JS

This is too easy...

BNA-CVG-SDF-ATL-JAN for $34 one way (when Southwest is charging that)

Total 1000 MQM's at 3.4 cents each.

Granted, it would take forever to collect 5,000 or 10,000 more MQM's, but you didn't ask for fast & cheap, just cheap.

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"Yippie-kay-yay, Mr. Falcon!" -- John McClane, Die Hard II As Seen on TV

Diver90

Interesting angle. I would say that the ATL - HNL - ATL for $1200+ in Biz Class would be the most economical (<$.07 / MQM), comfortable way to get 18K+ MQM's in 24 hours while riding in a BE seat as well.

But I'll be ready to be topped by others.

JS

Maybe a better question to ask is:

What itinerary has the lowest dollar-hours per MQM?

ATL-HNL is 9:40, which is 0.64 $hr/MQM.

The BNA-CVG-SDF-ATL-JAN one takes 7 1/4 hours, which is 0.25 $hr/MQM.

Ha! I still win!

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"Yippie-kay-yay, Mr. Falcon!" -- John McClane, Die Hard II As Seen on TV

Canarsie

Actually, JS, I did make sure that the question I asked was intended for the purpose of qualifying for the Medallion level of one’s choice for 2004. However, the amount of time one spends in the air to acquire those low-cost Medallion Qualification Miles should indeed be a factor.

I do appreciate your input. Maybe — by the time this thread becomes inactive — your post will have won with the lowest-cost Medallion Qualification Miles.

However, what I am hoping (and the intended purpose of this thread) is that, with the combination of your answer and everybody else’s contribution to this thread, those Delta SkyMiles members who actually use the information contributed to this thread to their benefit and successfully achieve the sought-after level of Medallion status for 2004 will ultimately be the real winners.

opus17

How about a round-the-world business class ticket on Skyteam?

Flying_Duck

Now, it is clear that those living in cities with AirTran etc. competition have an advantage, as it is hard for those of us who are not to compete with the LAX-ATL A-fare.

Thus, I do think handicaps to disadvantaged cities are in order, even when able to buy a SLC-LAX --> LAX-ATL and return ticket for not much more than the LAX-ATL A-fare, as it will require an overnight stay to make such an itinerary possible. Since we are talking about MQM-runs, part of the rule - or fun - should be to complete the run without an overnight, that is, complete it between the first flight in the morning and the last flight in the evening. I personally find that in addition to the official rule set out by Canarsie, finding the maximum MQM's you can rake in during a days travel for the least amount of money is what mileage runners really need to know!.

With this in mind, the best I can come up with for those of us living in SLC is i.e. SLC-JFK 11/1/03 leaving 10:05 am and arriving back 8:59 PM on an M-fare outbound and K-fare home bound (both available for upgrades by the way!) for $666.50 and 4977.5 MQM's. If not a PM and wanting to go first, An A-fare on the same route will cost at $1,416 for 7,964 miles (even though the same A-fare can be gotten for SLC-BOS and there generate 8,420 MQM's)

JoeFlyer

Amazingly, the least expensive MQM's around are via the Delta AmEx Platinum for everyone that spends more than $25k a year on a credit card.

$135 = 10,000 MQM's = $0.0135 per MQM

Erasmus

You want MQMs cheap? You're all looking on the wrong airline. NW is *much* better. Heck, without even a fare sale, here's a quick example:

MIA->SIN 21534 miles with most direct routing (MIA/MSP/NRT/SIN)---I didn't even try to find a long or circuitous one.

Q Fare: $753.04 (10/14-21) = .0349 $/MQM

Expedia even lists a $693 Q fare which I wasn't bored enough to try and find a date for, which would bring it down to .031 $/MQM.

[This message has been edited by Erasmus (edited 10-07-2003).]

Dave M

Not hypothetical...

See my two posts of 6/13/03 here for Mrs. Dave M's and my actual itineraries for four BOS-ATL-HNL-ATL-BOS trips in the first seven weeks of 2004. Total cost for each of us - $1,232 X 4 = $4,928. Total MQMs = 87,168. Cost per MQM = .056535.

That plus the 10K from AMEX credit card gets us within 2,832 of PM for 2004. I think we can figure out how to make it, even if we spend most of the rest of the year on other airlines!

hfly

How about an AF H fare flying IST-PPT, with some creative routing?? You could get the actual miles RT up to about 26,500 and would receive the same amount of MQM's for about $1100. Or you could go for a K fare for about $1500 and reap appx 40,000 MQM's for the same trip This puts you under 4 cents a mile, catapults you past silver, almost to Gold in just a couple of flights.

Minormi

Just found out about this forum. Need about 15K MQMs to make Platinum, so I did some research and came up with a MCO-ATL-LIM-ATL-MCO trip. Will earn almost enough miles, never leave my time zone, and be back home in less than 24 hours. Works out to a factor of 10.93, which doesn't stack up all that well against some of the others I have seen here. Oh well, only real problem is to get through immigration and customs, get boarding pass, get through security and reboard in less than 2 hours and 13 minutes.

billyg

Why do that just for free Crown Room? What am missing?

Billy G

Seat1A

if you're looking for a relatively small number of MQM's, the weekend refundable shuttle fare (MSHLGA) isn't bad for a quick hit. it's almost 12.5c/MQM, but it's 1500 MQM's in three hours for <$200.

Dave M

This thread isn't about whether to go for PM. It's about how to do it.

There are numerous other threads that address the pros and cons associated with the answers to your questions.

Minormi

Why do that just for free Crown Room? What am missing?
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This thread isn't about whether to go for PM. It's about how to do it.

There are numerous other threads that address the pros and cons associated with the answers to your questions.

Already have Crown Room. Will not otherwise earn Platinum status this year. Looking for immediate upgrades once Platinum.