UPDATE: This entire post is incorrect. The CPM calculation was done incorrectly because of my inexperience using MileCalc. Actual CPM is about 2x what's in this post and therefore NOT mileage run territory (rule of thumb is 3.5 CPM). Lesson learned.
A trip that I wish I could take... Have I ever mentioned how much I love Kayak's Explore feature?
Searching on Kayak, if you've got some serious free time or are completely mobile (e.g. you work completely online or don't have a job) and aren't afraid of spending some money on an adventure over the Thanksgiving holiday and then some... well, there are plenty of opportunities over the Thanksgiving holiday for mileage runs!
Today's run is from New York, NY to Shanghai, China. As in, the People's Republic of. Mileage? Oh, only at least 29,500 miles. On United's non-stop. For $10 less, you can get on one of Air Canada's flights with 3 stops between the two legs (there and back again, of course!). All inclusive price? $780 for Air Canada. $790 on United's non-stop. That works out to, at most, 2.67 cents per mile. You can bring that down by paying with a mileage earning card, which makes this a pretty fantastic deal. If you have the time and don't mind missing Thanksgiving in the States.
Personally, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I'd certainly love to celebrate it in Shanghai or Istanbul, but I'm not sure I could spend that much money just to spend time away from my family. Thought someone might want to know about it though, as it's a decent mileage earning opportunity.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Friday, August 24, 2012
Maximizing miles
Having traveled to Europe several times during my teens with my father, I've come to appreciate long haul flights. Yes, they're cramped, long, the food sucks, everything's overpriced, etc. Anyone who's been on a long haul flight knows these things and has their own "opinions" (read: grievances) about the matter. The thing is, I still enjoy being in that far off place, and giving myself 10 hours to do nothing while I'm getting there. :)
That's why I'm going to show you an ongoing deal. It's not quite mileage-run worthy, but if your goal is to see as much of the world as you can't afford, this is one cheap way to visit a new country and earn a TON of miles doing it. What you want to do is find your nearest Major City (tm) and search on Kayak for the cheapest tickets and availability to Istanbul. Now, the way I do it is to use kayak.com/explore, but I know everyone has their own strategies (Bing Travel, ISA software matrix...). For the sake of this post, we'll use Kayak. Go the website, click on "Explore from" in the upper left and fill in your Major City (tm). It should update the page within a few seconds to show a map with prices from searches that Kayak users have done originating at your selected airport.
Now, find a location that's relatively far out and start zooming in a little to find that diamond in the rough. Or needle in a haystack. Whatever. Anyway, for me, that's apparently Istanbul. I remember when people got excited about $500 fares to IST from New York. Apparently it's a once a year thing. From Chicago, it looks like there are $550 fares around Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. And what more appropriate place to celebrate it than Turkey? Go to milecalc.com, or any of a million similar sites, and figure out the cost per mile (CPM) to get from your Major City's (tm) airport to Istanbul (IST). In my case, that means going ORD -> MUC -> IST. On MileCalc, that automatically sets itself to a round-trip setting. Plug in the cost of the ticket (this is why we use Kayak; it gives us the "all inclusive" cost with taxes, fuel surcharges, etc. built in) and voila! You have a CPM calculation.
At 11,016 elite qualifying miles, you're well on your way to status. Remember, as a member of the Star Alliance, you can give them your frequent flyer number from any Star Alliance airline and they'll credit the miles to that account. At $544, my trip works out to 4.94 cents per mile. Add in a couple of points per mile from a mileage earning credit card (e.g. the Zync from AmEx with the travel package!) and you've brought the cost down to 4.49 cents per mile. Now, the "pros" are looking for 3.5 CPM or lower, but 4.5 is not bad at all! Especially for all the travel you get!
Unfortunately, I already have plans to see my girlfriend graduate that week. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop looking at nearby dates though. We don't have plans for Christmas, after all. :)
That's why I'm going to show you an ongoing deal. It's not quite mileage-run worthy, but if your goal is to see as much of the world as you can't afford, this is one cheap way to visit a new country and earn a TON of miles doing it. What you want to do is find your nearest Major City (tm) and search on Kayak for the cheapest tickets and availability to Istanbul. Now, the way I do it is to use kayak.com/explore, but I know everyone has their own strategies (Bing Travel, ISA software matrix...). For the sake of this post, we'll use Kayak. Go the website, click on "Explore from" in the upper left and fill in your Major City (tm). It should update the page within a few seconds to show a map with prices from searches that Kayak users have done originating at your selected airport.
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| That tiny green plane? That's Chicago. |
Unfortunately, I already have plans to see my girlfriend graduate that week. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop looking at nearby dates though. We don't have plans for Christmas, after all. :)
A Golden Opportunity
As a US citizen, I consider myself extremely privileged. As a world traveller, all the more so. I want to share my own tips and strategies for maximizing, and maybe appreciating, that privilege with the world. Without further adieu...
This is Far From Gold: The blog of an infrequent traveller.
This is Far From Gold: The blog of an infrequent traveller.
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