Mileage Runs

A look into the world of mileage runs and what drives people to take them.

So I travel a lot and have become fairly obsessed with accruing airline miles and getting status. When you're in airports constantly you aren't left with that many other things to think about. With that said, I've never done a milage run, where you take a trip just to bump your milage up for a status reward. Take, for instance, this story from a guy on his 8,000 mile run:

Mileage runs are a blast. They really are. They're relaxing, they're a way to get disconnected, and ultimately they're "profitable." But, if you're like me and do hardcore, eight segment, 36 hour, 8,000 mile domestic mileage runs, only half the journey is fun. Typically I'll start out on a flight out of Tampa at 6AM on a Saturday morning. Can someone remind me why the hell I'd actually want to get up (as opposed to go to bed) at 3:30AM on a Saturday morning?

The scary part is that I've considered it ...