ESpen36

I started with weekend same-day midcon turns when I was a freshman in college. Those were some long days, especially because I was GLD and didn't want to burn stickers! Quickly, I graduated to transcon turns, and from there, to four-corner runs (MIA-JFK-SEA-SAN-MIA) and then Hawaii. Eventually, I started longhaul international MRs to Deep South America, and ultimately, to Europe. The longest one I ever did was to DEL--oh boy, that one was painful! (but it wasn't a pure MR because I stayed a couple of nights)

MRs can be tremendous fun, especially assuming that your eVIPs clear!

TacomaRick

yeah I am sure flying AK wont get me as far or as many miles, so I'll look to DL and AA to really get some good runs. Based out of Sea we use AK a lot though, and AA is great for booking awards with. In November we almost went to Turks and Caicos for 35,000 AK miles with AA. Glad AK has partners like that. Above as far as DL I had a couple poor expieriences with them, but I admit its been a while so I will fly either for some miles.

aviatorzz

Also, keep an eye on AS's fare page which seems to update weekly with some awesome fares. I just snagged a few mid-con cheap trips (SEA-STL/ORD/DEN) for sub $100 o/w. Not necessarily the best fares, but it's becoming increasingly harder to find sub-$200 ai r/t fares, especially on flights that count.

Just an FYI, not necessarily a <4cpm mr, but DL has o/w ai flights LAX-MSP-ANC for $175 towards the end of January. Remember, as much as you may dislike an airline, they may be your best bet for long MRs. A re-position flight from SEA-LAX on AS can get you a few segments along with miles if you can get creative. There are actually a few really decent fares out there right now with both AA and DL, especially coast to coast flights, including FLL, RDU, PHL and a few others. AA and DL right now also have a fairly decent deal from NYC to HNL for under $500. Again, not necessarily MR material but depending on routing and airline can net you at least 10,000 EQMs.

Have fun with it and start early

TacomaRick

thanks for all the tips. Obviously w/AS its hard to combine multi city but I guess thats where DL and AA come in. I am doing just a SEA_PHL same day in January. Trying to keep it simple starting off especially with weather issues.

tenmoc

Good luck on your first run. Hopefully you have time to go into town and eat or something while there between flights.

Like many here, i like to make my runs have a little more purpose than just the mileage and therefore avoid pure turns. Travel and flying even in Y is fun for me and I would rather spend a weekend flying across the country or the world than say going to a bar with friends. I also add some value to my target cpeqm due to this. Be it dinner in SFO, or a day at Harrods or what not.

I started before I even knew about FT or really any status about 2P on UA back then by forcing coastal connections to come home and increase the mileage of trips I was taking anyway. Although these days I sometimes question the added value of that. But back then it was everything I needed to make minimum status.

The more you do it the more you'll become exposed to and the more you'll decide to try. Soon you'll wonder what life was like before hand.