Go Back  FlyerTalk Forums > Miles&Points > Mileage Run Deals > Mileage Run Discussion
Reload this Page >

AA: Mega Mileage run - incl FLY04, EUR04, JPN04, etc...

AA: Mega Mileage run - incl FLY04, EUR04, JPN04, etc...

Old Jan 14, 2004, 8:29 pm
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: MHT/BOS <--> World
Programs: AA Plat 2.8MM
Posts: 4,629
AA: Mega Mileage run - incl FLY04, EUR04, JPN04, etc...

I have flown a lot but have never done a Mileage Run. But when I do something I like going all the way - how about doing a Platinum challenge, FLY04 promo, JPN04 promo, EUR04 promo, AANYC promo, and making EXP all between now and March? That is exactly what I would like to do!

And If any of you experts out there has the time to improve my schedule and my $$$ paid/miles ratio I might even be able to find an extra VIPOW I can't use .

OK, I am Chicago based and can fly every weekend through March leaving any time after 6pm Thursdays and returning any time before noon Mondays. I also am also free to fly all of March 12-28.

Goal: Gain as many miles as possible/$$ spent and elite status with its many perks. (I already have flights I want to book with those miles).

Unless someone can help me do better, I will spend about $7656. (Help much appreciated!)

I should gain about 467 thousand AA miles, 16 VIPOWS, two AA tickets anywhere AA flies, and the many perks of being an EXP. (This will also bring me close to 1 million mile status on AA)

I hope to use:
- Plat challenge (200% miles flown after first 10K Q-points)
- Fly04 (fly 10K before Jan 31 - 3x miles, no L or N fares)
- JP04 (fly to JPN 3x, get adtn 30K miles, no L or N fares)
- EUR04 (fly to EUR 3x, get adtn 30K miles, no L, N, or V fares)
- AANYC (fly 4 NYC direct RT, get 2 worldwide Ec. tickets on AA)

OK, here are my itineraries so far. I priced my tickets on
http://www.thestoremaker.com/cgit/ga...ntid=aircenter
because it clearly shows fare classes. Anybody know of a better place to book? Travelocity often changes a fare class after choosing flights for a lower one. I can't get these same fares on AA.com but assume that is OK, and AA should consider these published fares, right? (it shows the same codes as Travelocity)

Jan 24 AA 2373 MDW-DFW
Jan 24 AA 78 DFW-LGW
Jan 25 AA 79 LGW-DFW
Jan 25 AA 1036 DFW-MDW
$495 L class ticket 11.1K (Qualify for FLY04)

Jan 31 AA 484 ORD-RDU
Jan 31 AA 174 RDU-LGW
Feb 1 AA 173 LGW-RDU
Feb 1 AA 1557 RDU-ORD
$634 M class 9.1K (Compl Plat chlng)

Feb 7th weekend I'm busy

Feb 14 AA 484 ORD-RDU
Feb 14 AA 174 RDU-LGW
Feb 15 AA 173 LGW-RDU
Feb 15 AA 1557 RDU-ORD
$634 M class 9.1K

Feb 21st weed-end I'm free

Feb 28 AA 636 ORD-BOS
Feb 28 AA 108 BOS-LHR
Feb 29 AA 109 LHR-BOS
Feb 29 AA 1053 BOS-ORD
$639 M class 8.3K

Mar 6 AA 484 ORD-RDU
Mar 6 AA 174 RDU-LGW
Mar 7 AA 173 LGW-RDU
Mar 7 AA 1557 RDU-ORD
$574 V class 9.1K

Mar 11 AA 346 ORD-LGA
$237 L class .7K
(First half of ticket)

Mar 12 AA 701 LGA-DFW
Mar 12 AA 175 DFW-NRT +1
Mar 14 AA 176 NRT-DFW
Mar 14 AA 712 DFW-LGA
$1138 V class 15.6K

Mar 15 AA 287 JFK-SJC
Mar 15 AA 129 SJC-NRT +1
Mar 18 AA 128 NRT-SJC
Mar 18 AA 288 SJC-JFK
$931 V class 15.4K

