Flying for Fun

If you are going to be at 20-25K on your expected flights by year end, I think you should be looking at cheaper AS flights in the fall. At 20-25K EQM existing, you would only need 20-15K additional AS EQM for Gold. If you start using Partners, you would need 30-25K EQM to qualify at the 50K AS+Partner threshold. ANC-SJO is 10,134 EQM return. Super easy for a direct turn in SJO.

James

pbd456

you said PE and J only but you would jump on a deal with half of the trip in Y?

freed0m

how do you find the experience in FJ Y SYD-NAN-LAX? I will do an immediate return in LAX next year with most A350 and NAN-SYD on B737.

Thanks.

jonnyz1245

Yes, to me netting 34K miles sounds like a good thing to compromise on. All depends on the flight segments but worth looking into in my opinion.

overlord207

You can get close to 25k miles via tcon. Something like SEA -> EWR 5x is possible for under $1200. I have flown (X) for $220 RT a few times already.

So that gets you to 25k at under ~1200. Hard to find those fares during summer months though.

It would be easier than doing an international run as you will need 10k less miles to qualify for MVPG

milypan

Right, that's the part where the whole thing stops making any sense. Objectively, even international F is not a great experience --- the food will be, at best, equal to what you'd get at a mediocre restaurant in a city with good food, and the hard product is equivalent to what you might hope for in a clean hostel. So the value of J/F always depends on how intolerable you find long-haul Y.

If you absolutely hate being in Y, but you must or really want to take the trip, then J/F can have value. But obviously OP doesn't mind Y, since s/he's willing to fly in it on an ultra-long haul mileage run. But if Y is acceptable or better, then OP should not be willing to pay 8 x $125 change fees to get from Y to J/F, as claimed earlier. Ultimately it doesn't add up.

jonnyz1245

Why doesn't it add up? Doesn't add up for you? Who is to say it doesn't add up to me? If Y on some segments as part of a long haul trip to help me reach my goal that would be ok. I never said I was willing to pay 8 x $125 in change fees. I am not willing to pay those fees. In 2018 I used the change waiver over 15 times both on milage and paid flights. I was also upgraded to first 9 times. In 2019 so far I have used it over 10 times. I selected exit row or row 6 on EVERY flight as I booked it that I took last year which was over 45 segments. I am tall and paying for those seats would have added thousands of dollars in cost. Those perks are worth paying the extra money via a MR as long as the milage run doesn't cost me too much. I want gold b/c of the perks available I have found to be valuable to me. I said I use the perks of being an MVPG and one of the perks I used was changing flights and classes of service as I found availability. Pretty simple really Cheers!



The purpose of the thread was to get some suggestions/ideas to help get me towards a goal. Some people really seem to take exception as to the why's. Others have been really helpful.

jonnyz1245

The plan is a work in progress, I assume its ok to adapt and change things on the fly without your permission?

Geez, tough crowd.

jrl767

uh, yeah ... welcome to FT :/

VegasGambler

If you can find a cheap Emirates premium cabin fare ex-US (ha!!!) you can take advantage of Amex's $500 off business / $1000 off first promo.

I'm pretty sure that cheap non-economy Emirates fares ex-US don't exist, though. If you find one please share.

jonnyz1245

LOL

Flying for Fun

It will be interesting to see what EK PE will be like. Their Y isn't all too bad!

James

pbd456

8 transon before Feb 28 would net 40k eqm and mvp gold is actually the best plan.

Flying for Fun

Interesting math! I learned it a little differently.

On segments: 3/8 = 37.5%
On miles flown: 12,925/30,404 = 42.51%
On EQM Earned: 12,283/~34,000 = 36.13%
On original itin: 12,283/~35,662 = 34.4%*

* I lost 1662 EQM as a 25% COS bonus on LA J when the new charts came into effect last year, after I booked my itinerary, which was not grandfathered in.

I find it amusing that a rebuttal claims "half" of the flights in Y. Also amusing is that other posters follow up on your exaggeration to substantiate theirs.

James

Flying for Fun

The B737 SYD-NAN flight was good. It is a relatively short flight. The A330 was definitely tight in Y. I am not adverse to flying Y but I did feel more than a little cramped on this flight. I am sure the benefits of the A350 (better air quality, pressure) would be a better experience. Service and food was okay, certainly not industry leading. If the price was right, I might fly it again.

In contrast, circumstances required that I take the direct EK flight from DXB-SCL via GRU rather than DXB-GRU//GRU-SCL as booked. I was on the plane for 22 hours. The hard and soft product were significantly better than FJ. I wouldn't hesitate to fly the EK flight again. I would have second thoughts about flying FJ again on the A330 but would fly the A350 to check out the difference.

James