Off to Sunny (I hope) San Diego
This evening Merhawk and I are at the airport waiting to board a flight to San Diego for the weekend. After the " River in the Sky" soaking us for the past few days and screwing up plans it'll be nice to have a break where it's-- hopefully-- dry and sunny.
It would be simple to say that I planned this trip to San Diego as a mid-December escape to somewhere sunny and warm. It would be simple but inaccurate. Because the true reason behind this trip sounds kind of cockamamie: it's what we frequent flyers call a Mileage Run (MR).
You see, I've been traveling a lot on Southwest Airlines the past few years. I've earned top tier elite status with them for both years. I anticipate continuing to travel with them in the future, but a month ago I realized that I wouldn't quite requalify for top status this year. My planned trips would put me a few hundred points short. Enter the concept of the MR: take a trip to accumulate points to earn elite status (and points).
Now, a pure MR would be a trip just for the miles. Go somewhere, turn around, come back. Like I did a few years ago with my gratuitous trip to Fort Lauderdale via Cleveland. But flying solely for the points is draining, and I only needed a few hundred anyway. So why not make a fun weekend out of it? See, that's not so cockamamie after all.
Better yet, why not kill two birds with one stone? I'm also pursuing a promotion with the Intercontintal Hotels group (parent of Holiday Inn, etc). I needed to stay one more night at their hotels to earn a bonus worth two free nights. So... tonight we'll stay at one of their hotels in San Diego. It's one kind of MR-- a mattress run-- within another MR. It's an (MR)2!
It would be simple to say that I planned this trip to San Diego as a mid-December escape to somewhere sunny and warm. It would be simple but inaccurate. Because the true reason behind this trip sounds kind of cockamamie: it's what we frequent flyers call a Mileage Run (MR).
You see, I've been traveling a lot on Southwest Airlines the past few years. I've earned top tier elite status with them for both years. I anticipate continuing to travel with them in the future, but a month ago I realized that I wouldn't quite requalify for top status this year. My planned trips would put me a few hundred points short. Enter the concept of the MR: take a trip to accumulate points to earn elite status (and points).
Now, a pure MR would be a trip just for the miles. Go somewhere, turn around, come back. Like I did a few years ago with my gratuitous trip to Fort Lauderdale via Cleveland. But flying solely for the points is draining, and I only needed a few hundred anyway. So why not make a fun weekend out of it? See, that's not so cockamamie after all.
Better yet, why not kill two birds with one stone? I'm also pursuing a promotion with the Intercontintal Hotels group (parent of Holiday Inn, etc). I needed to stay one more night at their hotels to earn a bonus worth two free nights. So... tonight we'll stay at one of their hotels in San Diego. It's one kind of MR-- a mattress run-- within another MR. It's an (MR)2!