njfan07

To put things in perspective, I actually did a sane MR last year by doing rdu-phl-las-sea-phx-las-rdu in 25 hours for 7,166 EQM, $223.80 all in, .0312 EQM (is sane and MR allowed in the same sentence or is that a bad sign?) .

But now, I'm alternating between seriously concerned about my sanity with laughing at my slide into insanity because I'm considering doing a RDM mileage run. Is there such a thing?!?

The details: first off, it's all UA's fault! That's probably a bad sign, right? - their fly 3 get 25K offer drove me to this state...all you arm-chair lawyers on this board - do I have a case??

Back to the details: I checked ewr-ord. Cheap flights. Easy way to do the 3 RTs except both ewr and ord are notorious for delays, especially in Jan and Feb.

So I see ewr-pit through iad. ONLY $104.60. With ewr - iad as a double miles route...and 500 mile check-in bonuses...and 1P 100% bonus...the bottom line is 3 RT = $313.80 for 6K EQM and 43K RDM.

I can do 2 ewr - iad - pit - iad - ewr runs by leaving at 6:15AM - and returning the same night at 10:55PM, providing there aren't bad delays (is this another bad sign - unreasonable optimism?). The pit and ewr turnarounds are the same planes so missed flights are minimized.

The dilemma - a day and a half, 16 different flights all for only 6K EQM. (Segments are useless for me because most of my travel is long-haul and I like it that way.) I know I shouldn't be looking at this and just WALK AWAY, but the 43K RDM is like an irresistibly sweet siren song.

So whadda ya think? Is an RDM run lunacy?

squawk7500

The co-dependancy group has been meeting _here_ . No appointment needed.

njfan07

That seemed like a sane thread when I first read it last year. I related to Sonora's post. Even declared my intention to start doing international MRs. But the New Year has dawned and with it an urge to justify an RDM run that would have me shuttling between ewr and pit!

gforce

You might be extra careful in selection of segments take care since most flights on the EWR-IAD-PIT route do not qualify for the UA 25K promo.

sbagdon

Really don't see why I'd call this lunacy. With the AA/UA super-RDM specials (DYMTWTU? Love Field? etc), which return insane RDMs (90K for $450 or so? ...?!?!), it's a super-cheap way to get a J-class award ticket. I'd give up a weekend, and do what I enjoy, to get a J-class ticket... and I'm frustarted I didn't take advantage of it. There were people posting who did the 90k points redemeption on UA 4, and even 5, times. I wouldn't do it every weekend, and would look for variety, but you get the point.

An MR is an MR, whether for RDM, or EQM. If it makes you feel better, just start applying $/EQM ratios for Elite status, and $/RDM ratios for J-class ticket.

Now, if you started doing RDM MRs that received zero EQMs (at all), we'd have to talk...

Steve B.

njfan07

What am I missing? All the flights would be on United Express/Trans States or United Express/Mesa, booking class T. Why would they not qualify?

The weird part is repeatedly seeing the same flight numbers in both directions. Flying IAD - PIT on flight # 7211 and turning around 45 minutes later and flying PIT - IAD also on flight #7211.

sbagdon

Umm... aren't east-bound flights even and west-bound flights odd?

If that's true, that's going to be heck to get miles to post. I was under thep presumption that any flight number, for a specific airline, is only used once per day.

Steve B.

GrizShel

90,000 miles for $450? Who did that? How many EQM is that?

And what does DYMTWTU stand for?

Steve, you got me again.

I know, I am nothing but a junkie, but it feels so good.

Oh, and njfan, welcome to the group. WSOFTSOFT! (sorry I couldn't resist that)

Seat 2A

What's so insane about three little runs out to Pittsburgh and back? It's winter in New Jersey. What better way to spend a coupla days! What'rya gonna do otherwise - sit at home and watch the NFL soap opera known as the Giants? Enjoy those miles!

You want "insane", check out these mileage runs:

ON THE ROAD AGAIN ~ In Pursuit of Bonus Miles

ON THE ROAD AGAIN - Three Weeks of Mileage Running around America

THE GREAT AUTUMN MILEAGE RUN OF 2002


Like any "insane" person, I seem to be the only one who sees the crystal clear logic in Mileage Runs. In two weeks, I'm off on a 63 flight, 57,000 EQM run. Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!

Bluehen1

I only had a brief second of sanity when I saw the Fly 3, Fly Free promo come out last year. Then I looked here to see if I could maximize my RDMs and not pay a fortune. I did it by flying BWI-DEN, DEN-PHX, and PHX-LAS all in one weekend (essentially BWI-DEN-PHX-LAX-LAS-SFO-PHX-DEN-BWI). Grand total for the flights was $409.90 and I got 12,670 RDM before any booking or other bonuses. Although quite high on the EQM basis, the RDM basis was great for me.

925

Lots of people do MRs for redeemable miles, and not for status miles.

In fact, by definition, a Mileage Run is for redeemable miles, while a Status Run is for EQM.

Ask yourself: Is it worth three days of my life to earn an award ticket that costs 45,000 miles? If so, fly it. If not, don't!

No sanity issues here. Simply a choice to make.

njfan07

That's one of the things that concerned me. That's the way the flights come up on UA.bomb - which won't let me book them because they are within 45 minutes of each other, and travelocty which will let me book them. Since it's the same flight, I won't miss the turnaround, but getting these to post right and getting credit for the fly3/25K bonus might be a nightmare.

Anyone know if the same flight numbers are a United Express type thing?

Example: IAD-PIT #7211 8:46AM-9:49AM; PIT-IAD #7211 10:32AM-11:34AM;
2nd example: IAD-EWR #7242 12:50PM-2:07PM; EWR-IAD #7242 2:35PM - 3:56PM. Many more examples like that on the same day.

intrepid720

It must be something like that. I flew a DEN-ELP route in the fall on United Express that had the same flight number inbound and outbound. So it's not just an east coast thing, either.

luv2ctheworld

I think that in the long run, Elite status is nice, but just an end to a means.

The 2x bonus of Elite is what I like, the rest is just icing on the cake. After all, if you took away the elite perks, and just gave me 2x miles on my flights, which ultimately is just RDM anyways, I would be perfectly happy.

I want the RDM's because in the end, that is what will get me my "free" biz class to where I want to go. The EQM's will not.

Also, status will only last 1 year, while your RDM can be used whenever you like (assuming you can get seat availability).

For those who feel status is more important, I can certainly understand. I find it very nice too. However, take away the bonus RDM, and the perks are just having some people giving you priority treatment... and that is intagible; while an actual free biz seat, yep that is very tangible.

Oh, DYMTWTU: Denver, You Mean The World To Us - A UA promo to counter some new competition (i.e. WN)

fly co to see the yanks

do these costs include incidentals (such as the cost of getting to/from the airport, parking (if applicable), etc.)? will you bring your own food? food at airports is notoriously expensive. if you don't bring your own, you should include the cost of food above and beyond what you would pay for a similarly priced meal outside of the airport. do these $ figures/computations include the opportunity cost associated with your time?