A Planned Trip to Nowhere

I have mentioned before about my previous trips to nowhere. The trip to Texas where I never set foot in the Lone Star State, etc… But now, thanks the few remaining people hanging on at The Friendly Skies, keeping it afloat (so to speak) I am planning a trip to nowhere.

I signed up for an odd promotion that affords Mileage Plus customer double qualifying miles up to Dec. 15th. In short, it means if you hit 25,000 miles you are a “Premier,” 50k, a Premier Exec and at 100k, you are a 1K. While it might not seem like something of major importance in the grand scheme of things, if I hit Premier Exec, it will make a huge difference if we go through with our family plans to fly to Israel next summer for our daughter’s Bat Mitzvah.

So, I am 5300 miles short of that goal right now. However, by my calculations, a trip up and back to Chicago (5600 miles with bonus) will put me over the goal. My current plan is to fly to Chicago next Friday and fly home three hours later. I will not leave the airport and just head to the Red Carpet Room to recharge my PC so I can watch a movie on the way home. The price tag for such an endeavor is $198. Is it crazy? Perhaps. Is it a good investment? Perhaps. Previously, United gave complimentary global upgrade coupons to Premier Execs; would that be worth $198 if we fly 17 hours from Arizona to Israel? You betcha!