wolfpacktrojan

Finally recognized as a 100K on my fourth flight since the status officially kicked in. Not a bad way to start off a trip to Hawaii!

Endventure

Currently up front on the SEA-ATL morning flight....FA acknowledged two 75Ks but not a word to me and another 100K, neither of us were upgraded. We both quietly spoke to her from a place of curiosity and she was amazingly gracious and apologetic. Her impression was that the system had not caught up with the 100Ks yet....anyway, reporting this as another data point.

vanillabean

🎵 I can't get no recognition
I can't get no recognition
'Cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try
I can't get no, I can't get no

When I'm flying on an airplane
When the FA comes on the loudspeaker
(S)he's telling me more and more
About some useless information
Supposed to fire my imagination

I can't get no, oh, no, no, no, hey, hey, hey
That's what I say
I can't get no recognition
I can't get no recognition
'Cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try
I can't get no, I can't get no

When I'm watchin' my entertainment screen
And the FA comes on and shows me
I have her attention and a double of Tito’s 🥃
She’s so sweet and gives me all that her snack basket
Has to offer and her eyes and two bottles of Woodford
But, she can't be a 100K 'cause she doesn't crave
The same elite status as me

I can't get no, oh, no, no, no, hey, hey, hey
That's what I say
I can't get no recognition
I can't get no FA reaction
'Cause I try, and I try, and I try, and I try
I can't get no, I can't get no

When I'm flyin' 'round the world
And I'm doin' this and I'm hintin’ at that
And I'm tryin' to make some FA, who tells me
Baby, better come back maybe next week
Can't you see I'm on a losing streak?
I can't get no, oh, no, no, no, hey, hey, hey
That's what I say
I can't get no, I can't get no
I can't get no recognition, no recognition
No recognition, no recognition
I can't get no 🎵

the42ndstate

My first recognition!!! By a Gate Agent scanning boarding passes PDX-SEA! Awwwwwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhhh!

I’ll take the 13/13 continued UGs over recognition onboard all year long tho.

PABE

Boarding a QX flight in SEA this morning, the gate agent said, “oh wow you’re 100k”. We can’t be that rare

AS737

On the inflight devices, Million Miler status actually supersedes your annual status. It will show MM when just looking at the seat map, but to see 100K/75K/Gold FAs have to look at the details.

Until March 2, F is catered with fixed numbers of the meals, so if other people have reserved all of the other options, you only get one. Starting March 2, those counts are variable again, so no matter when you look (before the cutoff of course), you'll have three options

lalala

I've only been on two flights this year and indeed, they mentioned the MM before coming through with the popcorn and chex mix for our 100K/PE seating trophies.[/size]

FlyingOptimist

I’m mainly doing it to keep priority for myself and my partner for FC upgrades when we travel together on awards tickets. I was Gold 75K before, but with top tier elites from other airlines being added to the mix we no longer would have priority, so this was really the only way to be sure we would be higher up. The extra 25% miles bonus is also nice (as we tend to use most all of our miles each year) and it will be interesting to see how (or if) there will be companion benefits when traveling on other OneWorld airlines.

It may not make sense for most people to do the mileage runs, but I actually enjoy flying and it is much easier to get work done working from my laptop on a flight than in an office or at home with more distractions.

Seat 2A

You've already attained 102,340 EQM this year? That's quite a mileage run! I once did just over 105000 miles in just three weeks on an Eastern Airlines Unlimited Mileage fare. That was back in 1980 though, before there were frequent flyer programs, so all I got out of it was the pure satisfaction of having flown those flights. These days, after having flown 5.6 million miles, the fervor doesn't burn quite so hot - especially given that modern day domestic First Class is just a big seat and the meals don't even meet coach standards from the 70s and 80s.

A few years ago I knocked off all the requisite mileage needed by about late February. I even covered it all in a trip report. If interested, you can read it HERE

FlyingOptimist

Wow, that’s an amazing travel report! I got through the first four posts on my phone and then realized it just kept on going for 26,000 words, haha. The first year I was close to hitting MVP Gold because of some trips to South America (about 5 years ago), I was definitely one of those people who tried to manage getting in my last minute miles in December. Since then, I’ve tried to complete most of my miles in the spring time, usually from Portland to New York, Boston, or New Jersey. When flying with my partner, we usually do trips to Hawaii when there are good deals (but those are pretty rare).

This year, I decided I would challenge myself and try to hit 100K by end of January, but ultimately finished in February due to schedule changes (both personally and due to cancellations).

I ended up doing 16 same day round trips using miles from PDX-SEA-JFK-PDX, and then 3 round trips in saver-fare starting on a red-eye from PDX-JFK-SEA-PDX. I definitely prefer the red-eye flights for my sleep schedule and productivity, but there weren’t any available using miles to purchase. I currently live about 1.5 hours away from the airport, so on all of my back-to-back flights I had just enough time to drive home, take a quick shower, change into fresh clothes, and then drive back to the airport to start again.

I honestly have no idea how Air Marshals who do consistent transcons, or 3+ hour flights, can repeatedly do this every day/week and not have back issues, haha. If anyone happens to know someone who does this and they have insights on how to keep your back and legs from killing you, I would love to hear them. I was definitely getting up once or twice on each flight to walk the aisle to stretch.

Other than the saver-fare tickets, I would say that on my early morning PDX-SEA flights I was upgraded about half the time to first class. On my morning SEA-JFK flights I was upgraded less than half the time, and normally into an aisle seat; I generally prefer window as I can lean my head and shoulders against it to sleep (my seat mates generally don’t like it when I lean against them when sitting in aisle for some reason). And on my evening JFK-PDX flights I was upgraded about 75% of the time.

All-in-all, I had 57 flights with 102,340 EQM (actual flight miles I think was about 95,291, as 7,049 were the 129 miles between PDX and SEA, with the 371 bonus for a 500 mile minimum segment). I’m only currently at just over 400K lifetime miles on Alaska, as I had not made an account until 2015, and I use to only purchase tickets that were most convenient rather than on a specific airline. On the Boeing flights, I generally preferred sitting in 1F or 1A, and on the Airbus flights, I preferred either 2A or 2F, but you get what you get with the luck of the draw.

RaingerRain

wow, very interesting, and great story! I am curious, how much did you pay about for each round-trip from PDX to JFK? Do you know how much you paid altogether?

RaingerRain

Great trip report, how did you get all the flights together? How did you decide which flights to take? Do you know how much you paid?

FlyingOptimist

I booked most at about $200 r/t with 10,000 miles to make them coach/premium. The saver fares were just under $200. I purchased them in November of last year. There was a deal for r/t flights at about $150-$175 that popped up in January if I rebooked into February and March, but they wouldn’t fit my schedule very well. Parking was about $15 for each trip, and then about $50-$100 each trip for chocolates to give to ticket counter agents, lounge staff, gate agents, and flight crew.

I definitely could have made the mileage runs a lot cheaper, but I didn’t want saver fares for all of the flights. I also have family members that work for different airlines, and they’ve said they always appreciate getting chocolates (as long as they are ones that are individually wrapped and pre-packaged). I also tend to see people only give them to flight attendants, but not other airline personnel, so I try to remember to give some to them as well (my aunt definitely enjoys them when she gets them).

RaingerRain

very nice, but $50-100 per trip on chocolates,
( x (57/2))so like $2000 a year just for chocolates? Wow

dayone

A reminder that this active thread is a discussion of 100K recognition, not mileage runs or cheap fares.

dayone, AS Moderator