Originally Posted by
maverickar15
Sorry to bring this back from the dead, but I'm in this situation.
I have two transpac flights left this year (one each in October and November). After these two flights I will have around 62K PQM (I have 25K spend on UA Chase card so PQD is not a problem.). So I will need around 13K PQM to hit platinum.
I'm based out of SFO.
I found that SFO -> TPE/SIN nonstop round-trip can be had for ~700 USD on certain dates.
According to TPG link above, UA platinum is a lot more valuable than gold but since we don't have any kids, E+ for up to 8 people really doesn't do anything better than gold.
Would you spend $700 for a weekend mileage run just to hit platinum over gold in this case?
A few years ago, I would have done it (a mileage run to achieve Plat) at the drop of a hat. But that was before the massive devaluation of Plat, mainly the loss of no-charge award changes and yes, I do miss BG1.
The SFO-SIN is a pretty tough run, in terms of few empty seats and the length of the flight. On the plus side, I think there really is something to be said for the higher cabin pressurization of the 787. I've flown it both ways, and survived.
But if you've got time to make it something more than a straight mileage run, do so. You can link up to a lot of biz-class award flights once in SIN. If you've got enough miles, you can fly biz class SIN-Australia. Or do a big circle like my wife and I did last year, SFO-SIN-BNE-BKK-SIN-SFO (we actually spent 5 days in Cairns and 4 days in Siem Reap via local flights).