Last edit by: OWBA
Welcome to the thread. This is a continuation of the highly popular 2017 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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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
Advanced Promotion Fares
See here in post #9 for a 2018 archive of exEU sale fare, and see this post in the 2017 thread for last years’ 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:
Please see the links at the bottom of the wiki for archives of runs from previous years.
From Europe
From North, Central and South America
23Sep £1.48/TP £650 (US$853) 440 TPs JFK-CLT/BOS-LAX-LAS and return all I class aa.com
6Sep £1.50/TP US$457 240TPs RIC-CLT-DCA-BOS, BOS-LGA/PHL-CLT-RIC all I class aa.com
Jan/Feb wide open £1.94/TP £700(US$883) 360 TPs SEA-CLT-MCO-PHX-SEA all I class aa.com
From Middle East, Asia and Australasia
18Jan £1.58/TP £883 560 CMB-xHKG-CGK return I cathaypacific.com ermen CX
28Feb £1.44/TP £575 400 MCT-DOH-BKK-DOH-MCT A/R/R/A travel.americanexpress.co.uk QR
21Feb £1.53/TP £860 560 HKG-CMB-MEL return I Expedia.com.hk Firemin UL
16Mar £1.22/TP £687 560 CGK-CMB-DXB return I srilankan.com Firemin UL
01Apr £0.87/TP £314 360 PEN-KUL-KTM return Malaysian.com cgtechuk MH
01Apr £1.19/TP £335 280 KUL-PER return Malaysian.com cgtechuk MH
01Apr £1.28/TP £335 360 PEN-KUL-PER return Malaysian.com cgtechuk MH
05Apr £2.00/TP £320 160 CAN-HKG-TPE return CathayPacific.com littlevoices CX/KA (flexible fare, bookable up to 24 hours in advance, allows stopovers, book with CX directly)
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. Some information on how to use ITA matrix is in post #4 of this thread (or just click 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 along with UK domestic returns. Additionally you may find that trips in to mainland Europe require a one night stay whereas the cheapest domestic CE returns do not have any minimum stay so can be booked as a same day return. If doing a back to back AMS and JER can be easier than DUB for an immediate turnaround - more information can be found in the back to back thread listed in the forum dashboard. 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). UK domestic route, Bilbao, Jersey and Amsterdam seem 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 of this thread, 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.
DUB-LHR-HEL return (or return to LHR) is currently a very efficient way of hitting 200-240 TPs
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Historic information
2017 Archive
2016 Archive
2015 Archive (6 months Jul to Dec)
2015 Archive (6 months Jan to Jun)
2014 Archive
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 JER to PDX IKN8T1S6 reported in this post, e.g. PDX £1,082, needs to be booked by 8 May, see linked post for details
Advanced Promotion Fares
- from OTP to PHX ILN8C8S4 reported here, e.g. PHX - £1,296, see linked post for details
- from AMS to BKK INCEU60 reported here, e.g. BKK - £1,340, see linked post for details
See here in post #9 for a 2018 archive of exEU sale fare, and see this post in the 2017 thread for last years’ archive of exEU sale fares.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
Code:
3Feb 200TPs DUB-LHR-HEL/HEL-LHR all I class ba.com
23Sep £1.48/TP £650 (US$853) 440 TPs JFK-CLT/BOS-LAX-LAS and return all I class aa.com
6Sep £1.50/TP US$457 240TPs RIC-CLT-DCA-BOS, BOS-LGA/PHL-CLT-RIC all I class aa.com
Jan/Feb wide open £1.94/TP £700(US$883) 360 TPs SEA-CLT-MCO-PHX-SEA all I class aa.com
From Middle East, Asia and Australasia
18Jan £1.58/TP £883 560 CMB-xHKG-CGK return I cathaypacific.com ermen CX
28Feb £1.44/TP £575 400 MCT-DOH-BKK-DOH-MCT A/R/R/A travel.americanexpress.co.uk QR
21Feb £1.53/TP £860 560 HKG-CMB-MEL return I Expedia.com.hk Firemin UL
16Mar £1.22/TP £687 560 CGK-CMB-DXB return I srilankan.com Firemin UL
01Apr £0.87/TP £314 360 PEN-KUL-KTM return Malaysian.com cgtechuk MH
01Apr £1.19/TP £335 280 KUL-PER return Malaysian.com cgtechuk MH
01Apr £1.28/TP £335 360 PEN-KUL-PER return Malaysian.com cgtechuk MH
05Apr £2.00/TP £320 160 CAN-HKG-TPE return CathayPacific.com littlevoices CX/KA (flexible fare, bookable up to 24 hours in advance, allows stopovers, book with CX directly)
From Africa
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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. Some information on how to use ITA matrix is in post #4 of this thread (or just click 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 along with UK domestic returns. Additionally you may find that trips in to mainland Europe require a one night stay whereas the cheapest domestic CE returns do not have any minimum stay so can be booked as a same day return. If doing a back to back AMS and JER can be easier than DUB for an immediate turnaround - more information can be found in the back to back thread listed in the forum dashboard. 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). UK domestic route, Bilbao, Jersey and Amsterdam seem 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 of this thread, 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.
