Mileage Run to Florida

I booked a trip to Clearwater, Florida.  This will put me a couple hundred miles into the first level of status (Premier Silver, 25,000 miles).

While I found some itineraries with two stops each way, I was unable to book these both ways on united.com.  I was able to book enough legs to put me above 25,000 miles for the year.  With all fees, the trip will cost 5.5 cents per mile.

Read The Traveler's Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success.  Good message in a nice story.

Read In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin.  Good historical book that went faster than the page count.  Learned about the cultural underpinnings of the era which allowed the laws to be passed.

United Credit Card

United is sending offers that sweeten the bonus from 40,000 miles to 65,000 miles.  Apply at www.UnitedExplorerCard.com/65K before the end of October.

Track Flights

When a ticket is purchased and the price drops, some airlines allow refund of price difference.  Track your air purchases with a fare tracker from Yapta.

Common Carriers, Rules, & Tariffs

Common carrier airlines serve the public using their published tariffs.

American Airlines provides their rules.

Booking Class Availability - Is there a seat available at this booking class?  The fare rule may be in place, but there still needs to be a seat available.

Most airlines publish fares to the Airline Tariff Publishing Company.  Once published to ATPCO, the fares are available to distributors and other airlines.  In Asia, there is a competitor company.  It is possible to purchase a published fare data feed subscription.
This article states fare data "... will cost you a minimum of $35,000 per month, no matter how you slice or dice it, directly from ATPCO..."
This document describes travel agent access to fares via Global Distribution Systems.