A couple of years ago I made a similar post revealing my mileage tracking spreadsheet for United (or any airline for that matter). And while I love technology and my favorite app that still tracks my United balance (and so much more: PageOnce), I get a certain satisfaction out of my old school method.
I made a couple of changes since the last time I posted it, so I thought I’d share my updated version below – click it for a full view.
United Mileage Tracking Spreadsheet
Each line represents mileage earning or redemption (none currently showing) activity and I currently track redeemable miles (RDMs), elite/Premier qualifying miles (PQMs), cents-per-mile (CPM) fare information and lifetime miles.
The first line is my beginning MileagePlus balance as of January 1, 2013. My first flight of the year on January 19 was United Express flight number 6228 at a purchased fare class of “T†on a Canadair CRJ-200. I use the leading letter of the fare basis code – “T†in this case – as it’s the one that determines mileage accrual rates. I geek out tracking aircraft registrations, so I keep a record of those in the next column.
Continuing on, it shows I was seated in 4B, I earned 500 “butt-in-seat†miles for the flight, another 500 miles as my 100% elite Premier 1K bonus, and zero for any fare bonus to total 1,000 redeemable miles for the flight. I keep a running tally of those miles to quickly compare my spreadsheet amounts against what United shows online.
Next, I record my individual PQMs for each flight and a corresponding tally. After that comes the cents-per-mile (CPM) calculation, which is a formula dividing my out-of-pocket cost (the $ SPENT column) by the total PQMs for the itinerary. And since I’m oh so close to million-miler status, I have a lifetime mileage column that progressively adds each line’s flight mileage (so long as it’s United metal).
I add everything booked and not yet flown (the redacted portion) to reveal a total CPM and airfare spend for the calendar year, along with the amount of miles remaining to hit million-miler.
And this year I decided to add e-cert data at the bottom as a back up to my paper versions filed away.
Do you maintain a spreadsheet or have you gone totally online to track your miles & points with a service provider?
Related posts:
My United Airlines Mileage Tracking Spreadsheet (2011 Edition)
Airfare Pricing Buckets and Airline Fare Basis Codes Explained
I do the same. I have one spreadsheet file with several tabs for credit card points and frequent flyer programs. I don’t trust airlines, lol.
I’ve been keeping track of my EQMs earned across all of the carriers that I have flown. Started this in 2009, which was when I first got involved in the mileage game. Though mine is not set to auto calculate CPM or how many RDMs I am away from 1MM, it works fairly well. Certainly comes in handy when AA has a DEQM period, as they often do not include separate line entries for the extra EQM.. It’s just added into the elite counter.
Are you actually offering a copy of the spreadsheet for those who are Excel-challenged to simply copy and use?
@SmartQuestion: Absolutely… I’ll email it to you now.
@SmartQuestion: Just tried to email it, but it bounced back undeliverable. Shoot me a note at darren@frequentlyflying.com and I’ll be sure to send you the Excel file.
Hey Darren,
Would like to give your ss a try if you can email it to me.
Thanks,
Caleb
Thanks for the interest here and directly via email. If I missed anyone who would like my spreadsheet, just shoot me an email at darren@frequentlyflying.com.