Challenge for the defrocked
 

Well, the poor wife lost her status this year. Most of my trips were business related. She got here plebe Dividend Miles card today. However, there was one nugget. As a former Preferred, she has been offered the challenge of regaining Silver status if she flies 6,250 miles between Mar. 15 and June 15. On a similar note, she received four NA upgrades for a flight she did in early February - pushing her over the 10,000 mark. Of course she can't use them now....

So, does anybody know of a good way to get to SAN in one shot from WAS which will give her 6,250 miles. We used to do DCA-PHL-LAX-SAN all the time, but can't since LAX-SAN is no longer an Express route.

Is DCA-ORF-PHL-SAN or DCA-HPN-PHL-SAN legal?

I just played around quickly and I'm sure a better deal can be found if you fly out of BWI... but I was able to price a DCA-RDU-CLT-PIT-SAN-PHL-DCA itin at around $610 (on 4/6 and return on 4/8). This would log you 6467 miles.

On a secondary note, do you still have to be a Preferred to use your certs? Remember, you can send them in for miles now! Or sav them until you make Silver again after the challenge.

... or use them to upgrade a full fare economy ticket. Any Div. Miles member can do that; not just Preferreds.

As for a miles run, fares to Europe are still very low. You can price a Euro-run for less than $500 if you're flexible with your dates and destinations. Also look for BWI to LAS flights - southwest is offering a sale and US seems to be matching the fares AND not requiring a Sat. night stay.

We bought a pair of MHT-FRA-MHT tickets for $340 each. The other day I was checking and found that BDL-FRA-BDL is $313 from 3/21-3/27. The BDL-FRA-BDL is actually more miles since it routes through CLT. The only problem with these fares is that you'll probably need to stay about four days.

Yes, you basically do. Non preferreds may only upgrade Y and B-US fares. So, we'll probably save them.

My thought was BWI-ORF-PHL-SAN-PIT-PHL-BWI or BWI-SBY-PHL-SAN-CLT-RDU-DCA.