{"id":6727,"date":"2013-10-05T04:30:09","date_gmt":"2013-10-05T11:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/?p=6727"},"modified":"2013-10-04T21:10:14","modified_gmt":"2013-10-05T04:10:14","slug":"448-deal-philadelphia-beijing-didnt-make-sense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/pointssummary\/2013\/10\/05\/448-deal-philadelphia-beijing-didnt-make-sense\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the $448 Deal from Philadelphia to Beijing Didn\u2019t Make Sense"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

While I was in Vegas for the past few days, I was informed of an amazing deal from PHL-PEK (Philadelphia to Beijing, China) from @TheFlightDeal<\/a> via Twitter. With multiple routings from PHL-BOS-ORD-PEK-ORD-LGA-PHL, it came out to $448 Taxes Included at 2.8cpm.<\/p>\n

\"faressense1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019m a big fan of mileage runs and that\u2019s how I re-qualify every year for top tier Executive Platinum elite status on American Airlines. Here are some of my Trip Reports I\u2019ve written about my mileage run vacations this year:<\/p>\n

Mexico City, Mexico<\/a>
\nTel Aviv, Israel<\/a>\u00a0(also includes Jerusalem, Bethlehem (Palestinian Authority), and the Dead Sea)
\nShanghai, China<\/a>
\nLima, Peru \u2013 Sao Paulo, Brazil \u2013 Santiago, Chile<\/a>
\nMonterrey, Mexico<\/a>
\nPonce, Puerto Rico<\/a>
\nFajardo, Puerto Rico<\/a>
\nRio de Janeiro, Brazil
\n<\/a>Bogota, Colombia<\/a> (a work in progress)
\nHelsinki, Geneva, Nice, Monaco (coming soon)<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s break up the real costs of positioning:<\/p>\n

Airfare<\/strong><\/p>\n

LAX-PHL round-trip was going for $350 on American Airlines. The lowest price was $250 round-trip on Delta, which I don\u2019t fly with them anymore<\/a>. There\u2019s no point in earning orphan miles in a program you don\u2019t use. With the positioning flight from LAX-DFW-PHL-DFW-LAX for $350 and 5,075 miles, it came out to a whopping 6.8cpm. With this cpm and the 2.8cpm, it averages out to 4.8cpm which isn\u2019t too bad.<\/p>\n

Hotels<\/strong><\/p>\n

This leaves me with two overnight stays in Philadelphia on the beginning and end of my journey to Beijing which is a total deal killer. Hotel prices are through the roof in Philadelphia!<\/p>\n

No SWU?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another note to consider is that the YQ (fuel surcharge) was $88 instead of the usual $288 as per @TheFlightDeal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"faresense2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This could be challenging to call up American Airlines and have them process a Systemwide Upgrade for you. When AA processes a SWU, they have to put you on hold and call the rate desk to manually check your rate. When they see the low price you paid for this fare to Beijing, it might cause an alarm and make you pay the additional YQ. This could cause for your ticket to be cancelled or held up for ransom by American Airlines.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

The stars would\u2019ve aligned if the positioning flight from LAX to PHL was at a reasonable cost and SPG hotels would be lower than $100 a night (or at least BRG-able) since I would also be re-qualifying for 50 nights at Starwood Hotels. Also, sitting in the back of the bus doesn’t seem fun at all considering I would not apply a SWU on this mistake fare.<\/p>\n

Have you booked this amazing fare to Beijing? If so, how have you managed to position yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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