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New Yorkers are so lucky. They live in a great city with fantastic food. And their geography naturally gives them amazing China Eastern (MU) deals. 🙂
Quick caveat: I know there are deadly, catastrophic wildfires taking place in Australia. So this trip might not be ideal for everyone (although a couple of dates land in April — when things will hopefully have calmed down significantly). If you do visit Australia, consider bringing respirator air masks. (FWIW, I live in an area of Southern California often affected by wildfires; we use masks similar to these.)
Now, on to the run!
I found three dates with trips that can earn you a massive amount of MQM, MQD, and SkyMiles — thanks to a business class trip from JFK to Sydney, Australia! (Dates are posted below with itineraries.)
It ain’t exactly dirt cheap: $3,141.65. But for business class to Australia, it’s pretty darn good. I don’t expect this fare to be around long.
Two itineraries give you a couple of days to stay in Sydney and make a vacation out of it. One is a quick-ish turn.
When you credit the trip to your Delta SkyMiles account (read why you want to do that), you’ll earn about $9781 Delta MQD (enough for Platinum MQD requirements) and 36,682 MQM. Plus at least 51,000 Delta SkyMiles.
This run alone can take someone from Tin Medallion (the cutsey term for “no status”) to Silver Medallion. Or if you’re already a Delta Medallion, it can give you nice boost in status — especially if you have rollover MQM from last year!
- Cost: $3,141.65
- Dates: February 19, April 15, April 17
- Route: JFK-PVG-SYD-PVG-JFK
- Class: China Eastern I
- Miles Flown (estimated via Unofficial SkyMiles Calculator): 24,454
- MQD (est): $9781 (because China Eastern’s I and J classes earn 40% of mileage flown)
- MQM: (est): 36,682 (8.6 CPM)
- SkyMiles (est): 51,857 (plus medallion bonus)
Here are the dates I found:
Readers CarolK and Peter — who’ve completed China Eastern mileage runs — both pointed out in our previous post that you do not need a China Visa to connect through Shanghai as long as you’re going to a third country.
Where to Book
China Eastern’s website isn’t the most user-friendly. Just a heads-up.
My pal Carol generally has success through Travelocity, Momondo, and JustFly. (You can earn up to $16 cashback on JustFly if you start your purchase through TopCashback.) I’ve also seen runs on Expedia.
Travelocity and Expedia also participate in TopCashback, Rakuten/Ebates, and BeFrugal.
Our friend Adam (who was featured along with René in the Washington Post a few weeks ago) has a team of people job is to help you book mileage runs. Get in touch with them for help booking this mileage run — or have them create something especially for you. They’re the best.
Paying for the Trip
Remember to use a credit card that gives you bonus points on your airfare purchases!
2X with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (<– LINK), which also comes with great trip delay and cancellation coverage!
3X on the Chase Ink Business Preferred Card (<– LINK) (3X on the first $150,000 combined spend in categories — such as travel — each anniversary year)
3X with the American Express® Green Card (<– LINK), which awards all travel purchases, including airfare, hotels, rideshare, and more!
3X with the Chase Sapphire Reserve® (<– LINK), which also comes with an annual $300 travel credit. Plus, airport lounge access!
Enjoy!
— Chris
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- Don’t miss a single run. Subscribe HERE: www.RenesPoints.com/RunMail
- Need to learn how to find a run? See THIS Rookie post for how-to guide!
- Boost your Delta MQMs with the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card (<– LINK) or Delta Reserve for Business Credit Card (<– LINK)
- Want a custom built run from your home airport? You can find one here.
- Relax in an airport lounge during your mileage run with one of these cards!
Cover photo: ©iStock.com/PhotoAllel. Rene’s Points composite.
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Ah the pain! I so want to join in this but I’m already committed elsewhere on these dates. Keep up the good work. I love it when you can combine so much in one Run….Moms, MQDs, and Lie flat seats in business class. And the chance to meet other crazy Runners . Ah the fun! Would love to have another chance at it
Thanks, booked! I read online that business class tickets are fully refundable up to 6 hours before the flight, than 5% or roughly $160 within 6 hours. Can you please confirm that?
@Jason: I’m not sure through which site you booked your ticket and therefore can’t speak to their rules.
Thanks for sharing these awesome runs! I did the JFK-SYD run on CE/MU right before thanksgiving. Super easy, very comfortable. Wish I had taken a full sized carryon versus a small duffle. It felt so good to shower and change at the clubs but I ended up having to buy some clothes since I went through the 2 changes and PJs pretty fast. Lastly, curious if past CE/MU travelers had any issues having credit post to skymiles. Ended up emailing delta for the credit on 12/13. Can take 14 business days (3 weeks) not counting holidays so I’m still waiting. Hoping I can learn the proper way to do it in the future. I entered skymiles on ticket but didn’t confirm at the counter. Thank you!