gsmart

What the lowest RT fare in continental US? The lowest I've seen lately was $88 between RDU and PHL. I ask because it seem logical to make a mileage run, one would find that lowest fare and just run it all day.

babyjesus

you need to look at cpm (cents per mile) to assess value of a mileage run. i think what you are describing is segment running. both strategies are used to reach elite status.

gosha83

Your CPM for that flight will be 8.8 (cents per mile). Alternatively, if you did a PHL-PDX run for under $200, you would get a much lower CPM (under 4 cents/mile). Or if you would've booked the recent NYC-FCO (through Paris) flight on Air France, you would've gotten a 3.2 cpm. You have to look at a price and the mileage awarded. Check out www.milecalc.com to see how many miles you'd get for different flights.

I don't know much about segment runs though.

brarrr

Maybe there should be a sticky on MR deals simply titled newbie questions... and then all of these silly threads would be less of a problem...

jan_az

You dont have to open the thread

Cloudship

It would be really, really helpful to us newbies if there WAS a FAQ thread, that perhaps didn't get so deep and long as the tools thread, stuck at the top.

mechteach

I understand where you are coming from, but I still really recommend the stickies at the top of the forum. When I was a green newbie (not that I am a grizzled old MR now ), I didn't understand half of what was in there, but I slogged through them anyway, and am really glad that I did.

It's like differential calculus - you might not understand it the first time through, but you're glad you know it when you need it.

Jimster

What would be the CPM that you would consider good for a MR?

dcameron

That kind of depends on circumstances. Certain cities have higher priced tickets than others. Generally areas with a lot of business travelers or areas where there is little competition have higher fares for the same miles. For instance, I currently am living in Grenada, it is difficult for me to get a ticket to anywhere with a low CPM, but there is very little competition here, and even AE only has one flight in and one flight out per day.

Hopefully you live in an area that is more conducive to mileage runs.

I have read about FFs who don't book miles runs for over 3-4 CPM, and by most accounts those seem to be pretty good. Oftentimes you will have to fly to another city to start a mileage run that is cost efficient.

bhmlurker

When you talk about CPM, it's common to use Cent Per elite qualifying Miles, instead of calculating in bonus % due to elite status. Common benchmark is as follows:

< 5 CPM = minimum acceptable = 4000 miles for $200 all-in
< 3 CPM - good/great price = 6667 miles for $200 / 5000 miles for $150 all-in

The rationale for doing MILEAGE runs instead of SEGMENT runs, is that at the end of the day you also have elite status, but you have miles to spend. Qualifying by segment to mid tier/gold level will get you 60K miles to spend after 100% elite bonus, while doing so by miles will yield 100K miles.

If your city does not have cheap fares at least some time during the year, chances are there is a city within 2 hour drive that does. Be sure to factor in mileage driving in car as part of expense ($0.40/mile for gas and wear/tear). You'll find it's not worth it to drive too far unless if the price is really cheap.