AA Status Run - Nice little earner

[fly by wire]

There is probably something listed somewhere. From my understanding that are discounted business or first class fares. Most American Airlines flights only have 2 classes of seating, first and coach (economy), so flights booked into first class get extra status credit per qantas rules - thus the reason to do some discounted first class flights.

It's the instant upgrade part I'm not 100% on, like I did some dummy sectors and it showed the instant upgrade option but it wasn't clear to me what class that was going to be in, obviously if theres only econ and first it must mean first, but it still said economy even when I selected that option (it showed as a 'P' fare).

 

[ozdunker]

Looks like AA.com just went with a new booking design.

I have just booked the first class flexible option. Plus having some one world status I wouldnt expect to get downgraded.

 

[Hvr]

If you're looking for something from the east coast have a look at flights from PHL. I got PHL-LAS via DFW for about AUD$600 and will earn 210 SCs.

Not the best but not too bad when you actually have to travel the route.

 

[pagingjoan]

If you're looking for something from the east coast have a look at flights from PHL. I got PHK-LAS via DFW for about AUD$600 and will earn 210 SCs.

Not the best but not too bad when you actually have to travel the route.

Interesting. Will take a look, thank you.

 

[AV8]

I don't think what a few AFFs are doing in Australia will cause AA to remove YUPP fares. There are many more yank based FFer talk forums that discuss how to do this to get the lowest $ / mile routings. Here is the HNL - PTY quick run I did. Please note it is not optimised for min O/Ns nor for lowest $/SC cost:

View attachment 4912

I suspect there are better routings and lower $/SC runs available. I feel HNL is a better place to start and end the run than mid to north west coast US cities.

One way raw miles and SC earns are:

Hnl-Lax (F) = 2,556 miles for 150 SCs
Lax-Las (F) = 236 miles for 60 SCs
Las-Dfw (F) = 1,055 miles for 90 SCs
Dfw-Msp (F) = 852 miles for 90 SCs
Msp-Mia (F) = 1,501 miles = 120 Scs
Mia-Pty (J) = 1,151 miles for 60 SCs.

Total SCs are 1,140, total miles are worth 14,702 QF points. Platinum 100% bonus will boost that to 29,404 points. AA 50% cabin bonus will further boost points to 36,755.

A J* Syd-Hnl rtn in Starter + points, no check-in baggage will cost around AUD1,200 and earn 140 SCs plus 20,296 points for a WP.

Total cost would then be around AUD$2,500 and earn 1,280 SC plus 57,051 points for a WP.

I have a couple of days to do a quick SC mainland USA run from HNL. I have found the following which will earn 720 SC's:

[TABLE="class: MsoNormalTable, width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]
[TABLE="class: MsoNormalTable, width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]
[TABLE="class: MsoNormalTable, width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD]

Carrier​

[/TD]
[TD]

Flight
Number​

[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"]

Departing​

[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"]

Arriving​

[/TD]
[TD]

Cabin

---

Booking Code​

[/TD]
[TD]Seats
[/TD]
[TD]Meals
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]City
[/TD]
[TD]Date & Time
[/TD]
[TD]City
[/TD]
[TD]Date & Time
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

AMERICAN AIRLINES ​

[/TD]
[TD]

284 ​

[/TD]
[TD]HNL Honolulu
[/TD]
[TD]Apr 18, 2013 02:50 PM
[/TD]
[TD]LAX Los Angeles
[/TD]
[TD]Apr 18, 2013 11:20 PM
[/TD]
[TD]

First

---

A ​

[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Lunch
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

AMERICAN AIRLINES ​

[/TD]
[TD]

2404 ​

[/TD]
[TD]LAX Los Angeles
[/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 01:20 AM
[/TD]
[TD]DFW Dallas/ Fort Worth
[/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 06:15 AM
[/TD]
[TD]

First

---

A ​

[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Refreshments
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

AMERICAN AIRLINES ​

[/TD]
[TD]

1442 ​

[/TD]
[TD]DFW Dallas/ Fort Worth
[/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 07:40 AM
[/TD]
[TD]MIA Miami
[/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 11:30 AM
[/TD]
[TD]

First

---

A ​

[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Breakfast
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

AMERICAN AIRLINES ​

[/TD]
[TD]

1029 ​

[/TD]
[TD]MIA Miami
[/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 12:20 PM
[/TD]
[TD]DFW Dallas/ Fort Worth
[/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 02:35 PM
[/TD]
[TD]

First

---

A ​

[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Lunch
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

AMERICAN AIRLINES ​

[/TD]
[TD]

2459 ​

[/TD]
[TD]DFW Dallas/ Fort Worth
[/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 03:30 PM
[/TD]
[TD]LAX Los Angeles
[/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 04:50 PM
[/TD]
[TD]

First

---

A ​

[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Lunch
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

