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A Man Who Flies Around the World for Free

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Re: A Man Who Flies Around the World for Free

#161

Post by arcticbull »

verbatim wrote: post #51

> United offered coupons to passengers worth $200 or $400. I'd be pretty surprised to see that now. On my last long United flight, which was 6-7 hours overseas, my in-flight entertainment system was broken, and they gave me a $25 voucher. I was not impressed.

He's talking pre-merger. pmUA used to make $400 vouchers rain for basically anything. Once they tied the knot with Continental (and their team took over all aspects of UA) they went with the pmCO don't-give-anyone-certificates-for-anything policy. Oh, and every other policy for that matter :\

Re: A Man Who Flies Around the World for Free

#162

Post by patrickk »

keypusher wrote: post #138
hobo_mark wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to pay rent, and I spend very little on anything else.

You don't buy food? Furniture? Car? Bicycle? Computer?

In Germany at least, food and groceries is almost exclusively in cash. I come from another part of Europe, I find it very strange and annoying sometimes.

By the way, if anyone knows of a good way to rack up miles with Star alliance/Lufthansa, I'd love to know.

Re: A Man Who Flies Around the World for Free

#163

Post by akavel »

saryant wrote: post #121
akavel wrote: post #62

I seem to have missed something, in that I don't get one moment of the story; given: in April 2011, he received a certified letter from United, cheerily informing him that because he had taken advantage of the system his frequent-flyer account was permanently suspended. He was banned from flying, he recalls the letter saying, unless he paid the company $4,755 — the amount it claimed as losses through Schlappig's tech…

He stopped flying UA and switched to primarily AA.

thanks for the clarification!

Re: A Man Who Flies Around the World for Free

#164

Post by branchless »

arcticbull wrote: post #160
branchless wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Flying business class is less unpleasant than flying regular class. But it's not pleasant. I get that some people might like this. I was speaking to my other half about it last night. People go on about how great first class is. I wondered if people had a choice between teleportation and first class which would they choose? I'd go for teleporting. I think most would. So how great can first class be if I'd willingly e…

Whereas for cash tickets, going up a class of service is exponential. A round-trip to Asia is going to be about $1K in economy, $6K in business and 20K in first. Points tickets are logarithmic, if economy is 1X, business is usually 1.5-6X and first is usually 2X. So you can pay 2X as many miles for a product that costs 20X as much. Business is a better seat, edible food and free booze. First [on a decent airline] is…

The product does not deliver 20x the "value". It's aimed at people who have more money than they can spend. If you have a job paying less than 200k the cost of first-class is a huge deal. For them the cost is like you buying a beer.

Re: A Man Who Flies Around the World for Free

#165

Post by branchless »

saryant wrote: post #120
branchless wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Flying business class is less unpleasant than flying regular class. But it's not pleasant. I get that some people might like this. I was speaking to my other half about it last night. People go on about how great first class is. I wondered if people had a choice between teleportation and first class which would they choose? I'd go for teleporting. I think most would. So how great can first class be if I'd willingly e…

Sure, but since we don't have teleportation, first class is still arguably the more enjoyable way to cross an ocean right now (save for private jets).

Yes - it's the least worst way to travel if you have to.

Re: A Man Who Flies Around the World for Free

#166

Post by ethbro »

ghaff wrote: post #110
saryant wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're in that situation, you're probably best off earning one of the flexible currencies like Chase's Ultimate Rewards or Amex's Membership Rewards. You can redeem for a statement balance or transfer to one of their partners. If you do just want cashback, Fidelity has a straight-up 2% cashback card.

I actually use the Chase Sapphire Rewards card but I should probably look into the Fidelity as most of my points seem to end up getting shifted into Amazon anyway. It's a little complicated because of the minimum to get to 2% but it's probably a better deal than my free Chase Amazon card in any case. Thanks!

> It's a little complicated because of the minimum to get to 2% but it's probably a better deal than my free Chase Amazon card in any case.

If you're talking about the Visa (?) with the spend then 2%, the Amex version is straight-up 2% from the first dollar. A free-to-sign-up-for-no-fees Fidelity Cash Management Account suffices for a transfer target for accumulated cash back, then you can EFT the funds wherever you like (side note, Fidelity has great EFT options).

The downsides to the Amex are: (1) slightly lower acceptance (2) FIA Card Services (the administrator is not Amex proper) has no auto-pay (3) it's not an Amex proper, so you aren't eligible for most of the Amex $x off $y at z deals

https://www.fidelity.com/cash-management/american-express-ca...

That said, the 2% w/ no AF is still my benchmark that I evaluate everything else against. It's amazing how many alternatives it weeds out.

Re: A Man Who Flies Around the World for Free

#167

Post by saryant »

branchless wrote: post #165
saryant wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, but since we don't have teleportation, first class is still arguably the more enjoyable way to cross an ocean right now (save for private jets).

Yes - it's the least worst way to travel if you have to .

I want to travel to Thailand and India and Japan. If churning didn't exist id be buying tickets in coach.

So I am going to travel anyways, there just happens to be a way that's both cheaper and more comfortable.

Re: A Man Who Flies Around the World for Free

#168

Post by robotresearcher »

misterbwong wrote: post #81
robotresearcher wrote: post #72

I use miles to get flights a couple of times a year. A 'free' long-haul flight economy class costs me $700-800 in taxes, which can not be paid in points. How can these out-of-pocket charges be avoided?

Which program and what route are you flying? $7-800 is on the high side for economy taxes, which makes me think you are flying into LHR on BA or something similar. If you really are flying into LHR from the US, one alternative is to fly into a different city in Europe and connect over.

Good guess. Into LHR on Air Canada. Taxes brutal.

Re: A Man Who Flies Around the World for Free

#169

Post by saryant »

arcticbull wrote: post #158
refurb wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't find it morally questionable at all. The airlines setup a program and you find the best way to use it. I do find the "mileage runs" a bit odd. You spend a day or two just flying and hanging out at airports? I guess it's all cost/benefit, but that would be a little to much for me. That said, whatever floats you boat. Looks like a lot of people are really maximizing the points programs. Good for them!

Mileage runs are usually for status, not for earning miles. Back in the day it made sense since miles were a lot more valuable but earned at the same rate, 1 per mile flown in most cases, and airfare was lower in dollars, so basically nobody does it. Going between mid-tier and top-tier status can make a huge difference in your rate of upgrades for the next year, mileage earning rate and in AA's case at Platinum you e…

Back when I was a consultant, you could always tell who was 5k miles away from a status threshold based on how many unnecessary meetings that required travel they scheduled in December.

Re: A Man Who Flies Around the World for Free

#170

Post by [deleted] »

octocoupler wrote: post #63
acqq wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, via XKCD: http://xkcd.com/radiation/ Three LA to NY flights are more than the approximate dose received at Fukushima Town Hall over two weeks following the accident. But you have to make 175 flights to get as much as you get with just one chest CT scan.

According to that graph a chest x-ray (20 µSv) has half the effect of a LA-NY flight (40 µSv)

[deleted]
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