Hello all
I have biz trip coming up in a few weeks (sprung on me somewhat) out to Houston from the UK, and I will probably be there for a month or so. Any pointers on how and where I can maximise the TP run and advise the travel agent accordingly? I don't mind going around the houses so to speak. I still need 700 by the end of October to retain gold.
Thanks
The problem with Houston (and most of the USA) is that you have very limited opportunities for 2000+ mile segments which would get you 140 TPs.
The easiest way to gain some extra TPs is going to be to start in Europe, and then connect somewhere in the USA en-route to Houston. So rather than flying LHR - IAH (which is the route your TA will suggest) you'd fly XXX - LHR - CLT / DFW / JFK / MIA / ORD - IAH or HOU. Same on the return. I am not sure if you could fly XXX - LHR - HEL before the transatlantic hop. It's as much a question of price as well as time.
You also mention you're going to be in the USA for a month so you may be able to pick up some cheap domestic flights and notch up a few 40 TPs per sector that way.
This also assumes your travel policy extends to J. If you're in Y or PE then it's going to be a lot harder to get those 700 points.