Suppose I need to fly 8 segments from RDU (or LAX) at some point before, say, February 28, 2016, and want to fly them as cheaply and quickly as possible.

What is the best tool for determining what the cheapest and easiest 4-segment route out of and back into a given airport would be?

Thanks in advance!

Put PIT and BOS in the mix.

Also .... why 2/28? Status MQS tabulation ends on 12/31 each year

That's going to take some work. Air fare search engines are optimized for price between two airports (or proximate origin and proximate destination), not for segment count 'going anywhere'. Increasing origin/destination and/or date flexibility just makes the number of routings explode.

That said, I would look for O and D airports served by a number of low fare carriers (so FLL over MIA, BWI over IAD, etc.) and forcing DL segment counts with ITA Matrix advanced routing codes like this:



http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Thanks so much to both of you.

I'll pick a weekend at some point and aim to fly to a well served airport. BWI and FLL are good suggestions for me, and I'll see if I can't get something through PIT or BOS.

Why February 28, 2016 (instead of February 28, 2015, January 31, 2016, or even February 29, 2016)? What are you trying to do? Remember too that segments don't roll over and the MQD requirements can make it hard to earn status early in the year, even with rollover.

Instead of blindly trying things, think of airports with cheap tickets and not a lot of direct service on DL, but not so little as to be risky or require small RJs. Is the availability of lounges a criterion for you?

Some ideas for destinations might be BWI, BNA, STL, MKE, DEN, etc. MDW is cheap (due to WN competition, like BWI and STL, although for STL DL wants to fight AA) but has frequent nonstops from MSP and DTW. SEA and NYC are very competitive markets for DL, but there are too many nonstops.

If you can't force a routing from RDU through ATL, could you drive to some nearby smaller airport with fewer nonstops? Similarly, rather than LAX, can you use some nearby airport to force more connections, although some of the LA area airports will be more expensive.

Yes, February 29, 2016. I hadn't accounted for the Leap Day. My status will soon shift from earned to complimentary and I have to fly 8 segments to qualify for the 2015 Choice Benefit.

So I was looking for something that would, between the 20,000 miles I'd receive as the benefit and the miles I'd fly on this route, make sense. It may be just an academic exercise, but I hadn't seen any posts specifically addressing this topic.

I did a little searching on ITA using the tips from 3CforMe (thanks again). I have lounge access, so that would be a significant plus - thanks to MSPeconomist for reminding me of that.

I'll try looking at smaller airports (SNA, GSO, BUR) and see what comes up. I'm kind of looking for something in the $350 range for the total flight, which doesn't make it easy, but I don't mind searching around and it's not a killer to me if it doesn't work out.

I haven't even reached the stage of trying to convert something from ITA into an actual Delta flight.

Thanks again for your help.

Do "lifetime" PMs get choice benefits if they fly eight DL segments?

Is the February 29, 2016 date really correct? I would think it would be on a calendar year basis or, failing that, have a January 31 deadline since the DL program year changes in 2016.

I have medallion status through American Express, and I almost exclusively fly on Award Redemptions. (As a sidelight, that makes the discussions of the changes to the Delta program, for me, a lot of "interesting, but doesn't apply to me." This particular change, by contrast, applies to me but not to most people on here.)

The Feb 29 date is a presumption on my part - one has until that date to select a Choice Award, and one has to fly the eight segments in order to claim said award. I'm making the guess that one merely has to complete the segments by the time the award expires (or shortly before). Delta isn't specific about that on their Choice Benefits page.

I mostly said it as a joke - if I were going to do this I would do it well before then.

EDIT: I found this language on the site (you're probably aware of it already):.

"Members who are awarded complimentary Diamond or Platinum Medallion status must fly a minimum of 14 or 8 Delta-marketed and -operated flight segments after status is awarded to be eligible for Choice Benefits, respectively.
Eligibility for Choice Benefits is based upon a status change to Platinum or Diamond Medallion within a given status year. Members who qualify for 2015 status in 2014 will only be eligible for 2015 Choice Benefits. Choice Benefits selections for 2014 status need to be made by February 28, 2015; selections for 2015 status need to be made by January 31, 2016."


I was unaware of that change. I suspect you're right about the January 31 date.

I would assume that the 8 segment must be flown in the calendar year, just as if you were earning status for the year by flying. Then you would have through the end of January (starting in 2016) to pick the choice benefits.