Do End-Of-Year "Status Runs" Make Sense? [2018]

Great post. I would also add that it used to make a lot of sense during the "mileage only" days because the period between Thanksgiving-Christmas is a really dead period for travel, so fares are generally very low during this period. Now with EQD's, etc., booking a cheap fare often doesn't do you any good.

I already had kids by the time I got into the game, and rarely travel for work. So status runs have never been a thing to consider. My work in the game is done to afford family travel.

I think this is obviously totally dependent on each person and their flying patterns. If you organically fly enough to achieve status then trying to get the next status up if its within reach can make sense.

I just booked an Alaska Air flight and ended up paying $140 for extra leg room seats for 2 people on 2 legs. If I book that flight on AA then as an EXP I'm not paying for extra leg room. Multiply those seat fees and bag fees for those without airline credit cards and those fees will likely equal more than a status/mileage run to help bump status.

Short answer: maybe

I just booked a flight. Needed 4K miles to get to the next tier. Transcon at the end of December to see friends for a night and back.

I just did a JFK-EZE run on Aeromexico to keep my Delta status. Even had a good steak in Argentina. The SkyMiles I got didn’t come close to covering airfare, but provided a meaningful offset of what I paid. Plus I got to try out the AM 787s. Add that to the fact that I can keep my Delta Diamond status for 2019 (competing with you for upgrades out of BDL) and I think it was worth it. If my upgrade status starts approaching zero in 2019, I reserve the right to change my mind.

This is exactly the question I'm thinking about with right now. I'm generally a travel free agent, but happened to book heavily on Oneworld this year. I've met the spending threshold for American Platinum status, but am about 4,000 miles shy. I could do a single-day transcon roundtrip for ~$275, but I can't decide whether it's worth it.

In 2019, I expect at least two transatlantic roundtrips, one already booked on BA/IB and one that will likely be either AA/BA or UA. Right now the rest of my anticipated travel will be domestic, where AA may or may not make sense depending on how things shake out.

I've got Priority Pass, so Oneworld Sapphire lounge access isn't crucial. The Gold status I've already locked in gives me the free bag and theoretically better access to help in irrops, so no real benefit there. The biggest benefit I see is the access to Main Cabin Extra at time of booking for Platinum, versus if available at check-in for Gold.

I lean against that benefit being worth $275 and a day of my life, but I may regret that decision if I end up traveling more than I expected on AA next year and can't get into Main Cabin Extra at check-in.

not end of the year, but I’m flying SFO => SIN => EWR in premium economy, with a 19 hour layover in Singapore, for $1050 to hit *A Gold again with Asiana. I hit it with cheap United Economy fares credited to SQ Krisflyer back when all earnings were 100%, I missed lounge access too much when I lost it!

Am I missing something or doesn't AA allow EQD earning up to 60% for Finnair 1st (F bucket) and 40% for Finnair Business (J,D and C buckets)?

My issue this year is my business was so evenly spread across UA/DL/AA that I ended up with 18-22K miles on each of them, whereas if I was entirely on one airlines, I would have much higher status.

With thatsaid, I just booked a status run on Delta to re-qualify as a lowly Silver medallion ....Philadelphia to Los Angeles via Detroit for $334 RT. I used the $200 airline fee credit from my Amex Platinum, so my true out-of-pocket cost was $134.

Worth it for me as I frequently clear upgrades on small routes I fly often on CRJ with minimal elite demand. Even when I don't, the occasional upgrade to Comfort + or selecting a good preferred seat (ex: 36A on MD-90s) makes it worth it to me. Next year, my travel is picking up immensely and I'm going to try to fly exclusively with Delta (as much as I can justify...difficult when a nonstop direct is less expensive) and I'm expecting to be in the Platinum or Diamond range, so I feel going into 2019 with some status is better than none, at least for my first few months of the year. And hey, some sunshine when it's snowing here....if only for a weekend...not a bad thing.

No. The answer to this question is always no.

If you make status by "natural" flying: great. Otherwise don't waste your money.

If you're close to gold status on Alaska it's worth a mileage run to get free changes and cancellations for 2019. Great for speculative award bookings.

I'm not married. I don't have kids. I live in a small town in Arkansas. I literally don't have anything better to do than chase status.

If you're in my shoes, absolutely book that status run!

Sorta - this year my wife and I are doing a weekend trip from SFO to TPE to visit some friends and to earn the last ~10K to retain our 1K status. We were fortunate to bag two cheap biz r/t tickets on EVA for ~800USD each. Although we are US nationals, we use our residence in Singapore as our primary address on our UA MP accounts since we spend a significant time there anyways. Therefore, we are not required to meet the PQD, but only need the adequate PQM to retain status. We will be matching our 1K this year for about 3300 USD in spend on United, with most of the PQM earnings coming from LH and SQ. We qualified for DMD earlier this year through business travel (again MQD are waived). My wife is also a PPS Solitaire Club member, which affords many of the same benefits to spouses.