Mar 19 AA 249 JFK-SNA
Mar 19 AA 250 SNA-JFK
$332 V class 4.9K

Mar 20 AA 281 JFK-SNA
Want to visit someone briefly here
Mar 21 AA 250 SNA-JFK
$332 V class 4.9K

Mar 22 AA 287 JFK-SJC
Mar 22 AA 129 SJC-NRT
Mar 25 AA 128 NRT-SJC
Mar 25 AA 288 SJC-JFK
(2 V fares $799 + $337 = $1136) 15.4K

Mar 26 AA 321 LGA-ORD
(second half) .7K

Mar 27 AA 1962 ORD-RDU
Mar 27 AA 174 RDU-LGW
Mar 28 AA 173 LGW-RDU
Mar 28 AA 1557 RDU-ORD
$574 V class 9.1K

Total $7656

Total Miles earned: 467.2K

Total miles flown: 113.4K

100.9K miles eligible for FLY04

92K miles eligible for Plat bonus

30K EUR04 bonus

30K JPN04 bonus


Thanks for your help and advice!

(Edited for some weird formatting that got in here somehow)

[This message has been edited by wanaflyforless (edited Jan 14, 2004).]
wanaflyforless is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2004, 9:05 pm
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: 3A - most likey <> BKK <--> EZE; TACA 3A nobody, but GP million miler; Hilton Gold sometimes. Successfully divorced from CO PLAT.
Posts: 3,079
WHOA!

I can name this tune in 1 note!

tvl4free is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2004, 9:07 pm
  #3  
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
 
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: Cambridge
Posts: 63,556
Platinum Challenge? You'll be EXP by the end of this!

As far as $$/q-mile, you're paying 6.75 cents/mile. That's generally higher than the mileage run ideal.

As for as $$/mile, 1.64 cents per mile is below the standard 2 cents/mile so it's an okay mileage run.

Good luck to your back and behind.... This is one heck of a long series of runs.
Plato90s is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2004, 9:16 pm
  #4  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: East Ester, Alaska
Programs: Alaska Million Miler, United Million Miler, Wyndham Rewards Diamond, Choice Hotels Diamond
Posts: 12,140
This could make for The Mother Of All Trip Reports!
Seat 2A is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2004, 10:27 pm
  #5  
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: TBR, Georgia
Programs: AA EXP MM, UA 1P, DL SM
Posts: 386
Mar 12 AA 701 LGA-DFW
Mar 12 AA 175 DFW-NRT +1
Mar 14 AA 176 NRT-DFW
Mar 14 AA 712 DFW-LGA
$1138 V class 15.6K

Mar 15 AA 287 JFK-SJC
Mar 15 AA 129 SJC-NRT +1
Mar 18 AA 128 NRT-SJC
Mar 18 AA 288 SJC-JFK
$931 V class 15.4K

I'd try the M fare JFK-HKG- no min. stay and a few more miles- about the same price.
Bradford is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2004, 10:51 pm
  #6  
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: NY Metro
Programs: SPG Titanium, United Premier 1K
Posts: 1,600
Wow - if you have that much money to spend, why do you need the miles?

Also, did you take into account money you will spend getting to and from the airport, any hotel stays for your overnight stays as well as any other incidentals (Tokyo is an expensive city as is London).

[This message has been edited by PrivatePilot (edited Jan 14, 2004).]
PrivatePilot is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2004, 11:37 pm
  #7  
In Memoriam, FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Benicia CA
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold 75K, AA 3.8MM, UA 1.1MM, enjoying the retired life
Posts: 31,849
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by wanaflyforless:
Unless someone can help me do better, I will spend about $7656. (Help much appreciated!)</font>
Are you sure you've thought this out? Granted you're getting the extra miles, but I make top tier each year for something between $3,000-$4,000. I would never think of spending that much for status (it's almost twice what I spend), no matter how many miles it would generate.

