NYC1K

What is this $100 off coupon? Is it a UA promo? Please advise.

1Konsultant

I am slowly realizing I might not make 1K again next year unless I do a MR or two... esp. sans DEQM promo. The one year I need it! Blah.

I am about ~30,000 EQM or 26 EQS short (not including a 3 ORD-SFO flights and 2 ORD-IAH flights I have planned... which would only add ~15,000 EQM or 10 EQS). Any ideas whether I do the MR for EQS or EQM? What's cheaper / easier from ORD? Any routing suggestions? A few years back, I did an ORD-SAN-SFO-LAX-SNA-LAX-SFO-ORD MR that got me a bunch of EQS (for only $250).

Thanks.
1Konsultant

MileageAddict

Thats a lot of ground to make up in two months. Are you sure it's worth the cost and time?

ua_to_ord

For racking up segments, perhaps some creatively routed fares to the likes of PIT, PHL, LGA, BWI or IAD might be the answer. The downside: lots of RJ flying, and 3 or 4 flying days would likely be necessary to accrue the required 26 segments.

For sanity, 2 or 3 transoceanic trips might be a better idea. One trip to SIN/BKK and another to Europe, if routed via the West Coast and IAD respectively, should get the needed 30k EQMs. Plus, you hopefully have some SWUs that you could apply to these trips, making the journey tolerable and perhaps even pleasant. ^

melampus83

16 EQS is quite a bit... I don't know how much time you have, but I would almost suggest you go for the remaining 15,000 miles or so you need... You could probably sneak in two cheap ORD-LHR-ORD flights if you hunt around....

If I were you, I would just fly to SE asia for a vacation in Thanksgiving.

iluv2fly

Merging with the "I need XXX EQM's" thread.

iluv2fly
Moderator, UA

ttownsend

Just to clarify, you say you are 30K EQM short, NOT including the 5 trips you have planned that will add 15K EQM. So does that mean you'll be only 15K EQM short? If so, a single Asia trip should handle that.

1Konsultant

Yep -- 30K EQM does NOT include the 5 trips planned. With those, I would only need ~15K EQM.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. It sounds like EQM is the way to go, but even a trip to NRT wouldn't do it (only 12,500 EQM). Sounds like either 2 trips to EU or one to SE Asia is necessary. What's non-peak this time of year? I'd need to do the trips on a weekend (which would be hard for Asia) or sometime between Xmas and New Years.

1Konsultant

gfunkdave

Mine actually posted a week after the account upgrade - which was 3 weeks BEFORE I paid the statement.

as219

Having pinned my hopes on a DEQM repeat, I was looking at about 65K EQMs at the end of the year. Have booked 6 transcons, one-day back-and-forths, on three different weekends.

Ouch.

For me, 1K is absolutely worth it even if I don't fly "that much." From a straight cost-benefit analysis, doing these MRs is cheaper than paying for the upgrades via higher ticket prices and/or RDMs. There's no other way around it.

Because of the specific number of EQMs I need, there were no easy int'l MRs that would get me to the magic 100K without (a) spending a lot more; or (b) forcing me to miss work, which I can't do. Flying only on weekends, and out of SWUs, it's p.s. or bust.

Good luck to all the rest of you gunnin' for 1K! ^

mahasamatman

ORD-SFO-ICN-SFO-ORD is 15,020 EQM.
ORD-NRT-TPE-NRT-ORD is 15,260 EQM.
ORD-SFO-TPE-SFO-ORD is 16,630 EQM.

c1mth0g

30k sounds like a lot, but I actually have more than 30k worth of EQMs booked for the remainder of this year. None of them are MRs.

mre5765

With the regionals you hardly ever fly in less than F. If you really
want F most of the time, you need 1K. It is cool how a domestic
regional upgrade gets confirmed instantly weeks before departure.

ljwobker

I'm a 7-year 1k veteran, all BIS to this point. I got married *and* changed jobs this year, which whacked about 3 months off my normally quite busy travel schedule. I now find myself sitting at ~70k EQM so far this year, but next year looks like I'll be right back on the wagon, so I need to find a decent way to get to 1k and make those SWUs. I've also been very slack in my FT reading (apologies humble readers) so I'm cheaping out and asking... what options do I have?

1) double/bonus EQM offers this year?
2) reasonable mileage runs? I originate in RDU, so needs to be east-coast or ORD based.
3) promo offers? credit cards? anything silly like that? I normally avoid these aggressively, but this year I'm pretty desperate as several roundtrips to NRT do not look appealing without 1k status/SWUs for next year.
4) call 1k desk and beg for some kind of exemption/deal for next year? does my history as a 1k matter? anyone tried this?
5) what else am I forgetting?

thanks...

--lj

UnitedSkies

Take your new bride (congrats btw) on a nice followup to your honeymoon, maybe Southeast Asia?

Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong... all great places to visit, and oodles of miles.