Hit the Wall!
May 13, 2013 | 6:32 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: North America
Programs: DL Diamond, former UA1K MM lifetime (left UA for DL), FPCPlat, DL Biz and Plat Amex
Posts: 644
Hit the Wall!
we just cancelled BOS/BCN executive first tickets this week on AC. The penalty is a hefty $400@ and we bought them r/t ai for about $1800US from a recommendation we found here in FT.
when does MRing become too much?
a thread of four r/ts to HNL a couple months ago drew many comments, including one from me. Is it worth it?
since early Feb we have flown 85000 miles on UA and 67,000 on DL.
no pure MRs, with a couple exceptions.
I am unwilling to climb down another jetway, even for a flatbed cross-pond seat. I am going to drive for awhile and sit on the beach. :-)
Have any of you hit the wall and just had it with flying/traveling/MRing?
when does MRing become too much?
a thread of four r/ts to HNL a couple months ago drew many comments, including one from me. Is it worth it?
since early Feb we have flown 85000 miles on UA and 67,000 on DL.
no pure MRs, with a couple exceptions.
I am unwilling to climb down another jetway, even for a flatbed cross-pond seat. I am going to drive for awhile and sit on the beach. :-)
Have any of you hit the wall and just had it with flying/traveling/MRing?
May 13, 2013 | 8:45 pm
#2
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Western Wisconsin
Programs: DL DM, HH Devalued Diamond, Hertz President's Club
Posts: 799
I have not. I travel 95% for business and it is 2 or 3 weeks per month. I want very badly to try the run to JNB this year at some point. I did my first ever LONG MR this year to IST overnight and back. I loved it - but as I survey your numbers, very impressive and yet I can understand why you might want to skip a pre-flight safety demo for a weekend.
May 13, 2013 | 11:31 pm
#3
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: May 2002
Location: YEG
Programs: HH Silver
Posts: 57,058
Asking as a poster is it the cancellation fee that propelled you toward this wall or was it merely the last push in that direction? And if it was the last push why was it as the fee should've been a known consequence as presumably you received and read the fare rules at time of booking.
May 14, 2013 | 3:19 pm
#4
Join Date: Apr 2003
Programs: UA *G 1MM LT United Club & Global Entry
Posts: 2,756
and traveled more than enough miles to circle the globe twice.I think I will carry on for now - until the MR worthy fares dry up, or UA changes its FF program and adds a revenue based component.
SunLover
May 14, 2013 | 8:25 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: North America
Programs: DL Diamond, former UA1K MM lifetime (left UA for DL), FPCPlat, DL Biz and Plat Amex
Posts: 644
The fee made it a harder decision to cancel
Asking as a poster is it the cancellation fee that propelled you toward this wall or was it merely the last push in that direction? And if it was the last push why was it as the fee should've been a known consequence as presumably you received and read the fare rules at time of booking.
I actually like flying AC, and have a place in PEI as well as NY-area.
But my excitement over the fare and flying upfront in a flat bed to BCN (a place I love) was exceeded by my exhaustion.
May 14, 2013 | 8:32 pm
#6
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS
Posts: 15,027
we just cancelled BOS/BCN executive first tickets this week on AC. The penalty is a hefty $400@ and we bought them r/t ai for about $1800US from a recommendation we found here in FT.
........
I am unwilling to climb down another jetway, even for a flatbed cross-pond seat. I am going to drive for awhile and sit on the beach. :-)
........
I am unwilling to climb down another jetway, even for a flatbed cross-pond seat. I am going to drive for awhile and sit on the beach. :-)
May 14, 2013 | 8:50 pm
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: North America
Programs: DL Diamond, former UA1K MM lifetime (left UA for DL), FPCPlat, DL Biz and Plat Amex
Posts: 644
if I could figure out how to get there without flying again, I would
But, sometimes the process (security lines, even with 1k status), hurrying up and waiting, in-flight meals, tiny bathrooms, crying babies and people with loud coughs that they don't cover, delays, changes in equipment and long, long flights and layovers, and airport restaurants, and not being allowed to carry bottled water or suntan lotion without checking a bag) takes its toll.
I sound like a cranky old woman...
but am just tired of flying.
