Maximising Status Credits in the USA.

[ReLoad]

Hi Everyone,

Noob Post number 2.

I have a QF ticket from MEL/LAX in June (its a freeby so chances are it wont earn any points or credits) but doing a few internal USA flights, what is the best way for me to maximise status credits on these flights.

All AA flights

LAX/ORD 1 night stop
ORD/DFW 1 week stop
DFW/ORD 8 day stop
ORD/LAX - connect with QF and come back to MEL.

I have 2 days free in DFW so can do a status run from there if its appropriate?

What is the best way for me to book and get the most credits on these sectors?

Cheers and excuse the noobness

Ryan

 

[moa999]

Way to maximise is to use YUP/KUP fares which are instant upgrade economy fares, that are automatically upgraded to available First Class and earning First SCs.

Also by taking indirect fares (via a hub) you can often get two flight segments for the same price.

 

[ReLoad]

Way to maximise is to use YUP/KUP fares which are instant upgrade economy fares, that are automatically upgraded to available First Class and earning First SCs.

Also by taking indirect fares (via a hub) you can often get two flight segments for the same price.

Ok, so again please excuse the total noob, whats the best way to do this, when i book these tickets, i should do online? or with my travel agent and tell them the certain fare types i want? and how does the upgrades work and what do they cost?

Again sorry for being such a noob

cheers

Ryan

 

[samh004]

Ok, so again please excuse the total noob, whats the best way to do this, when i book these tickets, i should do online? or with my travel agent and tell them the certain fare types i want? and how does the upgrades work and what do they cost?

Again sorry for being such a noob

The members that have experience with these sort of runs generally expect you to do a search of the forums using keywords such as YUP/KUP, because explaining the same things over and over again gets a little silly.

That said, you have some routes already picked out, so you’ve provided starting points, which is useful. If I ever attempted one of these runs I wouldn’t even have a starting point

From my limited knowledge of these tickets, you can book them online yourself, are looking for an “instant upgrade” ticket, and that’ll be clearly marked. Some routes have better deals than others, and as mentioned, sometimes a point to point can cost much more than a connection that actually takes longer and goes further. A simple search will find you quite a few recent examples.

The price will obviously be more than an economy fare, but cheaper than a fully flexible F/J fare. There are some 3-class services in the US I believe, and you should only be looking for 2-class services or you’ll be upgraded to J and receive significantly less SC’s.

 

[Bundy Bear]

2 Questions you need to ask yourself.

How many Status credits do you want to achieve.
Example you are Silver and need 200 for Gold.
How much money do you have to spend.
Example say $1,500

1. You can book this online with American Airlines | Airline Tickets and Airline Reservations so everything is priced in AUD for easy reference.

2. The main AA hubs are LAX, ORD, DFW, MIA, study airport codes.

If you fly direct then those routes are fairly expensive due to the amount passengers will pay the higher price.

Cheapest bang for buck is Florida to the West Coast, or look for any holiday destinations

Example, if you can depart ORD and have 2 days before you need to be in Dallas; you could do the following.

ORD - MCO/TPA and route via MIA. then fly MCO-MIA-DFW

You are looking for MD80, 757, 767, 737, stay away from the regional jets as they are single class only. What makes AA so good for domestic is the F class status credits.

Example; MCO = Orlando to go to the mouse house.
American Airlines | Airline Tickets and Airline Reservations

Select oneway; ORD-MCO add the date; and select business and first class.
pick a route with 1 stop.

ORD-MIA-MCO = $730.00 with taxes and charges 808.00 AUD 150scs

MCO-MIA-DFW = $503.00 with taxes and charges 569.00 AUD 150scs

Total SCs 300 SCs = $1,377.00

Start playing around with the American Airlines website.

Sam has the best idea; use search.

 

[ReLoad]

Ok, i'm clued up on airport codes, no problems there.

So lets take a case in point, and again excuse the Noob/FNG

I'm all over the AA Aussie website, and want to bang in some of my proposed flights.

So lets take the 3rd of June ORD to DFW, i dont care if i go via the moon on this flight, in fact im guessing the SC's on space travel are quite cool

SO what i get are 3 options: instant upgrade , Business flexible/First Flexible (the cheapest being $860) the worst flight(for times) is one stop via St Louis, but its small two class planes (no first)

If i do seperate legs i.e. ORD/MCO then MCO/DFW it doesnt work out to nearly the same in terms of costings

So no real options to go via the east coast.

SO whats the secret, be flexible on dates or?

 

[Bundy Bear]

You can't just go ORD-DFW in one ticket as the price is already high due to demand. You have to make a break in the journey in a non hub city; one with lots of holiday makers who aren't going to fly in First Class.

That is why I suggested MCO.

