I'm in a similar situation to OP. Upon graduating from uni in 2015 and entering the corporate world, I could afford to upgrade from Ryanair to BA. A couple of G&Ts, multiple packets of lemon melts and a bit of food on some longer ET sectors was a far cry from today's offering. The first step earning on my own account was a multiple sector Y trip to DXB and BAH.
Then came a promotion, and some work W and ET trips. This got me in to Bronze and I then had Silver in my sights. After more time spent reading this forum, I embarked on some TP efficient routings which meant starting as many trips as possible from MAN and splashing out on a W return to DXB. That got me to Silver and back then, W long haul sectors booked in to Business Class UK on domestics. These returned 20 TPs per sector and afforded lounge access.
I got fed up of the shuffle to/from MAN so flew more but direct from LHR. I enjoyed Silver for a couple of years and its probably the sweet spot for me in current circumstances and in terms of ROI, however the benefits of Gold had caught my envy. Posts on here about the Cathay F lounges at LHR and HKG, more avios, exit row seats for free on long haul Y, bisonravs thread about getting to GGL etc caused me to open Excel and try to map a route to Gold without TP runs or pointless flying. If I was going to get there, it would be through booking in more premium cabins for trips that would otherwise tempt me because of the destination and/or event being held there.
I was newly minted in March, about 2 weeks before full lockdown took hold. By the time of my last trip, I'd reached Gold, but flew LCY-FLR and PSA-LHR so didn't really get any benefit other than Group 1 boarding in PSA.
In addition to a couple of Avios tickets, I flew 52 fully paid sectors comprising 48 on BA, 2 on AA, 1 on CX and 1 on QF. This was made up of 1 Club World sector, 6 Premium Economy sectors, 3 World Traveller sectors, 7 Club Europe sectors, 34 Euro Traveller sectors and 1 Main Cabin sector. The CW sector was in 62K on the 744 and I visited the cockpit upon arrival. So glad I crossed that one off now!
Other than the 6 ET returns to WAW for work I did
- A long weekend in ACE
- A long weekend in MIA
- Easter in NCE
- Day trip to JER
- Weekend in GVA
- Weekend in CDG
- Summer holiday in CHS
- Long weekend in NTE
- Long weekend in JFK
- Long weekend in SKG
- Autumn holiday in LCA
- Weekend in VIE
- Weekend in SVQ
- Long weekend in TFS
- 2 week trip to ADL/MEL
- Weekend in ATH
- Day trip to AGP
- Weekend in FLR/PSA
I got 1 OPUP from W to J on the 788, LHR to CHS.
I haven't worked out the cost of it all, and in honesty I don't want to. A few of the CE sectors were POUGs and the lesson I've taken from this is to go for attractive premium fares when booking if you think the next tier is in sight. Had I snagged an ex ARN fare in J with QR to Australia rather than flying in W with BA from LHR, I wouldn't have needed the multiple CE POUGs at the back end of my year and would most likely have saved a fair bit of cash.
Like a lot of people, I'm 3 months in to my new year and I've earned 0 TPs, but cancelled a number of trips. Hopefully I can have an intensive summer and early autumn and cram in the trips I had planned in addition to 2 trips to Oz in the winter. I can't see myself getting anywhere near renewal this year, so I guess this pesky upstart won't be crowding out the C suite in the F lounges for too long and I'll be returning to the DYKWIAs and middle management holding pen on the top floor of T5 next year. What a sickener it'd be if the year I make Gold passes by with 0 greetings, highly limited lounge access, no fast track, masks on all the time, no alcohol and I end up using the public showers at Chek Lap Kok rather than The Pier.