wormulon.net

Re-qualifying for Lufthansa Senator status doesn't come cheap ... unless you find a great deal. Currently people are booking private jets from Lufthansa Private Jet. Reason for this is that Lufthansa gives away 5x the usual miles thanks to a five year celebration. For less than 2000 Euro one could qualify as Senator. Quite a steal considering that there a lots of business travelers who fly weekly but still don't make it to Senator status.
I will not join the folks on the private jet runs since I already booked amazing deals last year - before I knew that I'll start a new job soon. For roughly eight hours United Airlines had a certain fare filed in the Global Distribution Systems (GDS). For roughly $150 one could fly from Minneapolis (MSP) to Spokane, Washington (GEG) and back. While this isn't anything special the fare wasn't a regular Economy fare but a so called H-UP fare. In a nutshell it's a book Economy and fly First Class fare. These fares are called mistake fares as nobody intended to file the fare as it was. Obviously it was gone a few hours later with the next fare update. I was lucky to book two trips while the deal was active. I wasn't going for the direct route for sure.
When I booked the trips last August I maximized the experience for both distance and comfort. I was looking for the best equipment like Premium Service (P.S. by United), Internet on board and food service instead of snacks. In between August and now the economic downturn lead to schedule changes. I've been on the phone with United a few times as the put me on the most direct route ruining my trip. A few hours on the phone later I finally convinced United to reinstate something much like the old routes - without having to pay ~$7000 in change fees.
I bound myself a cheap ticket to the US and had a friend book the ticket for me. On the way he found a way to squeeze another 10 Euro off the already good fare. I threw in another $75 off voucher I had from Continental to end up with this:


What the heck? you may ask. Well, I'll fly to Chicago where I'll arrive at 10:30AM. I'll stay at the Park Hyatt Chicago using my free Hyatt night voucher. Judging the reviews including the butler and courtesy car service this may be well worth it. The following night I'll hop over to Minneapolis where I'll do some shopping at the Mall of America and revisit downtown. To earn my frequent flyer miles I'll spend three days on various planes flying across the continental US an overnight stop in Spokane. It's all in First Class with decent seats and some food. I'll take a good book and most likely just relax for the time being. The nights I'll spend in Minneapolis at the Holiday Inn. The flight home is via Toronto and on an Air Canada transatlantic flight with the Executive Class that I wanted to try for some time now.
Once back home I should have most of the miles I need to re-qualify. The remaining miles (14,000 out 130,000) should be a piece of cake with a weekend trip or two.

In 2014 (next time that I have to re-qualify) I might go for the private jet, though.