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Old Jan 2, 2017, 6:09 pm
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Last edit by: EsherFlyer
** AA Domestic First on two cabin will earn business TPs and avios for departures on or after 11 January 2017 - see reference posts for more details **

** Note that the practice of AA Domestic 3-class service flights booking into A for 210 TPs when I was no longer available ceased in September 2017. Discussion here. **

Welcome to the thread. This is a continuation of the highly popular 2016 Tier Point thread. We keep track of other prices, as well as useful reference information for those planning tier point runs.

Please read the first few posts in this thread first as it contains lots of information which may answer your question.

This is a community-maintained wiki post. Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below!

Current Promotions of Interest
Sale Fares
  • from AMS/RTM to US ILN4T7S6/INX6T7S6 reported in this post and this post, e.g. NYC - €1,461, ORD - €1,492, LAS - €1,460, needs to be booked by 25 September, see linked post for details
  • from PRG to US ILN4T8S6 reported in this post, e.g. IAD - £1,033, MIA - £1,133, ATL - £1,080, needs to be booked by 21 September, see linked post for details

Advanced Promotion Fares
  • from DUB to US ILN8C1S6 reported here, e.g. NYC - €1,472, MIA - €1,578, see linked post for details
  • froM DUB to US ILN8S4C1 reported here, e.g. JFK - €1,427, MIA - €1,532, LAS - €1,667, LAX - €1,795, HNL - €2,095, this is an advanced purchase fare so no book by deadline, see linked post for details
  • from OTP to PHX ILN8R4C1 reported here, e.g. PHX - £1,252, see linked post for details
  • from AMS to BKK INCEU60 reported here, e.g. BKK - £1,216, see linked post for details

See here in post # 8 for a 2017 archive of exEU sale fare, and see here in post # 445 for a 2016 archive of exEU sale fares.

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This thread lists attractive tier point (TP) runs under £3 per TP grouped within different (departure) geographies

Please note that current availability is not guaranteed and all prices include taxes. Please use the following convention when adding tier point runs to this wiki post:
Date fare checked Price per Tier Point Total Price Total Tier Points Route Booking Classes Booking Channel Credit Notes (if applicable) Airlines

Please remember to:
  • Convert currencies to GBP, rounding to the nearest pound.
  • Post full routes and full booking classes.
  • Note any restrictions on booking in the Notes section.
  • List in order of price per tier point within the relevant departure area.

Please see the links at the bottom of the wiki for archives of runs from previous years.

From Europe

24APR £0.90/TP £400 440 TLL-BA/AY-HEL-LON-GLA-KOI-ABZ ; TLL-BA/AY-HEL-LON-GLA-SDZ-ABZ (see post #1221)
02NOV £1.33/TP £583 440 LHR-HEL-TLL/TLL-HEL-LHR-NCL//NCL-LHR-HEL-TLL/TLL-HEL-LHR IIIIIIIIII Google Flights armouredant 2 nested tickets, both other a Saturday night. BA ticket, BA & AY metal, AY A350 possible LHR-HEL
08FEB £1.33/TP £346 260 JER-LGW-RAK-LGW-RAK I/I/I/I BA.com ramops
14AUG £1.65/TP £593 360 OSL-HEL-AGP-HEL-OSL I-I-I-I ITA Flythe96flag SH J cabin + possible red-eye (!) AY
26JUL £1.81/TP £72.70 40 MAD-FRA Z lan.com Prospero 787 flat bed LA
1JAN £1.85/TP £444 240 JER-LGW/LHR-HEL J/I/I/J ITA Matrix flatlander Available most weekends first half of 2016, fare IM0R
23NOV £1.89/TP £377 200 DUB-LHR-MAD-SVQ r/t I-I-I-I-I-I ITA Lorcancoyle IM0B IB DUB to SVQ BA and IB flights (I2 for domestic under IB code), random dates in December available, A340 on some dates (helpfully pointed out by Temps that domestic Spain is only 20 TPs)
24NOV £1.91/TP £765.00 400 BUD-DOH-SHJ I/A/I/A QR.com Wozza2404 A320 QR
11AUG £2.10/TP £420 200 AMS-LHR-GLA-LSI-ABZ-LSI-GLA-LHR-AMS I/I/I/I/I/I/I/I ITA Matrix --> Priceline.com MrMutton
13NOV £2.56/TP £410 160 LHR-HEL ? BA.com Lorcancoyle wide open as flight+hotel, can reduce with TCB cash back BA

