gruntermen

With the current status accelerators and delta's announcement that they will roll over MQM and extend Elite Status, I decided that it might be worth doing a mileage run for the MQM. With all the uncertainty covid brings I am not going to book a mileage run trip outside the US. The longest flight I can find that does not involve repositioning is MSP-ANC-MSP. Right now I am booked for a flight in late September. The MSP - ANC flight leaves roughly 6 pm (MN time) and arrives 9 PM (AK time). I have a little over an hour wait and then the return flight departs around 10 PM (AK time) and arrives about 6 AM (MN time). I decided to use miles instead of paying cash since award tickets are currently qualifying for MQM. Price was 22,000 miles plus $5.60. If I had paid cash it would have been $308. With the status accelerator I will accrue about 7500 MQM total which should be enough to push me from Silver to Gold.

I had a couple of questions:

1. In general is this a good idea/value? Is there something I appear to be missing or have not thought of? I considered booking MSP-SEA-ANC-SEA-MSP but I don't know if the extra time this adds into my itinerary is worth the extra MQM.
2. Is there any chance that the outbound aircraft will be the same as the inbound aircraft? Both flights are a 757-200 in the same seating configuration.
3. I fly a lot of cheap late night / early morning flights (RST-MSP-STL) and I usually get upgraded to C+ on most of my legs with an upgrade to first probably about 15 percent of the time. My understanding is that this is somewhat unusual for a silver and I suspect it has something to do with my route. What are my chances of an upgrade to first on this route? The aircraft doesn't have the lie flat seats in first but the extra room would still be nice.

Thanks for the advice!

ATOBTTR

If you're going for more MQMs, HNL would be your longest domestic option. You could even route via ATL for more MQMs.

At nearly $0.014 or 1.4 cents per mile of redemption value to the cash price, yes this is probably a good redemption rate for MSP-ANC-MSP.
Adding an SEA connection adds about 330 MQMs each way. Add in the 150% bonus and multiply it by two, and going via SEA nets nearly an additional 1,000 MQMs. Whether adding connections via SEA is "worth it" depends on both the cash/miles redemption rates for MSP-ANC vs. MSP-SEA-ANC and how *you* value your time relative to the additional MQMs earned. Only you know what your time and the hassle of having those connections is worth to you.

Probably. It looks like ATL-ANC is still a 767-300 and SLC-ANC and SEA-ANC are 737-900s so if this is indeed the only 757 to ANC, then it makes sense that the aircraft that operates MSP-ANC then turns back to MSP.

Yes, routes play a factor in upgrade percentages. I can't speak for what the upgrade chances to C+ are but your chances of getting upgraded to F on MSP-ANC/ANC-MSP are probably close to nil but this will also be after the summer tourist season so it's difficult to say even "close to nil" with much certainty because what travel will look like beyond the end of the summer travel period kinda remains to be seen. But at least as a Silver you have access to book the exit row on the 757-200 (Row 26/27) which from a space standpoint is as good or better than most C+ seats except for maybe 19A/B/C and 19F.

Cory6188

I flew MSP-ANC earlier this summer (from BDL), and I couldn't clear MSP-ANC in either direction, even with a GUC applied (figured it'd be the longest trip I'd be doing this year, before my GUCs expire). Even with GUCs, I still didn't clear.

I wouldn't get your hopes up.

mdbrrb

I flew MSP to Fairbanks and back in April as a silver medallion and got upgraded to First going both directions. Then I flew MSP to ANC and back in May and also got upgraded to First both ways. It was a pretty easy way to earn MQM's at a low cost. I considered the stop in SEA as well for more MQMs but in the end decided not to which I am glad I skipped.

speede racer

It's almost certainly the same plane, **and** the same (MSP) cabin crew. This can be a little embarrassing (why are you here again?). Also, if you've had a not-so-responsive crew you get them twice, and vice versa, so the overall quality of service is either twice as good or twice as bad as average. You don't mention day of travel, but for many routes mid-week (Tues / Weds) will be lighter hence better upgrade chances. I'd also agree that this is likely after the heavy tourist season, so best upgrade chances especially on the outbound.

