thatmikereed

I expect to be flying more next year, and my company has a corporate status challenge where they'll give you MVP immediately, then you can fly 2/4/10 round trips within 90 days to keep MVP/Gold/75K, respectively. I have Gold on American, and have previously been Exec Plat. Hawaii is in the cards for next year as an outlier, as is Alaska proper. International isn't out of the question.

I was able to jump on the fare sale and book ten AUS-LAX round trips for $176.80 each. I leave early in the morning and return late in the evening. I picked up one a week during the 90 day period... and have access to the Alaska Boardroom as well as a corporate office 15 min or so (Uber) from the airport (which is probably what I'll do). Being able to buy them on the UltimateRewards portal for 5x UR points wasn't bad, either.

I'll be MVP from flight 1, then earn Gold after flight 4 for the final 6 flights. Hopefully that improves my upgrade chances, but at least it'll get me more legroom. All in all, I think "buying" 75K and the benefits that come with it for under $2,000 is well worth it - I'll definitely use the companion upgrades and premier seating (much less the random first class upgrade). Aside from 75K, I also earn 44,696 AS miles and 8,840 UR points for it all... thoughts?

TravelingZoomer

Back of napkin math says you’ll net just under 80k RDM, which at a conservative 1.5cpm is already a 1200$ rebate

Eurynom0s

When is the status good through? End of 2022?

anteater

There were some LAX fares on that sale for $39 OW, $78 RT main cabin.. could have accomplished the 10 RTs for $780!

🙃🤙🏻

thatmikereed

Yep.

Those were Saver fares. Those are specifically excluded in the status challenge. Would have been nice if those worked, but no (X) allowed.

anteater

Incorrect. For example, LAX SJC was main cabin (no Saver fares sold on that route).

Even now, many days with $49 OW $98 RT, if you want to save some clams!

🤙🏻

beckoa

As much as I don't like matching to 75K; think this is a great opportunity. Have fun!

thatmikereed

Ah, yeah, with my schedule/needs, I needed AUS-based trips and to keep my workday open and available (voice calls/webinars). Getting to LAX/SJC and doing back and forth runs wouldn't work for me.. gotta be able to get somewhere, work, come home (and don't want to be at the mercy of the noise in a club).

thatmikereed

I can't get to that number. What am I doing wrong? I show earnings of 44.6K miles (I don't get the extra RDM for 75K, specifically disallowed by the promo).

Round trip = 2483 miles per gcmap
First four trips @ MVP w/50% bonus = 3725 miles each
Next six trips @ MVP Gold w/100% bonus = 4966 miles each
Total: 44696 RDM

Aside from gaining status, that's a cost of about $.04/mile, or a "rebate" of $670.44, depending on perspective.