Weez_1000

Yea I stated or at a much higher price and i know it can go away at any time but i seriously doubt this is going away. Its far too profitable imo, only time will tell but i think this is here for the long term.

artyam

Yes it is worth it to me to buy elite status. Don't travel as much as you guys so it works for me. Not saying that I think it is right, or that I don't know I can get CC's that will automatically take care of this. Just saying that for me, buying status is my preference.

RNE

Gentlemen (and Ladies, since I know the gender of only one of you): I am a vocal opponent of mileage runs and buying EQMs, but I will be the first to applaud your actions! Only you can say what something is worth to you. I just paid $238 for ELR seats so my wife and I can sit in 7A&B for a 10-hour flight. Well worth the cost in my opinion. ^ Inevitably, some will think it foolish. Ask me if I care.

It's always a challenge to predict when to buy something; one has to exercise his/her best judgment at the time and move forward from there. You've all done well if you've pleased yourselves. And it sounds to me like you each have. So, bravo to you!

RNE, with apologies to Dr. Thomas A Harris, "I'm OK, You're OK."

P.S. The sale of EQMs is a win-win situation for the airline and its customers. The airline, in effect, sells a "virtual" seat and can still sell it for real. The EQM buyer gets his/her miles without having to fly. Even those customers who don't buy EQMs win. How so? The EQM buyers' butts are not in seats their butts can be in. I guess it's a win-win-win!

Vulcan

Even those customers who don't buy EQMs win. How so? The EQM buyers' butts are not in seats their butts can be in. I guess it's a win-win-win!

Except, that the practice of selling EQMs artificially increases the number of elites, and to a certain extent, the competition for the last upgrade seat.

RNE

It's a ripple in a wave.

In any case, I agree with your position that EQM selling is here to stay. The longevity of the 8.7-cent price, however, is very questionable. As I have suggested, expect the price to fluctuate and expect the end-o'-year spike to begin in mid-autumn this year.

RNE, cautioning, "It's a jungle out there, ladies and gentlemen."

icydog

The price is now 9 cents per EQM. At least that is what I have seen.

icydog

I still think it is a better option at 9 cents than doing MR for even 5 cents a mile. You have to consider the cost of your time, the amount of effort it takes to sit in an airplane for hours going to someplace you don't want to go, and the cost of parking your car and food etc. I can bet you would save money doing it this way. I am very seriously thinking of buying EQMs at 9 cents per EQM. I bought some at 11 cents last year so this is a bargain. I think being proactive makes sense in this case.

RNE

Just as I reported in Post #597. However, I also noted that my reward booking was showing 8.7-cents/mile (and it still is). It may, therefore, be possible to make a new reward booking and buy miles for 0.3-cents less. That may make a significant difference when buying a lot of miles.

Weez_1000

Im not sure its tied to reward vs. paid as my paid 2 days ago was 8.7. I do wish we knew for sure what the criteria was.

Edit: just checked in for my return and it offered me 7500 EQM's for $653 still at 8.7c at least for my return (paid) but upgraded with miles.

bniu

if you regularly outright pay for BF, then what is the point of status anyways? If I should one day be so privileged to buy F tickets with cash, then I'd just pick the airline that fits my schedule and forget about trying to earn status...

ensensens

Just checked 3 reservations, including discount fare, B fare, and reward - all offering 3 cents base + 6 cents EQM total 9 cents, each component rounded up to the next whole dollar:

B (1.5x), 304 miles one-way, offered 1500 miles, $45 + $90. (Also offered 500)
M, 628 miles round trip, offered 1256 miles, $38 + $76 (Also offered 628)
Reward (XN + YN), 2551 miles round trip, offered 5,102 miles, $154 + $307 (Also offered 2551)

Note that B fare offered 500-mile minimum or 3x (1500-mile), while M fare & reward fare offers were for actual flight miles or 2x.

Platinum, but reward record also included a non-elite, same offer.

screwedbyaa

Does anybody know out of experience (i.e., no guessing, please) if I can buy just the RDMs in one transaction and then come back later (if I change my mind) and buy the EQMs? Or do you only get one shot at it?

The thing is I'm sure I want the RDMs now, but I'm "iffy" on the EQMs and still have a lot of time before departure to think about it...

First-hand experience is welcome!

gobo

I had the same question too.

As a newbie on traveling, I just wanted to thank everyone for the great info in this thread.

RNE

Why worry? You can always book a new flight, buy the miles and cancel the booking within 24 hours.

Red_Rob

I was talking with a friend recently who made VERY good use of buying EQMs. Just before EOY in 2010 he purchased a few miles to bump from Silver to Gold which sounded good enough to me... The real value though was that he did it right before flying trans-atlantic. Yes that flight would have bumped him to Gold anyway, but this way he earned significantly more miles off the trip (+100% instead of +25%) It also gave him access to the lounge as a *Gold.

Moral of the story - Sometimes you can really do well buying miles. However I suspect for someone who rarely flies its better to buy up to first instead of spending thousands on status for a few flights a year.