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The Most Embarassing Thing I've Ever Done to Get Miles

The Most Embarassing Thing I've Ever Done to Get Miles

Old Jun 14, 1999, 6:50 am
  #61  
geo1004
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Old Jun 14, 1999, 11:29 am
  #62  
 
Join Date: Jan 1999
Location: St Paul 02/04...not flying Delta
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Hey, nice to see family. We are everywhere.
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Old Jun 14, 1999, 11:43 am
  #63  
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Old Jun 14, 1999, 7:59 pm
  #64  
 
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Bryan:

(Thanks, pgupta011! I didn't realize that FAQ was there...)



[This message has been edited by dgolds (edited 06-15-1999).]
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Old Jun 14, 1999, 8:10 pm
  #65  
pgupta011
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Get rid of the - in the :-)

Read the faq (its listed under the FlyerTalk 3.0 banner).
 
Old Jun 15, 1999, 9:49 am
  #66  
 
Join Date: Feb 1999
Location: T82
Programs: AA Gold, HH Gold
Posts: 2,845
I was two segments short of a special promotion by American about 5 years ago. We booked SFO to Monterey and spent the weekend. However, as is common in Monterey in the summer, there was too much fog to take off on the return, so our flight was cancelled. After complaints by several people who needed to get to SFO for a connecting flight, AA finally said they'd rent us a van and those of us who needed to get to SFO could ride in the van. We chose the van, but then were worried about not getting the miles. After a call to AAdvantage and explaining the situation, the very nice agent went ahead and gave us the segment and we got our bonus.

But, I have gotten some really great ideas from the posts above. Thanks, people.
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Old Oct 13, 1999, 4:02 pm
  #67  
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Join Date: May 1998
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Just tryin' to keep up with the pros here.

So, after I booked my (supposedly) last flight of the year I calculated that my YTD total would be 44,000 and some change. Ack! That will not do!! So close to PremEx, not to mention an extra packet of upgrades. So, with the help of a 15% UA discount that I traded for (thanks steve100!), I will embark thusly.

13NOV UA2601 PDX 6:00a --> LAX 8:15a n/a, waitlisted 1st
13NOV UA 950 LAX 9:00a --> IAD 4:45p 6F, waitlisted biz
13NOV UA 962 IAD 5:35p --> MUC 7:35p 16B, not waitlisted - dreaded W class fare )

14NOV UA 963 MUC 11:55a -->IAD 3:15p 16A
14NOV UA 947 IAD 5:30p --> SFO 8:20p 18A, waitlisted biz
14NOV UA2272 SFO 9:14p --> PDX 10:54p n/a, waitlisted 1st

(And yes, I do have to go to work the next day. :0)

If all goes well, I'll have a 4-hour layover in MUC, plenty of time to pick up some Schnapps and chocolate for the kids back home!

I haven't actually told any of my family and only one of my friends. She thinks I'm only half-nuts for doing it. In the next breath she said, " ... sounds like fun."

Thanks for the meme geo1004 and QuietLion.



[This message has been edited by essxjay (edited 10-13-1999).]
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Old Oct 13, 1999, 4:46 pm
  #68  
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Join Date: Jul 1999
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Maybe this thread should be linked to the oneworld 100k promotion.. but other than daft flights to make bonuses, I have been known to:

- travel to london to the BA clinic for innoculations (got 48 UK Airmiles for that after a two hour round trip on the train)
- change HK$50 into GBP (got 2 UK Airmiles for that at LHR once)
- live on Sainsbury's Bonus Points foods for a few weeks (earnt 700 UK Airmiles in one shopping trip and had enough toilet paper and instant coffee for the next millennium)

so all that without getting on a plane. I am keen to investigate the Cheltenham & Gloucester Airmiles Mortgage as will soon be quitting the 100% travel and putting down roots (shocker) - but maybe the interest rate on the loan is more important that the mileage bonus (or maybe not....)
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Old Oct 13, 1999, 5:28 pm
  #69  
 
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: SF Bay Area
Programs: UA 1K MM, Accor Plat, Htz PC, Natl ExEm, other random status
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I knew that I was going to be close but no cigar for 1k several years ago. I was in grad school and the thought of losing my 1k was devastating. Too close to give up. So.

This was one of the times UA was running the $298 specials from JFK to LHR, and had corresponding cheap fares from the UK to the US.

At the time, I was living in upstate NY, flying regularly out of ROC. The 7 day fare to my home near SFO was ~$800 on UA. I calculated that the price of a back-to-back JFK-LHR-JFK and LHR-SFO-LHR (this was in the days before UA was beating agents to death with debit memos) was only $50 bucks more, well worth it for the nearly 18k miles. So, I drove to JFK, picked up the AM JFK-LHR, had a nice eve. in London, flew back LHR-SFO the next morning. At the end of the week, did the SFO-LHR, run, arrived the next morning, spent the day in London, took that evening's LHR-JFK and drove home that night.

That was nuts. I mentioned what I was doing to my seatmate on my first flight and it got around the entire cabin. I elected not to say anything on my other flights.

