Thanks to all of FT posters, I completed a small MR at the beginning of December which got me to Plat on DL as of earlier this week.

I saw that I needed about 3K MQM to hit Plat, so I booked an ATL-SJU RT non-stop each way on Sat 12-06. I checked the seating ahead of time and upgrade probability looked good each way - and they came through fine. Everything went well on the trip - no problems, smooth flights, on-time/early arrivals, etc.

The one thing that I didn't think of was getting my return flight boarding pass. I checked in at ATL for the ATL-SJU flight and mid-way though the flight, I thought about getting the return boarding pass. I thought that I'd have to exit to the ticketing counters and re-check, go through security again, etc. Within only a 1-hour turn between landing and departure, I figured that wouldn't be smart. So I went to the gate and the GA gave me my boarding pass (same gate, plane and crew each way).

What's the normal MR way to get your boarding passes for all of your legs?

Bingo. This is the best way, unless you can just get them all when you originate, which should be possible if it's all the same day (especially if you print them at home).

You will inevitably be met with surprise ("how are you inside security without a boarding pass?") or a chuckle from the agent, but no big deal.

OK - Thanks. She was swamped and I figured that I had gotten away with something. Since I had no bags, I did the bags-free kiosk check-in at ATL in the tunnel coming from the parking garage. I didn't even think about the return pass until I was having my second (or third) cocktail in 3A.

It was a bit sad seeing the ocean and palm trees from the plane, then from the terminal and then from the plane again without stepping outside... I might have to make the next one an overnight.

But, I purposefully did not want a MR in Dec in the midwest or northeast due to the possibility of weather issues.

Sounds like a good trip, although I probably would have spent one night (as I did on a WAS-HNL mileage run a couple of weeks ago), which makes the pain of waving the sun good-bye a bit less.

Of course, some airports -- though ATL is the only one that I can think of off of the top of my head -- have kiosks inside security as well. Or, if you are a member of the Crown Room or other club, you could get a boarding pass there if they have one in your destination.