I am going to TPA in June not only because it was a cheap destination but because I never been there before. Yes going to the US for other reason but I had 2 spare days so my stop over city became TPA(Tampa).

 

[samh004]

There are some interesting combos in this thread from just the other day.

 

[TimB]

Example, if you can depart ORD and have 2 days before you need to be in Dallas; you could do the following.

ORD - MCO/TPA and route via MIA. then fly MCO-MIA-DFW

...

ORD-MIA-MCO = $730.00 with taxes and charges 808.00 AUD 150scs

ORD-MIA-DFW = $503.00 with taxes and charges 569.00 AUD 150scs

That last booking should have been MCO-MIA-DFW I think -- that might have confused the OP.

Another difficulty for the OP in finding good deals is that all the places he's visiting are AA hubs. Hence Bundy Bear's suggestion to find a holiday destination to go via.

An essential tool in searching for flight options is Discounted First Class and Flyer Talk Fares -- plug in your starting city, then use the carrier filter on the results page to restrict to AA. That's how you learn which side destinations to consider going via.

Like you, I was a complete noob a year ago. My first status run to TPA got me to SG, and now I'm looking at more runs to get me to WP this year (and I won't discuss the sanity or otherwise of this pursuit!).

 

[ReLoad]

Ok I am getting the picture, but have a question on the AA Fare, the "instant upgrade"

What exactly does that mean, say i fly DFW-MIA-MCO its $503 plus taxes etc.

on a 737, which i asume is 3 class?

So what does that fare actually mean i fly in, business, or first? or is it, good luck and get either on the day? and thats the credits and miles i'll end up with?

thanks for all your help gang, awesome info

 

[Bundy Bear]

Ok I am getting the picture, but have a question on the AA Fare, the "instant upgrade"

What exactly does that mean, say i fly DFW-MIA-MCO its $503 plus taxes etc.

on a 737, which i asume is 3 class?

So what does that fare actually mean i fly in, business, or first? or is it, good luck and get either on the day? and thats the credits and miles i'll end up with?

thanks for all your help gang, awesome info

757; MD80; and 737 only have a first class and economy.

Some 767s are 3 class so best to just avoid them completely.

KUPP fares are K class economy fares that upgrade to P class a first class ticket; so First class status credits.

 

[samh004]

So what does that fare actually mean i fly in, business, or first? or is it, good luck and get either on the day? and thats the credits and miles i'll end up with?

Basically, if you end up on a 3-class plane you get upgraded to business, if on a 2-class you get upgraded to first.

 

[TimB]

Ok I am getting the picture, but have a question on the AA Fare, the "instant upgrade"

What exactly does that mean, say i fly DFW-MIA-MCO its $503 plus taxes etc.

on a 737, which i asume is 3 class?

No, it'll be a 2-class, like most AA flights, which means first and coach (i.e. economy). The only ones that are 3-class are selected LAX-JFK and SFO-JFK flights (I think). And American Eagle flights are single class.

So what does that fare actually mean i fly in, business, or first? or is it, good luck and get either on the day? and thats the credits and miles i'll end up with?

You'll fly in first. The only reason you might be bumped from first is if there's a cancellation or other reason you can't take your flight. Then there's no guarantee there'll be a seat in first in the next available flight. But you should have the option to wait until a first class seat is available.

You should be able to reserve your seats when you book, so that's extra reassurance that you'll be in first. You'll get first status credits, although you may have to claim them afterwards like I did, and possibly wait a few months for them to appear in that case.

 

[ReLoad]

757; MD80; and 737 only have a first class and economy.

Some 767s are 3 class so best to just avoid them completely.

KUPP fares are K class economy fares that upgrade to P class a first class ticket; so First class status credits.

Ok so again please excuse the stupidity of my questions

So even if there is no F seats available and i travel in Y, id still get the equivalent of F SC's and miles?

I mean, you basically pay the fare, and irrespective of where u sit u get the full monty F class SC's right?

 

[samh004]

Ok so again please excuse the stupidity of my questions

So even if there is no F seats available and i travel in Y, id still get the equivalent of F SC's and miles?

I mean, you basically pay the fare, and irrespective of where u sit u get the full monty F class SC's right?

No, if you fly an American Eagle service that’s just 1-class… economy… you’ll get economy SC’s. I believe.

 

[ReLoad]

Ok, not planning to fly American Eagle, (how can you tell an eagle flight? certain flight numbers?)

So sitting here in happy hotel land, and playing around ive got a few options, can head down to Wally World for a few days in FL, and if i make it a round trip via MCO (as in : ORD-MIA-MCO, MCO-MIA-DFW where i need to be, then return back the same way) for around $2600 thats around 600 SC's which would get me platinum with SC's to spare.