From North, Central and South America
26Jan £1.50/TP £960 640 LGA-CMH-DCA-PHL-RDU-CLT-ATL-MIA-PTY and return I/I/I/I/I/I/I/I/I/I/I/I/I/I/I/I ITA Matrix--> BookWithMatrix dot com --> AA.com HPN-HRL other routings available; reverse routing is £40 more - see post 388 AA
10MAY £2.50/TP £203 80 ORF-CLT-ORD I/I AA.com
21MAY £2.08/TP £250 120 YYZ-PHL/LGA-CLT-ORF/PHF I/I/I AA.com
22NOV £1.43/TP £172 120 DCA-(LGA/BOS/PHL)-CLT-RDU (one way, reverse works as well) I/I/I ITA->BWM->priceline.com

From Middle East, Asia and Australasia
23Feb £0.99/TP £356 360 TPE-xKUL-PEN(JHB)-xKUL-TPE Z http://www.malaysiaairlines.com ermen two day min stay, promo fare MH
04JAN £1.10/TP £44 40 KUL-PEN D http://www.malaysiaairlines.com/uk/en.html fitch Works in both directions, rtn £80 if you can make the timnings work MH
11Nov £0.85/TP £307 360 TPE-KUL-SIN-KUL-TPE Z http://www.malaysiaairlines.com neofung

From Africa


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Need a year-end TP run (ex-LON) to make / retain status?
Some tips for searching for the year-end TP run for newcomers, the below is indicative only, but hopefully provides a bit of guidance for relatively straightforward runs ex-LON. The guide to using ITA matrix in post #4 (see here) along with these ideas, might come in handy. Feel free to share results, problems or general questions in the thread as these may not always work and there might be better deals out there...

For overnight trips remember to check BA and Iberia for their flights and hotel option as well, can get hotel for almost no extra cost at times

Need 80 TPs or fewer
Club Europe return somewhere close by is best - DUB, AMS and JER usually cheapest. AMS and JER easier than DUB for an immediate turnaround. The BA.com low fare finder can be very useful.

If you need as few as 45 TPs you might consider booking economy flights and hoping for a proactive online upgrade offer - but they're not guaranteed to materialise (so not one if you have no more time left in your TP collection year). Alternatively, booking a return to one of the 40 tier point destinations with one way in CE and the return in ET (or vice versa if cheaper). Bilbao, Jersey and Amsterdam seems the most cost effective for this.

Need 85-120 TPs
Iberia flights via MAD to regional Spanish airports will get you 120 TPs as the domestic Spanish flights are 20 TPs in business. Under £300 including hotel can be available. Check BIO, GRX, VLC, BCN, SVQ etc. Example here

Need 125-160 TPs
Take a look at the shorthaul plus routes earning 80 TPs each way in business listed in the first post (here) MLA, IST, HEL and RAK are usually available. If time sensitive take a look at BA flight and hotel option to HEL, where you can usually get the last BA flight out on a Saturday, airport hotel and first return Sunday for well under £500.

Alternative options include positioning to JER and flying JER-LGW-XXX (AMS usually works well and avoids switching airports)

Need more than 160 TPs
You'll most likely be heading north then - OSL or VNO via HEL will get you 240 TPs, as will JER-LGW/LHR-HEL e.g. LHR-HEL-OSL for £520. Also the BA fare for LHR-HEL-TLL at ~£235 is still available and would get 200 TPs for a return.

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Historic information
2016 Archive
2015 Archive (6 months Jul to Dec)
2015 Archive (6 months Jan to Jun)
2014 Archive

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BA Tier Point Runs | 2017 master thread

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Old Oct 28, 2017, 3:32 pm
  #3751  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,707
Originally Posted by essexadventurer
^ we have this planned at the end of November. Friday afternoon flight, so a visit to CX First, then rest of Friday and Saturday in Lux, followed by CE back to London
Having just flown in from 2 days in LUX tonight I can thoroughly recommend heading out to Vianden. Quaint little town, picturesque and very easy to get to. 2 EUR in fact for train and then a short bus ride.
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Old Oct 29, 2017, 12:47 pm
  #3752  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,464
I set myself a challenge to see if I could fit the LAX-PTY 16-sector fare into only 3 days (best I got before was 3.5 days) - sorry to say that I was not successful, but not one to fail on a challenge, I managed to price the fare for 15 sectors cleanly in 3 days.

800 TPs for £755, or £0.94/TP - prices on AA.com

Not sure if anyone is crazy enough to try it, but satisfying enough for me to find it!

