Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Bye Delta
Programs: AA EXP, UA Silver, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Hyatt Plat, Marriott Titanium, Nat'l EE, Avis PC, Hertz PC
Posts: 16,630
Depends if you have to be at a desk during the week. If so, weekend transcons are probably your best bet (do two in a weekend, maximizing the miles through connections, and you'll be there in 7 weeks), though you can also do TPACs to SYD/HKG, etc. Personally I'd rather do transcons where you can step off the plane every couple hours as opposed to TPACs to Australia where you are stuck in a coach seat for 15 hours. Plus you are eligible for domestic upgrades, which makes mileage running a lot more tolerable.
IAH-DTW-SEA for $228
6,038 miles RT
$0.0378/MQM
About $3,000 to Plat; this will end up being cheaper than long hauls. The domestic routing really gets you some leverage on cheap fares. $1500 for a trip to SYD at 19,000 MQMs would end up running you twice as much.
Last edited by javabytes; Jan 6, 2011 at 4:03 pm