CDKing

Mileage runs on AS were worth it when i always ended up in F. Though finally I'm seeing more reasonable $20 price difference. $109/$129. Saver was blocked out on one day but it was still $129 in regular economy. Discount F was $499 , not too shocking as it was a MINT market.

VegasGambler

I agree! But, by that logic, you will never buy out of saver, and therefore the 5000 EQM are worthless.

jinglish

I don't think that necessarily follows. OP already said his main goal here is the RDMs, and earning EQMs helps him keep the elite bonus. The lack of changeability might not matter for this run if he can find a date that'll definitely work well, even if he normally values waived change fees as an MVPG. And what if he's flying on a busy route/day when it's hard for even a Gold to get upgraded? As an MVP and DL FO, I've definitely made some airline and economy-versus-basic-economy decisions while factoring in the likelihood of whether I'll get upgraded or not if I do buy up (or pay more an airline with which I have status). There are plenty of reasons why OP might not care for this specific trip but could still value elite perks most of the time.

eddiehuang97

eddiehuang97

VegasGambler

This is the part that I don't understand. What's the difference? It's the same flight length no matter whether you are staying or not. If anything, the fact that you have to turn around and come right back makes it even more likely that you'd want to buy up! It's twice as much flying in a very short amount of time.

Anyway, I don't really have any more points to make, so, if it makes sense to you, go for it.

milypan

VegasGambler

In my mind RDM are pretty clearly fixed at 2c. I'd value them higher, except, you can buy unlimited amounts of them for 2c, which puts a cap on their value.

Doing some math here, say you fly 35k miles per year. No mileage running means you earn 52.5k RDM.
Let's say you do a 5k mileage run to get up to Gold. You don't value elite benefits but you want the RDM. So, then you earn 80k per year. So that 5k mileage run you do every year is worth 27.5k RDM = $550 worth of miles.

I guess there is some value there. $200 airfare + probably something in airport transportation or parking = maybe $250. So we are looking at $300 in value? It's pretty slim (considering that we are talking about 11-12 hours of relatively uncomfortable flying) but I guess it's there. $25/hr is well above minimum wage. Also, you might very well be able to do the same things on the plane that you would have done had you stayed home (read a book, watch a movie on your tablet, play some video games, etc, etc). You might even like it more. So, sure, based on RDM there might be some value there.

NoLaGent

tl;dr - yup, there's some value there.

pbd456

while i dont plan to buy saver myself.

however, i want to point out that i had voluntary downgrade from F to Y in the last row of 3 seats on redeye flight and slept.

for a slow season, the flight is not full, saver may works out great.

drvannostren

If this was from YVR I would absolutely do it at least once. My days off at work are usually planned around trips, but I could do this one in a day, or over 2 days. I love NY, so I'd gladly go out there for a Saturday night, hit a hockey game and come back. But to drive from YVR to SEA to do it...nah.

I don't get any bonus since I have no status, and I hate not knowing my seat in advance, but...knowing I could travel super light, I wouldn't worry about the overhead, and then I would either maybe pay for an assigned seat if it's possible, or I'd check in at T-24 and do it then. 99% of my flights are econ, so my butt is used to the punishment. For me it's all about that LITTLE bit of extra shoulder and elbow space. Yea ghetto biz is nice to have the whole row, but I'm not that greedy. Just flew 747 LH FRA-YVR in Econ, right near the back of the bus, it was totally fine, because I had that Bingo center free space next to me.

I wish we had fares like this in Canada, I'd jump at this to go to Toronto for a day or two, MTL, YHZ etc. Sometimes you guys don't know how good you've got it . Having the competition is nice. Plus low season would mean there's a good chance the load isn't great. A weather delay wouldn't really bother me cuz it's leisure, plus I've got good travel insurance so any disruptions can be covered by that, and maybe even get me something good in return, like a hotel night in a price range of hotel I'd never spend lol.

CDKing

Though its not specifically on the sale page, $99 is currently the current saver rate for that route. Same as LAX-ORD which is advertised as $99 saver and $129 main.

LWkitty

Yeah, they got me! I decided to bite. The combination of a decently priced MR, along with most of a day in NYC was more than I wanted to pass up. I did go for the $129 Main Cabin fare, giving me the opportunity to cancel for wallet credit if needed. Exit row aisle both ways, so even without the upgrade, I'm still happy.

vgc

I tried to book a red eye with an immediate turn around back to Seattle, but it wouldn't let me. It lands at JFK at 6:15am and the flight departs JFK at 7am. It says the connection is not valid. I felt like I've done this before. Am I remembering or did they make the return flight earlier?

jinglish

Domestic/domestic MCT for AS at JFK is one hour, so probably a flight change.