I should do this" but I was lazy.
YYC3722 likes this.
canadiancow is offline  
Old Aug 15, 2019, 1:12 pm
  #33  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: YVR - MILLS Waypoint (It's the third house on the left)
Programs: AC*SE100K, wood level status in various other programs
Posts: 6,171
Originally Posted by canadiancow
I actually didn't do that last time

I kept thinking "I should do this" but I was lazy.
It's clear I just can't keep track. But here's one vote for doing it this time.

Another great use for paper boarding passes.
canadiancow likes this.
Bohemian1 is online now  
Old Aug 15, 2019, 2:32 pm
  #34  
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: YVR
Programs: AC SE100K, Bonvoy Platinum Elite, IHG Gold, Hertz 5*
Posts: 2,132
Off topic but I have a colleague who has kept every paper boarding pass for the last 4 years. It's an incredible stack. He's a perennial 100k a year guy, so if one of you mighty travelers did it the stack would be unreal.

In any case, make it 2 votes for @canadiancow to do the floor covering picture this year.
canadiancow likes this.
WaytoomuchEurope is offline  
Old Aug 15, 2019, 2:34 pm
  #35  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,187
I have all my EYW boarding passes from v3 onwards. Typical questions when I show them to guests are:

1. Who else's are those?
2. Did you fly them all?
3. How many of them are duplicates?

etc.

Then I mention that there are probably only 50 distinct dates in the stack, and I have to explain EYW in detail.
canadiancow is offline  
Old Aug 15, 2019, 3:15 pm
  #36  
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: YVR - MILLS Waypoint (It's the third house on the left)
Programs: AC*SE100K, wood level status in various other programs
Posts: 6,171
Originally Posted by canadiancow
I have all my EYW boarding passes from v3 onwards. Typical questions when I show them to guests are:

1. Who else's are those?
2. Did you fly them all?
3. How many of them are duplicates?

etc.

Then I mention that there are probably only 50 distinct dates in the stack, and I have to explain EYW in detail.
After which there are comments about your (relative) sanity? Or simply silence?
Bohemian1 is online now  
Old Aug 15, 2019, 3:33 pm
  #37  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,187
Originally Posted by Bohemian1
After which there are comments about your (relative) sanity? Or simply silence?
Usually the former.

I brought them out at a party once, but two of my guests were people I'd taken to other continents in F with the points, so I had enough support on my side that they at least had to reconsider whether I was actually crazy.
Bohemian1 likes this.
canadiancow is offline  
Old Aug 15, 2019, 4:21 pm
  #38  
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: YYT/YYC/TPE
Programs: AC SE, UA, National Exec Elite, Nexus, GE
Posts: 1,810
Originally Posted by WaytoomuchEurope
Off topic but I have a colleague who has kept every paper boarding pass for the last 4 years. It's an incredible stack. He's a perennial 100k a year guy, so if one of you mighty travelers did it the stack would be unreal.

In any case, make it 2 votes for @canadiancow to do the floor covering picture this year.
I kept all of my paper boarding passes going back to 2013. I have some older paper boarding passes going way back to 1996, but I don't have the entire collection for the years 1996-2013.

My stacks for 2015 to 2017 are unreal. I estimated I did close to 900 flights during that time span (including FBOs). Some of them were EYW-incentivized of course.

Last edited by YYT82; Aug 15, 2019 at 4:57 pm
YYT82 is offline  
Old Aug 15, 2019, 4:36 pm
  #39  
 
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: YVR
Programs: AC SE100K, Bonvoy Platinum Elite, IHG Gold, Hertz 5*
Posts: 2,132
Originally Posted by YYT82
I kept all of my paper boarding passes going back to 2013. I have some older paper boarding passes going way back to 1996, but I don't have the entire collection for the years 1996-2013.

My stacks for 2015 to 2017 are unreal. I estimated I did close to 900 flights during that time span (including FBOs). Some of them we EYW-incentivized of course.
The next time my wife makes even a loose reference to me having lost my sanity Im directing her to this post. You think IM crazy?!
Bohemian1 likes this.
WaytoomuchEurope is offline  
Old Aug 15, 2019, 6:01 pm
  #40  
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Programs: AC 50K
Posts: 199
Originally Posted by canadiancow
My itineraries are optimized for the greatest wings per day. Cost is impossible to factor in when I need to search millions per second. I make subtle tweaks at the end (like removing Y3 B0 segments).

