Every year around this time, frequent travelers around the world scramble to make last-second pushes to secure elite status before time runs out. While this used to be incredibly commonplace, annual program changes have made this practice of "status…
Mileage Runs
This past Saturday ANA had a really good fare for business class tickets from Vancouver to Sydney in which you could fly round-trip for right around $700. The deal only lasted for a few hours, so we didn't have a chance to cover it here on OMAAT. I was…
As you may have heard, ANA had an amazing fare sale -- or possibly a mistake fare -- with roundtrip business class tickets from Vancouver to Sydney going for about $700 USD. Either way -- and to me, the reason doesn't much matter-- a few folks were able…
Figuring out how to value frequent flyer miles is tricky business. Most people have a vague concept of what a mile is worth to them, but if you press them on it, they don't really know how they arrived at that number. Worse yet, if you start to question…
There are many ways to get started in the miles and points game, as there are many ways to play. These days the simplest and perhaps easiest way is to apply for one of the many credit cards offering insanely generous sign-up bonuses. Depending on the…
Yesterday I talked about how mileage runs were once the cornerstone of the miles-and-points game. Crazy people such as Ben would book these quick turnaround trips in which they would zig-zag their way across the country -- and then immediately back --…
We're welcoming a lot of new readers from around the globe this week here at One Mile at a Time. To celebrate, we're featuring a lot of content that covers the basics of what you need to know to get started in this hobby as well as a few articles, like…
When it comes to planning mileage runs, or looking for great fare deals, the go-to tool for most of us has been the ITA Matrix. ITA is a powerful tool, and makes searching for specific inventory buckets or fare combinations more practical. However, ITA…
I've been involved in this hobby for a bit over a decade now, and there's no denying that my approach to things is different now than when I was 15. When I was mileage running as a teenager I'd quite proudly proclaim I was on a mileage run to anyone…
I've been involved in this "hobby" for more than a decade now. And I feel just as passionately about it today as I did the day I get started, despite the fact that my approach to it has changed a lot. I'm just booking some travel today, and as I do so…
I put "mileage run" in quotes because it's not really a mileage run. Nowadays mileage running is for the most part dead, in my opinion. But there's still plenty of merit to finding good fares on fun routings for maximizing miles, ideally with stops at…
Last October, American Airlines announced a new nonstop daily flight between Dallas and Hong Kong, which launched this June. This route was incredibly exciting to me on many levels: -- Hong Kong is possibly my favorite city in the world -- It's operated…
Reader Jake asked the following question via email: I know you have status with Alaska and American, and I was wondering if you could share your strategy for requalifying this year? Jake is correct, my two primary airlines are American and Alaska, and…
I’m approaching a decade of being active in this “hobby,” and while I fly more than ever before (I flew over 400,000 miles last year), I’m also doing less mileage running then ever before. There are a few reasons for that: It’s…
Perhaps file this one under the “no $&*%, Sherlock” category, but I had an interesting experience yesterday on a mileage run to Managua, Nicaragua. I was flying from Miami to Managua and back, with a 65 minute layover in Managua. As it…
Going back several years, mileage running as a “sport” made perfect sense — airfare was extremely low, airlines published promotion after promotion, and routing rules were extremely generous. Unfortunately that’s not the case…
As many of you are probably aware, I’m presently shuttling back and forth between the US and Brazil. In the past seven days I’ve flown back and forth between the US and Brazil three times, meaning I’ve flown six longhaul flights. I’ve spent every…
I’m hoping the answer is at least four. I’ve written about my #firstworldproblem struggle this year trying to decide whether to go for American’s highest Elite Rewards tier, which would earn me a total of 100,000 bonus AAdvantage miles,…
I’ve now lived on the west coast for over nine months, though since moving here I haven’t done a single “pure” mileage run. As I’ve written about quite a bit lately, I’m behind on requalifying for elite status this …
Last night I was on the phone with a friend trying to plan mileage runs, and I spoke five words I never thought I’d say — “I give up on status.” Let me ‘splain. About a week ago I wrote a post about how I was trying to decide…
Last week I answered a reader question on the blog about whether it’s worth maintaining airline elite status when there are so many great credit card offers, making it easy to earn enough miles to cover any reasonable person’s travel needs.…
Last September I was made aware of some special business class fares on American between Atlanta and Japan (the fare was the same to both Tokyo and Nagoya). The fare was about $1,800 all-in for discounted business class. If I couldn’t upgrade to…
After an all too quick three nights in Barcelona we grabbed a cab to the airport at around 8AM for our 10:15AM flight. We made it to the airport shortly before 8:30AM and proceeded straight for American check-in, which we found to be deserted. Terminal…
American 66 New York (JFK) – Barcelona (BCN) Sunday, February 5 Depart: 5:30PM Arrive: 7:10AM (+1 day) Duration: 7hr40min Aircraft: Boeing 767-300 Seat: 4H (Business Class) We got to our departure gate (38) around 4:45PM for our 5:30PM departure, and…
