Baht Run
 

Does anyone know where the post can be found for the link below? It looks like a good deal for those who have time to spare.

http://www.mileagerunner.com/content...uickroutes.htm

Thanks.

Do a search. You'll learn more about it than you'd care to...

But before you get stoked about booking one, it's no longer allowed.

I've never thought of doing one - but how is it not allowed? If it accrued miles, wouldn't that be okay?

It's based on segments, not mileage. I don't know anything about it - searching for "baht run" in the UA forum here didn't give me much info. I'll try google and see what that turns up.

Google doesn't have much on "Baht run".
The search function on the website here didn't return much (it doesn't seem to work that well).

I did do a board-wide search on Baht and found some info that I'm still sorting through. For those interested, give that a try. The orig. 750-post thread appears to have been removed from FT.

Here's a link for some info as well...

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=112786

That long thread that I started was not so much 'removed' by FT, but got lost/corrupted in the changeover to the NEW FT a little while back. Same thing happened to a few of the other super long threads.

It was in Miles Buzz.

That thread just referenced about this run now being recognised in the last Guinness Book of Records has a good deal of info in summary, some of which I re-post below.

I am not certain that it still does not work to get 1K cheaply. Are not 100 segments on Star carriers still eligible for 1K?

Why?

No, oz.

I believe the segments qualification is only on UA (and now I believe also US), as shown here:
Note the absence of "segments."

I think there where only certain segments that was cheap enough to get this done and I dont think they are that cheap anymore so I am guessing you are looking at more like 2500 to get this done. I think the whole thing is crazy.

More like under $US2000 in Thailand to fly 100 segments on TG, depending on exchange rates at the time you are doing it of course. Last year when $US sunk it was well under $2000 AFAIK.

Thanks Windflyer .. interesting catch. United do seem to have either woke up to the Baht Run type of thing now, if that rule is all they work by. That long thread I posted in 2000 so they have had plenty of time to fine tune.

I recall many asked the same question about the Baht Run when I originally posted it, and tvl4free IIRC posted something that made it clear segments on Star carriers also did count for 1K, but they may well have tightened the wording. There were 5 year old kids made 1K on the 100 segments rule on TG, so it certainly did work then, and the SWU's were mailed out with no problems. ^

It was not only TG of course where this loophole could be used.

In Canada (and my memory is little hazy on the city pairs) you could do wacky things like fly from Vancouver to Victoria IIRC which was only 50 miles or something equally mad, on some little plane that had an Air Canada flight number. Cost was not high, and flight frequency fairly decent.

Again my recall is a little hazy as it was years ago but I think someone found that you could do this as part of some Star RTW ticket that did not have a restriction on backtracking. So, if they lived in YVR (Or Victoria) they could rack up 50 or 100 segments doing this at your leisure on weekends etc AND do a basic RTW and still be within the RTW mileage cap and fare rules.

And of course have no real air ticket "cost" except for taxes, as it still allowed a true RTW blanace of mileage cap. blondebomber or someone may recall more info on this little Canadian based loophole to make 1K? It should of course still get one to AC Gold AFAIK, which did not need a ton of segments last time I read the * Elite comparison charts.

Well, if Thai segments do not now count towards 1K, that is news to me.
I have used a few of these segments in five of the past six years to pad my way to 1K. Know I had four Thai segments in 2002 included in that year's total of 103 flights. Last year I had the same four Thai segments, in 105 total, but assumed the Thai would also have qualified me had I not had with 101 on United/UAX. In a couple of months I am again counting on at least four Thai segments to take me over the top.

Has anyone yet called MP to outright ask about this, as seems odd to have this lingering uncertainty on the board? I think we have seen that United at times appears to forget about us segment folks, for instance by not specifically mentioning segments in promotions, whereas they are included. Heck, I've got .5 of a segment now sitting in my account from a recent qualifying fare.

Having visited Chiang Mai a number of times, the home of the Bhat Run, I've taken a number of roundtrips to both Mae Hong Son and Chiang Rai. I personally cannot imagine that there were THAT many people who subjected themselves to 100 Thai flights to qualify for 1K. Supplement their United/Star Alliance flight total, yes, but only Thai flights? Remember, you accrued only two flights per roundtrip, and I think until recently there were only three roundtrips a day available to Mae Hong Son. But to those who may have qualified in this manner, my hat is off to you! You are, quite frankly, a more dedicated/crazy 1K than I.

ColoBill1 - yes I am curious if * segments with no UA flight code-share number on them really do NOT count, and yes, I have seen the post above from Windflyer, but not sure if that wording in practice is strictly adhered to. Your experience seems to say it is not. :)

Others may recall between but my memory was that it was possible in a day to make TEN flights around Northern Thailand using TG. Therefore 1K for $1000 took 10 days or so.

42 flights a day seems to be on the upper end of possibilities: ;)

http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/...id=43988&Reg=1

IIRC, not all of the Thai airways flights around northern Thailand are actually operated by Thai and thus do not count towards any UA status. Thai operated flights would qualify.

Boo. That was done using a helicopter!

Because I'm bored, I figured out you can fly YVR-YYJ and vv. 16 times--that is, if AC allows you 5 minutes between some flights. ;)

Hey, don't shoot the messenger - I was only quoting the Guiness Book Of World Records. ;)

This one interested me more:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=355479

One guy flying 14 million miles, and among them 718 Concorde flights. :p