But I know a certain top 10 contender who continues to beat me with less money and less tiring routing. Because he has more time. Maybe money too, but it's the time that really matters. If I did two business weeks instead of one, I bet I could double my wing count for only 20-30% more money.
If one were to do this for the first time, how much time and money would one have to commit to be competitive? I get decent stretches of days off, which leads me to think I could do this over a few of those periods.
marchelli is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2019, 6:55 am
  #41  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC SE MM; SPG Plat
Posts: 424
Originally Posted by marchelli


If one were to do this for the first time, how much time and money would one have to commit to be competitive? I get decent stretches of days off, which leads me to think I could do this over a few of those periods.
I'm also curious about this, but I think a third element is knowledge - even with time and money, I'm not sure I could figure out how to really play the game - it's complicated!

Not that I will actively participate. My strategy is to register, then do nothing different. I travel enough that EYW gives me a nice chunk of bonus points. Which always makes me wonder about the cost/benefit of this from AC's perspective - but it must work or they wouldn't do it.
PB53x11 is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2019, 7:43 am
  #42  
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 7,980
Originally Posted by marchelli
If one were to do this for the first time, how much time and money would one have to commit to be competitive? I get decent stretches of days off, which leads me to think I could do this over a few of those periods.
I did EYW once and got 50th place.
From YVR, one return in J to the Caribbean, one return J to the Maritimes, one Comfort fare to the Maritimes, and one in internal Maritimes Comfort fare.
The routings were optimized to maximize badges. ie: no straight lines!
As for money, I was mileage running to SE anyways. I used discount codes for all fares.
The pile of eupgrades I earned all went to waste.
tracon is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2019, 10:13 am
  #43  
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: yyz
Programs: status-free
Posts: 565
Originally Posted by PB53x11
My strategy is to register, then do nothing different. I travel enough that EYW gives me a nice chunk of bonus points. Which always makes me wonder about the cost/benefit of this from AC's perspective - but it must work or they wouldn't do it.
Given how quickly the scores drop off after the first thousand or so, I'm guessing that almost everybody using your strategy flies much less than you do. So if AC buys them a quarter million bucks' worth of points from aeroplan, they'd recoup that easily from a couple of thousand active passenger decisions (purchases that wouldn't otherwise happen, people tweaking itineraries by occupying seats that might otherwise go unsold, freeing up desireable seats that can be sold at a premium, etc.). And meanwhile the bottom 40,000 players feel good 'cause they got something for free!
As you say, it must work or they wouldn't do it...
biglinguist is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2019, 12:10 pm
  #44  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: YYZ
Programs: AC SE MM; SPG Plat
Posts: 424
Yes, but ... the finance guy inside me looks at this and wonders who is "losing". The bottom 40,000 players got something for free, so they all win. I don't change my behavior, so I win. Canadiancow does change his behaviour but has analyzed the game and wins big - and I suspect everyone in the top 30 wins. So who loses - those in spots 31 down to 200 or 300, who spend a lot of money but don't get into the big points of the top 30? And if they don't lose, the only party left is ... AC.

Perhaps everyone can win, including AC, if as you suggest seats are sold that would otherwise be empty. But as noted by several posters above, the MAX issue means there are fewer empty seats in the system than in previous years, so the upside to AC seems limited.

Actually, I do modify my behaviour in one respect: I've got some trips coming up for which I'm holding off booking so that they can count towards the contest. But it doesn't cost me (or my employer) anything.
PB53x11 is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2019, 12:17 pm
  #45  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SFO
Programs: AC SE MM, SQ Silver, Bonvoy Tit LTG, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond
Posts: 44,187
Originally Posted by PB53x11
Yes, but ... the finance guy inside me looks at this and wonders who is "losing". The bottom 40,000 players got something for free, so they all win. I don't change my behavior, so I win. Canadiancow does change his behaviour but has analyzed the game and wins big - and I suspect everyone in the top 30 wins. So who loses - those in spots 31 down to 200 or 300, who spend a lot of money but don't get into the big points of the top 30? And if they don't lose, the only party left is ... AC.

Perhaps everyone can win, including AC, if as you suggest seats are sold that would otherwise be empty. But as noted by several posters above, the MAX issue means there are fewer empty seats in the system than in previous years, so the upside to AC seems limited.

Actually, I do modify my behaviour in one respect: I've got some trips coming up for which I'm holding off booking so that they can count towards the contest. But it doesn't cost me (or my employer) anything.
Mr. Prairie realizes he's one extra work trip away from crossing some EYW threshold, so convinces his boss that he should go visit a client in YQR. While there, he secures a deal.

Client gets something out of it.
Mr. Prairie's company gets something out of it.
AC gets an extra trip booked.
Mr Prairie gets some more miles.

There isn't necessarily a loser there.

For those of us aiming for the top 10, it's a zero sum game, so if 11 people are gunning for it, there are increased costs all around, and someone loses. But I can easily see how this may be beneficial to AC.
canadiancow is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.