arollins

For the past few years we've enjoyed being GLD, and recently PLT as of 2008. Last year I discovered flyertalk and started maximizing our flying patterns and done a few MR. For the most part, we always (spouse) travel together, on our dime, non business flt. We are weekend warriors, leaving Friday pm, returning on Sunday PM. Based on my calculation, this year alone we are going to fly around 63k miles, normally we usually go just about 50k. Currently we have about 37k so far. Seeing that we are on March and it is early, I want to go for EXP. How can I/we attain this? should we both go for it, or just one of us? If one, of course it will be cheaper, and the other person can still be PLT, but will that other person still enjoy the EXP benefits (upgrades) since we travel together? Bear in mind this is on miles flown, not on points or segments, also keep in mind our flying pattern, Friday PM returning on Sunday PM. Home airport is ORD, but we can do some MR out of MKE if need to. So far, the only thing I can think is doing 4 ORD-FRA and add another domestic flt latter on. Is there another economical and or faster way where I/we can get the miles we need, aside from the ORD-FRA?

brp

If you find yourself flying to far away places, hanging in the airport for a few hours and coming back just so you can get status to do the same thing the next year, you have to ask yourself if it's worth it. For a number of folks here, the answer is "yes." Doing mileage runs to attain status for the next set of mileage runs is worth it as they simply love flying- and paying money just to fly with no other purpose, is worth.

For some, it is not, and the idea of flying just to fly doesn't do enough for us. In our case, we go away for short trips. Domestically, we do just as you do, usually- Friday night to Sunday. We will go for longer to some things (Jazz Fest, for example). For Europe, we stay a couple of days. We just recently went to FRA (and booked before it became a big MR destination for this year). We left Friday and came back Monday, giving almost to full days there. A few weeks earlier was MAD Thursday-Monday.

We both attain EXP so that we have twice as many eVIPs. All of our trips are personal, so we both want to go anyway- there'd be no way to have one of us EXP and the other not.

Just look for Europe in the winter time. Be flexible with destination and look for good fares. We've flown 50K so far and have 70K booked through May 10. It wasn't hard to do- good transcon deals.

But you have to know why you want EXP- for going places or for MRs. This is the key to getting the real benefit from the run and making it worth the outlay, both in money and time.

Cheers.

TheBeerHunter

I can speak to the "is it worth it if just one of us does it" question. My husband is EXP and I'm Plat. He wanted the EXP -- and eVIPs -- more than I did, and was willing to do some overseas turn-arounds to get it that I just wasn't willing to do. I'm with brp in that if I go somewhere, I have to stay at least a couple of days. As a Plat traveling out of a non-hub airport, the few times I've travelled without my husband and thus on my own status, I've gotten my upgrades as well, but YMMV.

My husband and I do it all for leisure, too -- on our own dime -- and usually over weekends or extended weekends. I suggest trying to take advantage of holiday weekends, especially the ones not so popular for travel.

When we travel together, we get the "perk" of being upgraded according to his EXP status -- but alas, due to me being a lowly Plat, the stickers still need to come out to cover my upgrade. Not sure what other perks you would be referring to?

brp

Exactly. We tend to do most of our travel in the winter time, leaving the summer to stay home when the weather is fabulous in the Bay Area and we can enjoy our view with fewer clouds

MLK (I don't get it, but she does), President's day, etc. That sort of thing.

Cheers.

Deltahater

you need to determine all on your lonesome if EXP is worth it to you. Once you decide, come back and we can help you get there.

ldpeters

I have nothing but the utmost respect for your posts, and wisdom, but I think this one neglects the big middle where I many FTers (myself included) likely lie -- we don't necessarily fly enough to earn our target status without (at most) one or two MRs, but we do fly enough that not having that status is either a major pain the rest of the time (when we actually are flying to go somewhere), or we come close enough (e.g., 85,000-90,000 miles) that not doing a $450 MR to make EXP seems almost foolish. I am envious of your flexible schedule -- not all of us have the freedom to take Fridays and Mondays to turn that last, extra flight into a vacation.

I was reminded of this on the way back from my first-ever MR this past weekend, a run to FRA to keep Platinum status that I would likely otherwise lose this year. On the return I was stuck in ORD because of weather cancellations to LGA. Platinum meant a spot near the top of the standby list and ultimately a spot on the first flight out the next day, even though standby lists back to NYC were 78-pax deep. I don't "simply love flying" -- although, to be honest, I really don't mind it. BUT I do value the perks the two dozen or so other times a year when I must fly. For somebody without the schedule (or the $$$) to take many more vacations/leisure flights, taking a single (or maybe two, to make EXP) well-placed MR(s) can make a lot of sense.

brp

I agree. I was painting the extremes to make the point, but there is surely a middle ground. That said, if we need one or two more trips to make status, we'll just take one or two more trips somewhere and still not do a MR to somewhere we've just recently been to get the miles. Needing miles is an excuse to go somewhere interesting and actually stay there. But that's not the approach everyone takes, to be sure.

