Oneworld status run in USA - June 2013

[MiLK_MaN]

Hi all,

A colleague of mine and myself are embarking on a US trip in June this year.

The plan is to visit the following cities:

Originate in Portland, Boston, NY, Miami, Trinidad (Port of Spain) and then back to LA for a connecting flight.

We will essentially be driving down from Seattle to Portland on June 14, and spend 2 nights there. Therefore, our first flight would look to leave either late June 16 or early June 17.

Am looking to do a status run on AA. I was unable to find anything cheap originating out of Portland, so came up with the following:

$1374.90 USD
18/6: BOS-JFK
21/6: JFK-POS (via MIA)
25/6: POS-MIA
27/6: MIA-LAX (via DFW)

Flexible around some of the dates, but can't leave Seattle until late Friday night on June 14, and have to be back in Los Angeles by early morning 28th to meet my wife and kids.

So the request is for a suitable status run on AA that encompasses the destinations listed above, for 2 adults. A donation of $50 (2 x $25) will be given to the person selected with the fare of choice.

 

[MiLK_MaN]

Here's a screenshot of a search performed today.

 

[serfty]

That's expensive, mainly due to the NYC and MIA stopovers (hubs are generally more costly than elsewhere).

I'll have a look, but one thought is have you considered flying to / from PHL and taking a train to NYC - it may be cheaper.

 

[MiLK_MaN]

Absolutely anything will be considered. Was not aware that was an option, so certainly have no issue putting it into consideration.

 

[kevrosmith]

What are you trying to achieve? Quick/cheap Status Credits? Or visits to these cities and some extra flights in between? I note you have nights in most of the cities, so are you actually wanting to stay in those places and look around?

 

[serfty]

Also, check out this thread on how to use ITA to search for options.

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....esearch-book-aa-instant-42433.html#post666524

 

[MiLK_MaN]

What are you trying to achieve? Quick/cheap Status Credits? Or visits to these cities and some extra flights in between? I note you have nights in most of the cities, so are you actually wanting to stay in those places and look around?

Definitely plan to stay in these locations. Was really trying to tie in cheap SC's on top of an already planned trip.

 

[moa999]

The "good" US status runs are all multiple segments without stopover (hence the word run).
Adding stopovers will effectively price everything as individual flights.

 

[NM]

That's expensive, mainly due to the NYC and MIA stopovers (hubs are generally more costly than elsewhere).

I'll have a look, but one thought is have you considered flying to / from PHL and taking a train to NYC - it may be cheaper.

BWI is a good alternate and is co-located with an Amtrak station with free shuttle bus between airport terminal and train station, with services direct to Penn station etc at NY.

 

[kevrosmith]

The "good" US status runs are all multiple segments without stopover (hence the word run).
Adding stopovers will effectively price everything as individual flights.

Agree. I'd suggest you book cheap seats for any flights you want to do to visit places you want to visit, and then do a 2-day turnaround West Coast to Caribbean Status Run. Those you can get quite cheaply, though they're not for the feint-hearted. Well under $900 can usually net you >500+ SCs. See serfty's (now corrected) link above.

 

[casanovawa]

So how many SCs did this plan of yours net you Milk_Man???

 

[MiLK_MaN]

Ended up finding 700 SC's for $1098 USD.
PDX-DFW-LGA-MIA-POS-MIA-ORD-PHL. Funny thing was it allows for a 3 day stay in LGA without penalty.

 

[support]

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