Hi and thanks a lot for sharing your ideas. Great stuff.

Probably the US flights would be the best option as you suggest. Searching for deals now with Thai airways, but unfortunately it ain't that cheap. Budget wise was hoping for something like 1200 - 1500 US to get the miles together.

I book all my miles to Thai airways. Flying biz class with them only allows 25% more mileage accrual than economy, so not really worth it for a mileage run.