Moderators: richierich, ua900, PanAm_DC10, hOMSaR
davidjohnson6 wrote:If you're going to do a mileage run, allow plenty of time between flights and think about what you would do if one or more specific flights are cancelled or heavily delayed. Reliability and punctuality of flights is not great right now, and you should ensure you have a robust plan if things go wrong
AlnessW wrote:It's been a long, painful few years through the shutdown for those of us who enjoy getting on the road and having fun. Now said world is reopening, futures are looking brighter, I can work from anywhere there's a reliable internet connection, and Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle ruled in our favor (for the US, anyways) - woo hoo!
As such, I've taken a few shorter domestic trips these last few months albeit nothing crazy. I feel a fairly big void still. My long weekend in New England earlier this summer fell through for various reasons but really ended up being for the best. Today, I thought about mileage runs.
Do people still go on these to rack up frequent flyer miles? I've never been on any before, or other such "flying just for the hell of it"-type of excursions. It could be more trouble than it's worth given the way things are priced nowadays, combined with limited availability and the fact that my home airport is a construction disaster zone. :/ I'd be looking at either United or Delta, probably not American for reasons stated above. If some more personalized mileage program stats from me would help, just let me know and I'll elaborate.
What about logistics - as in, can multiple legs be booked under the same e-ticket and itinerary?
OR - is this a crazy ridiculous idea and I should just plan a real trip to Hawaii, Europe, Mexico, or other such thing?
davidjohnson6 wrote:I spent the weekend just gone on a flying-for-the-hell-of-it trip to add a very obscure airline and a small airport to my collection
<snip>
The fact that the trip included a night on an island in southern Europe staying 2 mins walk from the beach in peak summer may have made the flying a little more fun
Stitch wrote:Are "Mileage Runs" really even worthwhile nowadays with all the restrictions airlines place on mileage accumulation on the cheaper fare classes, which at least "in my day" of the early-to-mid-2000s made it worth the effort.
UALFAson wrote:What's changed about the mileage run process is that many if not most/all airline frequent flyer programs have moved away from segments or miles to dollar spend as the threshold for elite-level qualifying. And while AA in particular has been touting this change as a simplification, I find it much more complicated.
UALFAson wrote:So you need to do the math and figure out whether you can spend enough--not fly enough--to hit any sort of elite level threshold. My person opinion is that a lot of people are going to or already have given up chasing status. Airlines have made it too easy to qualify for the lowest elite tier without flying a single segment and too difficult to requalify for higher levels given the reduced amount of business travel that is happening. Many people are probably financially better off just paying for Y+, bag fees, etc. on the fewer flights they now take, especially if they can get reimbursed by their company, than to do mileage runs to chase "free" elite status.
TWA757 wrote:Maybe you could go visit Kathryn and Chad in Florida?
PSU.DTW.SCE wrote:As others have said, the "mileage runs" generally now are a thing of the past. <snip>
PSU.DTW.SCE wrote:I'd just plan a trip somewhere interesting .
AlnessW wrote:It's been a long, painful few years through the shutdown for those of us who enjoy getting on the road and having fun. Now said world is reopening, futures are looking brighter, I can work from anywhere there's a reliable internet connection, and Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle ruled in our favor (for the US, anyways) - woo hoo!
AlnessW wrote:Do people still go on these to rack up frequent flyer miles?
AlnessW wrote:I've never been on any before, or other such "flying just for the hell of it"-type of excursions. It could be more trouble than it's worth given the way things are priced nowadays, combined with limited availability and the fact that my home airport is a construction disaster zone. :/ I'd be looking at either United or Delta, probably not American for reasons stated above. If some more personalized mileage program stats from me would help, just let me know and I'll elaborate.
AlnessW wrote:What about logistics - as in, can multiple legs be booked under the same e-ticket and itinerary?
AlnessW wrote:OR - is this a crazy ridiculous idea and I should just plan a real trip to Hawaii, Europe, Mexico, or other such thing?