I have not taken a mileage run since my since my May 10 trip to Seattle. For the first time in a very long time, I have no future reservations on American Airlines.

It’s never easy to do a mileage run in the summer. Traffic is high, planes are full, and fares are generally at their highest point of the year.

I looked at doing another trip to Seattle in August, and saw I could fly AUS-SEA for only $110. That is a great fare! The problem was the return fare: $239 for SEA-ORD-AUS, giving a total price of $380.50: 8,938 miles at 4.26 cents per mile. That is a terrible deal and I don’t book it.

I looked further and found what is, by today’s standards, a bargain. Round trip to Orange County, CA, (AUS-DFW-SNA-DFW-AUS) for a total price of $200: 6,820 total miles for 2.93 cents per mile.

In the past, I would never book a flight at almost 3 cents per mile. But times have changed, and this seems to be a bargain. I’ll have a 7 hour layover at SNA which gives me time to visit with my family, some of whom I have not seen in over 6 years. So, I booked the flight.

In the meantime, I’ll keep looking and hoping for some better deals.