tom911 is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2004, 7:06 am
  #8  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: new york, ny, usa
Posts: 13,536
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by PrivatePilot:
Also, did you take into account money you will spend getting to and from the airport, any hotel stays for your overnight stays as well as any other incidentals (Tokyo is an expensive city as is London).
</font>
bingo. that's why i nix many mileage runs that i am considering. getting to and from new york city airports ends up costing 50% of the ticket. yes, i can take the bus...but catching public transportation for a 6:30 AM flight is a bit tough.
fly co to see the yanks is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2004, 7:49 am
  #9  
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Bangkok, Thailand. No longer Palm Coast, FL though still exiled, again, from the Bay Area.
Programs: Only the good ones
Posts: 5,153
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by tom911:
Are you sure you've thought this out? Granted you're getting the extra miles, but I make top tier each year for something between $3,000-$4,000. I would never think of spending that much for status (it's almost twice what I spend), no matter how many miles it would generate.</font>
Why stop there, why not go for 2MM miles for lifetime PLT. Tom is so right. EXP cost me about $4000 in airfare, but I actually had some enjoyable, vacations type trips, rather than all MR's. And the MR's I did were the CMR style, first/premium class.

The AA promo's are doing what they were designed to do. Even I was willing to pay more than the lowest fare for the benefits. Of course, you still need to determine if the value of that benefit is worth the cost. In my care, I pushed a $574 L and N RT from SFO-LAX-MIA-ORD-LHR-ORD-MIA-SFO (about 15,500 actual miles) to M at $724, in order to capture an added 46,000 miles for FLY04 3x and EUR04 3rd bonuses (or 61,500 if the FLY04 is truly 3x.) But I think I had an MPM surcharge as the M fare was $529 plus taxes/graft.

With that said, $7500 is way too much. Look at AA's A fares SFO-FPO at $500 RT and nest it in a cheap ORD-SFO RT. Also, LAX-LHR in M is $529 plus/graft. SJC-HKG is $890 in M but the NRT-HKG is codeshare, so you are not getting the maximum benefits there.

ORD-LHR in M is only $469 and can be done leave on Sat return on Sun, cutting down the on the ground costs. Routing via MIA generates 11,200 actual miles, so it gets your cost down to about 5 cents/status mile. You can check for other fares using the Travelocity tool at:

http://dps1.travelocity.com/lognlogi...tr_module=FARE

Keep in mind that you can get LH M&M SEN status for about $1500. All these promos do is tell you that the miles are not as valuable as they once were. After the last time that the airlines did 3x miles promos, it was extremely difficult to use the miles and everyone was complaining that there were not enough awards to go around.

They are a great marketing tool though, as even the EXP desk agents are commenting that they are getting more requests to boost a fare on a held reservation.

P. S. I forgot to mention that you could get a RTW OW product for less and actually save some money. Maybe not as targetted to the promos (as you will have a hard time getting to Oz or from Asia to Europe on AA) but a better deal.

[This message has been edited by rbAA (edited Jan 15, 2004).]
rbAA is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2004, 9:57 am
  #10  
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Programs: AC, AA, SPG, Hilton
Posts: 1,788
How do you get L&H MM SEN status for $1500?
That's an interesting idea.
Scott218 is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2004, 11:04 am
  #11  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: new york, ny, usa
Posts: 13,536
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by rbAA:
$529 plus taxes/graft.</font>
what the heck is "graft?" uh oh, i hope it's not another flyertalk abbreviation (uoihinafa).

[This message has been edited by fly co to see the yanks (edited Jan 15, 2004).]
fly co to see the yanks is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2004, 11:08 am
  #12  
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Bangkok, Thailand. No longer Palm Coast, FL though still exiled, again, from the Bay Area.
Programs: Only the good ones
Posts: 5,153
I live in the SFO area. US Air has a $500 RT First Class fare to Freeport (FPO.) I am routing SFO-PIT-PHL-BWI-CLT-FPO-CLT-DCA-PIT-SFO, for 9 segments, $623 all incl. LH has a minimum of 1000 miles per segment and for first class is 300% of actual/minimum. I am FTL on LH and get an additional 25% bonus. So, each of my US RT's is 43,117 status and award miles. I am going to FRA in March on AA for the 3x mileage and EUR04 bonus. Killing 2 birds with one flight, I am doing 3 AirRail RT's in Business class, FRA-ZWS (Stuttgart,) for 5000 status and award miles on LH at EUR53 each RT.