DUB-LHR-HEL return (or return to LHR) is currently a very efficient way of hitting 200-240 TPs
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Historic information
2017 Archive
2016 Archive
2015 Archive (6 months Jul to Dec)
2015 Archive (6 months Jan to Jun)
2014 Archive
BA Tier Point Runs | 2018 master thread
#2851
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 87
#2852
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,990
I’ve got 2x tickets booked with BA as part of our holiday package for a one way internal flight in the US, flying with AA. According to BA manage my booking it’s a business class flight earning 40 tier point plus miles but the AA site tells me that it’s first class ticket. I cannot locate the fare code but if BA recognise as first class I should get50 tier points rather than 40, enabling me to progress up to the next tier but our return flight home. This post is only about tier points and tier progression, the actual flight business/first difference doesn’t interest me per se. It’s a 3 hour internal flight. I merely want to accrue as many tier points as possible on this trip.
Does anyone know how I can check whether the AA ticket (first class) should be accepted by BA instead of their own (business) determination or experienced this then requested the ‘missing tier points’ and secured them? I’ve downloaded our boarding cards today, both state first class. Can any experienced FAs assist?
Does anyone know how I can check whether the AA ticket (first class) should be accepted by BA instead of their own (business) determination or experienced this then requested the ‘missing tier points’ and secured them? I’ve downloaded our boarding cards today, both state first class. Can any experienced FAs assist?
#2853
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,990
Long time lurker who has found this forum super helpful. Here is my first contribution:
I just booked the fare mentioned above which I think is quite a good fare ex-London. Can be flown all on QR but adding the BA operated flight to Doha saves some £££. New LGW Doha flight works too.
560 tier points and the HK flight has Qsuites.
Looks like good availability from now through next year. 7 night stay may be necessary. Outbound flights on Friday through Sunday.
(Can’t post links yet so if someone could help?)
I just booked the fare mentioned above which I think is quite a good fare ex-London. Can be flown all on QR but adding the BA operated flight to Doha saves some £££. New LGW Doha flight works too.
560 tier points and the HK flight has Qsuites.
Looks like good availability from now through next year. 7 night stay may be necessary. Outbound flights on Friday through Sunday.
(Can’t post links yet so if someone could help?)
Here are some more details on this QR fare:
QR Fare in J from LHR-HKG RJGBP1ZW
Prices around £1500 for 4x140 = 560 TP so about £2.70 per TP.
PERMITTED FRI THROUGH SUN.
RESERVATIONS FOR ALL SECTORS ARE REQUIRED AT LEAST 5 DAYS BEFORE DEPARTURE FROM FARE ORIGIN. TICKETING FOR DEPARTURE FROM FARE ORIGIN MUST BE COMPLETED AT LEAST 5 DAYS BEFORE DEPARTURE.
TRAVEL FROM LAST STOPOVER MUST COMMENCE NO EARLIER THAN 7 DAYS AFTER DEPARTURE FROM FARE ORIGIN.
TRAVEL FROM LAST STOPOVER MUST COMMENCE NO LATER THAN 1 MONTH AFTER DEPARTURE FROM FARE ORIGIN.
FOR TRAVEL ON/AFTER 01 AUG 18
VALID FOR TRAVEL COMMENCING ON/BEFORE 31 MAY 19.
TICKETS MUST BE ISSUED ON/BEFORE 18 JUL 18.
CANCELLATIONS
ANY TIME
CHARGE USD 800.00.
CHARGE USD 2000.00 FOR NO-SHOW.
CHANGES
ANY TIME
CHARGE USD 400.00.
CHARGE USD 1000.00 FOR NO-SHOW.
ANY TIME
CHARGE USD 800.00.
CHARGE USD 2000.00 FOR NO-SHOW.
CHANGES
ANY TIME
CHARGE USD 400.00.
CHARGE USD 1000.00 FOR NO-SHOW.
Last edited by KARFA; Jul 5, 2018 at 6:44 am
#2854
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Melbourne
Programs: ►QFWP/LTG►VA WP►HyattExpl.►HiltonGold►ALL Silver
Posts: 21,995
There are some good value ex DPS on MH. Book by 16 July 18, fly by 31 May 2019
Usual restrictions apply - 2 night min stay, no blackouts, non-refundable, small surcharge in mid-late December.
KUL-DPS is 1219 miles.
Usual restrictions apply - 2 night min stay, no blackouts, non-refundable, small surcharge in mid-late December.
