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Mileage Run Questions

3kids4me

3kids4me

TUG Lifetime Member
Joined
Jun 16, 2004
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Location
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1. Do any of you do regular mileage runs?

2. Do you sit in Coach, or are you able to get upgraded because you already have status?

3. Do you stay overnight when you go? In a hotel?

4. How do you decide if the cost is worth it?

4. Is this something worth doing for the peon who hardly ever flies, and so just has miles through credit card use right now?

5. Anyone doing this on AA? How about from the NYC area?

Thanks for any answers, to any of the questions!

Sharon
 
Not sure if you've found www.flyertalk.com which is to MR'ing what TUG is to T'sharing. I have found help there with general airline type questions. I find many of the folks over there aren't quite as patient with newbies as I think we are here but it's a terrific resource.
 
There's a whole forum on mileage runs at FlyerTalk. If you spend some time reading it, you'll get a good feel for what's feasible for you.
 
3kids4me said:
1. Do any of you do regular mileage runs?

2. Do you sit in Coach, or are you able to get upgraded because you already have status?

3. Do you stay overnight when you go? In a hotel?

4. How do you decide if the cost is worth it?

4. Is this something worth doing for the peon who hardly ever flies, and so just has miles through credit card use right now?

5. Anyone doing this on AA? How about from the NYC area?

Thanks for any answers, to any of the questions!

Sharon
Click to expand...

i don't travel on the same airline to need to do that. i do however have many, many miles and travel 3-4 times a year first class and i get 4-6 free flights a year besides the first class ones. i use each credit card very wisely.
 
Sharon -

I seem to recall you and I talking about this topic as we drove from Boston to central CT a couple of years ago!!

There are a number of us, including Pat H, camachinist and me, who include pure mileage runs in our list of enjoyable activities.

Most mileage runners define a pure run as one where the trip is taken for no other purpose than to accrue frequent flyer miles or a higher level of elite status with the airline or both.

As an example, Pat H and I not long ago flew from the East Coast to San Francisco to Tokyo to Singapore, spent about seven hours in the Singapore airport and then turned around and flew back along the same route. We each accrued a total of about 45,000 United Mileage Plus miles (flight miles, bonus miles and credit card purchase miles) on the trip and, with other FF miles earned during the year, earned United's highest mileage-earning elite status (called "1K") for the following year. The total trip took about 60 hours, including the 7-hour Singapore stay.

There are some who earn higher status or more miles by taking an extra trip to see relatives or friends or spend a relaxing weekend, but pure mileage runners don't call those trips mileage runs.

My personal answers to some of your questions:

1. I made mileage runs (all on my own dime) regularly through 2007, but because I am retiring this year, I'm starting to use the millions (yes, millions) of frequent flyer miles and frequent stay points that I have earned over the years and might never do another one.

2. I was almost always able to upgrade, using upgrade instruments (or occasionally FF miles) earned from earning mega-miles and elite status.

3. Yes, sometimes I stayed overnight in a hotel, but often only if I couldn't get a return flight without doing so.

4. The cost was worth it if the trip contributed to earning the elite frequent flyer status I wanted, especially if the cost of the trip was less than, equal to or only a bit more than the value I put on the earned FF miles (including bonus miles). The best value often comes from flying on mistake fares, extremely flow fares that airlines sometimes mistakenly loan into their fare systems. Pat (camachinist) can speak to that, if he checks in on this thread.

4. (#2) It is worth it if you think it is. No one's opinion matters except yours (and, ahem, your family's. :) )

5. I have no AA mileage run experience, although Pat H has. My experience is with DL and UA.
 
I always make sure I have the miles for elite status on my principle airline, which for the last few years has been NW, and was DL before that. I have never thought the pure MR was the best bang for the buck. When I needed more miles, my preference was always to do a long weekend somewhere interesting in Europe during the off season. Now that I am working in Europe, however, that is no longer an option. If I need miles, now it will probably be a long weekend visit back to the states.
 
Carolinian said:
I always make sure I have the miles for elite status on my principle airline, which for the last few years has been NW, and was DL before that. I have never thought the pure MR was the best bang for the buck. When I needed more miles, my preference was always to do a long weekend somewhere interesting in Europe during the off season. Now that I am working in Europe, however, that is no longer an option. If I need miles, now it will probably be a long weekend visit back to the states.
Click to expand...


Do you find with Northwest you usually get the free upgrade to first class? Or are they becoming harder and harder to get these days?

I am tempted to try to get the required mileage for one year to get the first level upgrade, but I am not really sure if it is worth it or not. Especially since flying out of ND kind of takes all the fun out of trying for those low base fares. :( It may not even be possible out of a place like ND. Our airfares are unbelievably high. I would have to be really sure any perks you might get with the elite status would really be worth it.

