Mileage run

A mileage run is a paid/revenue airline trip designed solely for gaining maximum frequent flyer miles, points or status for no other reason than to gain the miles, points or status.

Sometimes, a frequent flyer will embark on a mileage run for the purpose of boosting their frequent flyer account balance. For example, if a person is trying to raise their frequent flyer balance to a certain level in order to redeem an award ticket, they may "take a mileage run" in order to boost their account balance. This scenario is particularly useful if the traveler has already achieved some sort of elite status as they will be earning bonus miles on top of their actual flight miles, and consequently they will reach their goal much sooner.

Another common reason to take a mileage run is to (re-)qualify for an elite level. Suppose that in a particular frequent flyer program, 70,000 yearly miles are required for Platinum status. If a person calculates that his or her business travel will net them only 65,000 miles (105,000 km), they might be tempted to take a mileage run in order to cover the difference and re-qualify for elite status. Indeed, such requalification may very well net the person much more frequent flyer miles the following year.

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, suspicion levels with air travel have been higher. As such, individuals that are traveling on itineraries with multiple stops, and short time in between the outbound and return segment, can be considered suspicious at times by airline personnel who encounter these itineraries. Similarly, travelers on international mileage runs can raise suspicions of immigration officials, since they have a short stay at the country they travel to and no official destination, other than the airport terminal.

In a similar manner, a "Mattress Run" is a stay at a hotel for the purpose of attaining enough stays in a year to obtain/maintain elite status on that hotel chain's Frequent Guest Program or when the points earned during a stay, as a result of bonus points and other promotions, are deemed to be worth more than the cost of the stay itself. These are quite popular on Friday and Saturday nights when many hotels offer good discounts to counter low occupancy rates.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/