yyzgigi

Not that it changes things too much, but you've all forgotten that you only need 95 segments to make SE.

Although I'm sure there are lots of options, it is pretty hard to do the LAS-LAX back and forth (particularly with a connection) when you are starting in Canada unless you have a lot of time on your hands.

CanadianPie

Okay... so that takes care of the "I'm based in the US" solution. What about a "I'm based in Canada" solution to getting SE? I'm just wondering what kind of travel you'd be able to do within Canada to get SE.

What would potentially be faster and/or cheaper?
Would it be faster to get status via status miles or flight segments? I'm thinking it could be easier on miles instead of segments... but I could be wrong.

Ken hAAmer

In an optimum situation, you can earn about 500 miles per hour in Y, or 750 per hour in J.

Segments, each worth the equivalent of about 1050 miles, can be earned at about 2 per hour, or about 2100 miles per hour (again in an optimum situation.)

Now that segments have dropped from 150 to 100 to 95, I suspect segments would be both faster and cheaper in a head to head competition.

Ken hAAmer

Between YVR and YHZ there is a theoretical maximum of 10 segments for about $600, using fare available on GDSes. Aircanada.com may offer better T+ fares, but booking mega-segment itineraries might be problematic. You could phone in, but that add both potential problems and an extra $30.

yvrnycracer

here is another idea could one book multiple tickets under the same name/ap number to cut down on the flying time?! (assuming it would let you check in all the seats)

MapleLeaf

I won't divulge how to get SE for under $3K but I will remind folks to not think inside the box of Canada and AC.

Ken hAAmer has spoken in the past about different ways of thinking, what is a starting point, what is a stopover and where is the end point... be creative, it is amazing on what you can do.

fly-yul

You will not get miles for more than one seat on any single flight.

seanthepilot

Check this post out for an even cheaper option...

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showp...6&postcount=18

from this Mileage run thread from a week or so ago

Mileage Runs on UA/US puddle jumpers (HYS-GBD)....worth doing for $17/500 mi???

yyznomad

Where have I seen this thread before?

SH is right.. oh the newbies

CanadianPie

Dooooooh! I wasn't planning on being creative. I was thinking I would just be lazy and see if someone out there has the "SE for under $3k For Dummies" book.

Cheers! [raising beer mug]

patchan8984

A bit OT, but I would choose to disagree with this statement , especially with AC's devaluations



[QUOTE=yvrnycracer;7067383]Now I see why the US airliners are in the dumps and FFP programs are being diluted further and further. QUOTE]

nolens volans

And the best part is that thereafter when AC agents are being troublesome about giving you that upgrade, you can complain that they are failing to shew 'appreciation of your revenue contribution' as a SE.

danw

Being relatively new to flyer talk it has been an amazing discovery that all these years of flying direct from point A to B is obviously NOT the correct way to travel if one wants to maximize probability of reach top tier status.

While I appreciate that u obviously are in possession of knowledge that many would be very interested in, and do not want to make things too easy for people to reach the SE status, I was wondering if u wouldn�t mind helping me out just a little?

Could u give an example of a flight itinerary that u r referring to (low $ cost max QM or segments), which would fall under the category of reaching SE for $3K?
This would be extremely helpful in understanding your mindset of how one should go about setting up itineraries and allow me to go forward on my own.

i am based in Toronto (YYZ).

Thank u

IluvSQ

Example of ones from previous years:

Domestic flights in Korea, or Thailand, on partner airlines.
Round trips can be made in the well under $100 range, at 500 miles
per segment.

CanadianPie

Hmmm... I might have to BKK and start a SE MR! I hear it's pretty nice in Bangkok or that part of the world during this time of the year.

Well, here's me thinking out loud...

So for 95 segments and $100 per RT, that's still $5000 CAD. However, that doesn't include the $2000 you need to spend just to get to BKK.

Just on a YWG-YVR-BKK (via NRT) - that's 4 segments. RT is 8 segments. 8 segments down, 87 more to go!

In theory, two segments for $100. Therefore, 88 segments for $4400.00

That's $4400.00 (TG domestic) plus $2000 (to get to BKK)... $6400.00 for SE!

That's still a lot of time.. Maybe I'll look at the TG website more indepth over the week. I should really get back to work.

This SE for under $3k is crazy... I can't sleep at night! LOL.