Maximising Tier Points on trip to San Diego from Manchester?
Dec 22, 2017, 5:42 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 855
Maximising Tier Points on trip to San Diego from Manchester?
Am planning a trip to San Diego from Manchester for July. Looking to fly either BA or American. If I book via the BA site am I correct in my collection of Avios:
Business BA
MAN to LHR (40)
LHR to SAN (140)
Return trip 360 Tier Points
Business AA
MAN to ORD (140)
ORD to SAN (40)
SAN to PHL (140)
PHL to MAN (140)
Return trip 460 Tier Points
Seems like AA will give me a better return on Tier Points or have I got the calculation wrong?
Does anyone know what the business class seats on AA are like on the MAN to ORD and PHL to MAN routes?
Business BA
MAN to LHR (40)
LHR to SAN (140)
Return trip 360 Tier Points
Business AA
MAN to ORD (140)
ORD to SAN (40)
SAN to PHL (140)
PHL to MAN (140)
Return trip 460 Tier Points
Seems like AA will give me a better return on Tier Points or have I got the calculation wrong?
Does anyone know what the business class seats on AA are like on the MAN to ORD and PHL to MAN routes?
Dec 22, 2017, 5:47 am
#2
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Switzerland
Programs: AY+ Platinum, SK Gold, BAEC Silver, airbaltic VIP, Radisson VIP
Posts: 6,531
Am planning a trip to San Diego from Manchester for July. Looking to fly either BA or American. If I book via the BA site am I correct in my collection of Avios:
Business BA
MAN to LHR (40)
LHR to SAN (140)
Return trip 360 Tier Points
Business AA
MAN to ORD (140)
ORD to SAN (40)
SAN to PHL (140)
PHL to MAN (140)
Return trip 460 Tier Points
Seems like AA will give me a better return on Tier Points or have I got the calculation wrong?
Does anyone know what the business class seats on AA are like on the MAN to ORD and PHL to MAN routes?
Business BA
MAN to LHR (40)
LHR to SAN (140)
Return trip 360 Tier Points
Business AA
MAN to ORD (140)
ORD to SAN (40)
SAN to PHL (140)
PHL to MAN (140)
Return trip 460 Tier Points
Seems like AA will give me a better return on Tier Points or have I got the calculation wrong?
Does anyone know what the business class seats on AA are like on the MAN to ORD and PHL to MAN routes?
MAN-ORD should be the 787 next year, but might be the 767 still. PHL-MAN is on LUS A330.
You can find pictures of the seats in my TR.
Edit: the image hosting site seems to be down at the moment, so I'll insert them here:
AA 767
LUS A330
Last edited by florens; Dec 22, 2017 at 5:53 am
Dec 22, 2017, 6:00 am
#3
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Troposphere (mostly)
Programs: BAEC Silver, SPG Somthingorother, et Mucci
Posts: 457
It's been a couple of years since I've done this but there is, or there was, an AA flight JFK-SEA on a 737. This has two advantages: coast-to-coast direct is long enough to qualify for the same level of TPs as a transatlantic sector, and as a two-class aircraft, if you book J you sit in, and receive TPs for, F. I have in the past made silver in a single trip using this routing. The only down side is it's AA's domestic F which is just 2+2 seats not any kind of bed, but as I always flew it in the daytime it never bothered me. If this flight is still available, working it into your itinerary is about the most lucrative way I know to get to the west coast.
Dec 22, 2017, 6:11 am
#4
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,464
It's been a couple of years since I've done this but there is, or there was, an AA flight JFK-SEA on a 737. This has two advantages: coast-to-coast direct is long enough to qualify for the same level of TPs as a transatlantic sector, and as a two-class aircraft, if you book J you sit in, and receive TPs for, F. I have in the past made silver in a single trip using this routing. The only down side is it's AA's domestic F which is just 2+2 seats not any kind of bed, but as I always flew it in the daytime it never bothered me. If this flight is still available, working it into your itinerary is about the most lucrative way I know to get to the west coast.
AA domestics no longer yield F TPs - you can only get 210 TPs if you take the transcon product which is JFK-LAX/SFO only, and you must be in paid F.
Dec 22, 2017, 6:29 am
#6
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Troposphere (mostly)
Programs: BAEC Silver, SPG Somthingorother, et Mucci
Posts: 457
There are plenty of AA domestic flights that will yield 140 TPs from JFK. JFK-LAX/SFO/SEA/PHX/LAS/SAN/TUS are the main ones. More details in the excellent guides (post 2) of the TP run thread: BA Tier Point Runs | 2017 master thread
AA domestics no longer yield F TPs - you can only get 210 TPs if you take the transcon product which is JFK-LAX/SFO only, and you must be in paid F.
AA domestics no longer yield F TPs - you can only get 210 TPs if you take the transcon product which is JFK-LAX/SFO only, and you must be in paid F.
Dec 22, 2017, 6:46 am
#7
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Switzerland
Programs: AY+ Platinum, SK Gold, BAEC Silver, airbaltic VIP, Radisson VIP
Posts: 6,531
It looks like AA is still flying JFK-SEA on a 737 - are these no longer two class aircraft? The F cabin did look rather faded c. 2013, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they've changed them. It was the 2 class aircraft that made the SEA the special one of the west coast destinations - all the others were served by 3 class aircraft so you only ever got what you paid for with those.
For First Class Tier Points (i.e. 210TP on transcons) you need to be on a 3-cabin flight (such as JFK-LAX/SFO), where F books into F, P or A.
Dec 22, 2017, 6:47 am
#8
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: BOS
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 479
It looks like AA is still flying JFK-SEA on a 737 - are these no longer two class aircraft? The F cabin did look rather faded c. 2013, I wouldn't be at all surprised if they've changed them. It was the 2 class aircraft that made the SEA the special one of the west coast destinations - all the others were served by 3 class aircraft so you only ever got what you paid for with those.