I'm going to be at the Seattle airport briefly on the 8th and the14th. I'll have about 3.5 hours on the 8th and about 1.5 hours on the 14th, so not really time to go anywhere, but if anyone wants to come out and grab a quick bite or a cup of coffee I'd love to see people.
I was going to be just short of my MVP Gold frequent flier status so I found a couple of cheap fares on Alaska and I'm just flying up and back for the miles. Yes, I know I'm a little crazy, but the MVP gold benefits are worth it.
MVP gold is super useful if only for the free changes, forget upgrades.
I will also be in the airport on the 8th, ND--my flight leaves at 10am and gets back at 6? I think. What time will you be there?
I'll be gone the 14th though (flying out the 13th and back the 15th!)
On the 8th my flight lands at 3:47 PM and I leave at 7:27 PM. Looks like I'll be waiting for my flight when you get back at 6 PM, how does coffee sound?
The big thing for me with MVP gold is that it gives me Sky Priority status on Delta now. While I may not get upgrades, it does put me into boarding group one on Delta flights. There is also the mileage bonus associated with MVP gold that will make it worthwhile.
Sounds like a plan, Drew! I just checked, I land at 622, and I know I'll be at the c2 gates since it's a horizon flight (Wenatchee).
Cool. I leave on an Alaska flight at 7:27, so I should be able to meet you near your gate and we can have coffee before I hop on my flight.
Yes, I know I'm a little crazy, but the MVP gold benefits are worth it.
Hah. You are SO not crazy. I did the same thing for Delta this year. It's completely worth it. I need the free luggage, and Sky Priority is necessary if I don't want to be arrested for homicide in the airport. As long as I'm careful in choosing flights, I get the upgrades too. I think I'm around 85% as of my last trip. You're now eligible for upgrades on Delta as of the middle of last month, Drew.
We are not the only ones who do this. There's a entire community/culture around mileage running and frequent flyer programs: www.flyertalk.com/forum. I've gotten some fantastic advice over there.
aha! a FLYING F2F!
They exist. There was one revolving around a massive round-the-world trip earlier this year. We're more fun though!
Now I want to book a flight to Seattle just so I can meet up with meara and ND in the airport for coffee. I was actually planning a trip this weekend, but I ended up not needing the miles. Last minute work trip took care of that for me.
There's a entire community/culture around mileage running and frequent flyer programs
Ha! Did you see
Up in the Air
?
How does the upgrades thing work if you're a frequent enough flyer?
You're now eligible for upgrades on Delta as of the middle of last month, Drew.
Oh I'm well aware, the vast majority of my flying is actually on American Airlines and Delta. The reason I use Alaska Airlines for my miles is because they are partnered with both airlines so all my miles end up in one bucket.
I also follow Flyer Talk, I've gotten some great information on how the Delta/Alaska partnership has been going. There are rumors that they will be doing the same type of integration with American Airlines in the future. If that happens I will be very happy.
As for upgrades, since one of my main flights in LAX to MCO I can rarely get an upgrade. The last 4 flights I had through that corridor the upgrade list was 20+ people deep with maybe one available seat in first class. However, for my mileage runs coming up I stand a better chance as almost all of the flights are showing sparsely populated planes with first practically empty. I did two two flights on Horizon turbo props though, just so that I get the bonus milage for a leg under 500 miles between PDX and SEA.
Um, yeah, FF geekage going on.
How does the upgrades thing work if you're a frequent enough flyer?
It depends on the program, but with Alaska and Delta, if you are on one of the rungs on their FF program when you check in you get placed on a free upgrade list. Any unused first class seats get given to people on the upgrade list for free. Your position on the list is based on the fare class or your original ticket, and the level of your status in the FF program.