For my own trips like this I like to do a triangle, say MSP-SEA-ANC-MSP. Different flight crew, a little airport variety and additional opportunity for missed connections (fun!), probably more time (maybe even enough to leave the airport and see the sights) on the ground, and especially the SEA-ANC leg some great views (in the daytime, of course!).

MSPadjacent

I am doing a mileage run to ANC from MSP as well, but I was able to find a MSP-LAX-ANC-LAX-MSP routing for the same 22k miles. It is going to be a long day, but the ~11.5k MQMs will be enough to push me up to PM.

DiverDave

Nice find!

Yes, but OP is traveling in late September, and I would think upgrade chances would improve by then.

David

Yellowjj

In your case summer (peak season), compared to OP whose traveling in late September (non-peak season). He has a chance at snagging a upgrade

Cory6188

Oh, yes, good point - I missed the timeframe. I'd imagine there will be a significant difference in upgrade chances between mid June and late Sept for ANC.

gruntermen

I thought about HNL but decided against it since:
1) It would more then double the price
2) I don't think I can handle the round trip without staying the night in HNL. Hotel in HNL adds additional cost.
3) I presume that route will be more in demand and have a drastically lower chance of an upgrade.

Right now my run is set for the night of the Fri the 24th and am of Sat the 25th.

Maybe I should take another look at routing through ATL or SEA.

DiverDave

I think ATL-ANC drops during September, and in any case likely would be a significantly higher fare. SLC-ANC does operate year around.

flyerCO

Same plane, but different crew. 5.5 hours scheduled there and 5 back, plus ground time at ANC would make crew illegal to do out and back.

ATOBTTR

For the pilots, correct - they could not do this based on the specifics of the requirements for pilots. But the FAs have a different duty day limit and I'm pretty sure they could do this, albeit be right on the limits. FAs are limited to a 14 hour duty day but unlike pilots, I don't see anything about also limiting flight hours (https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/14/121.467). Not saying whether or not the FA's do indeed turn around right away and operate the immediate return - their duty day may start on an earlier flight before MSP-ANC which would then make them illegal to do the ANC-MSP return or they may still receive a crew rest because the duty day would otherwise be somewhere between around 13 hours and 14 hours even if things ran on-time based on reporting time and thus doesn't leave much room if there's a delay which could cause the crew to time-out in ANC.

flyerCO

There's also time before flight departs from MSP. The FA pay may be based on flight time, but crew duty hours start when required to report. If this requires a dead head from their duty station to MSP, the deadhead counts towards duty hours.

There's also company agreed limits. They don't want a union, so they have to be reasonable about max hours.

SuperG1955

Welcome to the world of MR's. Some personal things to consider.

While I'm not at the level of some mileage runners, I do many that are 24+ hours on a plane in 36 hours. I treat an MR as something to get done as quickly as possible and I distinguish it from trips for business or pleasure. I'd rather do 2 or 3 same day or overnight on a plane MR's than a multi-day trip. Others feel differently.

HYDRATE - drink 1/2 to 1 pint of water every hour that you're awake. I don't drink alcohol on an MR since it dehydrates you.
EXERCISE - get up, walk and stretch every 30 -60 minutes that you're awake. There are also exercises that you can do in your seat without disturbing your seatmate. Google them. If you're a window seat person, consider taking an aisle instead for freedom of movement
FOOD - assume that you're not getting upgraded and bring some healthy food but don't overeat or over-sugar. Take advantage of your ANC turn and try to find something decent to eat, It's OK to bring it on the flight.
CLOTHING - Loose fitting and comfortable. Layer for variations in cabin temperature. No blankets and pillows so if you need a head cushion, bring it. I also bring a self-inflating seat cushion for long MR's. Being able to adjust the seating or making an exit row seat softer is a big help.
SLEEP - If you can sleep on a plane, do it. Try to fit it in with your normal sleep hours.