Once
on a Delta airplane, I read an announcement in the in-flight
magazine. The airline was beginning a new frequent flier program.
There were three categories — silver, gold, and platinum.
The
announcement said that if a traveler accumulated 100,000 miles in a
year, the next year they would be placed in Delta’s platinum
program. When they purchased a ticket they would be upgraded to first
class at no extra cost.
It
was only September and I thought to myself, “I’ll bet I
could fly first class all next year.” So when I returned home,
I contacted Delta and found that I had accumulated 60,000 frequent
flier miles. So my challenge was, how could I get 40,000 more miles
in the next four months?
Living
in Salt Lake City, I looked at either going to New York or Hawaii. I
decided that Hawaii would be much more exciting and would help me
reach my goal faster. Immediately I called the airline and asked them
what it would cost to travel from Salt Lake City to Honolulu. They
informed me the flight would be around $1,000.
Knowing
the price would be different if I flew from a different city, I asked
the reservation agent, “What would it cost me to fly from Los
Angeles to Honolulu?” She replied, “We have a sale for
the next two months for only $202.” I immediately said, “I’ll
take three tickets.”
I
was delighted to know that my round-trip ticket from Salt Lake to
L.A. was only $200. What a savings! The surprising fact was that I
would be flying on exactly the same plane as I would had I paid the
$1,000 ticket out of Salt Lake. With each flight, I would acquire
10,000 additional frequent flier miles, which jumped me to 90,000.
Next
I had to figure out how to come up with the last 10,000 miles. Back
then, any flight you took would credit your frequent flier program
with 1,000 miles, so I calculated where I could travel the shortest
distance.
I
knew that you could fly from Honolulu to Maui, which was only a
20-minute flight. So I decided to stay a week on my final Hawaii
trip. In addition you also got another 1,000 miles every time you
rented a car. That did not count toward the 100,000 miles, but it did
give me extra miles in my frequent flier program.
Now
it gets exciting. Every afternoon at 3:30, I left my friend’s
house, where I had been staying, and drove to the airport, where I
would check in my rental car. I would board the big jet that just got
in from the mainland and fly to Maui.
As
soon as I arrived, I headed for the rental agency. I only had an hour
and a half to rent a car, drive to a fast food restaurant to eat my
dinner, return the car, and rush to the gate to board the plane for
my trip back to Honolulu.
Every
night the flight attendants looked at me with a strange expression,
because I had just flown over with them. I would smile and say, “Just
came over for a quick dinner.” When I got back to Honolulu, I
would go back to the rental agency, pick up another car, and then
return to my friend’s house.
This
Maui adventure lasted about six hours each day. But I found myself
enjoying the peanuts, and the flight attendants and the people who
would entertain me on the way.
I
repeated this process every night for a week, and every night when I
returned to Honolulu, the same man would be there to assist me with
my new rental. One night, he said, “You are the richest lady I
know.”
It
wasn’t long before I hit my 100,000 miles. For the next year, I
flew first class on dozens of flights. It was all worth it.
Dian Thomas was blessed with the good fortune to be born near and raised in
the remote, breathtaking Manti-La Sal National Forest in southeastern Utah,
where her father was the forest ranger. She took the skills she learned in the
outdoors and turned them into a New York Times best-selling book, Roughing It
Easy. Her appearance on the NBC's "Tonight" show with Johnny Carson
boosted her into the national media scene, where she became a regular on
NBC's "Today" show for eight years and then ABC's "Home Show" for six years.
After more than 25 years of media exposure and 19 books, she now shares her
practical insights and wisdom with audiences who want to savor life.
A former Relief Society president, Dian is currently serving as a visiting
teacher. Visit her website at www.DianThomas.com