If you have elite status, does a person who is traveling with you on the same ticket purchase also get upgraded?
 
My domestic upgrade percentage on NW floored me compared to DL. With DL, I was lucky to get upgraded on 25-30% of flights, while with NW, it has been nearly every flight that has a 2 class configuration, even some of the RJ's (the AVRO's). NW planes have a larger number of first class seats, which helps the percentages a lot. Also, they are still flying DC-9's with 16 first class seats on routes where DL is flying a lot of RJ's with no first class seats. Also, NW upgrades on any fare, while DL excludes lower fares.

Op-ups on TATL flights have been about the same between the two, however, and those are always a pleasant surprise on the rare occaisions when they happen. I used to love the SWU's at DL where you could get a TATL upgrade on fares around $100 more than the lowest were great while they lasted, but that was some years ago that those disappeared.
 
Carolinian said:
My domestic upgrade percentage on NW floored me compared to DL. With DL, I was lucky to get upgraded on 25-30% of flights, while with NW, it has been nearly every flight that has a 2 class configuration, even some of the RJ's (the AVRO's). NW planes have a larger number of first class seats, which helps the percentages a lot. Also, they are still flying DC-9's with 16 first class seats on routes where DL is flying a lot of RJ's with no first class seats. Also, NW upgrades on any fare, while DL excludes lower fares.

Op-ups on TATL flights have been about the same between the two, however, and those are always a pleasant surprise on the rare occaisions when they happen. I used to love the SWU's at DL where you could get a TATL upgrade on fares around $100 more than the lowest were great while they lasted, but that was some years ago that those disappeared.
Click to expand...

Thanks. :wave: That is good to know.
 
I have done mileage runs to maintain plat status on Continental several times. If it is somewhere I want to go then I will stay a few days over a weekend. But I have also flown back and forth around the US making stops to maintain status. As a plat I usually get upgraded fairly frequently on CO except certain flights leaving NY and Houston. On NW I always get upgraded. I have also combined runs to hit status on airline/hotels.

Is it worth it? Yup I travel a ton for work and besides the priority security lines, the ability at min to reserve a exit row seat or have the opportunity to upgrade is huge. Plus I get to use the miles to upgrade. Same for the hotels while having a suite is not critical when I'm traveling on business I do enjoy it for personal travel as well as access to the lounges for free breakfast, cocktails, snacks
 
Thanks for the input everyone.

Now that I've used all our miles on the two FC tickets to London, I guess I was just thinking about how to get more. But I don't even know how many miles it take to qualify for status on AA...I'd have to do a lot of research!

Dave, I remember our conversation well! Of course, your situation is much more comfortable because, given your status, you can upgrade on almost all of your mileage run flights making them more pleasant. In addition, you had some nice company for those flights!

I am familiar with Flyertalk, but this is such a basic question that I felt more comfortable asking it here. On FT, the mileage run section is mostly concerned with the best fares to make the runs in general....

Thanks again,

Sharon
 
Hi Sharon,
It's amazing how many of us are advocates of both forums. My hubby and I are leisure travelers. He might have flown 1 or 2 times a year for Navy duty, but that's all. It so happens our Starwood account has my name listed first. About 2 years ago I got Complimentary Silver status on NWA. Now we had all our miles on US Airways, including using their credit card (Don't laugh, anybody :ignore: ), so I write them and ask for a status match. They want to see my account and proof of the NWA offer. So I send in both my account info, but hubby's as well. His FF # was linked to the credit card, so his balance was higher than mine. Wouldn't ya know it, they gave him Silver and me zip!. That was Octoberish. In Jan the big push for the new Barcley's Master Card came out along with the 50 cent tickets in Feb. We lucked out and managed to snag 3 - PHX, MCO, SAN. We were able to get tickets to PHX & MCO so I could go too. Long weekends. We also picked up a SFO from a FTer who couldn't use it. Created a back to back run PIT-DCA-SAN; SAN-CLT-PIT then one hour later PIT-LAS-SFO; SFO-PHX-PIT Allstarting on a Sat AM with final return on Tues AM. That was our introduction to MR's. He discovered quickly the real benefits of "status" -Preferred check-in, early boarding = finding room for your stuff in the overhead, pillows, exit rows, and probably most important the dedicated phone reservation/help line. We get to talk to someone in the US who is really familiar with the product. Someone willing to work to make you happy. The occasional UG to FC is the icing. If he traveled for business it would mean a lot more. In spite of US Air's problems, for the moment they give unlimited UG - space available. They UG your companion with you. I think they're the only one. I know others will UG companions at the gate, but only after all their Elite flyers have gotten theirs. I do acknowlege that's really fair. Most diehard FT MRunners will say .04 cents a mile is a good price. We're now in his 3 rd year with status and he's already lookin for a run. Last nov he topped of his miles with a Veteran's Day run to SEA. There and back in about 23hrs. It's addicting, be careful. I didn't mean for this to be so long, but it's neat how we fell into it. Oh, I have to agree, FTers expect members to do all their homework and research before asking questions. But so many really sound like great people and are very helpful, I'd like to meet them.
Again, you did great with the FC Award tickets. BEST use of miles!
Eileen
 