So there is that option.

I've been to FL a few times now, so thinking of going somewhere different, and checking out some of the links that others here have posted, i could do something really wacky and head in the other direction and go to say, i dunno, Utah?

Example being: ORD-DFW-SLC which is 391 plus taxes and of course double it to get back to ORD.

Next question and again this may sound dumb, but are SC's accrued on AA in the same way that we do on QF? as in the ORD to DFW is 808 miles and would get 90 SC for first class, and then from DFW to SLC which is 989 miles, the same would apply?

If i am barking up the wrong tree please let me know.

Again awesome help here from the gang!

 

[samh004]

Next question and again this may sound dumb, but are SC's accrued on AA in the same way that we do on QF? as in the ORD to DFW is 808 miles and would get 90 SC for first class, and then from DFW to SLC which is 989 miles, the same would apply?

Yes. Assuming it’s a fare class that earns, but in F that’d obviously happen.

 

[Bundy Bear]

ORD-DFW-SLC for $391.00 + taxes $443.50 a good find.

SLC-ORD-STL-DFW is also available but only for $924.00 plus tax; not as good though as the ORD-DFW-SLC one.

I use MileageMonkey 0.95022 to work out distance and Status Credits.

 

[ReLoad]

Ok so time for a sanity check, and if you could help verify that i am on the right track

and of course more questions.

Ok So:
ORD-DFW-SLC Fare $443.50 AUD inc taxes, Fare basis: PUPPDNR
(Both AA flights on MD80's)

According to Milecalc:
ORD-DFW = 808 Miles Therefore 90 SC's ?
DFW-SLC = 989 Miles therefore 90 SC's

A couple of days in Utah, and return.

Ok so My Itinerary would be:

MEL-ORD (stay ORD 2 days for work)
ORD-DFW-SLC trick return with a couple of days in SLC
ORD-DFW (stay DFW for 4 days work)
DFW-ORD (Stay ORD 9 days work)
ORD-MEL

I'm going to be sick of DFW airport, LOL

Thoughts? am i totally mental? That little SLC trip in the middle will mean ill get Platinum in about September, worth it?

 

[notzac]

A few comments if I may..

LAX/ORD 1 night stop
ORD/DFW 1 week stop
DFW/ORD 8 day stop
ORD/LAX - connect with QF and come back to MEL.

Ryan

First up, welcome to AFF ReLoad! First question for you - have you actually booked any of these flights? If you haven't, great -- you've got some nice YUPP opportunities there. Not the cheapest, given where you're going - but opportunities all the same.

Ok, so again please excuse the total noob, whats the best way to do this, when i book these tickets, i should do online? or with my travel agent and tell them the certain fare types i want? and how does the upgrades work and what do they cost?

The YUPP / KUPP fares are a "special case", would definitely recommend booking these online because many travel agents don't understand them. They are called "Instant Upgrade", but it's not really an upgrade - they're only available if seats are available in the P or I fare bucket (excepting flights where a premium cabin isn't available - e.g., the American Eagle flights).

The big limitation with these fares is the lack of flexibility and the potential to end up in whY if something goes wrong (misconnect, etc) - though I've managed to avoid that so far.. in that situation you're supposed to get whY SCs, though I've heard of people successfully obtaining Original Routing Credit when this happened to them.

The members that have experience with these sort of runs generally expect you to do a search of the forums using keywords such as YUP/KUP, because explaining the same things over and over again gets a little silly.

Mostly true this topic comes up fairly frequently though - we should probably have a sticky thread outlining how these fares work!

How many Status credits do you want to achieve.
Example you are Silver and need 200 for Gold.
How much money do you have to spend.
Example say $1,500

Very good point - ReLoad, what are you aiming for here? It's quite easy to go completely overboard with this stuff..

SO whats the secret, be flexible on dates or?

Avoid flying from/to major hubs you're probably a bit stuck there. Also - search on AA.com as well as the Australian version - there are often some surprising options that turn up. Paying on the US website will either entail being creative with your billing address or there is an option to hold the booking and you can then pay over the phone with AA Australia.

If you haven't booked anything yet - have a think about setting up your tickets this way:

• MEL-LAX-MEL (your existing QF ticket, including for the sake of completeness)
• LAX-DFW-ORD-DFW-LAX (booked on the US site to get the connecting options. 420 SCs, around $1500 AUD - plus if you look carefully, there may be flights available in the 763 (v nice F seating))
• ORD-DFW-ORD (AA want ridiculous $$ for this, would just fly in whY - you're looking at around $1600 AUD return if you want to sit in F)

There's other things you could do, but I don't know what you're aiming for so I don't know what to recommend. DFW is probably a bad place to start a status run from, at least in terms of cost.