In this day and age of point devaluation, when everybody is a frequent flyer and there are many ways to attain elite status, are mileage or segment runs even worth the agony anymore?

A few days ago I was on a flight from MCI to MSP. My wife and I were flying up front as a holiday treat to ourselves (hey, what can I say, we’re DINKs).

At the last minute, a flight attendant pulled somebody up from coach Comfort+. This passenger was obviously stoked, chatting up the FA. The passenger had been on an earlier inbound flight and was in the middle of a year-end mileage run. But not only that, it was a mileage run for Skymiles Platinum.

By miles, I’m a Diamond several times over every year. Although Diamond offers some great perks, I’ve seen a steady erosion of these benefits over the years. The most egregious has been declining upgrade frequency and the dearth of available seats for global upgrade certs. Even benefits like priority boarding and free checked bags can be had simply by carrying certain credit cards. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a Delta fanboi, I just prefer to buy the actual seat I want now instead of gaming the system in the hopes of a handout.

That’s why I was surprised to hear that somebody was doing a mileage run, and for Platinum status at that. I can’t imagine there are many markets where Platinum confers any upgrade advantage, particularly with the clearly smaller pool of available seats for upgrade and a general increase in demand for flights. If you’re not handily attaining Platinum, you probably don’t fly much so being able to check a bag for free doesn’t have much value.

What’s the carrot that will get you to do a year-end mileage run during the busiest and most hectic travel season instead of hanging out by the fire drinking hot cocoa? The promise of upgrades? Checking one bag for free? A vanity bag tag? Is it worth it? My rationale self says no. But the mileage addict in me says yes. Just glad I’m no longer in the situation where I need/want to do a year-end mileage run.