sensei271

Hi all, newbie here. got a quick question regarding worthiness of doing a mileage run from YVR to PTY, via SFO and IDA. total flown mileage is 8400 mi round trip, for $749 CAD, all business class.

I am currently E35k with Aeroplan, will hit 71k before end of year based on my travel plans.

I did a quick calculations to see if this flight is worthwhile, as below, hoping y'all would give me some pointers.

$800 / (8400miles x 150%) * 100 = 6.3 CPM (all flight legs are either AC or a combination of AC and UA)

is my methodology above making sense? I plan to travel more or less the same as this year, roughly 70k for the entire year.

this idea of spending $800, just to upgrade to E75k is little mind boggling. trying to do the math here.

appreicate all ya'll support.

Sen

Schweden

750 CAD for roundtrip J to Panama is good, even if it is narrowbody. Have you been to Panama City? Nice place to visit for a day or two.

sensei271

thanks for quick reply. never been to Panama city, I heard it is gorgeous place with lots to see and do. but heard getting out of the airport can be quite tricky and expensive.

Any suggestions for a short 22 hr layover?

cheers
Sen

jfkeze

The canal is a must! I'm not usually a fan of the hop on / off buses but might be worth it since time is limited. Parts of Panama City can be rough, I stayed at the Marriott a few years ago and it was fine...
Be careful in the "old Panama" ruins as the surrounding areas can be "rough" , but the waterfront is really nice, great views and easy to do a 22 hour layover!

j2simpso

Define, "make sense," in terms of strictly a milage run standpoint, no it doesn't make sense. Good MRs are usually 2-3 CPM in Y. Case in point I flew YYZ > SIN for $800 CAD last year on UA in Y which netted me 21,000 miles (3.8 CPM). Granted I was in a plump E+ seat for the many hours I was flying UA but I didn't mind. Sometimes I will opt for an upgrade particularly if the price is right such as the $500 I spent 2 years ago upgrading ORD > HNL for BusinessFirst on UA (feat a lie flat seat).


You have to weigh the costs and benefits. I've run the numbers on my chasing United Gold (50,000 miles) every year and figured it worked out as I was getting about $2,000 in benefits for about $3,000 in revenue spend. Next year I'll be gunning for 1K to earn valuable upgrade certificates I can use for my inter-inter continental flights (read Australia to Europe via North America) as I'm getting sick and tired of flying Y even on medium haul domestic flights like LHR > YYZ. To each their own I suppose.

Safe Travels,

James

sensei271

thanks for the insight and headsup! much appreciated.

cheers
Sen

sensei271

Thanks James for the detailed explanation. have a few questions:
1. does "Y" denote business class in this context? I know with a few airlines, "Y" actually appears in quite a few booking classes. could find “Y" in Business or in "Prem E" or in "Tango". Am I interpreting this correctly?

2. when search flights on let's say skyscanner, they only let me choose First, Business, and Ecom. what if I want to choose Ecom fare ticket, but with a particular sub-class that gives me 100% qualifying miles, how would I check that? when at checkout, most time I am directed to 3rd party travel agency site that does not display any fare class info. in this case, do I have to call the airline directly or this 3rd party agency to confirm mileage schedule?

3. as you pointed out with UA Gold (50k), your benefits are $2000, and spends are around $3000. I wonder what benefits do you consider or "monetize" in your calculation?
for example, I am going after Aeroplan (Air Canada) E75k status, at year end, I will be 6000 miles shy of E75k. let's say I spend $800 to fly to Panama city, which would give me 12k qualifying miles. but the benefits gained from going E50k to E75k is:

1. E35k status for a friend ; not sure if this has any monetary value?
2. 35 e-up credits, instead of 20; additional 15 e-up credits are equivalent to 1 business upg and 1 pre E upgrade for canadian domestic flight. let's say it is about $1000
3. 75% bonus miles, instead of 50%; based on 70k miles flown yearly, this would give me 70k * 25% * 1cent/mile = $175
4. plus, higher chances of getting upgrades, and courtesy upgrades based high status

so in total, my net benefits are $1175, and my spends are $800. is this how people would evaluate the milegage run worthiness?

thanks
Sen

Repooc17

This is a good mileage run, but as it has been mentioned already, you should spend a little time there if at all possible - Panama City is such an underrated place, IMO.

If your travel pattern is going to be similar next year, then this could be considered as a good investment.

I am doing a trip to PTY as well. I took advantage of the good price after seeing this thread:

YVR - PTY Flat CM $600 USD - hopefully CM (Copa) would have its lie-flat 737 back in service next year (for selfish reasons )


I guess you missed this from OP's post?

thefareguru

I did PTY a few years back. However, I stayed in a local hotel rather than a deluxe. From this I learned to carry a foldable garment bag or plastic bag in case you get BEDBUGS. When I got home, everything in that bag went into a scalding hot wash. // If you get into a supermarket, you will find their packaged spices to be very cheap. // I haven't checked to see if you also posted this on the AC Aeroplan forum. If you didn't, you should.

RichVan

I seem to remember being able to stay in the Intercontinental when I did my run for like $99. I really enjoyed my quick trip there and back.

joe_miami

If you can stay in PTY for two or three days instead of 22 hours, this seems like a no-brainer mileage run/vacation combo. Panama City is great, and thanks to the building boom down there, there are often great hotel deals (e.g., the Hyatt Place is often $62/night, including full breakfast).

Uber from PTY to the city shouldn't be more than $15 each way. If you insist on the 22-hour turn, be very careful about entering the city during the morning or leaving the city during the evening rush hours, as traffic can be horrendous. (The newish subway system will eventually reach the airport, but that's a ways off.)

sensei271

Thanks Joe !

sensei271

$99 would be a killer deal!

I guess I am starting to watch for is the booking class. There was one trip I did that I only got less than 50% of the miles than I had originally though.
a lot of the booking sites don't tell you the booking class and I find most often I have to book at the airlines website and cross check to ensure I have the mileage schedule verified.

sensei271

thanks thefareguru! what are some of the best souvenirs / local crafts you can buy in Panama city?
The AC forum is on flyertalk site?

sensei271

thanks for the clarification!