Stupid Things I Do

Today, I'm taking the most pointless flight of my life. I am flying today so that I can enslave myself to Northwest Airlines for at least another year. Why am I doing this? Because I'm a fool.

I flew a lot this year. And in all that flying, I have accumulated a lot of frequent flyer miles. In fact, I've accumulated 24,942 miles in 2007 alone. If you hit 25,000 miles, then you earn the coveted Silver Elite status. The benefits of this status are earlier boarding. Earning more miles at a 1.5 rate. And the biggie: the possibility of getting 'bumped up' to first class when I fly in the future.

I called NWA a few weeks back to ask if it was possible to round up to 25,000 for the year. They said no. So I looked for the cheapest and shortest flight I could take. So today, I'm flying to Chicago (Midway airport), eating lunch with a friend, and flying home in time for a New Year's Party out in Shakopee, MN (which also would have put me over 25,000 miles...too bad I can't fly there).

As I look at my travel plans for the coming year, I realized that I'm planning to fly to San Francisco quite a bit. I've also observed (and heard from even more frequent travelers than myself) that no one gets bumped up to first class on San Francisco flights. They are filled with rich people who pay for their first class experience, or people who are gold or platinum elite status (which makes me look pretty lame). Will I get the benefit that I am going for? Only 2008 will tell.

Happy New Year!