Found a great fare LGA-IAH-SLC-IAH-LGA a few weeks ago and booked it. Left LGA at 5:45am (up at 3:45). In retrospect, I think the only MRs I will do will have to be out of EWR. Arrived at the gate in plenty of time. No EUA in advance, but got it at the gate. 1 for 1 at gold for the year! Arrive IAH with enough time to grab a shower before catching the SLC flight. The SLC flight was booked to 100%, so I was hoping to get a bump and either get right back to LGA or get another certificate (that's how I paid for this trip). No luck though. It left with all the seats filled. No EUA on that flight. Get to SLC with about 40 minutes before the turn around. Bought a book because my laptop battery died and I didn't have enough time to recharge. Another thing I learned was only book trips with IFE or IFPower! SLC-IAH was upgraded, so 2-3. IAH-LGA was delayed by an hour for ATC in NYC, so we landed at 11:15pm. Home by 12:15am. Long day, but certainly memorable for my first MR (and the trip I got Plat status) 2-4 EUAs as Gold.

Congratulations on your first MR!

Be sure to check out ITA Software for fleecing out the best fares, cheapest cities and discounted inventory.

(If you want a little help on the ITA commands here's an excellent blog post a friend sent me...many useful commands in there. )

A RT without a redeye flight? Many of us would call that easy.

That sounds like a great first MR experience!

My husband and I are doing that run for our first MR on May 10th... except out of PHL instead of LGA. Ugh. We're making a weekend of it so hopefully won't be too bad... not looking forward to that train ride back to NYC on Sunday at 12:00am though!