Ottawa-Frankfurt-Cape Town both non stop, the latter leg on Lufthansa.

Super Elite is well worth it. How far off will you be? Mileage run if you are anywhere close. Special access to reward seats and concierge service is great. If you are likely to be anywhere around 75K I would run for it!

Good God man, are you ever at home? How do you have time to make little AX's ?

Do people actually do that

With two long hauls a month not an issue (May I will do 3....returned from one of the Stans, a week in Berlin and next week Vienna)...but I would certainly do it to keep the status. June, Central Asia and Africa....

So points rack-up...so do segments, as one trip can have as many as 13 flight segments....the latter seemingly important for people who commute via short haul...as a way to get status without logging the distance.

One point-bearing long haul a month (with no point screw-ups) will get Super Elite....status which is increasingly dime a dozen.....and makes getting horizontal increasingly harder.

So I would take a flight.....and this is the reason, I have had 8 AC/Star Alliance upgrades since Jan 1st...its all good.

I've done it, though not recently. I once did YVR-SFO-NRT-SIN and back with 7 hours in Siingapore. This was even in the back on United. Two of those were good for around 30K miles.

Also did LHR-YYZ-YVR-SYD and just did one night in Sydney which was quite fun.

I'll probably be about 75k without doing any mileage runs. Kicking myself for not having taken the 50% increase in miles as one of my Elite options. Anyway, with a bit of careful planning I should be able to get SE.

The AC business class pods are superb, especially for the overnight YYC-LHR flight.

The 50% bonus is not status miles - so don't worry.

So I booked my flight through Air Canada, then just called Aeroplan to see if I can use my points to get an upgrade.

No, I cant. Apparently, my original purchase is in the "wrong fair", so I'm not eligible.

Seriously, what is the point?

I can stop kicking myself now.

They gave me a load of upgrade vouchers a couple of years ago (domestic and international). Completely useless. I can plan ahead when I travel, so I buy the cheap tickets. No upgrades with those things.

Yep like i said before, Upper deck BA Club (or First) is much better and less cramped than anything AC has to offer me. I've purposefully limited my travel these days (aided lots my technology) because it's not something i care to do now. I guess i was lucky in that my travel was always in BA Club or First when i upgraded (or an alternate airline if needed).

I'd certainly not force myself to do more flying just for the hell of it

These days i have a ton of miles available that i struggle to use but will always use them to upgrade to BA Club. I was Silver for many years and came close to Gold a few times but i'd be ****ed if i'm going to spend my own money and free time flying to try and keep status.

Is it a Hobby

The point is that AC is not going to give away its premium cabin for a few cheaply earned points on top of a cheap ticket. The upgrade with points is possible on the more expensive, flexible tickets which would still be a lot cheaper than paying the $4K regular business fare.

Profitability?

I guess so, though not as much these days as you can't play the systems as much as you could. I like travel and I like travelling as nicely as possible with both airlines and hotels. I can't afford to pay for business class or great rooms in nice hotels. So, I work the frequent traveller systems to make it possible.
Airlines and hotels figure what the average top-tier member will spend in revenue and provide benefits based on this. I aim to spend a tenth or less of that and get all the benefits.

Mattress running is perhaps even sadder