taddowww

hi all,

I was wondering if any one knows of any way to earn OP miles between LAX and the SF bay area. I've searched all over, but can't seem to find any except Alaska, which only appears to run 1 flight per day on its metal, which wouldn't fit my schedule. (all the other Alaska flights are operated by AA. I assume I wouldn't be able to get OP miles on those flights). Any thoughts would be great. It's not a huge deal, but I just got elite status and it stinks that I won't be able to take advantage of any of the benefits (bonus miles etc)

thanks

aacharya

You're out of luck, unless you're willing to fly out of your way to get those miles. (LAX-IAH-SFO comes to mind)

However, I assume by November you could fly UA and earn OP miles.

rolov

Welcome to FT
You could go the long way LAX-IAH-SFO and later this year you will be able to earn miles on UA flights so LAX-SFO will work.

taddowww

Yeah I figured as much, but I was hoping someone would have a brilliant idea The LAX-IAH-SFO thing would be funny, esp with the DEQM. Unfortunately I just dont have the time. Plus I actually tried to look it up once, and they wouldnt spit out an itinerary for my on co.com.

Thanks tho.

sbm12

There is a 1x daily AS flight that is actually operated by AS. The rest of them are operated by AA and get no CO miles. But the AS operated flight will get you CO miles.

quantumslip

You would probably need to do a multi-leg (LAX-IAH, IAH-SFO) to get something. If you do have time for a MR, point it to a nearby city (LAX-AUS, AUS-SFO for example) to eek out extra miles

fozz

Unless you're willing to take the one AS flight, you're kind of stuck. AS used to have a 4x OAK-SNA flight but that seems to be gone. They also did a breif stint with SAN-SFO, but that too is gone after WN came back on the route.

twoaisleplane

Since you say "SF Bay Area" rather than just SFO, it might be worth mentioning that AS also runs two daily flights (some days only one) between LAX and Santa Rosa (STS), which I presume would earn CO miles, in the off-chance those flights work better with your schedule. Not sure where you are headed, but if it's the wine country by any chance, Santa Rosa can actually be more convenient.

ContinentalFan

Why don't you play around with AS and see if you can connect through Portland or Seattle? If you don't mind driving, try searching on Palm Springs (PSP) to SFO airports--I recall AS flying to airports in the area.

entropy

Just fly VX or UA.

its <500 miles

kingalien

Nah, that's too easy of a solution .

Bookexp

The only way you can earn CO miles on LAX - SFO is to use CO brand or AMEX credit card.

Totoro

I once priced out SFO-SJC with IAH connection for only $200+. No DEQM at the time, and I didn't purchase the itinerary. I would have loved to see the TA's face if I checked the max baggage allowance.

ContinentalFan

Your itinerary motivated me, so for a lark, I just checked LAX to SFO connecting in EWR. Here's the itinerary

June 08 CO1403 LAX/EWR
June 08 CO 348 EWR/SFO
June 11 CO 349 SFO/EWR
June 11 CO 702 EWR/LAX

Base price is $465; taxes brings it up to $507.40; I usually pay AA more for the privilege of a direct flight!

So, taddowww, I don't know your travel dates, but your problem is solved. Connecting through EWR gives you quality time with CO and its employees, a very reasonably priced fare, a great story and 20,076 EQMs (2.5 cents per EQM isn't bad = Platinum for less than $2k). Make us proud and fly through EWR!

For those interested, I just checked LAX/SAN on the same dates connecting through EWR. It's the same price, which means it's about 40% less than what AA charges me for a non-stop.

Thank you, Totoro, for sending me on this quest.

Mats

I'm going to LA this weekend. Although I'm a Continental Gold, I wasn't about to go by way of Salt Lake City.

I bought a ticket on Virgin for $128 round trip, including taxes. Space-available upgrades are $50 each way, so maybe I'll get one of those.

I figured that I'll earn enough miles on Continental and its partners on other trips.