Originally Posted by
Brad Perrow
Afternoon Everyone!
Have I had fun reading through all the posts, so much to learn..... that being said I would really like to do a TP run to try and hit gold - can anyone help point me in the right direction or spend a little bit of time with me to get my first run under my belt?
1. I earn around 3-325 a year organically
2. collection year ends 08/01/2020
3. I would ideally like to keep costs down (wouldn't we all) but around the £1500 mark would be a good place to be
4. Yes based in London, and very open to ex-EU
5. locations - I'm very open. I liked the look of the one Hula1973 proposed hitting New York, Los Angeles etc
You should perhaps be asking yourself why you want to attain Gold, when that status offers little more than Silver does. You get a dedicated check-in and security area, a (slightly) better lounge at a small number of airports and a few more Avios. Is it really worth spending £1500 for? (And, in fact, you won't get Gold for £1500 - it will be nearer £2500 once you consider positioning flights, hotels and the additional costs of being away from home).
What I would do in your situation is to plan a TP run for January or February 2020 (i.e., just after your TP collection year ends). If you can get 600 TPs - and that's not difficult - you'll then be Silver until the end of February 2022. That would be good value for money.
One of the easiest TP runs is Bucharest (OTP) to Phoenix (PHX). Flight timings are good, and hotels are inexpensive in both cities. A basic OTP-LHR-JFK-PHX and back will get you 720 TPs for around £1400 plus the costs of positioning flights and hotels. This deal isn't yet available for dates in 2020:
Category 3: Seasonal restrictions
INBOUND -
PERMITTED 21DEC 18 THROUGH 02JAN 19 OR 14APR 19 THROUGH
21APR 19 OR 01JUL 19 THROUGH 31AUG 19 FOR EACH
TRANSATLANTIC SECTOR.
OUTBOUND -
PERMITTED 22DEC 18 THROUGH 06JAN 19 OR 14APR 19 THROUGH
22APR 19 OR 01JUL 19 THROUGH 31AUG 19 FOR EACH
TRANSATLANTIC SECTOR.
Keep a watch on the fare, using Matrix, and be prepared to book as soon as dates for 2020 are made available.