ITA Matrix construction:

Depart: LAX
Outbound routing codes: AA1929 AA1803 AA1795 AA2052 AA1461 AA4720 /maxconnect 1000

Arrive: PTY
Inbound routing codes: AA1474 AA2666 AA2050 AA2013 AA4498 AA2135 AA2146 AA2082 AA537 /maxconnect 1000

Not a chance this will survive one of the normal AA schedule changes, but they are to be as expected as death and taxes.
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Old Oct 29, 2017, 12:54 pm
  #3753  
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: BAEC Silver, IHG Diamond
Posts: 7,748
I'm doing a LAX-PTY run right now. Started on the 4:50pm Saturday departure from LAX and now awaiting my next flight to MIA. All has gone well so far.
Looking forward to a nice bed tonight

Naturally we got the 757 with flat beds on the MCO-MIA sector..
No screens. Looks like they have iPad holders where they should have been.

Last edited by xenole; Oct 29, 2017 at 1:39 pm
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Old Oct 29, 2017, 1:03 pm
  #3754  
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,736
Originally Posted by Ryanfozzie
Thanks for the advise! Do you think I could explore the city enough over a few day trips (morning flight out and evening one back allowing 8 hours between flights)? I’d like to avoid staying over to keep the Mrs happy. Still have to convince her that I ‘need’ to get to silver to ‘save’ us money on lounge access and seat reservations for circa 12 flights next summer
A back to back is foolproof, albeit involving going landside. You'll probably just about get a coffee in the lounge too. But I would recommend using the bus service to get into town, as indicated it's fairly small and it saves on parking issues. The bus leaves right in front of the terminal building. You could also use this go to Trier by either the direct coach from the airport, or the bus and train connection (bus is slightly quicker). Trier is certainly do-able as a day trip, I do it every 3 months, albeit for work purposes. So if doing two trips I'd do one trip to Trier, and the other having a leisurely lunch in one the many good restaurants in Luxembourg city centre. The food is the best thing to come out of LUX since Baccara. [If you're old enough for that].
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Old Oct 29, 2017, 1:45 pm
  #3755  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 834
Originally Posted by rossmacd
I set myself a challenge to see if I could fit the LAX-PTY 16-sector fare into only 3 days (best I got before was 3.5 days) - sorry to say that I was not successful, but not one to fail on a challenge, I managed to price the fare for 15 sectors cleanly in 3 days.

800 TPs for £755, or £0.94/TP - prices on AA.com

Not sure if anyone is crazy enough to try it, but satisfying enough for me to find it!

ITA Matrix construction:

Depart: LAX
Outbound routing codes: AA1929 AA1803 AA1795 AA2052 AA1461 AA4720 /maxconnect 1000

Arrive: PTY
Inbound routing codes: AA1474 AA2666 AA2050 AA2013 AA4498 AA2135 AA2146 AA2082 AA537 /maxconnect 1000

Not a chance this will survive one of the normal AA schedule changes, but they are to be as expected as death and taxes.

Impressive!! but how much would 14 nights in a five star in the Bahamas cost to recover?
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Old Oct 29, 2017, 1:47 pm
  #3756  
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: BA Executive Club and OnBusiness
Posts: 718
Originally Posted by rossmacd
I set myself a challenge to see if I could fit the LAX-PTY 16-sector fare into only 3 days (best I got before was 3.5 days) - sorry to say that I was not successful, but not one to fail on a challenge, I managed to price the fare for 15 sectors cleanly in 3 days.

800 TPs for £755, or £0.94/TP - prices on AA.com

Not sure if anyone is crazy enough to try it, but satisfying enough for me to find it!

ITA Matrix construction:

Depart: LAX
Outbound routing codes: AA1929 AA1803 AA1795 AA2052 AA1461 AA4720 /maxconnect 1000

Arrive: PTY
Inbound routing codes: AA1474 AA2666 AA2050 AA2013 AA4498 AA2135 AA2146 AA2082 AA537 /maxconnect 1000

Not a chance this will survive one of the normal AA schedule changes, but they are to be as expected as death and taxes.
I'm tempted to give that a go - maybe I could crowdfund it as a spectator sport with a live blog?
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Old Oct 29, 2017, 3:20 pm
  #3757  
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: London
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold & GGL & CCR, HH Diam, Bonvoy Titanium, IHG Spire, Tastecard
Posts: 7,549
Originally Posted by rossmacd
I set myself a challenge....
bear in mind that with that itin, all the 321s will be legacy US Airways ones which are probably the worst a/c in the AA fleet - no AVOD, in fact, no entertainment whatsoever, no charging points etc etc.

last time I did crazy PTYs or CUNs, I at least tried to build in 1 sector with a flat bed and more modern a/c with AVOD where possible.
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Old Oct 29, 2017, 3:47 pm
  #3758  
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: BAEC Silver, IHG Diamond
Posts: 7,748
The 757 had seat power / USB and one plane had an old DC point. A third today had a point hidden in the seat arm.
Empower on the 737 I'm on now.

