Poll: Did You Do a Mileage or Mattress Run?

The New Year has begun and most airline and hotel programs reset elite miles and points to zero.  Many frequent business travelers undertake mileage runs, taking flights designed to garner frequent-flyer miles as opposed to getting you to and from a destination, in order to maintain or upgrade their status.  A mattress run is similar in concept, but rooms are booked instead of flights.

Henry Feintuch, president of Feintuch Communications, a global public relations firm based in New York City, was short 2012 miles for 2012.  After investigating 15 scenarios that included destinations ranging from Las Vegas to Orlando, he settled on a $480 flight from Newark (EWR) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL), which gave him 2146 miles, more than enough to give him Premier status on United Continental for the coming year (for 2011 he was Platinum on Continental).

Feintuch departed EWR at 8 a.m., arriving at 1 in the afternoon, had lunch at the W hotel on the beach, and took a 4 p.m. return flight back to EWR.  Last year, to keep Platinum status, he flew out to Seattle (SEA), had lunch, and returned the same day.

Please let us know if you did a mileage or mattress run last year in order to maintain (or upgrade) your “elite” status with an airline or hotel for 2012 by taking our poll – and see what your fellow business travelers did as well.