Mileage running is taking a flight for the purpose of getting frequent flyer miles. For example, I need 5k miles to keep my status, and I notice a cheap fare across the country, so I jump on it. I take the round trip flight without getting off the plane at my destination.
I've never done this, but I read in insideflyer that 60% of frequent flyers have done so.
Why bother getting on the plane in the first place? If you paid for the ticket shouldn't that be enough to keep your "status" up?
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on September 12, 2011, 06:55:46 AM
Why bother getting on the plane in the first place? If you paid for the ticket shouldn't that be enough to keep your "status" up?
No.
do yo uneed to be on the plane, or can you buy a ticket for someone else but it goes towards your airmiles?
Wow, how wasteful.
Quote from: DGuller on September 12, 2011, 12:05:18 PM
Wow, how wasteful.
Indeed. When I read about shit like this, I think we should die out as a species.
Don't some Frequent Flyer schemes permit the purchase of miles with cash for precisely this purpose?
Quote from: HVC on September 12, 2011, 11:52:39 AM
do yo uneed to be on the plane, or can you buy a ticket for someone else but it goes towards your airmiles?
You need to be on the plane.
Quote from: Warspite on September 12, 2011, 12:36:27 PM
Don't some Frequent Flyer schemes permit the purchase of miles with cash for precisely this purpose?
Yes, but the return sucks.
Quote from: Warspite on September 12, 2011, 12:36:27 PM
Don't some Frequent Flyer schemes permit the purchase of miles with cash for precisely this purpose?
And while you can usually buy miles, those usually don't count for status.
This is a dilemma I hope never to face. :hmm:
So here is a situation it might make sense...Say you are a businessman who makes 25 or so round trip flights in the US a year. You might only get to 35,000 miles a year. If your airline has a status cutoff of 50k miles in a year, if you don't pick up that extra 15k you won't be upgraded to business class the next year, will have to sit with the hordes outside of the airport lounges, and won't get the bonus miles that come with status.
So at the end of the year, if you can find that roundtrip ticket to Hong Kong to make your miles for $1k, it might make sense. You could probably use miles to upgrade to business class that would make the trip less than the horrible torture it seems. But it is still horrible torture, and I think it is a bit nuts. A lot of people seem willing to do it though.
If I fly 16 hours to Hong Kong, I'm at least gonna stay for the weekend, I mean shit, just taking the flight is fucking crazy.
That is mad and wasteful.
The closest thing I can think of is the Aland booze cruising- people get on a boat in Stockholm, it goes to the Aland islands, waits there half an hour then heads home. Most of them don't get off at Aland, they're just on the boat since tax laws mean they can buy cheap booze on it.
But at least there you're buying something tangible. This...well I've never understood air miles but wow....
I have never done it but the perks of riding first or business class especially when flying international are near priceless. For instance most airposrts have a shortened security line for first class so it might take me fifteen minutes to clear security in heathrow or atlanta instead of 45 minutes. The bigger seats are nice on long flights when you have a stocky build or want to be able to get some productive work done en route. In short if one flight separated me from obtaining an auto upgrade status id do it. Of course id get off at the other end just to poke around.
Quote from: Tyr on September 13, 2011, 03:34:07 AM
I've never understood air miles but wow....
Wow indeed.
Someone I vaguely knew from high school is basically a "professional" miles runner. It seems that he turned himself into a mileage guru- he has a few travel/mileage blogs, and is quoted semi-regularly in the mainstream press on airline travel issues. Based on his blogs, he spends his time travelling the world and staying in fancy resorts- not an entirely bad lifestyle. I would never want to do it, though.
http://travelsort.com/profile-posts/ben-schlappig
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/onemileatatime/
Air miles are pretty byzantine though, especially to people who rarely travel.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on September 14, 2011, 08:13:54 AM
Air miles are pretty byzantine though, especially to people who rarely travel.
Oh, no doubt that the plans are complicated (deliberately so, in all likelihood), but the concept is pretty simple.
I wouldn't call it simple, and I didn't understand them myself until this thread. I still don't understand why airlines won't just monetize the perks they are giving out to frequent fliers, and sell them instead. It seems like an outgrowth from an era when airlines were regulated oligopolies.
