A few days ago I was staring to search for mileage runs for next year to try and knock out as much travel at the beginning of the year as I could. I quickly realized that I have a very light knowledge of searching for mileage runs on the ITA Matrix and so I took to Twitter to see if anyone with WAY more knowledge on building mileage runs could point me in the right direction, so I sent out the following tweet:
Quickly I had GREAT responses from people in the miles and points community that pointed me to their favorite blog post on how to construct a proper mileage run. Without Twitter it would have been a very trial by fire experiment on my part. I could have muscled through it and figured out a strategy that worked for me, but that extra bit of knowledge from those who have been doing this for years was a big help in helping me understand how to leverage the power of the ITA Matrix to search for great mileage runs.
In the end it paid off! Yesterday I booked a trip of BWI/ORD/IAH/PHX - PHX/CLT/BWI for around $.004 cents per mile and it currently includes a trip on one of United's 787 Dreamliner, which I have been pining to fly for months now.
None of this would have been possible without the help of social media. It's a great place for everyone to learn from people who have more knowledge and are willing to share it, a place to share successes or ask questions and most of all...a place to meet new people from around the world that have the same addiction to travel as you do.
Thanks for the shout out!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the inspiration! Great article.
DeleteI also really liked travel summary's post about twitter. The words were so true. I thank airfarewatchdog for so many of those deals.
ReplyDeleteAs for your MR, I still am trying to accomplish a multiple-stop MR - I need a friend to sit down with me help me plan one out....
Airfarewatchdog and The Flight Deal make my day when they post new fares.
DeleteThis is my first multi-stop MR and I was still skeptical I could make it happen. But, if you feel like trying to find one trial and error with me, let me know! You probably know some tricks I don't, so we can help each other out!
yes, these days its mainly the flight deal, but in its day, it was AFWD. I'm actually bogged down following too many people on twitter, so I get lost and miss deals. I need to narrow it down so I can keep up with the news, especially on busy work days.
Deleteas for working on a MR together, its a deal. lets set up a call one of these days.
I have that same problem...I just scan Twitter on the busy work days and then catch up on the blogs in the evening to make sure I didn't miss anything.
DeleteSound good, I'llDM you my e-mail on Twitter.