AMERICAN AIRLINES ​

[/TD]
[TD]

267 ​

[/TD]
[TD]LAX Los Angeles
[/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 06:20 PM
[/TD]
[TD]HNL Honolulu
[/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 09:10 PM
[/TD]
[TD]

First

---

A ​

[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Dinner
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

[TABLE="class: MsoNormalTable, width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD="width: 30%, bgcolor: transparent"]Fare Summary
[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]
[/TD]
[TD="width: 60%, bgcolor: transparent"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent, colspan: 3"]
[TABLE="class: MsoNormalTable, width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"]
[TABLE="class: MsoNormalTable, width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 2"]Average Fare per Person - 2578.00 USD
[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Passenger Type Used in Pricing
[/TD]
[TD]Fare per Person
[/TD]
[TD]Additional Taxes and Fees per Person
[/TD]
[TD="width: 100"]Total Price
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1 Adult
[/TD]
[TD]

2578.00 USD ​

[/TD]
[TD]

68.60 USD ​

[/TD]
[TD]

2646.60 USD ​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 3"]

Total Price​

[/TD]
[TD]

2646.60 USD ​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Are there better runs that earn more SC's for less $ (2 day travel at most with no overnight stay - sleep on plane).

 

[ReLoad]

I have a couple of days to do a quick SC mainland USA run from HNL. I have found the following which will earn 720 SC's:

[TABLE="class: MsoNormalTable, width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"][TABLE="class: MsoNormalTable, width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"][TABLE="class: MsoNormalTable, width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD]

Carrier​

[/TD]
[TD]

Flight
Number​

[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"]

Departing​

[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"]

Arriving​

[/TD]
[TD]

Cabin

---

Booking Code​

[/TD]
[TD]Seats[/TD]
[TD]Meals[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]City[/TD]
[TD]Date & Time[/TD]
[TD]City[/TD]
[TD]Date & Time[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

AMERICAN AIRLINES ​

[/TD]
[TD]

284 ​

[/TD]
[TD]HNL Honolulu [/TD]
[TD]Apr 18, 2013 02:50 PM [/TD]
[TD]LAX Los Angeles [/TD]
[TD]Apr 18, 2013 11:20 PM [/TD]
[TD]

First

---

A ​

[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Lunch [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

AMERICAN AIRLINES ​

[/TD]
[TD]

2404 ​

[/TD]
[TD]LAX Los Angeles [/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 01:20 AM [/TD]
[TD]DFW Dallas/ Fort Worth [/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 06:15 AM [/TD]
[TD]

First

---

A ​

[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Refreshments [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

AMERICAN AIRLINES ​

[/TD]
[TD]

1442 ​

[/TD]
[TD]DFW Dallas/ Fort Worth [/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 07:40 AM [/TD]
[TD]MIA Miami [/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 11:30 AM [/TD]
[TD]

First

---

A ​

[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Breakfast [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

AMERICAN AIRLINES ​

[/TD]
[TD]

1029 ​

[/TD]
[TD]MIA Miami [/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 12:20 PM [/TD]
[TD]DFW Dallas/ Fort Worth [/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 02:35 PM [/TD]
[TD]

First

---

A ​

[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Lunch [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

AMERICAN AIRLINES ​

[/TD]
[TD]

2459 ​

[/TD]
[TD]DFW Dallas/ Fort Worth [/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 03:30 PM [/TD]
[TD]LAX Los Angeles [/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 04:50 PM [/TD]
[TD]

First

---

A ​

[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Lunch [/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]

AMERICAN AIRLINES ​

[/TD]
[TD]

267 ​

[/TD]
[TD]LAX Los Angeles [/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 06:20 PM[/TD]
[TD]HNL Honolulu [/TD]
[TD]Apr 19, 2013 09:10 PM [/TD]
[TD]

First

---

A ​

[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Dinner [/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

[TABLE="class: MsoNormalTable, width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD="width: 30%, bgcolor: transparent"]Fare Summary[/TD]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"][/TD]
[TD="width: 60%, bgcolor: transparent"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent, colspan: 3"][TABLE="class: MsoNormalTable, width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD="bgcolor: transparent"][TABLE="class: MsoNormalTable, width: 100%"]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 2"]Average Fare per Person - 2578.00 USD [/TD]
[TD="colspan: 2"][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Passenger Type Used in Pricing[/TD]
[TD]Fare per Person[/TD]
[TD]Additional Taxes and Fees per Person[/TD]
[TD="width: 100"]Total Price[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1 Adult [/TD]
[TD]

2578.00 USD ​

[/TD]
[TD]

68.60 USD ​

[/TD]
[TD]

2646.60 USD ​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 3"]

Total Price​

[/TD]
[TD]

2646.60 USD ​

[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

Are there better runs that earn more SC's for less $ (2 day travel at most with no overnight stay - sleep on plane).

