Is this for real?

I apologize for sounding so flummoxed but it's amazing to think that people book long distance flight purely for the airmiles. Incredible! So, do you return the same day? Is it ultimately worth it? So cool!

Sameday flights aren't any different from sameday driving. Except one goes 500 mph.

only on FT will you find crazy people like this yes people obviously think it's worth it because the miles that they earn will get them upgrades and access to lounges, and redeem miles for trips to exotic places like Africa that otherwise would cost a lot of money.

Depending on where you're going you can do same day returns. For example you can take a red eye from SEA to BUF via MSP/DTW and back all in one day. It really depends on timing of flights but alot of international/overseas trips will require a night stay. However, there are stories where people for example fly Chicago to Tokyo and change planes back to Chicago. most recently a crazy routing includes the following. SFO-HNL-LAX-SYD-LAX-HNL-SFO all for like less than $600 back to back to back..or whatever you want to call that

Welcome to Flyertalk!

You'll find many of your questions answered in the Stickies (located at the top of each forum). It explains the science/art/logic behind this.

Some people do it for the miles, some people do it for status. It depends on each individual's needs and requirements. Yes, it may seem crazy (plenty of threads/discussions about the sanity/logic re. this have been done) but if you find that it makes sense for your needs, then it makes sense.

Personally, I've redeemed some business class tickets well worth over $8K, but only spent around $2K to get the miles for it. For the $2K and my time, I spent weekends in NYC, DC, Boston, even London, and Germany. Not a bad weekend trip to earn miles, get status, and save $10K in flights later on.

Amazing! I'd love to hear more stories about this. Can you recommend a particular thread?
Cheers,
Matt.

There's a strange economics to consider with mileage programs. Each mile has a value, which depends on how you use it and what you redeem it for. If you can get a cheap enough fare and earn enough miles, you are effectively flying for free or at a deep discount when you redeem them. Plus, once you hit elite status with your airline, things get even better. United for example, upgrades you to Economy Plus for free and there is no baggage fee for the first bag. If you fly a lot, this is a decent chunk of money.

Plus, speaking for myself, I enjoy traveling for the hell of it. It's fun to tell your friends that you flew to Chicago for a pizza and came back that evening. Or even better, to New York for the weekend or a week in Italy. There are dirt cheap fares to be had and life is too short to put travel off, in my opinion. The more miles I earn in the process of traveling, the more I can travel and travel with upgrades to boot.

Whether it's worth it to you will depend on your travel patterns. But yes, this is how we do.

Check the trip report forum. All sorts of good stuff there. + first hand experiences in riding in all parts of an airplane. from Economy to First Class from airlines around the world. i recently read one about a trip to Sudan someone took.

Exactly. Quoting the words my Business Law professor once spoke to me, "Travel when you have barely got the money, but lots of time. Don't wait until you have the money, and no time. I regret everyday that I didn't travel as much as I could during my younger years. Now, its hard for me to go on a 2 day business trip and not feel guilty about missing something back to home."

For me, this words started it alllll.
As others have said, welcome to FT!

Welcome, frame.
One of the fun threads (there is likely >1) is the 'stages' of an error fare.
Learn and enjoy!

When the fare is a crazy long haul international fare in J or F, watch the excitement, flurry ofbooking, stress preflightand the dun of the fllights, revealed in the Trip Reports.

It's fun, it's addictive and sometimes expensive (nut sometimes ridiculously inexpensive). Status and miles in no time. Tons of fun. Enjoy! ^

how flying to Seattle to pick up some fresh salmon for a friend at Pike Place market?

spending 24 hours in Paris, ostensibly for Xmas shopping?

flying from TX to W. Coast and on to Frankfurt doing same on way back, with excuse of wanting to see two car museums in Stuttgart?

looking forward to DUB beer run someday ...

Most people are clueless that you can travel in style on the cheap (which is the way we would like to keep it). For example, I got a LGA/ORD/FRA fare for $409. Called AA to have EVIPs (system wide upgrades) applied to the flights and told no because of fare class. WRONG ANSWER.

Called AA back, told I could upgrade both domestic and international segments for an additional $117 ($526 total). DING, DING, WE HAVE A CORRECT ANSWER. Plus, I will have lounge access all the way, including the premium (Flagship) lounge at ORD.

+1

traveling with no particular purpose is kind of fun especially when you can enjoy comforts that are still special such as International 1st/Bus. class, airline clubs that you would not be able to enter under normal circumstances

I've done my fair share of mundane travel, mostly for business, it typically wasn't much fun and sometimes really sucked. now am able to leverage MR bookings into quick excursions, seeing one or two things, often flying int'l J and/or domestic F.

as it no longer resembles work it becomes play. expensive play, sometimes, but there's often a payoff in it later in terms of maxing out the elite status and opening the door for some really exotic awards.

Believe it or not, there are people out there who do MRs but don't participate in -- or even know about -- FT. Last year during a 2-hour ANC turn, it seemed like half of F was filled with FTers. On the way back, we noticed a couple of people from the way there! It was obvious what they were doing, but when asked about it, denied ever hearing of FT.

Frankly I'm not surprised. Years ago, the first time I came close to status but missed it by a few hundred miles, it occurred to me that a quick trip to "nowhere" would be worth it for the benefits of status. I ended up not taking the trip for other reasons, but the "logic" made sense to me even pre-FT.

So worth it on a variety of levels. I'd do a MR every weekend if the cpm were right and I had the time.