I get excited when we find Delta mileage runs for our “hub captive” friends in cities such as Detroit, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City.
And Motor City travelers have an opportunity to enjoy a Friday night and Saturday morning in Anchorage, Alaska — after flying there in Delta domestic first class.
The trip costs $786.11 and yields 18,362 MQM and $1,230 MQD (thanks to Delta’s Status Accelerator). That’s about 4.8 cents per MQM — which certainly isn’t bad for first class. You’ll fly DTW-SLC-ANC-SEA-DTW. You have a couple of hours in SLC and SEA. Hopefully, you have a Sky Club membership or an American Express card offering you complimentary admission).
RELATED: The New Delta Sky Club Salt Lake City [Review]
This itinerary requires an overnight stay in Anchorage. But perhaps you have a hotel credit card‘s anniversary night certificate expiring soon. This is a great opportunity to cash it in and enjoy a night in Alaska.
I like that the trip departs Friday afternoon at 4:30 PM. This may allow some people to squeeze in a half-day of work before heading to DTW. Plus, you have a few hours on Saturday to do something fun in Achorage. You return back to Detroit at 6:06 AM on Sunday — plenty of time to get some rest and still have some semblance of a Sunday.
Don’t stress if these dates don’t work for you! I saw a bunch of availability during October and November.
“Can You Find Me a Mileage Run from MY Home Airport?!”
I’d love to — but I work a couple of other jobs in addition to the blog. I wish I could time to find a fantastic mileage run for everyone!
But I know people whose job is to create mileage runs. (What a great gig, right?) My colleague Miles Jackson and his crew at Juicy Miles are wizards at piecing together personalized mileage runs every day for people.
Get in touch with them now to create a mileage run from your favorite airport and on your preferred airline alliance.
- Don’t miss a single run. Subscribe HERE mileage run email alerts!
- Need to learn how to find a run? See THIS Rookie post for a how-to guide!
- Want a custom-built run from your home airport? You can find one here.
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I’m chasing MQM right now for platinum. I could use 12k skymiles to fly ANC to NYC in BE and get 11.5k MQM.
I value delta RDM at 1.1cpp, I’m essentially paying 1.1c/MQM.
It would be 21 hours Anc to Anc. Is this a horrible idea?
I don’t love the idea of Basic Economy — especially during a long mileage run. But that’s just me.
Outside of that? 1.1 CPMQM is a fantastic find.
Please share info… I’m in NY too
I think he’s flying from ANC to NYC.
^this
I’ve never done a mileage run, and was wondering what you would consider a good value? Anything under 5? I bought a basic Grr-Atl-Lax/Lax-Dtw-GRR ticket in regular economy for $350 and am earning 7K MQM’s with the accelerator, or just over 5CPM if I’m calculating correctly. This is for a trip I was actually going to take as opposed to just flying to increase status. And I could probably switch to a longer routing on the return to boost this value a bit more.
Am I missing something?
I’d say 4 CPMQM or under in Main Cabin is good. Anything under that really catches our attention. We’re downright excited about anything between 1-3. 6-ish isn’t bad for first class.
But it depends on the time of year, too. You run into holiday prices from November through the end of the year. And then it’s basically “you take what you get.”
Finally, some of it is subjective, too. I know people who wouldn’t dream of taking a 4 CPMQM mileage run in Main Cabin. Others are fine with 6 CPMQM in coach. As I always say, it depends on people’s budgets, travel needs, and goals.
I hope that helps.
Yup it does, thanks. Incidentally, there may be a possibility to change routing to grr-DTW-SEA-LAX or similar which would likely come near that 4 CPM goal with not a lot of extra hours taken.
Thanks for the DTW/hub captive love, Chris!
Actually, my wife and I are in Homer AK tonight! We flew DTW-MSP-ANC and will fly ANC-MSP-DTW home this w/e.
I had similar MQM/MQD opportunities for similar prices in First. This wasn’t a mileage run, just a fall vaca. (Actually, I was intending to write to suggest you survey your readers for their domestic travels during the decline and second wave of the ‘rona. I know we wouldn’t think of travelling overseas/internationally at this point, due to all the hurdles and challenges both entering a foreign country, and then returning easily/safely to the US at the end of a proposed trip.)
Alaska in the bridge to shoulder season from high season has been great. Weather was up and down, but plenty of sights and things to do. Mileage run or not!!!!