That is seriously expensive!!!!

I guess it comes down to time. With a simple extension of time and a day or so; Try HNL/LAX/MIA/MCO/SJU and vv. I had a quick look for early April the other day and saw $605 each way.
It does mean an overnight flight and a night in SJU though.

YMMV based on what you want to do and how much time you have.

 

[madrooster]

That is seriously expensive!!!!

I guess it comes down to time. With a simple extension of time and a day or so; Try HNL/LAX/MIA/MCO/SJU and vv. I had a quick look for early April the other day and saw $605 each way.
It does mean an overnight flight and a night in SJU though.

YMMV based on what you want to do and how much time you have.

Pun intended on the YMMV?

Try HNL-x/LAX-x/DFW-x/MCO-x/MIA-SJU for 480 SCs and SJU-x/MIA-x/DFW-x/LAX-HNL for 420 SCs or SJU-x/MIA-x/ORD-x/LAX-HNL for 450 SCs (harder to find) coming back. Can be had for $1210 USD return.

 

[DeKa]

Pun intended on the YMMV?

Try HNL-x/LAX-x/DFW-x/MCO-x/MIA-SJU for 480 SCs and SJU-x/MIA-x/DFW-x/LAX-HNL for 420 SCs or SJU-x/MIA-x/ORD-x/LAX-HNL for 450 SCs (harder to find) coming back. Can be had for $1210 USD return.

i like the sound of this one. Either way, do you end up with 2 PNRs (one inbound, one outbound) due to the number of sectors?

 

[Grooba]

i like the sound of this one. Either way, do you end up with 2 PNRs (one inbound, one outbound) due to the number of sectors?

Not if it's all booked together. One booking equals one PNR.

 

[DeKa]

Not if it's all booked together. One booking equals one PNR.

How do you get aa.com to throw up a routing like that? I can only get it to show it if I so each sector individually in multi-city booking. Thanks.

 

[Grooba]

You can only put a maximum of 6 pairs into the multi city engine.
So with the example posted above of "HNL-x/LAX-x/DFW-x/MCO-x/MIA-SJU for 480 SCs and SJU-x/MIA-x/DFW-x/LAX-HNL" you could get to that in one booking by something like:

HNL-DFW (which might throw HNL-LAX-DFW)
DFW-MCO
MCO-MIA (which will spit out MCO-MIA-SJU)

Based on that, I'm sure you can work out how the return trip is booked.

 

[DeKa]

Got it now, thank you. I now see the idea is to pick legs that force the booking engine to throw up multiple sectors (much like the famed TSV-DRW JASA).

 

[ozdunker]

There is good little earner to the islands off Puerto Rico at the moment.
Yes cities like Austin, St Louis can be useful.

 

[Gold Member]

Sin city runs are back from March 30th for as far as I can see out for several months! 120 SCs for $236 USD ai. Similar pricing to the old days and a comfortable day turn around. At the current forex of 1.04 thats $1.89 per SC.

For those unfamiliar, this route is for those looking to reLAX and have Some Fun Outside.

Happy status runs!

 

[file51]

Sin city runs are back from March 30th for as far as I can see out for several months! 120 SCs for $236 USD ai. Similar pricing to the old days and a comfortable day turn around. At the current forex of 1.04 thats $1.89 per SC.

For those unfamiliar, this route is for those looking to reLAX and have Some Fun Outside.

Happy status runs!

Not sure where you are seeing $236??? (March 30th is $357 and so on for the next week+)

I check that sector pretty much every day and the best fare since last week is $263 - $283 ($ 221.80 - $242.79 fare + taxes)

Pretty much as soon as the fares changed I booked my July flights and a few more

(I usually fly the scenic route at least 5-6 times per year)

 

[elbarto]

Not sure where you are seeing $236??? (March 30th is $357 and so on for the next week+)

I check that sector pretty much every day and the best fare since last week is $263 - $283 ($ 221.80 - $242.79 fare + taxes)

Pretty much as soon as the fares changed I booked my July flights and a few more

(I usually fly the scenic route at least 5-6 times per year)

Cheap seats are likely to be mid week. Since you've picked a saturday, that could be why you're seeing a higher fare. LAS hotels, and I assume flights too, are always more expensive over a weekend.

 

[file51]

I checked every day, $263 is what is showing for Tue/Wed/Thurs

As previously stated, I do that trip multiple times every year, weekdays are always best.

 

[file51]

After reading the previous message, I have a feeling the 236 is a typo, prob should have been 263

 

[scheps]

I agree RE: typo however, the SC was worked out to be 1.89 per point but the typo could have been carried through i suppose.

 

[Gold Member]

Got my numbers wrong, as raised earlier. Fare is in fact $263, but it remains $1.89/sc, however there are some flights at $256 though!