Anyone Done a Segment Run on a $29 Fare Sale?
 

I know this sounds like a crazy idea, but with the $29 fare sale you can run back and forth between a city pair many times in a day. If someone needed 10 segments to get MVP gold, am I missing anything?

$290, 10 segments, 10k and redeemable miles (with MVP gold bonus)?

I wouldn't call that crazy, I would call it brilliant in a crazy way. ;) If you enjoy flying and already have 50 segments, I think it makes sense unless you already have reservations that will get you there without the need for a run.

10 segments to attain MVPG for another year for $290! Consider that to purchase 10K (un-bonused) MP Miles it is $27.50 per 1K = $275 + $20.63 tax = $295.63. The cost of the flights is less than the cost of purchasing the redeemable miles with the added benefit of EQM towards MM status and the segments to retain MVPG.

I am never close to Elite qualification on segments alone. I am at 93K on 36 segments averaging 2611 Miles/segment :)

James

Two things go think about on segment running

a) doing the same city pair multiple times requires separate tickets which means no protection if you have a delay that prevent you from reaching your next flight(s). If you're not Gold/75k already, there's a charge to cancel and no value at all if you can't cancel prior to departure (such as you're stuck in the air with WiFi not working).

b) reports that AS is enforcing no original routing credit for reroutes on AS. If there are delays on a multi segment itinerary, as long as they send you to your stop cities or you voluntary request/accept skipping cities, they can drop segments and put you on non stops in the event of IRROPS.

OP is MVPG so changes and cancellations are possible. However, the $29 fare is a Saver Fare so that throws status out the window. :(

Interestingly, the flights are even cheaper on a multi-city search. For Example, September 18th.

SAVER

LAX-SJC($29)-BUR($23)-SJC($19)-BUR($24) = $92.99 Average $23.25 per segment, 1,195 miles flown.

MAIN

​LAX-SJC($44)-BUR($33)-SJC($29)-BUR($34) = $138.02 Average $34.51 per segment with full flexibility and upgrade eligible for an MVPG.

James

The ROI is better on California Transcons with double miles. But that takes a lot more time.

4 legs as gold for $138 is about what you'd pay for a Transcon one way. 4,000 RDM after gold bonus vs. 7,500 RDM for a Transcon one way with gold and double miles bonus.

That said, if you're just short of segments, this is the fastest way to do it. Have fun!

Bonus miles don't count toward status.

Hi -

I am doing something similar on WN in California. I was short 6 segments from prequalifying fort A-List. AM banging them out on a Wednesday in September, thanks to their recent sale.

As noted earlier, doing this on AS using Saver fares (not "fairs", sorry .. one my minor peeves) is dicier if flights get backed up.

I purchased my Christmas trip home as well as a Nov trip to Chicago to see a friend and as part of the last sale and then projected my mileage for the year.

It looks like with just the stuff currently on the books, I'll be about 3000 short of the 20k needed for MVP.

But I'll be at 18 segments.

So either i'll watch out for a cheap segment run ($29 saver fares BUR-SJC, perhaps) or, if the fares get low enough, take a long weekend in Mexico City flying AA.

If you fly a partner airline the miles will credit to the AS + Partner total which requires 25K for MVP. The AS only total won't increment. If you are 3K short, flying 3K on AA would leave you 3K short on qualifying on AS metal and 5K short on qualifying with AS + Partner. ie AS will remain at 17 and AS + Partner will increase to 20K.

12 segments at $29 each is $348 or about the cost of a transcon return that will generate ~5000 EQM.

James

Correct. But I have like 4900 EQMs in the partner category already from Finnair.

If I flew a partner internationally on - AA to Mexico City, for instance, I'll earn enough miles to reach MVP through partner qualifying miles, as well as earn two more segments which will push me to 20.

Either way, I'll maintain MVP.

30 segments to MVP.

https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...rship-benefits

This is clearly a case of me reading what I wanted to read and not what it actually said. :confused:

Perfect, I didn't want you to have any surprises. ;) I have flown quite a bit of AA internationally this year. Over 80K on partners, 13K on revenue AS.

James