Tier Point Run

Hi all,

After seeing in another thread about earning 3 TP per segment on DL in FC, it got me thinking about doing something others might find a little bit crazy - in short, how easy can I get to silver and possibly gold?

Why you might ask - well - it has something to do with the perks, especially as I now anticipate 3 US bound trips next year and the extra miles which come with it too. Silver seems pretty easy to achieve, but achieving gold at the earliest opportunity would be good. The first of those 3 trips next year, is to Vegas flying ex-DUB (UC), so an additional 10 TP to be had then.

I am in Vegas from 1st - 8th November (PE, 6TP) seeing family (without Mrs D who would not tolerate my suggestion, but I'm easy), however Mon 2nd through Wed 4th, everybody is working - which gives me plenty of free time. There are plenty of things I could do and I will always have chance to do those things (as a reasonably frequent visitor to Vegas), so what about using a day or two, and my VS Credit Card to fly between some US cities and earn TP and a few miles.

So, does anyone possibly have some inventive routes I could take, maximising TP by flying FC in DL, out of LAS?

I've seen talk of flying from LAS to SFO, via LAX for 12TP. I'm pretty flexible in terms of stopping over somewhere, or even making it two days of flying out of LAS, if I can do a round trip in a day.

Where would be the best place to start looking for such a trip?

Any reason not to do it?

Thanks

LAS to SAN via LAX return in First starts at $284, or about £15 per TP.

LAS to PHX or SJC via LAX can be had for $304 return in First, so approx £16 per TP.

LAS to OAK or SFO via LAX starts at $324 return, which is about £18 per TP.

I'm sure there are others - have a play on Skyscanner or delta.com.

Any reason not to do it? Well I guess some less enlightened souls may question the wisdom of spending £200 on a pointless trip just to get a shiny card! But if you intend to fly economy or PE once you become gold, the lounge access & extra luggage entitlement can be very handy.

Another question regarding layover at destination...

As an example, the following flights from LAS-LAX-SAN are available..


06:38 07:55 1h 17m

Las Vegas (LAS) to Los Angeles (LAX)
Delta 5684 operated by Compass DBA Delta Connection
First
Embraer 175

1h 20m stop Los Angeles (LAX)
09:15 10:12 57m

Los Angeles (LAX) to San Diego (SAN)
Delta 5689 operated by Compass DBA Delta Connection
First
Embraer 175


Since this is an internal flight, and assuming I am checked into the return flight (via the mobile app), would there be any reason I couldn't take the immediate return flight SAN-LAX-LAS as below...

10:42 11:35 53m

San Diego (SAN) to Los Angeles (LAX)
Delta 5689 operated by Compass DBA Delta Connection
First
Embraer 175

1h 35m stop Los Angeles (LAX)
13:10 14:27 1h 17m

Los Angeles (LAX) to Las Vegas (LAS)
Delta 5688 operated by Compass DBA Delta Connection
First
Embraer 175


Having never attempted to do this, but having flown internal flights, I imagine I would just disembark into the waiting area, before staying in that same waiting area waiting to board on the return flight, on the same plane?

Back in time for tea!

Thoughts?

Thanks.

In theory yes but note the LAX-SAN and SAN-LAX legs share the same flight number (quite common in the US) so you'd only earn 3 TPs for those two legs as for earning purposes they count as the same flight. To earn 6 TPs you'd need to choose flights with different numbers.

Oh, that's a pain! I was trying to reduce the total time taken!

Would the same be true if they were booked as one way tickets?

Don't know but if it were me I wouldn't risk it.

If you just want the fastest trip possible I'd look at SFO - that's hourly from LAX.

Don't know but if it were me I wouldn't risk it.

If you just want the fastest trip possible I'd look at SFO - that's hourly from LAX.

SFO doesn't seem to have great timings, in particular the price seems to go up quite a bit in the part of the day where I would be looking to return without having to hang around too long.

Am I likely to raise suspicions and/or cause trouble for myself if I contact VS and ask the question about the same flight number and one way tickets? Or is it Delta I need to contact?

You're doing nothing wrong so no need to worry about raising suspicions.

By all means try calling FC although I suspect they won't know either.

One possible itinerary I've found for Tues 3rd November:

0630 LAS 0849 SLC (DL2220)
0950 SLC 1044 OAK (DL1082)
1224 OAK 1350 LAX (DL5851)
1505 LAX 1622 LAS (DL5692)
$318.60

Thanks gumshoe, I'll try to give them a ring later.

