Thoughts on My First Mileage Run

First a little bit of back story....this weekend was my first mileage run, and it was AWESOME. I know it will not impress the veterans out there that do multiple segments all over the country, but I picked up BWI-LAX at $160 all in to get around 4,600 miles. I also got to spend a day at Disneyland, which was the first time I have ever been to a Disney property. It only took 24 years, but I had so so much fun! I'll have a full hotel review up in the coming days.

But...to the real point of my story. Today I came back to work after an awesome weekend and was talking about it with a few co-workers. Not one, not two, but four separate co-workers told me that they saw a story on tv or read a story on the internet about people that "do crazy things like fly just to get frequent flyer miles" and they immediately thought about me!

I told them that it was EXACTLY what I was doing this weekend, but I was no where near as awesome as those of you that go fly tens of thousands of miles in a weekend. They still looked at me like I was absolutely nuts and couldn't fathom why anyone would do that on purpose.

It really got me thinking how weird this hobby appears to those on the outside. I mean just a year ago I was in the same boat, I would have thought...why would anyone want to connect when they could fly direct? Why would you fly to just get the miles? What's the big deal about an airport lounge or a seat up front?

But this hobby really opened my eyes to the benefits of elite status and how it can be fun to just fly where the fare takes you! Without the idea of mileage running in my head I never would have found that great fare from The Flight Deal, which is now a site that I check furiously every day and can't wait to see a tweet from, I never would have been able to go on a trip with my gf and have one of the best days of my life running around Disneyland like a bunch of little kids and riding every ride in sight. This hobby isn't just something that gets us the seat up front, the free drink in the lounge or even the pajamas in first class. It's a hobby that allows the average Joe like me the opportunity to spend more time making memories with those that I love while exploring the world. Those extras....those are just the icing on the cake.