Do you have to fly to get miles
 

Question:
Can I get the miles for just buying the ticket on US airways, or do I have to fly it too?
They are giving 5000 bonus miles for buying online, and have a fare to boston for $69, problem is, i don't have time to fly to boston for a night, so do I actually have to fly, or do I get the miles for just buying the ticket??

You gotta fly. The miles post when you board. Many of us have thrown away return tickets because the RT was cheaper than the one-way. We would love to get miles on those pitched tickets.

a good friend of mine says: "sometimes check-in (but please without luggage) is sufficient ..."

Should this good friend be right, that would be nice... A good friend of mine will be moving to Germany this summer, and will be buying a R/T ticket with no intention of using the return. I suppose he (or she) could then take an hour of his time to check in on the return flight, without luggage of course, and see what happens.

Actually you don't have to fly to get mileage, and without fear of sanctions for violating the Contract of Carriage, or FF program Terms and Conditions, the Continental system timetable lists a number of "flights" (CO4324, ABE-EWR for example) with equipment listed as "BUS", which according to the Aircraft Type chart is "Surface Transportation"

does anyone know of any "flights" on watercraft?

[This message has been edited by Old Gold (edited 03-30-2000).]

Old Gold... can you upgrade those "flights"??? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

SMessier - some airlines do match up those that checked in with those that actually boarded the flight (have you ever been at the airport and they are calling a particular passenger's name because they have checked in but not boarded)... Also, they usually are even more diligent on International flights...

Actually, I was once the person they were calling. I was flying DCA-YUL, and AC decided we should leave early on account of snow in YUL. (Imagine that!) Somehow I was the only had that had not boarded.

I was in fact just really surprised to hear it would ever work by just checking in, but it seems the odds would be quite high against success.

geo1004:

You can't upgrade, it's all Y class, but every seat is either a window or an aisle!