Looks like I might end up about 7,000 miles short of maintaining DC Gold this year, unless my travel plans change from their current outlook. I realise that L/haul is a "quick-fix" - and there are some tasty fares about on UA/BD but I would prefer non-transatlantic due to my time restrictions and jet-lag!
Thought about (cheapish?) s/h biz....but ANY suggestions on options would be greatly appreciated!

I did Palma in J for �200 in early December. That'd get you 3,348 status points.

Other than that I've heard about some cheapish fares LHR-DUB but never flown it.

Hmm... 7,000 miles is quite a lot. If you don't want to go long-haul it's a bit more than a run! For example, BD in J will net you 3200 status miles return -- two of them get you to 6,400. So, for laying out �600-700, you won't have even got there. LHR-CDG-LHR-CDG-LHR in a day is possible (if dull), but it won't come cheap.

You sure you can't squeeze in a quick MAN-IAD-MAN? They're on �195 special offer at the moment!

Do we get full DC points when flying international from MAN on cheapo economy fares? I always go for ex-LHR on UA so that I get full points no matter how cheap the fare is...but if we get full points with BD then I might give their trans-atlantic flights a go.

Yes, it is a bit more than a rmere run. BD in J to Alicante in Feb came in at �205 and bags 3644 rtn, so I need two of those to guarantee it.....or something similar...mmm...a pain...

Yes, and it makes for a decent opportunity to get good value for those BD Gold u/g vouchers.

Don't cheapo man-l/haul eco fares (h,e,q,o,v,w) only get 50% of miles flown?

That's what I understood but heard differently from other FTers...no mention of long haul BD fares getting full points on their website (h, e, q etc)

hopefully a flyertalk "guru" will enlighten us...if I am right then even a BD l/haul in cheapo will not get me my 7,000 miles.....

May be worth getting an economy fare from LHR out to somewhere like BRU/AMS/CDG and then buying (relatively) cheap business class returns from there. For instance BRU-LHR-BRU is around �220 in Business at the moment, while LHR-BRU-LHR is considerably more.

The best way to do this though would be a cheap run to PHL from MAN on US Airways. Even the cheapest fares will get full mileage (you can probably get a trip for well under �300 at this time of year, and the trip would be around 7000 miles in total). You could do this in a weekend if you had to.

Not sure how "close" to 7k you need, but LHR - YUL (Montreal) gives you just under 7k for:

AC865 London (LHR) Montreal (YUL) Thu 03-Feb 14:05 16:30 0 7hr25 333 Economy (lowest price)
AC864 Montreal (YUL) London (LHR) Thu 10-Feb 19:55 07:30
+1 day 0 6hr35 333 Economy (lowest price)

Airfare (Economy (lowest price)) 217.00
Canada Airport Improvement Fee 6.30
U.K. Passenger Service Charge 10.40
Canada Quebec Sales Tax (QST #1000-043-172) 0.50
Canada Goods and Services Tax (GST/HST #10009-2287) 0.40
U.K. Air Passenger Duty 20.00
Canada Security Charge 8.40
Carrier Admin. Service Charge 16.00
Grand Total - Pound Sterling Convert currency � 279.00


All Air Canada Long-Haul eco. fares are full earning (1.0x). Economy's not that bad, either, and you could maybe combine it with a weekend skiing in Tremblant or something.

If you need a <bit> further in terms of miles, try Toronto for �228.50 all-in. (but obviously a slightly longer flight, if you're concerned with time.)

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OR, if you're already a *G/*S, you can get an auto-"upgrade" to United's Economy Plus (37" I think) on a New York or Boston trip, AND you'll get double destinations miles until mid-Feb (17th, I think?), too:

1:20pm Depart - London Heathrow, UK (LHR) United Airlines 905
4:10pm Arrive - New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK) Nonstop
Total Travel Time: 7 hrs 50 min

7:00pm Depart - New York-Kennedy, NY (JFK) United Airlines 9566:55am Arrive - London Heathrow, UK (LHR) Nonstop
Total Travel Time: 6 hrs 55 min

1 adult = GBP 143.00
Taxes and Fees = GBP 56.70
Service Fee = GBP 6.00

Total Price = GBP 205.70




I know it's transatlantic, but it'll work out a lot less than 2x Euro-Biz tickets, and has potentially more fun involved....!

While not a flyertalk guru - hope I can help! I have flown MAN-ORD/IAD a couple of times on W (cheapest) fares and have got full credit for them (this was earlier this year). Wingnut's excellent guide in the forum sticky confirms that discounted economy Transatlantic gets full miles though DC do not make this clear - indeed the mileage calculator on the website is misleading.

If you are near LHR however it is probably much less tiring to go direct on UA and avoid the connection in MAN. You can then take advantage of the UA double miles and avoid the risk of bad weather leading to the MAN-LHR shuttles getting backed up which is not unheard of at this time of year. You can even use the Sunday daytime return from IAD to avoid having to use any holiday allowance and still stay a Saturday night. It does however make for a particularly uninteresting weekend!

Thanks for the info/suggestions guys...plenty to think about!...just that the thought of eco, even UA eco+, is a bit depressing...so here's, broadly, my options...I think;
1. could use BD l/haul cheapies, and hope BD Gold u/g vouchers work ex-man and the full miles for w-fare are credited...have to get LHR Man tho, so bit of a hassle..
2. could go UA ex-lhr and get eco+ (*already* doing this in Jan tho, for a cheeky weekend in NY) and be sure of extra comfort and double miles..damn jet lag tho..
3. could do AC to Canada very cheap (hey, thanks v. much for the sample itinerary) but it's all eco standard..and jet lag..double ouch..
4. could do two s/haul J class to, say Alicante/Palma, and suffer no jet lag but two trips..slightly higher cost - say 400 plays 300 GBP..
5. could do a multi-leg euro jaunt..

Gentlemen, your votes please - you will decide - probably!

This may be bad news...
BMI's Mile Checker online - https://www.flybmi.com/bmi/en-gb/fre...williearn.aspx (must be logged in to view) shows the following MAN-ORD:


Calculation results:

You�ll earn the following number of destinations miles:

business class = 7630
upgraded economy = 5722
full economy = 3815
other economy = 1907
web only = 953

The W Fare Class would be a "other economy" fare, so only half miles:


miles earned on bmi
fare type no of miles earned applicable classes
business fares x 2.0 c,d,j
full economy fares + the new economy (transatlantic) fares x 1.5 y,s,u,l
economy fares x 1.0 b,k,m
discounted economy fares x 0.5 h,e,q,o,v,w
web only fares x 0.25 t

(Interestingly, their own mileage calculator conflicts with the fare-buckets: "Full Economy - Y" should earn 1.5 miles according to the T's & C's, but only 1.0x according to their little utility...!)

mmm....who knows?..."sloughlad" got full mileage in W class on BD!..aaagghhh, it's a living nightmare sorting all of this out..