So the math is:

2 US Air RT's in First at $623 each........................$1,246
3 AirRail RT's in Business at EUR53 each..............$200

Total............................................. .......................$1,446

If you don't have FTL status, you don't get the 25% bonus until the 2nd US Air RT. So, you would need 2 more AirRail RT's at EUR53 each to complete the 100,000 status miles. So $1,596 with no LH status at beginning. This gives you 100,000 miles, SEN status to 2/07 and access to the 160,000 mile "bank" where you can overdraw your account by up to 160,000 miles at any time. *A Gold for almost 3 years and you only have to fly 100,000 miles in either of 2005 or 2006 to requalify. And, LH UPG's are like AA's, any fare, though are 35,000 miles each way.
rbAA is offline  
Old Jan 15, 2004, 11:09 am
  #13  
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Bangkok, Thailand. No longer Palm Coast, FL though still exiled, again, from the Bay Area.
Programs: Only the good ones
Posts: 5,153
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fly co to see the yanks:
what the heck is "graft?" uh oh, i hope it's not another flyertalk abbreviation (uoihinafa).

[This message has been edited by fly co to see the yanks (edited Jan 15, 2004).]
</font>

That which you render unto Caesar.
rbAA is offline  
Old Jan 16, 2004, 2:49 pm
  #14  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: new york, ny, usa
Posts: 13,536
still trying to figure out what "graft" is. it sounds painful. any thoughts/guesses?
fly co to see the yanks is offline  
Old Jan 16, 2004, 8:08 pm
  #15  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: MHT/BOS <--> World
Programs: AA Plat 2.8MM
Posts: 4,629
Bradford Thanks for the tip about HKG. I will look into it but it will only help if I route on AA metal to NRT first because I can only earn the FLY04 bonus on AA metal.

PrivatePilot Yes, I am thinking about incidentals. But from where I live in Chicago I can easily get to either airport for $1.50 each way (evn at night). All my London trips are fly to London Sat night, and return Sun so no need for hotels and after my first RT I will have lounge access so great for my 2-4 hours in London. Elsewhere I will either book a bottom line hotel, stay at a youth hostel, and sleep in the airport sometimes.

tom911 Youre right - there are many cheaper ways to gain EXP but what is most important to me is total miles earned (not status miles). I really would appreciate any help I can get in increasing my $/total miles earned ratio.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by rbAA:
[B] With that said, $7500 is way too much. Look at AA's A fares SFO-FPO at $500 RT and nest it in a cheap ORD-SFO RT. Also, LAX-LHR in M is $529 plus/graft.

ORD-LHR in M is only $469 and can be done leave on Sat return on Sun, cutting down the on the ground costs. Routing via MIA generates 11,200 actual miles, so it gets your cost down to about 5 cents/status mile.

Keep in mind that you can get LH M&M SEN status for about $1500.

P. S. I forgot to mention that you could get a RTW OW product for less and actually save some money. Maybe not as targetted to the promos (as you will have a hard time getting to Oz or from Asia to Europe on AA) but a better deal.

B]</font>
rbAA Thanks for your input! Yes - $7500 is a lot but is a there a much cheaper way to gain approximately 500K AA miles? That is what I am going for, not just the status. What might one give you for your advice as a travel consultant? I realize I am only a novice at this and you could probably find me some great routings.

Yes, all 7 of my CHI-LON runs are Sat to London and Sunday returns using either the M fare you mentioned or a lower V fare on some of the runs. The $$ amounts I gave above were after taxes. The only trip I have ticketed so far I routed through DFW about the same mileage as routing through MIA. I cant seem to get anything to price nicely routed through LAX even though it should be a valid routing.

Could I really get LH SEN status for $1500? Wouldnt I have to add the cost of a ticket to FRA, ticket from CHI to SFO, and accommodations in FPO as I couldnt do a quick return like I am on my other runs It is an interesting idea though does LH have anything like VIPOWs?

Can I really earn miles for less using a round the world? I would love to hear how. (Can I use FLY04 with a round-the-world? What I am really concerned about is total miles earned, not status miles as I will hit EXP regardless. Im all ears.

Thanks everyone for your input!


wanaflyforless is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

This site is owned, operated, and maintained by MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks are the property of their respective owners.