A Platinum Flight for $1400

[rockyroad]

"who nearly hits the first president": The first President of the Republic of Texas was Sam Houston

To nearly hit Houston, Texas, the location is probably DFW.

This might help
American Airlines route map - Mexico and Central America

 

[fresherbill]

My 12 hops comes in at $1354US - $1337 AUD or $1.17/SC for 1140SCs.

I got 9 sectors in at USD1398/AUD1333 for 1120 SC, or $1.19/SC. Close enough I guess (for a first go anyway)?

 

[medhead]

Just on the Julius thing, are there 2 possiblities? I get the July thing, before the end of his month. But Julius also left us on the 15th of march, which could match in with the volleyball interpretation of needing 15 to win, i.e. to have the game.

:?:

"who nearly hits the first president": The first President of the Republic of Texas was Sam Houston

To nearly hit Houston, Texas, the location is probably DFW.

Is SFO-DFW direct?

 

[rockyroad]

I got 9 sectors in at USD1398/AUD1333 for 1120 SC, or $1.19/SC. Close enough I guess (for a first go anyway)?

So your outbound and inbound flights are different?

 

[DC3]

Just on the Julius thing, are there 2 possiblities? I get the July thing, before the end of his month. But Julius also left us on the 15th of march, which could match in with the volleyball interpretation of needing 15 to win, i.e. to have the game.

:?:



Is SFO-DFW direct?

Although there are direct flights available, the aim would be to fly this as two segments, and there are some options available for this routing.

 

[rockyroad]

Although there are direct flights available, the aim would be to fly this as two segments, and there are some options available for this routing.

I didn't use SFO - DFW in the 2nd and 5th major sector city pairs. Try a US city a lot further NE. I get 1,140 SCs for the run as I see it. Add to that SCs SYD/HNL/SYD and you bust through the 1,200 SCs needed to retain Platinum. You still need the 4 "~" on QF/JQ metal but you coud do JASAs from the SC run points earn.

 

[fresherbill]

So your outbound and inbound flights are different?

In my case the last sector is the reverse of the first so I do return to the origin; the middle part of the trip is all over the place though. I should point out that to save search time I spread it over 6 days, so in reality the stops would inflate that cost tremendously. If I tried again with tighter timings I can't guarantee I'd get the same price. But then isn't that always the case?

 

[ozdunker]

Assuming that most of the flights are first class. flights likely to be into BWI as it is slightly further than other WAS airports and goes into a zone3 SC earn.

 

[Rallygirl]

who nearly hits the first president, There was a plane crash in New York a few years back that nearly hit the George Washington bridge. Maybe JFK?

 

[medhead]

How deeply do we look into this?

Washington was the first president following the ratification of the US constitution. However, there were presidents of the continental congress before that, a very different position. But a bloke called John Hanson was promoted as the first president of the US (first president elected under the terms of the articles of confederation) and had his statue placed in the Statuary Hall in the Us Capitol. Looking into this too much?

 

[obrienja]

Nearly hit the first president is a reference to the airports around D.C - IAD, BWI, DCA. This routing goes through one or two of them depending on your days.

 

[moa999]

I've got six segments going one way earning 590 SCs for a flat US$1k, but starts failing when I try to add the return.
Are you using AnyTime or defining?
Working for me is EM/Noon/+1 EM

 

[grussellt]

Well I never. I tried HNL-SFO-IAD-SAL and mirror return and it priced out as $US1187.49 (including taxes) on March 12-16. It provides 12 sectors and includes stops in LAX-DFW-MIA. It's almost tempting but this year I'm already doing CDG-JFK-MIA-LAX-NAN-BNE-SYD (courtesy of a QF classic award) and I think that will be enough flying for a while!

 

[rockyroad]

Nearly hit the first president is a reference to the airports around D.C - IAD, BWI, DCA. This routing goes through one or two of them depending on your days.

AA multicity search engine

HNL-SFO (HNL-LAX-SFO)
SFO-IAD (SFO-DFW-IAD)
IAD-SAL (IAD-MIA-SAL)
SAL-IAD "
IAD-SFO "
SFO-HNL "

Arrive HNL just before 15 May. The right combo of dates and time slots is not that easy to find but it is there.

Well done and congrats to the OP for an entertaining chase.

This is not optimal but will give an idea how this works:



Here is another earlier but similar SC run:



There are lots of ways to do this. If you like Vegas, then the last may be of interest as you can stay there for a few days.

 

[rockyroad]

I've got six segments going one way earning 590 SCs for a flat US$1k, but starts failing when I try to add the return.
Are you using AnyTime or defining?
Working for me is EM/Noon/+1 EM

Be sure to select "Search by Price" and "Restricted Business" fares.

 

[moa999]

Got a price just over $1.4 and totally different routing to rockyroad with ORD and DFW as intermediates as well as some using of a Washington taxi...
great find by the OP. wish I could utilise.

 

[rockyroad]

Got a price just over $1.4 and totally different routing to rockyroad with ORD and DFW as intermediates as well as some using of a Washington taxi...
great find by the OP. wish I could utilise.

Sure lots of variations available. Basically you start in HNL and go West coast to NE to SE across the US and exit via MIA to any Central Americal city (Central American turnaround city seems to be critical to low fares). Have played with adding in SEA. Did find several runs with under $1/SC.

 

[kempvet]

many of the posters are thinking correctly, if you have the exact route then pm back to me. To get the large number of SCs you are going to need to have most of the sectors fall into the 1200 to 2400 zoning (zone 3 I think) for 120 Scs. This is what may make the search difficult for many posters, as it then limits the potential number of flights due to connection issues, and only a sweet spot of flights can send you down to the CA or SA regions and back to the US in one day (remembering that you need to connect through another US city on the way - and also you need TIME to get through customs, and perhaps a few probing questions if they still insist). Also you need to avoid the worst areas of the US at this time of the year, stay away from ORD and NYC. This flight only has one airport that is subject to snow and ice issues, but not as much as the more northern US airports.

I wanted to find a flight that was a platinum buster, but personally, I would rather pay for two smaller flights for $2800 and enjoy my time in the USA, and use a stopover at say SXM for a few days.

 

[rockyroad]

I wanted to find a flight that was a platinum buster, but personally, I would rather pay for two smaller flights for $2800 and enjoy my time in the USA, and use a stopover at say SXM for a few days.

Landings there are interesting
747 Landing - St.Maarten - YouTube

 

[kempvet]

Sure lots of variations available. Basically you start in HNL and go West coast to NE to SE across the US and exit via MIA to any Central Americal city (Central American turnaround city seems to be critical to low fares). Have played with adding in SEA. Did find several runs with under $1/SC.

Hi Rockyroad.
I thought about using SEA as a leg, mainly because Alaska book you into F, I have heard that they have better planes and with a F ticket you can access the lounge at SEA, maybe a godsend on such a flight.