Stated simply, a mileage run is an airline trip taken solely to accrue more miles or points with a given airline. The destination is in this simplest definition is irrelevant, and often isn’t a destination at all, with the majority of mileage runners never leaving the secure area of the transiting airport(s). They will simply…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for November 2010.
The 2010 Zagat Airline Survey results are in
The publisher of the popular Zagat restaurant guides surveyed its readers for their opinions on airlines and airports around the world, and the results are out today. The 8,007 respondents flew an average of 17.4 flights per year, and were likely seasoned travelers as the age demographic skewed older with 57% over the age of…
United Airlines Red Carpet Club rate increase & my thoughts on airline lounges
On December 7, 2010, United Airlines is raising the price to join or renew membership in the Red Carpet Club. Pricing depends on your Mileage Plus status, and the cash prices are going up $50 per year across the board. The rate for general members is increasing from $425 to $475 annually, with prices for…
“National Opt-Out Day” a non-event so far today
As reported by CNN mid-morning, the much hyped “National Opt-Out Day” appears to be a total non-event so far today. Basically, the premise was to refuse to go through one of the advanced imaging technology machines in an effort to “stick it to the man.” I’m sure there will be isolated incidents, but in the…
Qantas A380s return to passenger service on Saturday
On Saturday, November 27, Qantas flight 31 is scheduled to depart Sydney at 5:30pm local time headed for Singapore and then on to London. While this is a welcome return for the newest Qantas flagship, it comes with a yet untold financial burden. As reported in the Sydney Morning Herald yesterday, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce…
The busiest air travel days of the year & keeping it real this week
The news media is on overdrive this week reporting on the busy air travel period upon us for the holidays. The Air Transport Association (ATA) is forecasting 24 million people will take to the skies during the 12-day Thanksgiving holiday travel period, with the busiest day in the upcoming week being Sunday, November 28, 2010.…
Hilarious YouTube video about achieving airline elite status
I’ll occasionally search YouTube for recent airline and airport related videos, and came across this hilarious one today. If you’re a mileage runner or think mileage runners are absolutely nuts, then this video is for you! My only complaint about the video, though, is that the fare of $550 to earn 5248 miles is TERRIBLE!…
United postpones one change announced earlier in the week
United backpedaled a bit on their Mileage Plus program update from Tuesday this week and issued the following revision to the Confirmed Regional Upgrade (CR1) program: Frankly, I’m surprised United caved in so fast. As I mentioned in Tuesday’s post, we nearly had them eliminated when Unlimited Domestic Upgrades (UDU) began, and they promptly retracted…
“I’m a lawyer and I’m going to sue United Airlines!”
This week an appellate court judge upheld an order to dismiss a civil lawsuit brought against United Airlines for expiring a customer’s Mileage Plus miles for non-activity. Noticing that the guy who sued United was himself a lawyer, I read on and had a whole scenario playing out in my head on how it likely…
The wilting tulips of United Airlines
Last month on one of my mileage runs through Chicago O’Hare, I noticed something very saddening. The majority of the tulips were missing from the various United Airlines backdrops throughout the F-concourse of terminal two. Granted, the E & F concourses are the non-mainline ‘United Express’ operated gates, but still… I felt like something very…