sinfonia

Hello, all. I am brand new to FT and am hoping someone can help me. I need 4100 more miles to get Platinum and am trying my hand at my first MR. I read the MR primer, the primer 2nd post, etc. but I am still having trouble finding out how to actually book a MR. If any of you veterans could give me some advice, I'd be most grateful. I am trying to fly from LAX (or SNA, or ONT, or Burbank -- I am not picky) to OTH (or EUG, or even PDX if need be). I used ITA (which is incredible) and it came up with LAX-SFO-SEA-EUG-SEA-OAK-SNA. This comes out to the 4100 miles that I need. So NOW my question is: how do I get this? I went to aa.com and used multi-city but it doesn't give me enough spaces to enter all of these cities, and if I try to leave out some of the cities as previously suggested here, it actually gives me a direct flight (oh no!) skipping them. What am I doing wrong? I tried it on travelocity, expedia, etc. as well and I just am unsure of how to enter in this exact itinerary anywhere. Is there anywhere that when you book, you actually enter in each airport of the exact itinerary you want, or how does it work? I DID try entering into aa.com multi-city's page each of these airports through EUG (which is essentially one way) and it came back with a fare of almost $500 but on ITA, the fare begins at $293. I can get the flight farely straight (just one connection) through expedia for $283 so I don't know WHAT I'm doing wrong. Could anyone please help me figure out how to actually book it and get what I want, and if anyone has any better suggestions of even getting MORE miles out of this, that'd be great too!
Thanks!

sinfonia

Okay, so I completed travel. I ended up just calling up Alaska Airlines and telling them I wanted this specific schedule:
LAX-BOI-SEA-PDX-OTH-PDX-SEA-BOI-LAX, and that I wanted Q class. I had previously tried to do it on Expedia but Expedia wouldn't let me see the rules, so I didn't want to buy without them. The agent asked me how much I saw it for and I quoted her the price ITA had it for. She said that is the exact same price they had it for, so she helped me book the ticket.
So now my question is: what can I learn from this experience? Could I have extended it even further (without doubling back which is likely against the rules)? Any more tips?
Alright, so my first MR was a mini one, but I'm learning, and ready to ramp up! Next time, I must remember to bring more than two books with that many flights! And better trail mix!

NewTraveler

Thanks for the info. I too have yet to make a mileage run but may need to at the end of this year. I'm also based at LAX. Next time you make a run, let me know.
What ended up being the cost per mile on that run?

-Matt

sinfonia

Hi Matt. Shall do. Actually (I know this makes me certifiably geeky and my friends think I need help), it was kinda fun. :-)
The cost per actual mile flown on that run was 13.58 cents per mile. However, because most of these flights (6 of 8 of them) were all under 500 miles, and both Alaska Air and American Airlines (I flew Alaska but got American points for it, and even used it towards my elite status Plat challenge) give min. 500 miles and points for each of these flights (so not only did I get those miles but they are all elite-qualifying), my cost per mile comes out to 8.58 cents/mile. BUT. Figure this. When my SEA-PDX flight got cancelled, and they had to book me on the next flight, they gave me a Y ticket for the next two segments (each 500 miles min.) which gives me an extra 500 miles of elite-qualifying for it. So my total elite-qualifying cost/mile comes out to 7.69 cents/mile. My total cost/mile earned (including bonus miles for Gold status) is 6.86 cents/mile. I'm new at this (this was my first MR) so I'm pleased with it, though I am trying to learn how to get this down better and milk even more out of the thing. Right now, I'm looking at a trip from either: Los Angeles to Paris, Los Angeles to Jackson, WY, or Los Angeles to Phoenix, and trying to figure out the best way to get the most out of these. For some reason, I can't seem to find a flight to Paris with more than one stop, I have no idea why!
Let me know if you make a MR and how it comes out!