wh6cto

If you want to do it the easy way, this is only ~50% more than the previous econ option:

UA:$419 EWR-MCO in First 3752PQM
Fri 2 Dec
UA1553 EWR-MCO 0659-0947 752(v1)
UA1283 MCO-EWR 1049-1328 752(v1)

https://goo.gl/flights/JmxQ

A bit early in the morning, but lay-flat in both directions, so you can get a nice nap. And even meals in both directions.

blankspace

Thank you wh6cto for the great find as it is exactly what I was looking for!

frb98mf

Miles Needed: 24,000-32,000 (hard to tell as A3 Silver if it's 24k to go to Gold or need to hit 8k to retain Silver and then push on to Gold!)

Required Spend or Budget: $2,000
Required Metal or Codeshares okay: anything accruing to A3

Departure Airport: TLV, LON, fairly flexible elsewhere in Europe
Available Travel Dates: 04/12-18/12 (can do a pure run or make a trip of it)

EDIT I found this myself - Egyptair $798 LCA-CAI-BKK-CAI-IST on their angle-flat A330 earning 17k miles.

Madone59

No customs, or passport needed.

Bring snacks for this one. Food options are limited. I did this turn in 2014, it hurts.

measha32

Looking for aprox 14k miles on United to get Gold.
Looking for two day trips (ideally Mondays) in the US that could get me that.
Ideally looking for $400-500 each trip or less.

thank you!

zoqfotpik

I think you would need more than that.. On their website it says, 8k miles plus 2 flights on A3, or 16k on partner airlines to retain Silver status. To upgrade from Silver to Gold, you would need 24k plus 4 flights on A3, or 48k on partner airlines. Perhaps I read it differently, but that's an awful lot of miles if you're flying solely on partner airlines.

wh6cto

The cheapest thing that I find close maybe this twice:

UA:$251 AUS-BQN rt 6970PQM (w/ 500mi min)
Mon 5 Dec
UA1629 AUS-IAH 1253-1355
UA1945 IAH-EWR 1500-1927
UA1071 EWR-BQN 1071-0155(+1 day)
Tue 6 Dec
UA1162 BQN-EWR 0250-0545
UA813 EWR-IAH 0750-1050
UA1100 IAH-AUS 1340-1442

https://goo.gl/flights/40mB

Other days are a few bucks more, but still way under your budget. If you are currently Gold, should give you lounge access (as the ticket is considered international for that purpose).

Will update if I find something better...

EDIT #1: An easy option is to do the above itineray once in First/Business:

UA:$802 AUS-BQN rt 13940PQM in P (w/ 500mi min)

https://goo.gl/flights/SmY1

Obviously costs more, but within your budget. And saves a bunch of time.

EDIT #2: Also possible from MSY, for about $60 less. Not sure how practical to get there, though:

https://goo.gl/flights/wFQD

frb98mf

I agree - I don't need to bite off the whole lot now, just the bulk of them. What is your interpretation of how many I need to get to Gold? My membership year is about to turn over and I'm Silver - so do I need to effectively do 6 A3 flights and 32k miles or 4 and 24k?

Doing the A3 flights is no problem - based in TLV, A3 is routinely the cheapest way to a lot of Europe, partly because of the long layovers in LCA/ATH, but I happen to really enjoy those!

osyemi

I am new here. I got this forum from pointsguy post. I have met all but one criteria for 1k.

Departure Airport: IAH
Miles Needed: 6000 PQM
Required Spend or Budget: $300 - $400
Available Travel Dates: Between November 30 and December 4. Same day return is fine.

Required Metal or Codeshares okay: none

Thanks in advance.

wh6cto

Assuming you need only PQM, a couple possibilities in the date/mileage range:

UA:$461 IAH-BQN 5970PQM
Sat 3 Dec
UA1945 IAH-EWR 1500-1927
UA1071 EWR-BQN 2110-0155(+1 day)
Sun 4 Dec
UA1162 BQN-EWR 0250-0545
UA813 EWR-IAH 0750-1050

https://goo.gl/flights/fD3i

UA:$466 IAH-SJU 6016PQM
Sat 3 Dec
UA1945 IAH-EWR 1500-1927
UA1543 EWR-SJU 2045-0135(+1 day)
Sun 4 Dec
UA1803 SJU-EWR 0246-0551
UA813 EWR-IAH 0750-1050

https://goo.gl/flights/3QPl

Price drops by almost $100 a week later, if that can work for you.

Northeast22

United:
Departure Airport: any of nyc or phl
Miles Needed:525
Required Spend or Budget: $0
Available Travel Dates: One day round trip 11/18, 11/19, 11/20, 12/3, 12/4, 12/9
Required Metal or Codeshares okay: No

Thanks for the help!!

gTwin

Dang, I just saw this! The prices are now similar to jbeckett's suggestion. Getting to SMF is definitely tricky though - are there convenient ways of doing this without pushing the cost far enough up that the savings become a wash?

Thanks for the suggestion, nonetheless.

gTwin

Also, having never made a mileage run like this (i.e., having only ever flown somewhere with the intention of leaving the airport and entering the country), how does this work, logistically? For instance, suppose I fly to BQN and arrive at 2am. My return flight would be at, say, 2:50am. I then have 50 minutes to deplane, file through whatever lines are in the airport, board my next flight, and take off. Would this count as having a connecting flight so that no customs are required? Would 50 minutes realistically be enough time?

I've had connecting flights through small airports on random islands where the infrastructure was somewhat limited, so that everyone who landed had to go through customs and have their passports scanned, including the passengers who were continuing on. This made for a really tight connection...

jbeckett

BQN is in Puerto Rico, a U.S territory. There is no customs or immigration. It is a domestic flight. You will get off the plane and have a seat in the waiting area at the gate. The airplane is the same one as you will have arrived on.

jbeckett

EWR-BOS-EWR day trip 12/9 is $81, 402 miles (1000 miles with 500 mile minimum).
EWR-RSW-EWR day trip 12/9 is $127, 2136 miles.