Youngest solo mileage runner?
Dec 29, 2018, 11:21 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: CHA
Programs: DL-DM (1.75MM), Bonvoy LifeTi, Hertz-PC
Posts: 618
Youngest solo mileage runner?
I've created some little Delta monsters...latest of which is my youngest daughter (of 4)
She just flew CHA-ATL-CHA to get the additional $68 in spend to maintain FO...at age 15.
Her gate inbound was D44, departing D42 with 90 minutes to make the connection.
My 3rd daughter earlier this year flew to the Galapagos with a school field trip, then solo from Quito down to SCL to go to a wedding of a friend we met in Chile a few years back on a missionary trip....she had just turned 16 and is also FO (that she's keen on maintaining as well)
Most of my daughters seem to have the quest of getting someplace in the world BEFORE I do! All four have over 100k SM and I let them know that they've done all this at an age that's younger that when I had taken my first flight!
Hopefully, there are others of us out there that have traveling families. I find it delightful that we get to travel so much, all over the world at a younger age - so that we have memories that last a lifetime (instead of waiting until retirement to start traveling.)
Happy Holidays to All!
She just flew CHA-ATL-CHA to get the additional $68 in spend to maintain FO...at age 15.
Her gate inbound was D44, departing D42 with 90 minutes to make the connection.
My 3rd daughter earlier this year flew to the Galapagos with a school field trip, then solo from Quito down to SCL to go to a wedding of a friend we met in Chile a few years back on a missionary trip....she had just turned 16 and is also FO (that she's keen on maintaining as well)
Most of my daughters seem to have the quest of getting someplace in the world BEFORE I do! All four have over 100k SM and I let them know that they've done all this at an age that's younger that when I had taken my first flight!
Hopefully, there are others of us out there that have traveling families. I find it delightful that we get to travel so much, all over the world at a younger age - so that we have memories that last a lifetime (instead of waiting until retirement to start traveling.)
Happy Holidays to All!
Last edited by BHammy; Dec 29, 2018 at 11:22 am Reason: added word
Dec 29, 2018, 12:40 pm
#2
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
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At least you don't have to pay UM fees for those MRs.
There was a participant here, cellistoo, with a toddler daughter who really loved flying DL, including cockpit visits and DL wings. I met her at the big DL ATL DO and later saw the whole family in an airport, so I've met the kid and father too. The mother traveled somewhat for business and I would guess was a Platinum for a number of years before the merger, and I think the kid had at least several years of FO status.
There have been threads here on young elites, with the terrible twos not being totally rare. There's also some underage Canadian kid on FT who's a professional musician and did lots of business travel in his late teens, mostly alone. He's probably about 21 now, but had issues with being too young to enter the airport lounges he was entitled to use as a high tier AC FFer.
There was a participant here, cellistoo, with a toddler daughter who really loved flying DL, including cockpit visits and DL wings. I met her at the big DL ATL DO and later saw the whole family in an airport, so I've met the kid and father too. The mother traveled somewhat for business and I would guess was a Platinum for a number of years before the merger, and I think the kid had at least several years of FO status.
There have been threads here on young elites, with the terrible twos not being totally rare. There's also some underage Canadian kid on FT who's a professional musician and did lots of business travel in his late teens, mostly alone. He's probably about 21 now, but had issues with being too young to enter the airport lounges he was entitled to use as a high tier AC FFer.
Last edited by MSPeconomist; Dec 29, 2018 at 12:45 pm
Dec 29, 2018, 3:35 pm
#3
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. / Washington, DC
Programs: AA PPro/DL PLT, PPass, Marriott / Hilton Gold, JetBlue Mosaic, Hertz Presidents Circle, Amex Plat
Posts: 4,630
Back in my college days I always did a mileage run towards the 3rd quarter of the year to maintain status. Most people thought I was crazy, then bullied me when we traveled together and I had my elite privileges.
