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…
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…
SAS is running a really awesome promotion this spring where kids can fly for almost free from the US to Europe. You just need to book by January 23 and travel between February 7 and April 9. The best part is that you can take up to 8 kids with each paying…
SAS is launching service between Los Angeles and Stockholm, Sweden, starting on March 14. Well, it turns out that to promote the launch of this route, SAS is selling one-way tickets from Los Angeles to Stockholm for $99, all-in. That's pretty amazing.…
We're at the point in the year where I'm sure many of us are starting to plan our 2016 travels. Living in hotels and on planes full time made it really easy for me to requalify for status this year. I more than double qualified for top tier status with…
Copa Airlines is about to launch one of the more interesting promotions we've seen in a while. They are apparently celebrating service to 12 "new" destinations and offering tiered bonuses for flying to those cities between October 1, 2015 and March 31,…
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…
I might joke that Detroit is Alaska's most elite heavy route... at least through the end of this month. As I wrote about back in February, Alaska announced new service to Detroit which started on September 4th, and a double elite qualifying mile (EQM)…
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…