Quote from: DGuller on September 14, 2011, 08:30:04 AM
I wouldn't call it simple, and I didn't understand them myself until this thread. I still don't understand why airlines won't just monetize the perks they are giving out to frequent fliers, and sell them instead. It seems like an outgrowth from an era when airlines were regulated oligopolies.
Here is why: the cash cows for airlines are business travelers that go business/first class on international trips. $10-$15k for a business class ticket is not uncommon. No one is going to drop that kind of cash on a ticket--I'd guess that most people that would are going to fly privately.
So they bribe the business traveler to fly their airlines with the perk that if they do so, they can fly for free (or in a better section) when they travel personally. If American Airlines was to monitize the perk, the corporation could take advantage, and business travelers would gravitate to other airlines where they could still get their kickbacks.
Quote from: DGuller on September 14, 2011, 08:30:04 AM
I wouldn't call it simple, and I didn't understand them myself until this thread.
The concept is that people who frequently fly commercial airlines get perks based on accumulating a certain amount of miles flown is a certain period of time. I'd call that pretty simple.
I still don't understand why airlines won't just monetize the perks they are giving out to frequent fliers, and sell them instead. It seems like an outgrowth from an era when airlines were regulated oligopolies.
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Well, in effect, they do sell those perks. They just aren't perks when they simply sell them outright.
For example, say you're using your miles to get a free upgrade to first class. Even if you didn't have any miles at all, they'd still sell you a first class ticket for that flight. Or, are you getting a free flight with your miles? They'd sell you a ticket on that flight anyway.
The whole idea from the airlines' point of view is to get people to fly more. After all, very few flights are full, and almost all the costs of a flight are fixed. That $1K ticket to Hong Kong that was mentioned earlier in the thread? That flight was going to go to HK regardless, and if 1 or 2 more people take that flight to get the miles, thats a thousand or two that the airline wouldn't have otherwise. And on the other end, when you redeem your miles, even when they give you a free flight, to the airline, that's just 1 less empty seat on that flight.
Another important perk for business travellers is that you get a booking guarantee in higher status, meaning you can book very short-term (24-48h).
Quote from: dps on September 14, 2011, 08:50:30 AM
Well, in effect, they do sell those perks. They just aren't perks when they simply sell them outright.
For example, say you're using your miles to get a free upgrade to first class. Even if you didn't have any miles at all, they'd still sell you a first class ticket for that flight. Or, are you getting a free flight with your miles? They'd sell you a ticket on that flight anyway.
The whole idea from the airlines' point of view is to get people to fly more. After all, very few flights are full, and almost all the costs of a flight are fixed. That $1K ticket to Hong Kong that was mentioned earlier in the thread? That flight was going to go to HK regardless, and if 1 or 2 more people take that flight to get the miles, thats a thousand or two that the airline wouldn't have otherwise. And on the other end, when you redeem your miles, even when they give you a free flight, to the airline, that's just 1 less empty seat on that flight.
From one perspective, that $1k ticket is so wasteful though. A guy wants his status, and is willing to pay $1k (at least) for it, but rather than just giving it to him for $1k, he must pay $1k and endure 20+ hours of torture. Presumably everyone would be better off just selling him the status.
But if you sold the status, you wouldn't incentive the corporate drone who has a marginal reason to make a couple of trips to Europe. Get him to book those flights last minute on your airline, and you may get $20k. Dangling the prospect of a free vacation ticket in front of him is a good way to get him to take that flight. Give him more miles based on his spend, and you suddenly have an accomplice to help you fleece his company. That is why you need to sit on the plane to get the miles--otherwise the company could take the miles, and that would put a damper on excessive travel.
The next logical question is, why are companies willing to be so wasteful with the expenses they're covering for their employees? I magine a lot of companies have pretty strong incentives to make sure expenses stay reasonable, and paying $20K for an airline ticket seems like something that would jump to the top of the pile of any corporate bean counter.
Quote from: DGuller on September 14, 2011, 12:06:14 PM
The next logical question is, why are companies willing to be so wasteful with the expenses they're covering for their employees? I magine a lot of companies have pretty strong incentives to make sure expenses stay reasonable, and paying $20K for an airline ticket seems like something that would jump to the top of the pile of any corporate bean counter.
