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 seat

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.