When status with Delta was nothing more than miles flow the mileage runs were very important; but today not so much so. I flew from Tulsa to St. Louis (via Atlanta) each Saturday for two months to earn status and miles. When all was said and done Delta was paying me to fly.

Premium economy runs can still be effective as well.

I did a status challenge for my wife , the next year for me and now will go without it now for the next several years.

Hi Steph - great post and I found it intriguing and appreciated it.

Constructive feedback: you may want to expand the article to include the airlines that don't have a minimum spend - like AS. Like Rico noted above, there are still several value options that make a status-run worth it in that program. I'll be doing one of those this weekend to cover the thousand or so miles I'm short for what remains a valuable status for mileage earning and change fee waivers, not for pining to be #27 of 45 on the UG list...

In addition to @Kelly's comment, I would like to add that many of us don't need a minimum spend due to having foreign addresses.

I am on a mileage run from GSP to ANC as we speak. I am flying up today, spending the night, and flying home in the morning. I was 6000 miles short of Diamond and had already met the spend requirements, so it was a no-brainer for me. (Add that I have enough vacation days to cover the rest of the year and have 8 RUCs that I can burn at any time.)

The GUCs, my insane upgrade percentage, and the Diamond line make it more than worth it to me. (Plus, I get to have dinner in downtown Anchorage tonight.)

Of course, as stated, this is a YMMV situation.

I am on a mileage run from GSP to ANC as we speak. I am flying up today, spending the night, and flying home in the morning. I was 6000 miles short of Diamond and had already met the spend requirements, so it was a no-brainer for me. (Add that I have enough vacation days to cover the rest of the year and have 8 RUCs that I can burn at any time.)

The GUCs, my insane upgrade percentage, and the Diamond line make it more than worth it to me. (Plus, I get to have dinner in downtown Anchorage tonight.)

Of course, as stated, this is a YMMV situation.

The hardest part is predicting what you might travel in the next year to see if it is worth a run. I did a status run last year to keep my United Gold (my secondary program). I anticipated some work travel to Germany and thought the Senator lounge access would be worth it. Turns out I only did a couple domestic trips on UA in 2018 - not even enough to get Silver for 2019. Oh well, at least the weekend run was fun....

I'm a tier ahead in EQM but barely re-qualified by EQD, so I'll take my AA PPro for 2019 and not bother with a run. When you routinely are #7 on the upgrade list because of all the elites, status seems less worth it.

What has been very frustrating this year is that the United mileage calculator has been completely wrong for months in calculating my PQMs and PQDs for current and future flights. Also I have found that PQDs that show at booking is completely different than what is on the receipt. I can't tell you how many times I have had to manually calculate and recalculate otherwise my mileage run would have been for nothing.

I did a $250 MR to get UA 1K. I had already hit the minimum spend and was only short 4800 miles. Did SAN - ORD - FLL - IAH - SAN in one day and that took care of it. Totally worth it for me

Making a DFW-TPE run this weekend to get to AA EXP again this year - $750 ticket for 16K EQMs (I've got the EQDs) - I needed 12K, but this was the best value (quick stop in HKG)

Stupid - probably - but the effective cost of the ticket is less than $400 when you factor in AA award miles w/ bonus and amex points - and the value of EXP to me (over PPRO) is certainly worth well more than that, as I travel internationally several times a year and the company only pays for coach.

> If you’re close to gold status on Alaska it’s worth a mileage run to get free changes and cancellations for 2019. Great for speculative award bookings.

I did a transcon same-day turn last Saturday for $190 all in, to renew Alaska MVPG. I almost canceled it though, since the new Saver fare restrictions on what used to be the regular economy fares will require us all to book up to more expensive tickets to get the upgrades, seat selection and no-fee changes that make Gold useful. I went ahead, and there were 4 of us mileage running out of 12 in F on my back to back transcon flights, but I am still grumpy about Saver.

Well... many of us have said that mileage runs (or now status runs) might be a bit ridiculous, but that certainly changes when the previous year's privileges (other than what CCd's can bring), especially some superb lounges, suddenly disappear and almost seem to be lost forever! It feels, in so many respects, like going to the end of the line, unable to gain what you had before. The challenge is for those of us travel around 250K miles per year spread across the thre alliances, to be able to somehow hold onto AA-EXP, *G, and in my case AF-G-or-P. I could only land two of the three last year; and losing SkyPriority (except on J-fares), plus access to any of their proprietary non-payable lounges all over the world, was stinky!! But with a pair of recent suggestions from a couple of our fine OMAAT brethren, I'm doing a MIA-ATL-BOG RT in F run in the next weeks (only $713 in F!), which will bring me back some SkyTeam peace on earth... and some of the comforts along the way. Soooo... it's still worth it when you're at the cusp!

