Mileage Running across the US and back and back and back and... Part I
This is a bit of blast from the past again, but it's fun to look back on what used to be possible with award travel!
Mileage runs still exist, but primarily only in the areas where you need to close a very specific gap in status. Since miles and status are now awarded primarily on dollar spend, the arbitrage of being able to find super cheap, super long flights sadly no longer exists.
But in Summer of 2016, I wanted to recover my American Airlines mileage bank after splurging on my very first Round the World trip the previous year, where I visited seven countries over three weeks.
However, I also had been bitten by the premium travel bug so I wanted to sit in the front! American Airlines has a very few routes where they fly the international flavor of their business or First class.
One of the best resources for this was, and probably still is FlyerTalk's Premium Mileage Run forums.
One of those routes are between LAX and JFK where AA flies their special three-class narrowbody A321.
Another route that is seasonal is where AA flies their widebody 777-300ERs between key hubs, namely LAX, JFK and MIA. In 2016, they were flying the 777-300ER between JFK and MIA.
Further, AA has sweet spots for pricing and one of them was flying from Los Angeles to Panama City. With some creative routing, you could get it to route through JFK and MIA to ensure the long legs are in an international flavor of premium cabin.
To get even sweeter, AA at the time didn't differential the seats on the 777-300ERs between first and business class, since it was all bucketed into Domestic First class. If you booked early and picked a seat in row 1 or 2, you'd actually be getting a First Class seat at Business Class prices!
Now to pull it all together, $790, you could fly from LAX-JFK in International Business Class, JFK-MIA to in International First Class and then MIA-PTY in regional First Class, receiving about ~28,000 award miles and enough miles to complete an status challenge to earn Platinum status! And plus since I'm a dork, I enjoy the travel itself!
So here's how it all went.
This is a bit different than a normal trip report. I wasn't snapping as many photos religiously as I might. I also partook of a little of boozahol. So what you'll see is whatever caught my eye at the time.
I was already feeling frazzled as we land in JFK.
Right after landing, there was a pretty tight connection to MIA, so I didn't have an opportunity to partake in the lounge sadly.
Boarding my seat 2F in the 777-300ER, it's funny to compare this to Business Class on the same plane. Functionally, it's a little roomier with less of the coffin feeling that reverse herringbone seats can sometimes suffer from. But probably the big difference was that the seat swiveled from forward facing to facing slightly inwards. I'm not quite sure what the sell on this was supposed to be, but it was funny anyway.
The breakfast served was serviceable, if uninspired.
After landing in Miami, I made my way to the remote stand in to leave for Panama. The flight was an American Eagle regional flight and nothing too incredible to report on that flight other than a very dramatic shot of the canal and a storm rolling in over the city.
One aside about mileage runs is that there are hardcore folks that do same day turnarounds where they deplane in Panama City and promptly get back on the plane to do the same thing in reverse. I would wager that at least half the first class cabin just hung around the gates immediately after deplaning. I at least gave myself a day!
I had my day in Panama City to do the touristy things, but honestly walking around Casco Viejo was absolutely charming.
As I began the trip reversing course, I had to take this picture out the window as we climbed above the clouds outside of Panama City. What a spectacular way to greet the morning.
A slightly less spectacular way to greet the morning.
Another oddity of mileage running is that you will often find yourself with the same crew you had on the flight in. In my case, on the flights between JFK and MIA, the same New York City-based crew was on my flight.
Since it's kind of an odd service for the plane, they don't fully stock it, but I do not mind telling you that I drank the plane empty of bubbly on the way back. The crew, as most AA crew are, were absolutely amazing, including letting me pop my head into the cockpit before takeoff and providing some very heavy pours of mimosas, as seen below (you can tell from the quality of the photo it was not my first)
All in all, for someone who enjoys flying, 31 hours in Business/First Class, with nice stops in between was a fantastic way to spend a few days while earning status and miles for my next adventure. Even though the days of getting miles for these mileage runs is long gone, I could still see myself doing it again for the experience of it.
