A lot of the best TP runs are ex-EU on BA, e.g., BRU - LHR - JFK - LAX which can be had from around £1,600 for 780 TP return in business, which bridges most of the gap between silver and gold.

The reality is that silver is pretty easy to achieve, gold might be harder but the practical and service benefits that frequent travelers rely on are largely provided at the silver level.

A 'lifetime silver' status at perhaps 15K LTP would be a worthwhile enhancement and would serve long-term silvers (someone who's had 1250 points for 12 years for instance - clearly someone who flies a lot but doesn't do TP runs) as well as long-term golds who don't make GGL (6 years at 2500 for instance).