Greg99
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Old Oct 13, 1999, 11:58 pm
  #70  
 
Join Date: May 1999
Location: USA
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I'm still recovering from this trip...took the outbound this past monday the 11th of October, the return on Tuesday the 12th. It was a mileage run for platinum requalificaiton on AA
was scheduled like this
on the 11th..
SJC-LAX
LAX-DFW (double miles promo)
DFW-ORD
ORD-ISP
Now, keep in mind, I got this fare for $196 (this is one market where American matched Southwest's current $98 each way anywhere fare.) I paid for it with a voucher, so in essense, it was free.
Then on the 12th,
ISP-ORD
ORD-DFW
DFW-LAX (double miles again)
LAX-SJC

I was scheduled to leave SJC on the 11th at 8:30am, to get into Islip at 11:35 PM. I didn't even book a hotel...figured I'd just stay in the airport, becuase my return flight the next day was scheduled for 6:30am, to arrive back in SJC at 5:30PM.
When I got to ORD, the flight to ISP was overbooked, so they offered me a $350 voucher to stay the night in ORD. they put me up in the hilton (Thank God, because I would have been sleeping in ISP on the airport benches) and gave me $25 toward food.
Then, since they couldn't get me to ISP the next morning until after my return flight would have come back, they gave me $100 more in voucher for my two flight segments that I didn't get, put me the next morning back on earlier flights home (got back to SJC at 2pm) and then later credited me for the two flight segments.
So, for the time and energy, and the $196 in vouchers, here's what I got:
$450 in vouchers
free night plus points and stay credit at ORD Hilton toward 50000 point promo
16210 miles on AA and 8 segments
platinum requalification
a bottle of champagne from a nice flight attendant
dead tired, and had to go to work THAT night.
But i'm better now, and the miles are in the bank, so to say..



[This message has been edited by aflyer (edited 10-14-1999).]
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Old Oct 14, 1999, 9:19 am
  #71  
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Join Date: Jun 1999
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Well here's my craziest miles tale. Last year I switched airlines to United in Sept but by the beginning of Dec only had 16,000 toward Premier. I had one more trip scheduled but it was only to MSP from SJC which is 3200 R/T. So I booked myself from SJC-JFK-FRA-ORD-MSP arrived Sunday after leaving Sat morning, minus my bags which were somewhere between JFK and FRA. Recieved 13,000 miles made Premier but definitly took some flak from my co-workers who thought I was crazy. And then I found my Frequent Flyer buddies on FT and now I don't need therapy just more miles. This year will finally qualify as a 1K and reap all those benefits. Besides which the breakfast in FRA was pretty good, Hmmm maybe I'll do it again this year just for old times sake

Cheers Scott
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Old Oct 14, 1999, 10:26 am
  #72  
 
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Homosassa, FL & Ringwood, NJ -UA-G(Lifetime); SPG-Plat (Lifetime)
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In December of 1998, shortly after CO announced that it would take 75,000 miles to attain Platinum Status in 1999, I was sitting in Las Vegas with about 53,000 status miles. I decide to go for the 75,000. I hooked into the Internet and booked the following trips: DEC 12/13(EWR-IAH-SEA-IAH-EWR)for $229. Dec 19/20(EWR-IAH-MSY-IAH-EWR) for $199. Then Dec 25/27 on NW(PHL-DTW-AMS-FRA-AMS-PHL-DTW-EWR) for $330. I made the 75,000 just as CO announced they would grandfather Golds to Platinum one more year. When I talked to CO, the understood and made "Special Arrangements" for me for year 2000 requirements. It was a busy December.
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Old Oct 14, 1999, 11:32 am
  #73  
geo1004
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essxjay, you should never underestimate the "lure of the miles"!!! Perhaps someday we will be delivered from this evil...
 
Old Oct 14, 1999, 12:21 pm
  #74  
 
Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: SDF via MCO DFW, FSD, BDS, DSM, ORD, OMA
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OK, I'll bite. Embarassing? Or stupid? I dunno. Anyway, I've needed to get a hole in my ear drum patched for several months. Only problem is that I can't fly for 8 weeks after the surgery. Had it all scheduled for early November. But... A couple of trips got cancelled this summer which made requalifying out of the question (by November). So I did what any normal Flyertalker would do and cancelled the surgery to give me more time for some 'extra' flights in November! If all goes well, I'll go under the knife in early December.

BTW, having a hole in your eardrum isn't that bad... At least I don't have to worry about that ear 'popping'. Water sports are a definite no-no, however.

Cheers,

'toad
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Old Oct 14, 1999, 2:50 pm
  #75  
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So I did what any normal Flyertalker would do and cancelled the surgery to give me more time for some 'extra' flights in November! If all goes well, I'll go under the knife in early December.
What a trooper, folks! I nominate 'toad for the next OMNI award.

Geo: If only Rommel's Afrika Korps had torn a page from your playbook!

[This message has been edited by essxjay (edited 10-14-1999).]
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