Depends how much time and $$$ you're prepare to waste (!) and just how silly creative you're prepared to be to get cheap TPs.

Do you have to tell anyone about your route or, God forbid, do you have family travelling with you?

If it was me, I was on my own, and I wasn't in a hurry I might consider something like:

* positioning to LAS the night before (e.g. DFW-LAS $391 in F with AA for 60TPs or you might prefer another airline or indeed fly in Y as it's a fairly short flight). $6.51/TP really not a great deal, but sets up you nicely for...

* LAS-LAX-MIA-SJU which you can get for $398 and gets you 310TPs @ $1.28/TP. Do you need to come back from SJU? LAS-LAX-MIA-SJU-MIA-LAX-LAS would only be $693 for 620TPs @ $1.11/TP.

In another thread, pinkcat suggests routing LAX-MIA via MCO for extra TPs, but I'm struggling to price or indeed route this on AA.com. EDIT: but it is 4am here and I'm only half-way through my coffee.

As for whether Gold is worth going for, if I was in your position I probably would. When does your membership year expire? If you've only just made Silver (for the first time?) you should get Gold for the whole of the following year then Silver for a full year after that.... so Gold this year could mean no need to chase TPs for a long time (i.e. redeem away!) which could be a big benefit?