routing options for dollars & miles
 

I'm not sure where to post this, there are so many forums that this couldn't really fit in (including this one!).

I'm not exactly talking about mileage programs since you're not supposed to in this forum.

I may have to fly to NYC for an interview and I was looking at airfare for getting to Buenos Aires/EZE and I noticed it seems like I would get more miles so all I'm asking is:

how do I find out what the overall miles are for an itinerary? (I know that miles are measured point to point/per segment in statue miles).

Here's why I'm asking: (all prices excluding tax I believe)

JFK-MEX-EZE is $927

LGA-YYZ-SCL-EZE $995

we're talking about a $68 difference, excluding any taxes but if I can get say 2,500 miles more this way I will have just bought miles cheaper because to buy 2,500 miles from the airline's website is at least $150 or more for that IIRC.

The Great Circle Mapper:

http://gc.kls2.com

is a good tool for this. The actual miles you earn are determined by the airline, but in my experience the GC mapper is always very close (a mile or two off, at most).

hm why didn't I think of that, and the first option yields more miles for less... so cool! :)

some carriers show the mi on their site.....web flyer has a mi calculator also...

Verify that the airlines you would be flying (in the fare classes they would book you in) will actually earn miles. Going out of your way only to wind up flying on flights that don't earn miles seems silly.

and how do I find out if that fare class/flight offers miles accrual? I don't always book directly with the airlines especially if fares are cheaper than at the airline website and most booking websites don't offer a whole lot of details.