5 ms·

A few years ago I had a job that had me flying 5000 miles a week. I signed up for AA's status challenge and qualified for platinum status in nearly a month. I

by ben1040 16y ago

A few years ago I had a job that had me flying 5000 miles a week. I signed up for AA's status challenge and qualified for platinum status in nearly a month. I think they charge for taking the challenge now (it was free then) but it's well worth it. Not only do you get better seats, free bag checking, priority security access, and earn upgrades, but that was 30,000+ additional bonus miles I wouldn't have earned had I just skipped the challenge and qualified for the status the normal way. Also, if you're on the fringe between status tiers, often times it's very much worth it to spend a couple hundred bucks on a "mileage run" if it means the extra EQM will put you into top-tier status.

Dornkirk 16y ago
I'm wondering if you know whether there's any program that allows earning miles to spend on any airline? I'm going to be doing a trip in two months that will take me from the Mid-West to SE Asia and then I'll hop a few places in SE Asia before coming back to the states - I currently don't have any frequent flyer program as I hardly ever fly (a few times a year) - but I'd hate for this trip to go wasted - plus I may be traveling quite a bit next year.
- prawn 16y ago
  Last time I undertook a major trip (37 flights through 20ish countries), there were two main alliances - Star and OneWorld, from memory. If you stuck to airlines from one of those, your points would be combined. I don't fly all that regularly (maybe just above average) so things might've changed since then.
  - gaius 16y ago
    Now there is a third - SkyTeam. Plus there is Virgin Atlantic who aren't a member of any alliance but have one-off deals with individual airlines.
- JimmyL 16y ago
  I don't think there are any airline points that work across _all_ airlines - if for no other reason than this removes the loyalty incentive that makes FF programs attractive to the host airlines. Generally, the programs that let you use your points anywhere will be run by a third-party, often your credit-card provider. As the article says, get every account you might fly on, but keep your focus on one airline/alliance. If you need to move your points around between airlines, there are services like points.com that let you do that for a fee.
- Keyframe 16y ago
  As prawn suggested, and I know for a fact, Star Alliance has a program. So, if you stick with airlines within SA and get into their program you'll be fine.
eru 16y ago
Wow, those airline loyalty programmes seem pretty sick to me, if they encourage such behaviour.
deleted 16y ago
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goatforce5 16y ago
I did the challenge when I was living in London, UK but working in Boston, USA. Spent a lot of time with my just-tall-enough-to-be-uncomfortable in economy seats. Getting status and being able to pre-book exit rows for free was a massive benefit for me. And just two weeks ago I came back from a Toronto->Honolulu vacation where I paid for the flight by cashing in some of my accumulated miles. Had to pay for tax though: $35. Paying cash for the same flight would have been ~$800. (Well, paying on a card. I get points I can used towards travel from my credit card.) Finally: mileage runs make perfect sense once you start playing the game. I once paid ~$200 to do a day trip from London->Madrid so that i'd maintain platinum status. Current job doesn't have me travelling though, so i've let everything lapse.

by ben1040 16y ago

Dornkirk 16y ago

I'm wondering if you know whether there's any program that allows earning miles to spend on any airline? I'm going to be doing a trip in two months that will take me from the Mid-West to SE Asia and then I'll hop a few places in SE Asia before coming back to the states - I currently don't have any frequent flyer program as I hardly ever fly (a few times a year) - but I'd hate for this trip to go wasted - plus I may be traveling quite a bit next year.

prawn 16y ago
Last time I undertook a major trip (37 flights through 20ish countries), there were two main alliances - Star and OneWorld, from memory. If you stuck to airlines from one of those, your points would be combined. I don't fly all that regularly (maybe just above average) so things might've changed since then.
- gaius 16y ago
  Now there is a third - SkyTeam. Plus there is Virgin Atlantic who aren't a member of any alliance but have one-off deals with individual airlines.
JimmyL 16y ago
I don't think there are any airline points that work across _all_ airlines - if for no other reason than this removes the loyalty incentive that makes FF programs attractive to the host airlines. Generally, the programs that let you use your points anywhere will be run by a third-party, often your credit-card provider. As the article says, get every account you might fly on, but keep your focus on one airline/alliance. If you need to move your points around between airlines, there are services like points.com that let you do that for a fee.
Keyframe 16y ago
As prawn suggested, and I know for a fact, Star Alliance has a program. So, if you stick with airlines within SA and get into their program you'll be fine.

eru 16y ago

Wow, those airline loyalty programmes seem pretty sick to me, if they encourage such behaviour.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

goatforce5 16y ago

I did the challenge when I was living in London, UK but working in Boston, USA. Spent a lot of time with my just-tall-enough-to-be-uncomfortable in economy seats. Getting status and being able to pre-book exit rows for free was a massive benefit for me. And just two weeks ago I came back from a Toronto->Honolulu vacation where I paid for the flight by cashing in some of my accumulated miles. Had to pay for tax though: $35. Paying cash for the same flight would have been ~$800. (Well, paying on a card. I get points I can used towards travel from my credit card.) Finally: mileage runs make perfect sense once you start playing the game. I once paid ~$200 to do a day trip from London->Madrid so that i'd maintain platinum status. Current job doesn't have me travelling though, so i've let everything lapse.