ranferi64

Hello. I am very new to this.
I've been a Continental OnePass member since 2007, and now it merged into MilagePlus. I've never been able to get Elite Status, but this year I want to make it.

I make multiple trips per year to Mexico City, and it would be nice to get the Elite perks.
So in general, what is easier/better... to get Elite status by the total number of miles, or the Premier Qualifying Segments?

At this very moment, I have 3,720 year-to-date Premier Miles, and 8 year-to-date Premier Segments.
Lifetime Flight Miles: 9,054.

My home airport is AUS, but I can drive and fly out of SAT too. What would be the best way to get Premier status fastest?? Thanks!!

EDIT: It should be obvious, but I'll state it. My frequent flyer program is currently with United Airlines.

dat4life

Welcome to FlyerTalk, ranferi64.

To achieve Premier Silver for the remainder of 2013 and for all of 2014, you must fly either 25,000 Premier Qualifying Miles (PQM), or 30 Premier Qualifying Segments (PQS) by December 31, 2013. Whether the Premier Silver benefits are worth the time and effort...that's entirely up to you. Here's some more information regarding Premier Status.

As far as mileage run options out of Austin, United has cut capacity to Austin, IIRC, meaning fares may be a bit higher due to less supply. Look to other cities, like San Antonio, for better fares. You are in the right place to look for cheap fares, so keep on checking back. But if you do stumble on to a nice fare out of those cities, please share because I am sure a lot folks over here would like to know as well.

On a side note, the general rule for a good mileage run is something that runs less than 4 cents per mile (CPM).

clacko

the year is half over....you have flown less than 4k mi.....unless you see a big jump in your flying, forget mile runs.....

i would look for the cheapest fare & forget ua....

ranferi64

you guys make some great points. I do plan to fly often in the near future to Mexico.
Past round trips this year:

Feb 22: AUS-IAH-MEX-IAH-AUS, UA using my reward miles, so I didn't earn any PQM or PQS.
Apr 1: SAT-MEX-SAT, Airtran, so didn't earn any miles since it was a different airline.
May 3: SAT-IAH-MEX-IAH-SAT, UA earned 1908 miles and 4 PQS, at 20.1 CPM.
June 7: AUS-IAH-MEX-IAH-AUS, UA earned 1812 miles and 4 PQS, at 28.6 CPM.

My girlfriend lives in Mexico, do I plan to visit her every 4-6 weeks, so I think I should be able to get Premier status with United by the end of the year, right?

I guess what I am trying to ask is if there are better routes I can take to fly to Mexico to get the status faster. Or maybe even some mileage runs I can do out of Austin (AUS) or San Antonio (SAT).

clacko

aus-mci-aus is 4 segs for ~ $230 on some dates.....might work for you....

this was a sat in july......might be cheaper in the fall....

ranferi64

Did you used any special tricks or websites to find the deal, or do you just try random airports until you find something good?

clacko

its a known seg run on aa.....looks like it works for ua....

some times tul works.....

clacko

look at the mr tools sticky above for info if you want to learn to find deals....

houstr8male

I have two mileage runs booked out of AUS even though it is a 2 hour drive from my residence in Houston. One to PHL via IAH for $148 rt and one to ANC via IAH for $348 rt. Roundtrip from IAH is almost double for each trip. It doesn't make sense but that's the way it is. My point is that, IMO, being based in AUS is good if you are interested in doing mileage runs.

duc1986d

I fly to ANC via SFO for $348 as well, not a bad deal in my opinion
Have you been able to find deals for US Airways? I am trying to go for *Alliance and never been able to find good deals on Us from Austin

houstr8male

I never look at USair. Focusing on UA miles for status qualification. I always look at fares from AUS whenever I schedule a trip. I've also looked at CLL because it is closer but most fares have been similar to IAH.