Doing at least one TATL RT on UA metal in J to the US west coast with a domestic US connection per year is enough to get you the 4 segment requirement and (almost) UA*S. Try to aim for EWR/BOS instead of ORD/IAH/IAD/... and continue to SFO/LAX, since most TATL fares include access to the p.s. flight inventory for no additional cost (although some may be P0 during peak times), making your travel just a bit more comfortable.
Add another east coast trip and together with a few flights intra-EU you'll qualify for UA*G easily.
Some premium fares intra-EU can be had for cheap, e.g. CDG-LHR, BRU-LHR, BRU-CDG, AMS-CDG due to the serious competition of the train on those segments.
Last edited by mozilla; Oct 2, 2017 at 4:45 pm