I’ve got a little contest going on with my newsletter. In fact, you can sign up for it right here–see the little box to the right, where it says “sign up for email updates”? Enter our email and you’ll receive the weekly newsletter free. We’re always giving SOMETHING away!
Since I’m in the hunt for EQMs (Equivalent Qualifying Miles) all the time, I reached out to the readership for fun stories of hapless travelers that will do ANYTHING for an upgrade. ANYTHING to maintain Alaska Airlines MVP Gold Status. ANYTHING to get the delicious cookies in the fancy tin around Thanksgiving. Here are a couple of great stories ( I did a little editing for space and clarity, etc.):
T.N. in Nome shares this one:
Years ago, my ex-husband and I took a trip to Puerto Vallarta, just to earn the mileage. We were newly- married and had barely a dime to our name. His family lived in the southern United States and were begging us to bring their granddaughter for a visit. We told them we couldn’t afford it, but then we saw this deal to Mexico. We scraped together just enough to take the trip, justifying it with “after this trip is done, we’ll have enough mileage for a trip to visit the grandparents!”. We spent more time in the air or airports then we did on the ground. As I mentioned, we had scraped together just enough for the tickets and 2 nights at a cheap hotel, so that left little money for food. While in PV, I spent 2 days bartending in a tiny little bar near our hotel so that we’d have free drinks and meals. I’ve never bartended before (or since) in my life, but I figured even I could pour shots of tequila. By the way, remember the grandparents who we had told we didn’t have enough money to come visit? Well we had timed this trip to Mexico so that our absence would hopefully go unnoticed (i.e. we would be back home in time for our weekly phone call from them and they’d never be the wiser). But of course this would be the one time that they decided to call us mid-week. Relatives back in Nome, watching our baby, answered the phone and had to tell them that we were in Mexico. That was a hard one to explain…
HA!
J.S. in Chugiak shares this tale of adventure:
The wife & I took advantage of a first week in Dec fare special a few years back. Alaska Airlines offered a cheap fare to Orlando. We bought one trip and used our $50 companion fare on the other. Itinerary: Anc to Orlando down one day return the next. We took no bags. Arrived in Orlando approx 1700hrs. At the rental car place we signed up for a timeshare tour which included free tickets to Universal Studios, free condo for the night and free breakfast. Got up early the next morning, took the timeshare tour (did not buy), ate breakfast and got our free tickets to Universal. Arrived at Universal at 1000hrs (opening), rode all rides in a couple of hours and returned to the airport around 1500hrs. When we got on the plane, we had the same seats and the same air crew. The flight attendant asked us what was up. We told her that we were with AK Airlines quality assurance and that their crew had been chosen for customer satisfaction survey. You should have seen her face. We then fessed up that it was only a “mileage runâ€. Well we made the club.
Be sure and submit your own “Mileage Run” stories. I love Alaska’s new 737-800s. Here’s a shot of one on the tarmac in Anchorage:
You could win the very first copy of the Great Alaskan TourSaver for 2009 (at the printer’s now!). FYI, my friend Randy Petersen has a great site to learn more about Mileage Runs and frequent flyers: www.flyertalk.com
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