Cheers.

mvoight

You might consider how many segments per year you fly.
After all, 8 1/3 segments per month is all you need, or consider Europe in the off season. Your SO can get some benefit out of one of you being EXP, since you can let her use your VIPs and she can upgrade with stickers easier

arollins

Its nice to see that others do share our love of flying and visiting places. I do agree that it is better to spend extra time when you visit a place, but our situation is a bit different. Both my wife and I use our vacation time to visit our friends and family in SJU, we both have eldery parents that no longer fly, so we visit them, at least every other month. Our personal vacations, are the weekend trips we do, as mentioned, leaving Friday PM & returning Sunday PM. Granted, it does not give us much time to spend, but we try our best to do sightseeing, eat and relax, hence the weekend warrior. Being GLD/PLT, we've enjoyed the sticker upgrades, specifically on those Friday night flight when we go from work to the airport to visit a new place on a night flight. We plan our trips for a purpose, last weekend we went to SEA to see the Space Needle and Pikes Market, it was great. Prior to that we went to FRA, spend the whole day walking around FRA, enjoying German Beer, & eating Schnitzel. As I mentioned in my original post, thanks to FT I've been maximizing my flights, taking connections flight, etc. I have not done a MR where I go to a destination just to turn around and head back home, instead, I actually want to spend a day there sigthseeing, enjoying the place, visit a restaurant, heck maybe see an old friend of mine. The thing is that now I find myself at around 63k miles for the year, and I want to push it to 100k. We can still do other weekend trips. Segments are not good for me, last year I had 31kpoints, 52kmiles & 33 segments. So far this year I have 26k points, 38k miles and 20 segments. Both of us enjoy it a lot when we get upgrades, and that seems to be the biggest perk overall. I guess that if only one manages to make it to EXP, while the other stay PLT, we can always alternate between the EVIPS and stickers to compensate the upgrades. The other perk is being on the top of list in case of irregularities, standby, etc. Hence, yes, I do want to become EXP.

gemac

Yes, but are you really trying to maximize segments? Probably not. For example, you probably fly ORD-SJU nonstop. The round trip is 4144 miles and 2 segments. But you could fly MKE-ORD-MEM-MIA-SJU and get 8 segments. Anywhere you want to go you can add segments by flying out of MKE, and you can often build even more segments in. It may be a little late for this year, but take a look at this. MKE is a gold mine for ORD segment qualifiers.

Yes, you can save some money this way, but not as much as it first appears because you end up having to pay for the upgrades. If you stick with miles to qualify, it really is a lot easier with some long-haul international, and those are brutal in coach, so having 8 VIPs apiece rather than 4 can make a big difference. For example, from ORD on a 3 day weekend you can spend 51.5 hours in Moscow and pick up 10,000 EQM. You can spend 24 hours in Shanghai and pick up 14,000 miles. You can spend 27 hours in Tokyo and pick up 12,500 miles. And you can spend 51 hours in DEL and pick up 15,000 miles. Those 4 3-day weekends would net you 51,500 miles, and boost you from your Plat level of flying to EXP - but the hard part is not keeping EXP, it is getting there the first time, without the VIPs or the free upgrades.

Dallas49er

Is EXP worth it? Short answer: Yes, but not necessarily why one might think.

95% of my travel is for business, where being at the next place is important. ldpeters and arollins touched on it in their posts, and with a mixture of Orwell: When the wheels come off (IROPS, mechanicals, crew going illegal, etc.), some pigs are more equal.

It's nice/important/critical to move out (and ahead) when the fit hits the shan.

OBTW-I'm not complaining about the e-vips, the unlimited upgrades, 100 hour windows, discounted AC, FL & OW lounge access, double mileage, and whatever else I'm forgetting. They are kinda ok, too.

OBTW Ver 2.1-Back in the 90's and early 2000's, when MrsDallas49er and I travelled together, a long week-end to Paris, Prague, Nagoya, Vienna, et al, was the norm. It is amazing how much you can see with a little motivation, a little guide book, a little planning, and a (very) little time.

steve32

Just doing the flying/MRs for earning miles can be a worthwhile goal, and doing it as an EXP will both accumulate the miles twice as fast and make it a lot more comfortable (unlimited domestic upgrades; both first and business class lounges on international travel).

100k EQM is also 200k RDM, which is plenty for upper class international flying. If one of you is EXP and the other is Plat, that's at least 300k RDM each year, which can be turned into a OW award in business class for two for a multi-stop trip including Australia, for example.

That, and working your way to lifetime status. Once you have that, you have more freedom to decide what your needs and uses are for $/miles, without having the re-qual requirement (except for EXP status).

eVIPs can also be used for more difficult domestic upgrades, like Hawaii. It isn't a requirement that if you have them you must fly international to use them (especially if the higher international taxes and surcharges take the earning ratio of cpm beyond what you prefer).

Steve

brp

Having just gotten back from 2 days in FRA following 3 days in MAD a couple of weeks ago with mrs. brp, I heartily concur

Cheers.

onobond

OK, good luck! And them miles, keep theM Rolling...

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

As an EXP about 90% of my travel is personal. Some of it is destination specific (Miami, LA, Rio) and some of it is pure MRs. Now to MRs, domestically I will be sitting in F and an enjoying the service. Given my lifesytle in Manhattan, up at 5AM and maybe home by 8PM, a day being pampered in F or handing out in the AC awaiting a flight is a treat for me (kind of like a spa experience in the sky). Also, you can get some amazing window views depending upon your route of travel.

For international, I hopefully have evips to use although my upcoming flight to Rio will be in Y

In the end its a personal choice. Are you the kind of personal that seeks change and diversity of life or are you comfortable in a familiar environment and same routine. And finally there is the $$ aspect.