Posted on 12/01/2005 2:11:06 PM PST by ShadowAce
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - After two months of zig-zagging across Canada by plane, frequent flyer Marc Tacchi has reached his goal of accumulating one million miles of credits -- and become something of an Internet celebrity in the process.
On his blog "The Great Canadian Mileage Run 2005," Tacchi reported on Wednesday that he had racked up 1,003,625 mileage points and spent 56 of the last 61 days in an airplane.
"I myself need to get to bed in a prone position for some serious rest," he wrote.
The 30-year-old embarked on his venture using Air Canada's North America Unlimited Pass -- a C$7,000 ticket that allowed passengers limitless travel within the continent between October 1 and November 30.
Frequent fliers programs, like Air Canada's Aeroplan, are designed to promote customer loyalty by allowing people to upgrade to better seats or book free flights in the future
"I just sort of moved it to a new level," Tacchi joked in an interview last week at the Vancouver International Airport before boarding another airplane.
A typical day would start with a 10 a.m. flight to Victoria, British Columbia, about 70 km (45 miles) from Vancouver. He would fly back and fourth between the two cities about six times and then catch an overnight flight 4,300 km (2,700 miles) to Toronto.
In Toronto, he would immediately board a return flight.
Since he began documenting his travels on the Internet, Tacchi has garnered the attention of international media, and even has agents in Los Angeles seeking to sell his story.
"People were calling my girlfriend's boss at work, saying 'Hey, did you hear about that guy'," Tacchi said. "I don't even know how it all became real."
By reaching the one million mile goal, Tacchi gets the equivalent of about 10 round-trip business class flights from Canada to Australia, which he has estimated would normally cost about C$70,000.
He plans to redeem his travel points to take his family to Miami at Christmas, then maybe go to Hong Kong or Thailand.
Tacchi works as a contract pilot. Once a week, he flies a Boeing 747 cargo plane to Europe or Asia.
Frankly Tacchi, who gives a damn.
I thought it had some humor value.
How does a 30 year old find the time or have the money to do this?
I wonder how much extra radiation exposure accumulates from spending that much time at altitude?
747 pilots aren't cheap
ping
Wait til he sees his blackout dates.
What's in your wallet?
Did you catch the very last line in the article?
Yup. I know I don't feel like flying on week-ends.
This is a cautionary tale for all you Marketing geniuses out there. Think about ALL the possibilities of someone taking advantage of your promotions. Yes, someone WILL do what you never think they would do!
I had over 300,000 in my United miles bank. :-)
1K United flyer. Guess that puts me in the frequent flyer realm. LOL!
Funny...after flying around the country on business all week - I can't wait to don the parachute and get inverted for a while.
I think it helps to straighten out my spine after sitting in the middle seat for six hours next to two "seat belt extention" wearers.
If you know what I mean!
And as a result the marketing guy who came up with the idea gets a bonus and a raise all thanks to this bored 30 year old. The best thing that can happen to a marketing campaign is publicity and they got it in spades. It doesn't always work out so well though. I remember getting a new set of golf clubs when a credit card company thought they'd partner with golf courses and left a few loop holes in the deal. I wasn't the only one getting free clubs and they closed it down quick.
Good thing he didn't fly with DELTA. He'd never be able to cash in his frequent flyer miles !!!!
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