Doing two returns in one day looks like it is out of the question!

Is it possible to book something like LAS-SLC-OAK-LAX-PHX-SLC-LAS on a single ticket? (I'm assuming that a single ticket helps in the event of missing a connection due to a delayed flight.)

0630 LAS 0849 SLC (DL2220)
0950 SLC 1044 OAK (DL1082)
1224 OAK 1350 LAX (DL5851)
1430 LAX 1657 PHX (DL4517)
1739 PHX 1918 SLC (DL4578)
2000 SLC 2020 LAS (DL779)

I suspect it isn't possible to book something like this on a single ticket simply because of the short connection times?

Thanks again.

You're doing nothing wrong so no need to worry about raising suspicions.

By all means try calling FC although I suspect they won't know either.

One possible itinerary I've found for Tues 3rd November:

0630 LAS 0849 SLC (DL2220)
0950 SLC 1044 OAK (DL1082)
1224 OAK 1350 LAX (DL5851)
1505 LAX 1622 LAS (DL5692)
$318.60

I'm thinking of making two trips, so just tried to book this while waiting for the chance to phone VS, but the Delta website just keeps telling me it has a problem after I enter my CC details and click submit!

Thought I would post an update for the benefit of others who might find themselves asking the same question.

I spoke to FC last night who confirmed that despite the same flight number, he understands this would be considered 2 flights and has given me his details so that I can contact him further should any issue arise with this. I will confirm here once having completed the trip too.

With that in mind, I have ended up booking the following...

Tue 3rd November ($318.60)
0630 LAS 0849 SLC (DL2220)
0950 SLC 1044 OAK (DL1082)
1130 OAK 1413 SLC (DL1082)
1525 SLC 1548 LAS (DL1883)

and

Wed 4th November ($298)
0638 LAS 0755 LAX (DL5684)
0905 LAX 1002 SAN (DL5689)
1042 SAN 1135 LAX (DL5689)
1310 LAX 1427 LAS (DL5688)

I considered taking another flight on the Monday also, however the prices are a lot higher (almost double). With the above trips, it will leave me on 30TP (including the 6TP for the PE trip to LAS and back). This is probably works well as my next intended flight is flying ex-DUB to LAS in UC. I don't think I would see many benefits of gold status on an UC flight, but it would leave me gold upon my return. The next two flights I will take (within 12 months of reaching gold) will likely be PE to New York twice, so I will then have the benefit of the gold access to the clubhouse. All of this keeps Mrs D happy since she will also benefit from that Gold membership with access to the clubhouse lounges.

All of this might change however, if I happened to come across a cheap flight on Mon 2nd Nov ;)

Wow. That is hardcore TP running!

Good luck. I hope you like pretzels.

Wow. That is hardcore TP running!

Good luck. I hope you like pretzels.

Thanks for all of your help with it

I'm stopping with my aunt who works over at Nellis AFB, so she won't be home till 6pm anyway, as well as being out the door as early as me. These flights are not a bad compromise since they still leave me a good amount of time in the day to do other things.

Just a shame domestic First doesn't include lounge access!

Don't bother with any of this if you plan to go for silver as the benefits are not worth the effort.
If I were trying to do this I would probably just go up and down LAX-SFO on DL in F a few times. It is a very regular service (hourly) both ways so you will not hang around for long each end.
If you have the option to get a USA based credit card then the VS card gives TP based on spend.
It is also possible to get a VS gold as part of a UK amex programme - although I would guess that if you hold that card you will know this already.

Don't bother with any of this if you plan to go for silver as the benefits are not worth the effort.
If I were trying to do this I would probably just go up and down LAX-SFO on DL in F a few times. It is a very regular service (hourly) both ways so you will not hang around for long each end.
If you have the option to get a USA based credit card then the VS card gives TP based on spend.
It is also possible to get a VS gold as part of a UK amex programme - although I would guess that if you hold that card you will know this already.

Thanks for the input. The aim really now is Gold, after my ex-Dub UC trip to LAS next year. The 10 points for that trip will put me in gold for 12 months following that trip.

LAX-SFO is a similar price to those which I have booked, but yields only 6 TP per return trip.

I tried something similar a while ago, but a delay on my first flight had a knock on effect to my others

So ended up just doing a few Las-Sfo returns instead