It’s time to choose

Yesterday I asked readers to help me construct a mileage run so that I could secure Delta Platinum status this year.  I promised that whoever posted an idea that I use would get their choice of:  a) Frequent Miler’s undying gratitude; b) a Boarding Area t-shirt; or c) a few Delta snack & drink vouchers.

I received some great suggestions, but I’m still on the fence as to what to do.  Below is a summary of the proposals and my reactions to them, but first let me say a huge THANK YOU to everyone contributing to this conversation!

Author: Chris

A reader named Chris suggested that I post this request to the FlyerTalk mileage run forum.  In general, this is a great suggestion.  That’s the place to go to find the experts.  In my case, though, I’m hoping blog readers will find this interesting so I’d like to keep the discussion here.

Author: Darren

Fellow BoardingArea blogger Darren from Frequently Flying sent me a mileage run suggestion via email.

Detroit to Atlanta to Sacramento, overnight layover, and then return again through Atlanta all for only $300.80.

This is a great option.  My only problem with it is that it not only involves an overnight layover, but also doesn’t get me home until 9:41 PM the next day.  If I’m going to do an overnight, I’d like to at least be home by afternoon the next day.  This is still a contender, though.

Author: Michael

Detroit to Seattle to LA, overnight layover, then return LA to Detroit for $480

Since this is more expensive than Darren’s suggestion and also requires an overnight stay, I’m not planning to pursue this one (but you still get my gratitude!).

Author: Scott

Detroit to Atlanta to Ontario round trip in one day for $356

This is a great suggestion and one I’m definitely considering.  My only problem with it is the pain factor: it requires flying out of Detroit very early in the morning and returning very late at night.  Ouch.  On the plus side, I get to sleep in my own bed.  This is a very strong option.

Author: Burj

Detroit to LA to Sacramento, back to LA, then red-eye to Detroit for $317

The first flight leaves Detroit at a very reasonable 12:05 PM on a Saturday and the final leg returns on Sunday morning.  If I go with this one I’m sure I’d be wiped out tired on Sunday, but somehow and for some reason that seems like it might be less painful than the all day trip to Ontario proposed by Scott.  Overall, I’m leaning towards this one.

Other Options

Two people proposed alternatives to mileage runs that could get me the 4,288 MQMs I need for Platinum status:

Author: Kara

Kara reminded me of a Delta promotion from last year in which people could earn MQMs by giving money to charities.  If Delta repeats this promotion, I could earn 5000 MQMs simply by donating $500 or more to certain charities.  If I knew that the promotion would be repeated, I would pick this option in a heartbeat.  In fact, I would probably donate enough for 15,000 MQMs and let the extra 10,000 roll over into next year.

Author: Mordy

Mordy asked why I don’t apply for the Delta Reserve Business card in order to get the 10,000 MQM signup bonus that the card offers.  I actually tried to do something very similar.  I have held the Delta Platinum business card for quite a while, and as discussed yesterday, I just signed up for the Delta Reserve personal card.  What I tried to do was add a second personal card by signing up for the Delta Platinum personal card which offers a 5,000 MQM sign up bonus.  This was denied.  I was told by an Amex representative that for the collection of cards (Platinum and Reserve) I could only have one personal card and one business card.  I was really surprised by this since I’m sure I’ve read about people who have all four cards.  I don’t know whether American Express has changed their policy or if the person I talked to was misinformed, or what.  Anyway, assuming he was right, I’m currently maxed out on credit cards that offer MQM bonuses.

Decision Time

So, what do you think I should do?  Should I go for the red-eye journey to Sacramento and back?  Or, get up early, go visit Ontario for a few minutes, and come back late at night?  Or maybe, I should go with Darren’s suggestion and stay overnight in Sacramento so that I can book a room at the Radisson there?  Or, should I just wait and see if Delta duplicates last year’s charity promotion?  That would save me the pain of an unnecessary flight and would do some good in the world!  If I wait until December 1st and there is no promotion, would it then be too late to schedule a decent mileage run?  What do you think?

A few days ago I took a look at my family’s Delta MQM balance for the year. MQMs are Delta’s “Medallion Qualifying Miles” (most non-Delta people refer to these as EQMs: Elite Qualifying Miles). In order to get elite status on Delta, you need 25K MQMs to reach Silver status; 50K MQMs to reach Gold, 75K to reach Platinum, and 125K to reach Diamond. Bonus miles awarded for things like hotel stays and credit card purchases don’t count as MQMs, so for the most part you have to actually fly that many miles each year to get and retain status. There are exceptions: some Delta credit cards award MQMs when you achieve very high spend levels on the cards; also Delta occasionally runs promotions that let you gather up MQMs through other means such as hotel stays, point transfers, or charitable giving. Currently the only offer like that is through Hilton in which it is possible to earn 250 MQMs for each two night stay.

Anyway, back to the family: I found that I have already earned enough MQMs to keep my Gold status for another year (but I’m a long way from Platinum). My wife and son, though, were each about 4000 MQMs from the next level. With 4K more MQMs, my wife can make gold status for the first time, and my son can retain his Silver status for another year. We already had one flight planned that will earn about 1200 MQMs each, but that isn’t nearly enough.

For hard core travel hackers, a mileage run is a flight taken for the sole purpose of earning elite qualifying miles. I’ve never done this, but might consider it someday. There is no way, though, that I can convince my wife and son to hop on a plane for no purpose other than to fly and fly back. Fortunately, we have friends in Seattle and have been meaning to visit them. So, for the dual purpose of seeing great friends and achieving elite status, we booked our flights for a weekend in Seattle.

Is it worth it? Maybe not if the sole purpose was to earn miles. However, we really do want to visit our friends. We couldn’t use Delta miles to go there because then we wouldn’t have earned miles for the flight. Instead, I dug out my US Bank FlexPerks card that has been gathering dust for a while. The one great thing about the FlexPerks card is that it has pretty good redemption value for flights. With FlexPerks points, you can purchase any ticket up to $400 in value for only 20,000 points. So, each point is worth up to 2 cents each if tickets cost close to $400, plus you earn miles for the flight just as you would if you purchased the flight yourself. The awesome thing, for this trip, is that the tickets priced out at $390 each! Talk about wringing out the most value you can from points!