Oneworldplus2

Well done Tom!

LIH Prem

Tom has told us that he uses all his miles for family travel.

-David

malgudi

In today's NYT

That's 12,500 miles every day for a week or so

WineCountryUA

more correctly, 12,500 PQMs/day and remembering there are significant class of service bonus for flying up front.
Suggest reading the thread in its entirety to understand the situation better.

btatting

So as a historical segment flyer that was knocked from 1K ranks due to the increase to 120 segments (I know this is a silly comparison, but it tickled my fancy), Tom flew 15 * the number of EQM's required for 1K, but only 4.333 * for EQS. Segment flyers have it tough.

vnatraj

Max PQMs = 1.5 * BIS miles (except for DEQM/DPQM bonuses, which I don't think were there in Jan this year). So, Tom must have flown more than 8000 BIS miles or so every day for the first 8 days. Pretty remarkable any way you look at it.

DELee

His _first_ post in the 2012 EQM/EQS Milestone Roll Call thread on January 4th, 2012:

with a quick follow up:

and then on January 13th:

So he had fun doing it too! And slowed down a little: 1K BIS by early January while getting to 1M BIS by early December.

David

mre5765

Tom doesn't book economy class. So 67K bis in 8 days.

After a great time in India talking cars, Tom can leave BOM Jan 1, arrive in LAX Jan 2, talk cars to Los Angeles salesman all afternoon, then leave for SYD on Jan 2, and arrive in SYD at 7:10 am on Jan 4. Talk to car salesmen most of the day, one of whom no doubt whisks him from and to SYD in time for a 2:50 pm flight to LAX, arriving in the morning on Jan 4. Where Tom talks to car salesmen all day and part of the evening and then back SYD that night arriving Jan 6. Talks to car folk again, and then back to LAX arriving Jan 6. Talks to car folks all day, and back to SYD Jan 6 arriving Jan 8. Talks to car folks, and then back to LAX. All day with car folks, and then back to SYD arriving Jan 10, with that last leg counting in on Jan 8.

Seven trips across the pacific at 7500 bis. Plus 10K from BOM to LAX. 63K bis. Tom no doubt has his legacy UA platinum Visa card that gives him PQMs for spend on united.com and the 5K PQM bonus for spending over $30K.

So ( 7 * 7500 + 10000) * 1.5 + 5000 + 5000 or 103K PQM.

This thread often has people who are judgmental or envious. Accept that there are people with skills in such high demand that flying premium class long haul is justifiable expense when such people are getting paid money that dwarfs the cost of business first and global first. Seeing is believing and one can watch for themselves next year on Spike.

While the mileage is awesome, Tom's achievement is being the best in the world at something people across the world are willing to pay dearly for. The mileage is the proof.

And indeed congratulations are in order.

LIH Prem

Tom is not some inanimate object, he's a real person. If you have questions for him, ask away. If he wants to answer he will. If not, he won't.

[ removed the rest of the comments which referred to now-removed posts ]

-David

mre5765

Well maybe few question because he is very open about what he does for a living, and where he travels. Just read his posts, read or watch his interviews, and read UA's press releases.

E.g. a few posts above I surmised he got to 1K in 8 days via to back flights between SYD and LAX. It turns out it was back to back flights between NRT and DXB, something which he volunteered nearly a year ago in the PQM milestone thread.

Given that most of us do not post under or reveal our real names or provide details on our occupations, it would be the height of irony to doubt someone who discloses his name and occupation here.

DeaconFlyer

This would be the least efficient use of time ever.

dcsnowwake

if I could do 1K by the 8th for under 1000 bucks I would

gobluetwo

For the record, ua1flyer has commented several times in this current thread in Travelbuzz:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...ndar-year.html

Madone59

He love's to fly, especially UA, read the posts and watch the media. If Tom's job keeps him in the air, and he skill set keeps him in his job than there is no "game."

I am sure a lot of planning goes into these bookings but I have to assume that a man flying 1,000,000 miles in a year for work.....does some great work! The fact that Tom posts his achievements on FT for all to enjoy, and is so enthusiastic about his travel is a perk for us and not a glimpse into a secret.

mre5765

Define efficiency? If Tom can accomplish his task in a few hours in NRT, SYD, LAX, and DXB, then how is that inefficient?

He prepares for his gig on the plane. He is paid an amount for his gig that exceeds the cost of his BF or GF air fare. He doesn't have to use non UA metal which means that his top status on UA allows him to cope with any irrops. His family often travels with him, meaning that he might see more of his family than most 1Ks who post here.

Seems rather efficient to me, and unlike many others in his income group, he doesn't use private jet service (more efficiency). Again his top status neutralizes the advantages of private jet service, he can command the resources of many more planes (presumably including non UA metal) for dealing with irrops that he would not have with his own jet or a net jets card.

It works for him and he has apparently concluded that this maximizes his income and/or his enjoyment of his life. Who are we to criticize?