Going The Distance: Mileage Running On Marathon Flights
Travis MacRitchie is at his Los Angeles apartment packing a single carry on bag for a flight halfway across the world.
"I'm going off on a pretty ridiculous adventure, so fingers crossed that it'll go okay," he says.
He's headed to the Middle East on a flight to Bahrain and he'll be back home in just three days.
MacRitchie is embarking on his first mileage run, a technique used by travelers to earn frequent flyer miles as quickly as possible. He's flying out of LA to Washington, D.C., then D.C. to Dubai, and finally Dubai to Bahrain. This round-trip flight will earn him 36,000 miles, guaranteeing him Gold Status with United Airlines.
"The perks definitely make travel much, much easier," says MacRitchie.
There's priority security screening, complimentary upgrades and airport lounge access. For MacRitchie, being pent up in a plane is worth it.
"I enjoy the process of traveling itself. To me, it's fun. So I can definitely think of worse things to be doing on my weekend," he says.
This may sound expensive but his ticket is just $600.00. His boarding pass prints out and MacRitchie is on his way.
"It really is about getting a deal," says Howie Rappaport, editor for the Frugal Travel Guy blog.
He says mileage runners scour the Internet and post on forums like flyertalk.com for specials, discounted prices and mistake fares.
"Looking in one of the forums there, someone had posted a deal that American Airlines had a fair from Philadelphia to Beijing, China, for just under $450," says Rappaport. "And that would be round trip."
Never mind the destination, Rappaport says mileage running is all about gaining status.
"When it comes to loyalty, you can kind of get caught into a trap. It's almost like a drug, because when you start getting those benefits, you don't want to lose those benefits," he says.
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