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Why I do mileage runs
I love to fly to exotic locations around the world, but don't want to sit in a cramped coach seat for those very long transoceanic flights. This creates a problem for me: Business Class and First Class tickets are expensive, very expensive, much more than I can afford, so I had to find another way to pay for my trips. Mileage Runs (MRs) are my solution.
As I explain in the Mileage Run FAQ, "a mileage run is a trip designed specifically to earn miles or points from an airline frequent flyer program. You may or may not allow yourself enough time to leave the airport and visit the city you've stopped in: the main goal is to earn miles."
Mileage runs give me a way to take trips that I could otherwise not afford.
For example, let's look at a trip from the United States to Australia to Thailand, and back to the U.S. I'm familiar with this trip, my wife and I hope to take it next year. I've checked this route on AA.com; depending on which flights we take, the cost for that trip in Business Class is $14,000 - $19,000 per person!
But, I can also do that same trip for 125,000 American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flyer miles. So the question is, how much will I have to spend to earn those 125,000 miles?
Let's say I fly to Seattle and back using an itinerary that will give me maximum mileage: Austin-Dallas-San Diego-Seattle-Chicago-Austin. (That's a mileage run I did in May 2008). With the Platinum bonus, I earned 10,840 miles for the trip; my ticket cost was approximately $250.00
If I do that trip 12 times, I will earn 130,080 miles, enough to cover the Australia/Thailand trip. Twelve tickets at $250 will cost me $3,000.
By doing mileage runs, I will be able to buy a $14,000-$19,000 ticket for only $3,000!
Divide out the miles and the cost for this trip, and you see that I have bought the miles from the airline for 2.31 cents each ($250 divided by 10,840 miles equals 2.31 cents per mile). When I use the miles to purchase the ticket, the airline will give me over 11 cents credit for each mile ($14,000 divided by 125,000 miles equals 11.2 cents per mile). That's a fivefold increase over what I paid for them.
Imagine telling a business that you want to make a $14,000 purchase, but want to pay for it in advance, $200 here, $300 there, until it is fully paid. Many businesses would agree to that proposal; that's what you are doing when you put an item in layaway. But then you tell them that you want them to drop the price of the item from $14,000 to $3,000. I can't think of a business that would accept that deal, but that is exactly what the airline is doing for me.
When I do a mileage run, I am pre-paying for a future trip, and getting the trip at a substantially discounted price.
And that is why I do mileage runs. This concept does work. In 2007 Mrs. Happy Flier and I visited Asia for our wedding anniversary. We flew First Class on American Airlines to Los Angeles, then Business Class on Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong. After a few days in Hong Kong we flew Cathay to Thailand. Ten days later we flew Business Class on Japan Airlines from Bangkok to Tokyo to Chicago, then First Class on American Airlines to Austin. My total cost for that was a $125 processing fee: if I had purchased those tickets they would have cost over $8,000 each. If I had to pay full price for those tickets, we would not have been able to take that amazing trip.
Please take the time to read my Mileage Run FAQ. If you have questions, contact me at the link below.
Welcome to the world of mileage runs!