The $20k was for 2 tickets, but still, they cost what they cost, right?
So, if the tickets were $27,000,000 each, the company would still pay?
Quote from: alfred russel on September 14, 2011, 12:10:06 PM
Quote from: DGuller on September 14, 2011, 12:06:14 PM
The next logical question is, why are companies willing to be so wasteful with the expenses they're covering for their employees? I magine a lot of companies have pretty strong incentives to make sure expenses stay reasonable, and paying $20K for an airline ticket seems like something that would jump to the top of the pile of any corporate bean counter.
The $20k was for 2 tickets, but still, they cost what they cost, right?
Yep. As long as the person taking the trip can provide a work-related reason as to why it was necessary, and provide receipts to show that that was what was paid for the tickets, then the company is going to spring for them. If a salesman says that he needed to pay a personal call on an overseas client, the finance department is generally in no position to question the necessity of it. This comes even more into play when there's no question that the trip is necessary, but flying isn't. If you work in, say, Chicago, and have to make a business trip to, say Baltimore, you could drive it (and the company would still pay for your gas and probably give you mileage, too), but you can almost certainly justify flying instead. If you get the miles, so much the better.
plus the company gets a good chunk back in their taxes (or lack thereof)
Quote from: DGuller on September 14, 2011, 12:27:25 PM
So, if the tickets were $27,000,000 each, the company would still pay?
If it were essential for $50,000,000 worth of business, then I daresay yes, they would.
Quote from: Warspite on September 14, 2011, 01:02:03 PM
Quote from: DGuller on September 14, 2011, 12:27:25 PM
So, if the tickets were $27,000,000 each, the company would still pay?
If it were essential for $50,000,000 worth of business, then I daresay yes, they would.
$27,000,000 each for two tickets would be...$54,000,000. I submit to you that it would not be worth paying for the tickets to generate $50,000,000 of business.
Quote from: DGuller on September 14, 2011, 12:27:25 PM
So, if the tickets were $27,000,000 each, the company would still pay?
Tickets don't cost that much, so no. A policy might be, "you have to use a certain travel agency, you must take the cheapest direct flight, and you can fly business class if the flight is over 5 hours." That might get you a $15k ticket, but you should stay under $27 mill.
Anyway, that all sounds so alien to me. I haven't had chance to incur too many expenses on my job, but pretty much every time I incur an expense, I have to confirm with my boss or boss's boss that the expense is both reasonable, and the most cost-effective option.
If I had to travel somewhere, and asked to approve a $20,000 business class ticket, I would be politely but firmly asked to fly coach instead. The management is ultimately reponsible for all the expenses incurred by people in their departments, so blank checks are not given out.
I used the company credit card for everything while overseas. Bought dolls for the twins in Copenhagen, charge the company. Don't like it? Send the loser over with no social skills over to negotiate.
If I'm going to be stuck in some Euro hellhole, somebody is going to pay.
$27 million dolls?
Quote from: DGuller on September 14, 2011, 01:10:08 PM
Anyway, that all sounds so alien to me. I haven't had chance to incur too many expenses on my job, but pretty much every time I incur an expense, I have to confirm with my boss or boss's boss that the expense is both reasonable, and the most cost-effective option.
If I had to travel somewhere, and asked to approve a $20,000 business class ticket, I would be politely but firmly asked to fly coach instead. The management is ultimately reponsible for all the expenses incurred by people in their departments, so blank checks are not given out.
You have to approach this in steps: first, you get a travel policy that eliminates the need for preapprovals and allows premium travel, then you develop a management accounting system that allows you to charge the travel expenses to the cost center you are doing the work in (ie, not your own), then you promote a collaborative culture based on face to face meetings that gets people traveling throughout the organization and hooked on airline miles.
Finally, when you invite in consultants to find cost saving opportunities, be sure to bring in top of the line firms that will be traveling in premium seats, and make sure that they do a bit of traveling on your company's dime before making any recommendations.
Do those things, and you will be dropping 5 figures on airline tickets in no time.