MAXIMIZING MILES VS DOLLARS
 

Having achieved 1 K status in 4 months, I decided after discussing with my Fellow FTs it is not worth flying Star alliance anymore this year. So I enroled inthe AA Platinum challenge and devised a routing giving me 51000 base miles costing $ 3325 including tax in business class. How did I do it? Make a guess and try to beat it if possible so that I can change my booking http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Business Class Maximizer!! That is a boring challenge. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif How about maximizing a 1-World First Class ticket in which no flight over 2000 miles is on anything other that a suite. Or how about a trip that has NO flight on anything other than a Flat Bed. I would imagine from your cost your are starting from STO on a 4Cont. Biz Class ticket so my guess is that it looks something like:

ARN - LHR - MCT - LHR - LAX - GRU - SCL - CCS - SCL - GRU - DFW - ANC - DFW - ANC - DFW - ANC - DFW - NRT - HKG - DEL - HKG - SIN - LHR - ARN

that gives a total of: 74,000 or so

LAX - GRU is only valid for mid-august and DFW - ANC is only good until September.

This would also give you ExecPlat on AA, however you would face many obstacles including long layovers in many places.

rich


[This message has been edited by RichLond (edited 07-10-2001).]

Hi RichLond
Would this routing be allowed:- DFW - ANC - DFW - ANC - DFW - ANC - DFW ?
I used MSY-SEA as I am reaching US only in Oct. The routing is real and should be physically possible!



[This message has been edited by drbala (edited 07-11-2001).]

If the goal is to maximise miles versus dollars you should travel coach. Business class costs about twice but only gives you 25% more miles. (The exception being flights on CX where coach don't accrue AA miles at all.)

I disagree. Coach is very (very) expensive. What, with the base cost plus either bail money or burial money as you off yourself or someone else 1/2 way through...

You are doing 50,000 miles in Biz Class but think that 3 DFW - ANC runs is not physically possible?? I would say the 50,000 in Biz Class is the actual problem. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

The routing is legit since there are no restrictions on stopping or transiting the same city more than once. Why not post your planned trip, so we can make some concrete suggestions to maximize the mileage. It also appears that there is only a direct flight in 1 direction from MSY to SEA so you would need to burn 3 segments to do it.

Anyway have fun and take Darren's advice that coach is NOT an option!!!

rich

Coach is someone that tells you to take biz or first...then goes and smacks your father and insults the ref. HKG_UMICH did one of these in coach and hasn't been heard from again.... Sure, some say he is in Hong Kong, but I have my doubts and I would take it as an omen....

Seriously, though, coach really isn't an option if the route is over 30K or less than one month. In my opinion, of course. Flying LAX-BRU in coach on AA in February on the flight that has a 757 to ORD and a 762 to BRU took 10x more out of me than flying almost 30K *straight* in first.

BTW, I think this strayed from the original post. Doc, 51K miles in Oneworld (~63K pts in Biz) won't even get you a reacharound. No matter if you can do it for $300 or $3000, it is still just an extended mileage run because other than actually seeing the individual places, miles is about all you will get from it. Just another half-baked opinion, of course.


[This message has been edited by Darren (edited 07-11-2001).]

I think you are confusing and mixing up Star alliance and One world rules. Star alliance does allow repeated visits to the same city within the mileage level chosen as long as you do not spend more than 24 hours in that city. One world rules calculate SEGMENTS and allows six segments in US and if you do three trips DFW-ANC you gobble up all those segments. Fellow FTs and experts in RTW please clarify
My principle is simple: When somebody pays for or reimburses your travel (Business, Universities, Companies) I travel the highest class permitted. If not I buy the lowest upgradable fare and always upgrade using miles and SWUs
Hagabord Viking
Point well taken If I do a mileage run I fly only the cheapest fare which is upgradeable.

Darren,

The subject of this thread is "MAXIMIZING MILES VS DOLLARS". I still believe it is correct to say that Coach maximizes Miles versus Dollars. If you take other things into account as well you may well conclude that biz is the way to go, but it doesn't maximize miles/$ which was my point.

Secondly, we are talking AAdvantage here, right. What do you mean by 51k miles ~ 75k pts? AFAIK, biz gives 1.25 pts/mile, not 1.5.

I think gobbling up all your segments is what you want to do. Since DFW - ANC is currently the longest North American flight operating with 1 flight number in both directions, it follows that to max your miles you would fly that route for all 6 of your segments. You can stop in ANC or DFW for as long as you like.

Anyway have fun with the planning and let us know what you end up booking.

rich



[This message has been edited by RichLond (edited 07-11-2001).]

Mea culpa, Hagbard. 63K points, that should be.

What you say is correct, coach will max the miles. I if you are looking for a comparison in regards to cost per mile, there is really no comparison. Even a coach ticket ex-US is still probably a better deal than a first ticket ex-SEL in most cases. What is not being factored in are the benefits besides miles. If you want the "cheapest" way to get miles (or max miles v. dollars), do a shirtload of LAX-FLL or LAX-MCO runs when you can get them for $200 including tax. 7K or so qual miles per trip, and a lot of backache. Not my idea of a good time, but I tend to try and avoid most torture instruments when I can.

I think this group is different from the others, which is why I really try to avoid posting in the others. One thing that makes them different is because it is the only forum where the people fly "upper" classes more routinely than coach, and it is fun to hear what people think about them. It is also the only place where EXP is discussed as if it were a given, and not a goal. My opinion is this, though. Mileage runs are fine for people that want to do them. But if you are going to do a pure mileage run, I personally wouldn't use the owe in coach to do it. Too much continuous flying, takes too long, and it will throw your system out of whack. I couldn't even *imagine* flying 100K in coach, and I will probably hit about 175K base miles this year. Next year, I will be lucky to fly 75 miles, so I will enjoy it while I can and maximize fun vs. dollars. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Hi Darren
What a brilliant statement! You convinced me to change my booking to First class on the routing suggested by Hagabard, I ran into big trouble with AA, UK. More of it once I sort it out.

Hi Darren
What a brilliant statement! You convinced me to change my booking to First class on the routing suggested by Hagabard, I ran into big trouble with AA, UK. More of it once I sort it out.

just one point to add.
rumour has that the new rule allows for multiple transcontinent.
even if LAX-BOS/JFK is not many miles DFW-ANC, it should at least be more 'fun'?
(better plane and seat, with R class)

You guys Be happy
I just finished a one hour phone call to Michael of AA RTW Desk and he happily booked me a first class RTW ticket consisting of the following routing within US
===MIA-MSY-SEA-MIA-LAX-SJU-LAX-SYD=====
AS YOU SEE IT HAS SEA-MIA, MIA-LAX, LAX-SJU, SJU-LAX ALL TRANSCONTINENTAL
I didnt specifically ask him whether the rule has been changed.
Good luck