FlyingBlueIvory4life

Milage runs are dying and hard to do these days.

Flying blue only gives you 100% miles on a select few fare classes and Delta converted to a $ per mile system.

Which are the best routes for milage runs? The Paris-Johannesburg route seems to give pretty good bang for the $.

Also it creates an opportunity for Delta flights being credited miles to your FB account. Get the cheapest S class or G class fare and fly the max amount of miles possible.

irishguy28

Flying Blue is a program in which one does segment runs to qualify for status; it doesn't really lend itself to mileage runs.

Mileage earning/burning in FB is pretty poor; you may wish to explore other programmes if amassing lots of useful, usable miles is your goal.

FlyingBlueIvory4life

You can earn status through number of flights or segments. Silver I believe is 20,000 miles, Gold 30,000 and Platinum 70,000 miles so milage runs to get status with the right fare class (when in doubt just fly premium economy to get 100% miles) is possible.

mfkne

But it's very, very expensive.

irishguy28

True.

But it's much, much cheaper to qualify for status based on number of sectors, flying on short connecting routes (always connecting via CDG or AMS) in the cheapest mileage-earning economy classes.

orbitmic

I can only fully echo irishguy28's statement. The only mileage run you could get on FB would be a fare mistake in AF P or in KL/AF's European business class. If you find it, then by all means, at 1875 miles a segment do start collecting!

FlyingBlueIvory4life

Is it really easier to get status based on segments?

The problem is those fares are probably going to get you 25% miles so you might earn status but you'll have no miles to use on reward flights.

mfkne

The whole point of mileage runs is to earn status. I had 49 segments on FB last year and just barely collected enough level miles to get over the threshold for Silver, it's only thanks to the segments that I achieved Gold.

FlyingBlueIvory4life

Hm. 60 flights for Platinum seems pretty hard to do if most of my flights are direct long haul flights to other hubs like London and CDG since I live in New York.

Do segments carry over from year to year? For e.g. your 49 segments (only 30 required) so you start 2015 off with 19 already.

irishguy28

Absolutely, yes.

Unless all of your travel is long-haul in premium cabins, you would almost certainly attain status via number of sectors flown before you would have earned that status due to your level miles balance. The majority of status holders qualify by segments.

Yes, and that is the problem with Flying Blue as I said above. You will earn Award Miles much faster through spending on your credit card than you will by flying.

irishguy28

FB may not be the best FFP for you. If you are not making short/domestic hops on Delta in the US (easy segments), perhaps you are not flying often enough to worry about an FFP. You might be better off "shopping around", and booking each trip on the basis of which ticket/airline is most convenient/cheapest/best value, rather than sticking with one airline/alliance/FFP.

No. Segments never rollover.

If you manage to maintain, or increase, your status any year due to level miles, the excess over that threshold is carried over.

Before you get all excited, remember that this only applies to a small number of people.

delanotre

There is another thread about MR:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/air-f...yone-done.html

Zembla

I agree, in most cases segment runs are the cheapest way to obtain status, but...

I actually think it is possible to do mileage runs, but there are some pre-requisites which require a certain dose of luck:
-a budget.
-creativity in finding outstation J promotions.
-be in the right place at the right time.

Henry III

I can also support the consensus here that segments are generally the easiest/cheapest/fastest way to earn status in FB - unless one does several l/h J trips each year, with short xxx-AMS or xxx-CDG connections (which give you 3,750 level miles on a r/t itinerary).

For the past 4 years I've reached Platinum purely on segments (little or no opportunity for l/h J trips); however, this year, things look rather different: I've had one l/h J (EUR-AMS-KUL-CDG-EUR) plus a r/t J on GA (KUL-CGK-DPS), which already has me on 24,000+ level miles. I have a European 4-segment r/t coming up, then another l/h J (AMS-CDG-JNB-NBO-AMS).

As it happens, I'll reach 25,000 level miles and 15 segments on exactly the same flight! But, thereafter, things start to drift apart, and I project reaching 40,000 miles on my 19th segment. With a couple of extra EUR-AMS/CDG-(L/H) trips later in the year, I expect to hit 70,000 miles on or around my 31st segment (and, hopefully, a few other l/h trips towards the end of the year will give a good roll-over boost to get 2016 going).

In terms of cost, if you shop around, you can find some decent prices for l/h J on SkyTeam partners: e.g. FCO-TPE-AKL on CI in "C" for ~£2,000, giving 29,000 level miles (or I've seen LHR-PVG-SYD on MU for about the same price); and don't forget AZ: their l/h biz fares generally earn 150% (^) and I've seen some very decent prices on routes like LIN-FCO-EZE.

-- Henry

FlyingBlueIvory4life

Can you clarify "outstation J promotions?" what are those?