Long Way To Go In 2013

I need to fly 16,200 miles to reach my status goal before the end of the year.  Put another way, that's a round trip from EWR to HKG (a flight United has, but I have not booked).  To make this math worse, I am not flying this week.  I can make it though and have 90% of those miles booked.  I just need a work trip or some very good luck finding out of the way standby options. I'm not too worried, it is only a game after all.

A few trips on a 767 will help

US Airways Company Store Sale

US Airways' company store is offering free shipping on orders greater than $25 and 20% all items with coupon code HOLIDAY.  I've purchased from them before and they do a great job; it also might be one of the last opportunities to buy US Airways branded gear.

US Airways A320's at CLT

Free Shipping at the Boeing Store

Free shipping plus discounts on orders over $50 through Sunday at the Boeing Store.  I like the 7#7 tee shirts and they have other fun trinkets and gifts for kids of all ages.

These Boeing Products Are On Sale Too

Update: Maybe not.  I just tried to order, but the shipping charge still appeared.  I sent an email to customer service, but nothing back yet.

Update 2: "Some technical glitch is asking for a code for the free shipping. So sorry about this! We spoke to the technicians and the freeship promo is being reset and will be in effect at 5pm PT."

United Mileage Shopping 50% Sale

With United's pending award chart devaluation, 50% off in the mileage shopping mall is a deal worth considering.  Here's the link: http://www.mileageplusawards.com/ualoyrewards/channelAction?channelCode=CHN30

A319 Ready to Leave

UPDATE: It looks like the sale ends 12/2/13.  I purchased a Tumi Alpha Continental carry on bag for 23,100 miles; an outstanding deal and I don't need a new carry on bag at the moment either.

Keep Spending United Miles

Spend United miles while they still have value (before Feb. 1, 2014).  I'll be booking trips for my parents too.  Since a stopover at a Star Alliance hub is still free, I sent the following message to help me search for trip ideas.

An Unequal Partnership Starting Feb1

Rank the following cities, 1-N
Istanbul, Ankara, Ljubljana, Pristina, Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion, Rhodes, Corfu, Kos, Kalamata, Vienna, Brussels, Zagreb, Warsaw, Frankfurt, Munich, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Zurich, Lisbon, Porto

What are the top 10 European cities on these maps, not included on the list above?  (do not include codeshares or connections when searching)

http://lufthansa.innosked.com/(S(bxabv4zz1mh00n2lnkojnceu))/Default.aspx?lang_id=en&country=uk

http://www.flytap.com/Portugal/en/Homepage/DestinationsMap

http://www.lot.pl/us/en/web/newlot/routemap

http://www.flysas.com/en/us/Generic/Services/Route_map/

http://aerlingus.dynamicroutemaps.com/

Race to the Finish

There are only six weeks left in 2013 and I am sprinting across the status finish line (12,000+ EQMs in December).  I should wind up with 76 United miles more than I need for status.  2013 was a rough year for fare deals and 2014 will be worse because United will require distance and dollar minimums for status (not to mention massive points inflation).  This might be the last year of the mileage game.

I'll Miss Flying Lufthansa on Miles

Never Hurts To Call

I finished a business trip early and headed to the airport to try to catch an earlier flight.  I was booked on an 8:30 direct flight, but arrived at the airport at 1:30.  The check in kiosk only gave me flight options for the following day, even though a wave of flights to EWR, ORD, CLE, IAH, and ORD again were leaving in the next two hours.  Any of those cities could get me to Denver faster and spare me having to kill 7 hours air side.  The agent at 800-UNITED-1 was amazing    She grabbed the last seat on the flight to EWR and then on to Denver.  Twice the miles (I'm borderline on status this year), an earlier arrival, and saved me untold hours of boredom.  Even if the self serve options say 'No,' it never hurts to call.

Self Service Isn't Complete