In fact, it is my only mileage run of the year. TVC-ORD-SEA-ANC and back the same day on the red-eye. I will not make 1K again, but this will get me to Premier Executive on United in 2012. If I can figure a way to get Delta Gold in 2012, that will be helpful as well. But my 100K a year is not going to happen this year. We are going to Hawaii in December to finish off the Premier Exec and, of course, to the Chicago Seminars in October.
I used a United ecert for the flights and it worked OK with a Continental segment from SEA to ANC and back. That part of the integration seems complete as in the past it was UA flights only. My out-of-pocket expense was $98. Not a great CPM but I needed the eqm’s and it fit in my schedule well.
My layovers are all about one and a half hours, which I think is perfect. I’ll update with bumps if they happen along the way. My upgrades are cleared on all segments.
If the rumored United changes to Mileage Plus prove to be true, this could be my last mileage run forever. The proposed revenue spend to achieve mid-level or higher status exceeds my interest in the corresponding benefits. Thankfully, my Lifetime American Airlines Platinum status is in place, although I’m still cheesed off about the Catera Commerce eShopping Mall (aka Aadvantage eShopping Mall). Why is it called the AAdvantage eShopping Mall anyway?
With AA I can buy 500-mile stickers to upgrade or spend the extra miles for business class redemptions. Unfortunately, AA has only two flights per day from Savannah: one to Miami and one to Dallas. I can’t believe I’m about to say this seriously (and Howie is going to howl), but I may actually have to switch to Delta or US “Scareways.”
Update: 6AM I forgot my glasses. Blind as a bat, I’ll spend the next 27 hours with a pair of $9.99 2.5 power maginifying cheaters. Nothing looks bumpable at this point. Weather is clear. I’ll be writing a rebuttal to a recent Clark Howard article about the value of frequent flyer miles. How do you nicely tell a guy he is misleading his audience>
Update Chicago O’Hare 6:30 Central Time: An uneventful hop over to ORD parked at gate C28 and departing C23 so off to the Red Carpet Club for my banana (healthy:) and coffee.. Departure is 8:15 AM arriving in Seattle in the United area and then truckin it down the escalator on to the train over to the Continental flights but I have plenty of time. The weather looks good and the miles are racking up. I love my days in “flying land”
Update Seattle 2:20 Eastern 11:20 Pacific I love flying to the west coast particularly up north. The mountains are snow covered and the valleys so green. Mt Rainer stood in all her splendor on approach and several other volcanoes were visisble as we decended. The city, Pugent Sound, Lake Washington and the Space Needle. Seattle is one of my favorites. I booked it over to Anthony’s for some clam cowder and garlic shrimp and still have an hour before boarding. My seatmate was 7 months pregnant and wanted the aisle as she would be up quite often. I fooled her and showed a 60 year old bladder is about as active as a preggie gal. Not much conversation and the movie “Thor” was a waste of time. Next stop Anchorage Alaska.
Update Anchorage 8:12 PM Eastern 4:12 Alaska Cloudy and cool by our standards in the high 50′s. When I stepped off the plane looked out the window the first aircraft I saw was an old silvers skinned DC-3 taxiing by. With the mountains in the background I knew I wasn’t in Michigan anymore. My layover is barely an hour and returning back to Seattle on the same aircraft. The Continental 737-900 had the Direct TV option which doesn’t work outside the continental US but the movies worked just fine. Still no sleep so I’m guessing I’ll go out on the way back to Seattle.
