Hi all,

I have been very impressed and intrigued by the several informative posts on this forum. I'm so glad I found this web site.
So here's my attempt to become a part of the FT family.
I'm planning a trip to Chicago on September 16th (night) or 17th(morning).
I'm currently enrolled with AA advantage miles program.
Need suggestions/information on how to make the most of this 2 days trip from Dallas to Chicago.
Ofcourse, I'll get a rental car and try to find and stay at a hotel that gives miles.
Travelling with a baby so will try for a direct flight.
Looking forward to some helpful tips!
Cheers!

www.aa.com....i've usually been able to find the best fares here (orbitz is at $182)...and it has an AAdvantage special offer section under the AAdvantage menu.

Flight: $176.70 per person DFW-ORD 9/16-9/19 (use the search by fare option although i'm pretty sure by schedule will also generate same results).

Car: 15% off alamo + double miles if you rent 3+ days (the latter prolly won't apply)

Hotel: Don't see any offers in Chicago on AA.com...if cost is the most important and not points ::gasp:: then pricline or hotwire it...just dictate a hotel class and an area and get a surprise...otherwise go with whichever hotel chain you have points membership with

If you need any chicago advice feel free to PM me as i'm a chicago native and fly out of O'Hare regularly (though not in the direction of texas)

miles4us,

Welcome to FlyerTalk. The Mileage Run forum is focused on air travel in many cases using creative routing to earn the maximum possible mileage, without necessarily focusing on a particular destination.

Although it's possible that the air portion of your trip could end up as a mileage run, it looks like you're seeking more general advice on how to maximize the total miles you can gain while taking a specific trip, across all of the travel platforms (air, lodging, auto).

I'm going to move this to MilesBuzz, a forum meant for more general discussion of earning miles and points.

Thanks,

Dave, a.k.a. dmfriedman
Moderator, Mileage Run

So far, I have gotten hold of one AA award ceritificate . Still trying to decide whether I should use miles for the second ticket or just purchase it.
For the hotel, I picked Hyatt Regency. Signed up for the rewards through their website.
Still looking for a car rental that helps me get miles.

You also have to consider what return you get for the cost. I assume you are paying about 150-200 a night for the regency?? The points you get, will be a fraction of a free night/few miles, unless you plan on staying in hotels many nights per year, it may not be to your benefit. As the name suggests these programs are aimed at frequent stayers. I am not trying to put you off collecting, go for it, but...

Maybe you would be better booking through priceline, select 5* and centre of chicago and start at 75 a night.....if you can get 2 nights for the price of one and no miles is this really worse than double the cost and a few free miles....

Just a thought....

You mentioned wanting to fly the evening of the 16th or the morning of the 17th of September and didn't specify any time for your return flight.

If you're flexible enough with your schedule to leave Dallas at 2:00pm and return from Chicago at 5:30pm, you can ride in greater comfort aboard a Boeing 777; multi-channel inflight entertainment is just one of the features you won't find on the other aircraft AA uses on the route, the MD-80.

The "Triple Seven" normally flies international routes for AA, but there are some scattered domestic flights that are, as much as anything, to allow the airline to reposition the aircraft so it's available for an overseas trip.

Best of all, these domestic 777 flights only sell two classes of tickets, coach and first, even though the aircraft is configured to carry coach, business and first class passengers.

You don't mention having elite status in the AAdvantage program, but if you do, you can book a coach fare and reserve the more comfortable business-class seats (only coach class in-flight service, sorry) at the time you purchase your tickets. If you can't do that, you still could ask at the gate for seats in rows 9 to 14 and probably get them if they're still available on the day of your flight.

The specific details of the daily 777 between Dallas (DFW) and Chicago's O'Hare (ORD) are:

AA Flight #66 Departs DFW 2:00pm, arrives ORD 4:13pm
AA Flight #67 Departs ORD 5:30pm, arrives DFW 8:00pm

Bought the ticket through United. $136 round trip. Dont know about the miles, bonuses etc. since I am only slightly familiar with AA miles.

For hotel, got a deal on priceline for the Hyatt at $60 a night.
Still looking for a car deal.

Still trying to get rid of the AA award certificate.

Not sure if you had already booked with priceline or did so after my post.

I assume after my post, as in you original you mentioned you were going to get points, this is not possible through priceline.....

Yeah i dont think i'll be getting the points now.

Wish I had this information before I purchased the tickets.