I have done mileage runs, very rarely, because I don't find traveling to be a very pleasant experience nowadays. But if my total cost per mile equals about 1 cent per mile earned, 2 cents per qualifying mile earned,then I will do a run.

A pure run does not involve a hotel room. That messes up the cost per mile, and technically, it's not a mileage run if you spend the night in a hotel. That said, I do occasionally do mini-vacations when the cost of airfare falls low enough and I can find a decent (3-star or above) room for $35-$50 a night.

My last pure mini-vacation was a trip from Los Angeles to Ireland over a three-day weekend a little over a year ago. Airfare was $218, including taxes, round trip, for which I got 26,000 miles (11,000 qualifying miles), and I got a Days' Inn room in Dublin for $32 a night, including a full Irish breakfast. Flew out Saturday morning, connected in Chicago, arrived on Sunday Morning.

Spent Sunday and Monday in Dublin, flew out Monday afternoon and arrived back in Los Angeles on Monday night.

My last pure mileage run was sometime last year, when I spent several weekends on round trips from Los Angeles to Minneapolis, connecting in Chicago. I would fly out on Saturday morning, get back Saturday afternoon, then do the same thing on Sunday. A discrepancy in Travelocity and AA.com airfares and a bonus miles promotion worked it out so that I got about 14,000 miles (and about 4,000 qualifying miles) for roughly $100 per ticket, all in. I recorded my week's TV shows onto a DVD or two, and watched them on the plane on my laptop, which made the time go by fast.

But unless my penny-per-mile goal is met, I don't consider mileage runs to be worth the time and effort.

BTW, when I spend the miles I earn, it is usually on international first class trips, where I would ordinarily get back a value of 8 to 10 cents per mile spent.
 
I meant to add that I do not do the multiple flight itineraries that many mileage runners do. I find that the wait time, connect time, takeoff and land time (often a couple of extra hours), the chance of missing flights, getting stuck and having to sleep in an airport, plus the extra $5-per-airport security fee, are not worth the extra 200 or 300 miles you get for doing that. So, my mileage runs rarely have more than one stopover.
 
Yes, if the other person has the same name as you. In order to get credit for the FF miles, you'll need to have your frequent flier number in the flight record. If the number is associated with a different name from yours, there will be a mismatch and you likely won't get credit.
 
Dave M said:
Yes, if the other person has the same name as you. In order to get credit for the FF miles, you'll need to have your frequent flier number in the flight record. If the number is associated with a different name from yours, there will be a mismatch and you likely won't get credit.
Click to expand...

Not likely won't get credit, but definitely won't. The first year I bought tickets for conference faculty members, I tried putting my mileage number on the reservation but it didn't work.
 
Do it only for fun because its hard work.

Sharon,

Dave M and Hoc said it best. Do it for fun or do it for an occasional status miles but don't do it just for the miles.

I don't do pure Mileage runs because the numbers never work for me. By the time I add in gas to the airport, parking, some high price food waiting in the airport, dog and cat sitting etc the cost per mile is always off the charts. If I add in the value of my time even at minimum wage the airlines would have to pay me.

I prefer to go to work on a Sat and earn a few extra bucks to either buy mile for use in upgrading or buy First or International Business Class outright. That way their is no question that you will be sitting up front.

After two international BC trips with DH this year on KLM and NWA, I have enough Bizperks(NWA business reward program) for 12 RT domestic upgrades on NWA over the next 3 years. This means we can upgrade into first on ticketing(subject to availability) instead of standing in line behind higher level elites at the gate, hoping for an upgrade.

This program works particularly well for us because

1. We fly out of a non-hub airport and earn a higher number of bizperks to other non-hub airports and we burn flying to MSP(a hub airport) to see family.

2. We earn flying tax deductable premium business travel and burn flying personnel.

3. NWA probobly has the best website for searching for mileage upgrades so finding flights to use them on is fairly easy.

Short
 
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