Howie Rappaport is flying to beautiful Hawaii this weekend, but you won’t envy his trip when you get a glimpse of his itinerary.

Rappaport will fly from New York to Dallas, Dallas to Los Angeles and Los Angeles to Maui. There, he has a 90-minute layover — not long enough to leave security, never mind enjoy any part of the lush island — and then heads right back to New York on the same plane with a stop in St. Louis.

He will leave on Saturday morning and get back on Sunday night. He has to go to work on Monday.

Rappaport is doing a mileage run — a trip taken for the sole purpose of earning frequent flier miles, specifically the “butt in seat” kind required to keep elite status on airlines.

Carriers award status based on the number of miles flown during a calendar year, so November and December are crucial months for travelers who are trying to reach their elite-qualifying points goals. They look for cheap fares with long routes to put as many miles into their accounts as possible. The strategy is so common that Flyertalk.com has a whole forum devoted to mileage runs and the future freebies they can ensure.