I like the Aeroflot Bonus program because it is absurdly easy to obtain status. It's like the old days. They only have a mileage requirement-no minimum spend. I literally obtain Skyteam Elite+ status after only two round-trips from VVO-JFK in Comfort Class. That's around $2000-$2500 out of pocket. This year I am approaching Aeroflot Platinum status, and after a round-trip flight to Miami from Vladivostok next week, I'll be only a tick over 1000 miles short of the 125,000 mile requirement. I've been Gold for several years, so I definitely plan to take a short flight before the New Year just to see what Aeroflot Platinum is like.

Kent, hello from VivoCity. The new Marks & Spencer cafe is great.

@Steph I loved your photos to show free agent versus status run in hopes of securing the cabin upgrades.

Not all airline status calendars run from Jan-Dec. Many are based on when you joined the loyalty programme, and that date or nearabouts is when your “anniversary” is. For example, mine’s in May. A VERY important date in my calendar and a very depressing one on the day after it resets to zero!

By the way... does anyone have an answer to @Jim.F's question about AAdv EQD earnings for Finnair flights; and in fact also even more specifically for flights on Finnair ticket stock flown on AA metal? I've recently read elsewhere about people who believe that they received no EQD credit at all! So hopefully somebody (Ben - are you in the neighborhood?) might know on this one. Thanks!

@DCAview - I’m in the same boat as you. Based on my experience as AA gold this year I don’t think you’ll have a major problem consistently getting Main Cabin Extra swats at checkin. Once upgrades start clearing there are usually at least a few open extra seats especially if you keep proactively monitoring the seating chart.

@ejg239 not sure when you’re trip is but it’s cold and rainy in LA today. Don’t hold your breath for beach weather in December.

I need to fly 300 miles to get to UA Gold. No worries about PQD. Should I do it?

Re: "If you’re primarily a leisure traveler and purchase your own airfare, it’s generally not worth gunning for elite status at this point."

So I'm Delta Diamond and mostly leisure. The mostly leisure top tier types are exactly the ones looking for any excuse to make that totally spurious trip to Tokyo next weekend so they re-qualify. #Me.

I reached elite status the past three years by August by following a few practices:

1. Pay for tickets in the first part of the year and avoid using miles.
2.. Buy tickets well ahead and at sale prices and in business or premium economy.
3. Track your mileage as you plan your year.
4. Don't be afraid to do two trips in one. I flew from Australia to Japan and back on trip that started in LAX, so I also flew back to LAX and on to SEA. In Premium Economy on Qantas and JAL, I earned over 25k EQM for about $3500. I will do something similar in 2019.
5. Don't be afraid to come home from one long trip and go on another. Korean Air tickets got lower in late 2016 during the trading of insults between Rocket Man and Dotard. I came home from Australia and Asia and flew back to Korea and Japan two weeks later.

Sooner or later you have to spend miles. The past two years I have done eight week trips starting in early to mid-October, paid for with miles. Since 2013, I have done five overseas trips a year, done for 20 to 24 weeks. I am retired and like being gone.

@OftheWorld - The short answer to @Jim.F’s question is yes, it is true, according to the AA website.

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/partner-airlines/finnair.jsp

I did a MR on a saturday afernoon LGA-MIA-LGA on AA for $235. That trip will allow me to requalify as AA EXP once again. As far as I am concerned, the MR was worth it as I value the 4 SWU's and the 'no-fee' change on AA awards.

I have never done a status run before, but may do it this time. Just taking into account my natural business travel, I'll be at 29/30 segments and 11,250/12,000 points short of requalifying for Mosaic status on JetBlue. Mosaic isn't as rewarding as other status, as there are no upgrades to be had and no lounges, but it's still better to have versus not have the status. A quick $200 round trip to LGA will only cost me a half-day and will be totally worth it in preserving the status for next year.

I'm in this interesting position of being *very* close on Delta MQMs (presuming my Reserve card hit $60K spend) and MQDs (just a couple thousand away) to reach Diamond. So for the past few flights, I've been buying Y First Class tickets... and by my calculations, it's pushing my Reserve spend to $60K, my MQMs on top of the 30K from Reserve to 150K, and MQDs to $15K. Nice to be in the golden triangle. 🙂

Thank you for understanding, being intrigued and not having me committed. I love that we have this to share.
-Frequent Flyer Aunt-

You should do the same article in relation to Hotel status? I am close to Diamond with Hilton and need to determine if I want to spend 10 days in a hotel somewhere. Thanks.

@WestCoastGuy

It depends on how much you'll be flying UA next year, but the main reason to go for the mileage run would be these two benefits...

1. Automatic seating in Premium Econ at time of booking (vs at check-in for Silver)

2. *A Gold for when you travel internationally... which means access to lounges and other perks

300 miles should be a really cheap way to get that.

Joe,

You may be better off to forget the 10 Hilton nights (unless it's to do something good), and get your Diamond by getting the Amex Aspire card, likely for less money, and get alot more (airlines credit, Priority club, et-al)