For anyone based near Chicago, Los Angeles or San Francisco who flies either American Airlines or United Airlines, there are some amazing elite qualifying mile runs available to top off your accounts this year. Note first, however, that your address on your FF account must be in California or Illinois to qualify. The fare I’m featuring here was the best find, but Southlanders (L.A.-peeps) should know they might qualify for an equivalent deal.
Given both of the carriers are offering double elite miles on these runs – American’s info is here and United’s is here (note the lowest W-Class requirement) – these are the cheapest flights I’ve found for the lowest cost per EQM if you still need 2012 status. Jump on these! Here’s the fare info:
Routing: Chicago to San Francisco round-trip
Travel period: 11/24/11 – 02/15/12
Dates I found available: 11/30, 12/1, 12/3, 12/5. 12/6, 12/7, 12/8, 12/10, 12/12, 12/13, 12/14 (UA only), 12/15, 12/19
Day of week restrictions: None
Fare basis: AA: QA14XQY1Â UA: WA10KS (14/10-day advance purchase), and remember, UA requires W or higher
Fare: $219.40 all-in
Elite Qualifying Miles earned: SFO r/t 7,384 – LAX r/t 6,980
Example itinerary: (click for full view)
Darren, do you have tips for an easy way to specify fare classes when shopping on United? While the T fare is good, it isn’t included in the DEQM promo. Thanks!
@BRC select upgradeable fares only on united.com. It will pull up W class or higher.
Thanks and you’re correct. Selecting the “Upgrade with: Systemwide Region 2” will pull in the W-fares. I believe it’s around $338, so the resulting 4.58cpEQM isn’t that great.
Does the trip need to begin at ORD or can it begin at SFO?
It can definitely begin in SFO, too, and I see the fare is still the same. Also, note that this DEQM is stackable with American’s systemwide DEQM, so you’d now be getting TRIPLE EQM and RDM if you book one of these before 1/31/12!