KUL-DPS is 1219 miles.
#2855
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Sapporo, Japan
Programs: Junior Jet Club, Nando's Card 1 Red Chilli, Tesco Clubcard, BAEC Gold, TK M&S Elite
Posts: 520
I'm doing the Langkawi one in a couple of weeks. Works out at less than £1 per TP.
#2856
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Effectively grounded
Programs: BA GGL for a little while longer
Posts: 844
#2857
Join Date: Jul 2018
Programs: British Airways
Posts: 2
240TP run for £525 ex LHR
I need 165 TP for BA Gold status by 8 August... A horrible number in a world of 40 and 80 TP flights. I'm looking at LHR>HEL>OSL>HEL>LHR (should be 240TP?) for £525 on Google Flights.
It looks like I can do LHR>HEL (BA794) HEL>OSL (AY917) OSL>HEL (AY918) in a day and come back the next morning on BA795
It's only 40 mins between AY917 scheduled arrival and AY918 scheduled departure, but I am guessing it's the same plane... Does anyone know if it's possible to just wait by the gate if I have a boarding pass already? I know you can do that in AMS and DUB, but have never flown into HEL...
It looks like I can do LHR>HEL (BA794) HEL>OSL (AY917) OSL>HEL (AY918) in a day and come back the next morning on BA795
It's only 40 mins between AY917 scheduled arrival and AY918 scheduled departure, but I am guessing it's the same plane... Does anyone know if it's possible to just wait by the gate if I have a boarding pass already? I know you can do that in AMS and DUB, but have never flown into HEL...
#2858
Join Date: Oct 2013
Programs: GGL/CCR
Posts: 1,899
I need 165 TP for BA Gold status by 8 August... A horrible number in a world of 40 and 80 TP flights. I'm looking at LHR>HEL>OSL>HEL>LHR (should be 240TP?) for £525 on Google Flights.
It looks like I can do LHR>HEL (BA794) HEL>OSL (AY917) OSL>HEL (AY918) in a day and come back the next morning on BA795
It's only 40 mins between AY917 scheduled arrival and AY918 scheduled departure, but I am guessing it's the same plane... Does anyone know if it's possible to just wait by the gate if I have a boarding pass already? I know you can do that in AMS and DUB, but have never flown into HEL...
It looks like I can do LHR>HEL (BA794) HEL>OSL (AY917) OSL>HEL (AY918) in a day and come back the next morning on BA795
It's only 40 mins between AY917 scheduled arrival and AY918 scheduled departure, but I am guessing it's the same plane... Does anyone know if it's possible to just wait by the gate if I have a boarding pass already? I know you can do that in AMS and DUB, but have never flown into HEL...
#2859
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 732
Are there any good runs ex-BKK or ex-HKG? DPS is a bit too far to position. I saw BKK-KUL-TPE but that disappeared a week ago.
#2860
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Oxford (&Western Isles )
Programs: BA GGL, CCR; RyanAir MillionMiler :( ;
Posts: 756
Fabulous find Arnie. I've been looking EX-EU and these prices from LHR are better than all of them. I've gone for LHR-DOH A380, DOH-HKG and return shows a qsuites 777-300 and DOH-LHR on an A359, so a nice mix of good metal all QR no BA. To get the price to be the best on the way home we stay for a night in Doha before returning on QR1 the next day, £3146 for the 2 of us, EX-UK too, my wife won't believe it (Next week we are LAS via OTP and all round the houses, then in Sept to PDX from Jersey) this is a real treat! Thanks again
EDIT: sorry - found them in Nov,Sat departure, 6 nights, 1530. Thanks!
Last edited by wanderingjock; Jul 6, 2018 at 3:29 pm
#2861
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 12
I was just querying the 1040 to for £1400. Business to get those points would be much more costlier. Would you be booking very far in advance?
HEL-PHX feels like it is possible. Just wondering what's the most cost effective way to book it for next points year.
my brother in law who was gold said he used to get upgraded far more as silver. Is that true or likely due to flights he went on do you think?
#2862
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: UK
Posts: 44
Grateful for any help and guidance.
For the first time, I need 230 TPs before 7 September to reach Gold and hope someone could suggest viable/cost-effective routes ex NCL to achieve this. - I am reasonably flexible with dates/days.
Thanks very much
For the first time, I need 230 TPs before 7 September to reach Gold and hope someone could suggest viable/cost-effective routes ex NCL to achieve this. - I am reasonably flexible with dates/days.
Thanks very much
#2863
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 4
900 points needed...
Apologies as Newbie!! Need 900 points to keep Gold status by end October.... Flexible with dates ( hence why down on points and time on hands!!) Any help from superior users welcomed.... EX Any London best.....
#2864
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Cumbria
Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 4,510
Although you said any London, I would suggest you take a look at OTP/PHX.