Just had someone look like they refused an upgrade to first when he saw he was going to be seated next to an old Latina woman or a black woman. He came in the cabin, looked at the seat occupants and walked back and said he was happy back in economy.
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Old Oct 29, 2017, 3:52 pm
  #3759  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Derbyshire, UK
Programs: BA Gold, AVIS Presidents Club
Posts: 165
I was just planning a route DUB to Santiago SCL and on AA
Looking at Premium Economy on AA website it books as P.L.P.P.Y.P
I thought that P class was First class am I missing something here or is it a glitch Because if not it returns 870TPS for £1200
Infocustv is offline  
Old Oct 29, 2017, 4:01 pm
  #3760  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Derbyshire, UK
Programs: BA Gold, AVIS Presidents Club
Posts: 165
May have answered my own question but now discovered that AA re assigned P from First to Premium as of May 2017. I was using owenrudge BA tier point calc which is clearly out of date. Any other means of checking what Tier points P earns on AA flights?
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Old Oct 29, 2017, 4:41 pm
  #3761  
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Oxford
Programs: BA Silver, HH Silver, IHG Plat
Posts: 169
Originally Posted by Infocustv
May have answered my own question but now discovered that AA re assigned P from First to Premium as of May 2017. I was using owenrudge BA tier point calc which is clearly out of date. Any other means of checking what Tier points P earns on AA flights?
The BA calculator maybe https://www.britishairways.com/travel/flight-calculator/public/en_gb
Temps is offline  
Old Oct 30, 2017, 1:26 am
  #3762  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,464
Originally Posted by chris1979
bear in mind that with that itin, all the 321s will be legacy US Airways ones which are probably the worst a/c in the AA fleet - no AVOD, in fact, no entertainment whatsoever, no charging points etc etc.

last time I did crazy PTYs or CUNs, I at least tried to build in 1 sector with a flat bed and more modern a/c with AVOD where possible.
Yes, of course. This itinerary was built with the schedule in mind, irrespective of equipment. Far more 'comfortable' routings are available, should one wish to invest the time in searching

Avoiding the LUS 321s on multi-sector itineraries is not easy though, TP run or not
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Old Oct 30, 2017, 2:26 am
  #3763  
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: BA GGL, A3*G, Mucci de l'expertise des Apps
Posts: 3,363
Originally Posted by chris1979
bear in mind that with that itin, all the 321s will be legacy US Airways ones which are probably the worst a/c in the AA fleet - no AVOD, in fact, no entertainment whatsoever, no charging points etc etc.
Out of 949 AA mainline aircraft, only 66 have no entertainment whatsoever (the 757 and 767 fleets). 300 have AVOD and the remaining 583 all have free streaming entertainment if you have your own device. The issue with the LUS fleet is indeed the lack of power to charge your device with which to watch said streamed IFE.

Of the 601 AA regional aircraft, 230 have no IFE and 371 have streamed entertainment and WiFi.
Airprox is offline  
Old Oct 30, 2017, 9:41 am
  #3764  
 
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 128
Can anyone help with this? I'm looking at a trip FRA - DOH - CMB - CAN return - either just before Christmas or just after new year. I can search and find it if for circa £1500 on matrix, but can't get it to price up with book with matrix or on google flights. Any suggestions?
thepowerbook is offline  
Old Oct 30, 2017, 10:13 am
  #3765  
 
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: KUL (MY), ICN (KR), ZRH (CH) or OTP (RO) - or somewhere in between
Programs: OZ, JL
Posts: 241
Originally Posted by thepowerbook
Can anyone help with this? I'm looking at a trip FRA - DOH - CMB - CAN return - either just before Christmas or just after new year. I can search and find it if for circa £1500 on matrix, but can't get it to price up with book with matrix or on google flights. Any suggestions?
You should be able to book it online on UL’s website.
But don’t try to book it as a return ticket, book it as a multi-trip instead:
FRA-CMB
CMB-CAN
CAN-CMB
CMB-FRA
mihaid is offline  


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