Weekend Trip to LA - Overgrown Mileage Run
Years ago I blogged about going on my first Mileage Run. What's a Mileage Run? It's a term used among frequent flyers online to describe a trip taken purely for obtaining the points and status awarded in an airline's frequent flyer program. This weekend we're going on a trip to Los Angeles that started as an MR.
I note this trip started as an MR because it's grown into an actual trip. In a true MR you don't stay where you're going; you turn around and come back right away... and often on a circuitous route as these can rack up more miles!
I started considering an MR 7-8 weeks ago when Southwest Airlines offered an interesting promotion. They'd renew my top tier elite status if I flew just 2 round trips between September 1 and November 19. I already had one of those round trips booked with our trip to Seattle in early September. There were no restrictions on how long or expensive the flight had to be. In fact I could even use points! With a bit of poking around for cheap airfares I found I could book same-day return trip to LA for as little as $93 or the points equivalent thereof. That would be surer and cheaper than stretching to maintain my status the normal way, i.e. flying lots more paid fares.
Before booking one of the cheap MR itineraries I asked Hawk if she was interested in us making a weekend out of it. The promotion doesn't require doing an MR; that's merely the cheapest if somewhat artificial way to cinch it. We could spend a bit more, get a hotel for two nights, rent a car or use a ride service, and actually enjoy a few days in whatever city we're flying to. We considered a few alternatives and landed on going to LA for a weekend and touring a few of its museums. So that's where we're off to this evening!
[This entry was cross-posted from https://canyonwalker.dreamwidth.org/129424.html. Please comment there using OpenID. That's where most of the action is!]
I note this trip started as an MR because it's grown into an actual trip. In a true MR you don't stay where you're going; you turn around and come back right away... and often on a circuitous route as these can rack up more miles!
I started considering an MR 7-8 weeks ago when Southwest Airlines offered an interesting promotion. They'd renew my top tier elite status if I flew just 2 round trips between September 1 and November 19. I already had one of those round trips booked with our trip to Seattle in early September. There were no restrictions on how long or expensive the flight had to be. In fact I could even use points! With a bit of poking around for cheap airfares I found I could book same-day return trip to LA for as little as $93 or the points equivalent thereof. That would be surer and cheaper than stretching to maintain my status the normal way, i.e. flying lots more paid fares.
Before booking one of the cheap MR itineraries I asked Hawk if she was interested in us making a weekend out of it. The promotion doesn't require doing an MR; that's merely the cheapest if somewhat artificial way to cinch it. We could spend a bit more, get a hotel for two nights, rent a car or use a ride service, and actually enjoy a few days in whatever city we're flying to. We considered a few alternatives and landed on going to LA for a weekend and touring a few of its museums. So that's where we're off to this evening!
[This entry was cross-posted from https://canyonwalker.dreamwidth.org/129424.html. Please comment there using OpenID. That's where most of the action is!]