May 14, 2013 | 9:10 pm
#8
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 282
lol. I know. I would be reacting the same way to anyone who was crazy enough to give up front row flatbed executive class (on a two class cabin flight) seats to a place they loved and pay $800 for the privilege of doing it.
But, sometimes the process (security lines, even with 1k status), hurrying up and waiting, in-flight meals, tiny bathrooms, crying babies and people with loud coughs that they don't cover, delays, changes in equipment and long, long flights and layovers, and airport restaurants, and not being allowed to carry bottled water or suntan lotion without checking a bag) takes its toll.
I sound like a cranky old woman...
but am just tired of flying.
But, sometimes the process (security lines, even with 1k status), hurrying up and waiting, in-flight meals, tiny bathrooms, crying babies and people with loud coughs that they don't cover, delays, changes in equipment and long, long flights and layovers, and airport restaurants, and not being allowed to carry bottled water or suntan lotion without checking a bag) takes its toll.
I sound like a cranky old woman...
but am just tired of flying.
May 14, 2013 | 11:03 pm
#11
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: The Castro, San Francisco, California
Programs: UA, DL, AA, Aegean Air, Cal Alumni (go Bears!)
Posts: 594
Me too. I sort of hit the wall with all the searching. Though I haven't flown anywhere near 1MM miles on Star A, I found that I was spending way too much time at this blasted computer screen, searching, trial and error, searching more, just to find the "deal." Finding the deal was the adrenaline rush, not the actual trip. I found that I flew places that I didn't care about very much.
Since I always have loved to travel and SEE other countries and cultures, the one and two night turns just didn't do it for me.
Then on top of that, the "culture" of Tricking has gotten such that it is unfriendly and the polar opposite of what the forum originally was....that is to SHARE your finds. It just became a turn off.
So with the crazy high fares to Europe from N. America this year, I still will pay retail most likely, to go where I WANT to go, not where the deal is.
Sounds crazy to true MRers, I'm sure. But if I calculated how much time I spent "tricking" fares rather than working, I'm still coming out way ahead.
Since I always have loved to travel and SEE other countries and cultures, the one and two night turns just didn't do it for me.
Then on top of that, the "culture" of Tricking has gotten such that it is unfriendly and the polar opposite of what the forum originally was....that is to SHARE your finds. It just became a turn off.
So with the crazy high fares to Europe from N. America this year, I still will pay retail most likely, to go where I WANT to go, not where the deal is.
Sounds crazy to true MRers, I'm sure. But if I calculated how much time I spent "tricking" fares rather than working, I'm still coming out way ahead.
May 17, 2013 | 5:48 am
#12
Join Date: May 2008
Location: WAS
Programs: AA Ex Plt
Posts: 1,657
See bolding - How did you decide you were at that point? My heads spins when I think about the cost of going to a place I really (really) want to see rather than just back the a place I've seen 4 or 5 times on a cheap or tricked fare. One trip to more ideal or multiple trips to less ideal - a real first world problem, who complains about having to visit a place like Paris too often?
Cheers
Cheers
Me too. I sort of hit the wall with all the searching. Though I haven't flown anywhere near 1MM miles on Star A, I found that I was spending way too much time at this blasted computer screen, searching, trial and error, searching more, just to find the "deal." Finding the deal was the adrenaline rush, not the actual trip. I found that I flew places that I didn't care about very much.
Since I always have loved to travel and SEE other countries and cultures, the one and two night turns just didn't do it for me.
Then on top of that, the "culture" of Tricking has gotten such that it is unfriendly and the polar opposite of what the forum originally was....that is to SHARE your finds. It just became a turn off.
So with the crazy high fares to Europe from N. America this year, I still will pay retail most likely, to go where I WANT to go, not where the deal is.
Sounds crazy to true MRers, I'm sure. But if I calculated how much time I spent "tricking" fares rather than working, I'm still coming out way ahead.
Since I always have loved to travel and SEE other countries and cultures, the one and two night turns just didn't do it for me.
Then on top of that, the "culture" of Tricking has gotten such that it is unfriendly and the polar opposite of what the forum originally was....that is to SHARE your finds. It just became a turn off.
So with the crazy high fares to Europe from N. America this year, I still will pay retail most likely, to go where I WANT to go, not where the deal is.
Sounds crazy to true MRers, I'm sure. But if I calculated how much time I spent "tricking" fares rather than working, I'm still coming out way ahead.