There was a particular class trip to Asia where we took many TPAC and intra asia KE flights and these were booked in a fare that earned 150% MQM by the university travel agent, so I hit the jackpot on that year since I no longer needed a mileage run to earn Gold status.
Now I'm entering the 30's and although Delta is still my #1 preference, I didn't make an effort to get to 50,000 MQM through a mileage run so I'm dropping from PM to FO. I needed to buy my last flight of the year in F and the price was over 2K for a DC-SDQ flight, ended up booking on another airline in F for less than $800.
There was a particular class trip to Asia where we took many TPAC and intra asia KE flights and these were booked in a fare that earned 150% MQM by the university travel agent, so I hit the jackpot on that year since I no longer needed a mileage run to earn Gold status.
Now I'm entering the 30's and although Delta is still my #1 preference, I didn't make an effort to get to 50,000 MQM through a mileage run so I'm dropping from PM to FO. I needed to buy my last flight of the year in F and the price was over 2K for a DC-SDQ flight, ended up booking on another airline in F for less than $800.
Jan 2, 2019, 11:50 am
#5
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 1,885
I did my first mileage run in college at age 20 to hit FO for the first time back before the MQD requirement. I picked the cheapest trip I could find to squeak over 25K miles, which was a roundtrip on a Tuesday so I missed one class for it. Honesty being the best policy, I told my professor why I was missing class. That's when I found out he used to do the same thing on UA before he retired as an executive. He was thrilled!! That put me in his good graces, he told everyone how amazing I was, and business school was really smooth sailing after that!
Jan 2, 2019, 12:40 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SEA (the REAL Washington); occasionally in the other Washington (DCA area)
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before MRing was a thing ...
in the early 1970s I took several of Mohawk's "Weekends Unlimited" for $39 or $49; bought a 21-day "Liberty Fare" for something like $299 on USAir in Dec 1975/Jan 1976 that got me 27 flights around the northeast (started in Ithaca on 22 Dec; went home to DC; left on 27 Dec and visited friends in Chicago, Cleveland, Louisville, NYC, Evansville, and Boston before returning to campus on 12 Jan); also took 15 flights on Eastern between 14-31 Dec 1979 for $399 (SEA-PDX-ATL-MIA-ORD/ORD-SJU/STT-MIA-DCA/DCA-ATL-LAX/LAX-ATL-SJU/STX-MIA-LGA/LGA-ATL-SEA)
Jan 2, 2019, 3:08 pm
#7
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Washington, DC, Chapel Hill, NC (RDU)
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Posts: 5,626
bought a 21-day "Liberty Fare" for something like $299 on USAir in Dec 1975/Jan 1976 that got me 27 flights around the northeast (started in Ithaca on 22 Dec; went home to DC; left on 27 Dec and visited friends in Chicago, Cleveland, Louisville, NYC, Evansville, and Boston before returning to campus on 12 Jan);
Jan 2, 2019, 3:50 pm
#8
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: NYC, MSY
Programs: DL DM, 1.5MM, NEXUS, Sky Club Lifetime, Admirals Club Lifetime, LowValueCustomer everywhere
Posts: 6,447
Not solo but there was a lady on CO who took her 5 year old daughter on trips in order to spend more time with her. IIRC, the 5 yo was a Platinum.
It appears that the PMCO Forum s no longer available so I can't double check the details. I did meet the mother at the last CO Do and she was a delightful person and caring mother who had a job that required extensive travel, mostly TPAC IIRC.
It appears that the PMCO Forum s no longer available so I can't double check the details. I did meet the mother at the last CO Do and she was a delightful person and caring mother who had a job that required extensive travel, mostly TPAC IIRC.
Jan 2, 2019, 7:53 pm
#9
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: MSP
Programs: Delta PM, Hyatt Discoverist, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,303
I took my 3-year-old with me to Boston last month on my end-of-year mileage run. I needed 1k miles, and mom was only OK with it if I didn't leave her alone with two kids. So, the 3-year-old came with me. He's got a nice SkyMiles balance, but hasn't made elite status — yet. :-D