Jan 1, 2018, 5:20 am
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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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
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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
Aug 6, 2018, 2:17 am
#3211
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,945
I'll be avoiding the transcon route where possible in the future. The LAX-JFK might flight I did was due 'some chop' according to captain, but was relentlessly turbulent for the entire flight. Impossible to sleep. The A321 gets lobbed around far more than a larger transatlantic plane, and the over land routing is more likely to hit such air I believe. Was perfectly smooth in reverse!
btw if you are suggesting flight from London direct to the west coast without stopping on the east coast to get those extra connections and TPs you may be on the wrong thread
Aug 6, 2018, 5:23 am
#3212
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2008
Programs: AA EXP/LTP, BA GGL/CCR/GfL, HH D/LTD, SPG/MR Plat/LTP
Posts: 10,076
AA have amended schedules last night, affecting some of my November flights. I had a couple of cancellations and time changes. Might want to check any AA itineraries you have. They were as accommodating as ever on the reroutes, including onto the MIA-LAX 772 with the Diamond all forward facing seating.
No sign of any communication of changes from BA, though.
It's really entertaining to find AA discovering there's Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of November (surprise!), and cancelling all transcons from JFK after 11.00 on the 22nd. For a celebration being entertained for short of four centuries (from 1621), it should have come as a lesser surprise, 3½ months ahead, than the 200+ year tradition of celebrating Independence day, also leading to numerous cancellations from early afternoon July 3rd until late morning next day, 3 months ahead. Careful planning, that.
After a quick and constructive discussion with a GGL agent, I now also do LHR-MIA and MIA-LAX on the 777. Would have spent too long @JFK, since only last transcon had I seats, but now arriving LAX at 20.18, and my PHX flight is not until 11.05 the next day. In the end, I got a longer ride in BA F to MIA, a more comfortable seat on the transcon 777 domestic F to LAX and a timewise more comfortable LAX overnight. Certainly the lesser of three 'evils', the other alternatives being LHR-PHL-LA, with less comfy transcon seats, or LHR-ORD-LAX, with lesser TPs
Aug 6, 2018, 8:35 am
#3213
Join Date: May 2006
Location: London
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold, GGL, SPG Gold , HHonors Diamond ,Marriott Gold Elite
Posts: 567
AA JFK-LAX -10 August
I am on AA117 in J and it is F7A7 ( only see 2A3A taken) and J5. If the J seats go and F is still fairly wide open.how do they look upon ugrades do BA GGL have any sway or do they just upgrade their own elites. Do they upgrade people on the upgrade list first and then , if necessary operational upgrades after?
Aug 6, 2018, 9:33 am
#3214
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,464
I am on AA117 in J and it is F7A7 ( only see 2A3A taken) and J5. If the J seats go and F is still fairly wide open.how do they look upon ugrades do BA GGL have any sway or do they just upgrade their own elites. Do they upgrade people on the upgrade list first and then , if necessary operational upgrades after?
For J-F upgrades (on the day), it is purely as operational need. I do not know the hierarchy that AA will use, but as a BA GGL you should be fairly high up the list (possibly only trumped by AA CKs if there are any on the flight) or any highly ranked AA EXPs. But then this is only a guess, since no one really knows the criteria, except AA.
Aug 7, 2018, 12:05 am
#3215
Join Date: May 2017
Location: KUL, LON
Programs: BA GGL, Bonvoy Titanium, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 56
Playing around with Matrix, I also found this nice one:
Cost per passenger (including taxes & fees)€620.09Total cost for 1 passenger€620.09
Thats 320 TP.... Last Segment 2 segements in MH350 and nice JAL Business Class. For one way pretty cheap.
Kathmandu (KTM) to Taipei (TSA) — Mon, Dec 24
Kathmandu (KTM) to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) — Mon, Dec 24Malaysia Airlines 115Dep: 11:30 pmArr: 6:30 am4h 45mBoeing 737Business
Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to Tokyo (NRT) — Tue, Dec 25Malaysia Airlines 70Dep: 9:50 amArr: 5:30 pm6h 40mAirbus A350
Tokyo (HND) to Taipei (TSA) — Wed, Dec 26JAL 97Dep: 8:35 amArr: 11:40 am4h 5mBoeing 787Business
Mileage
- 6,694 total miles
Cost per passenger (including taxes & fees)€620.09Total cost for 1 passenger€620.09
Thats 320 TP.... Last Segment 2 segements in MH350 and nice JAL Business Class. For one way pretty cheap.
If starting from Southeast Asia, can be combined/nested within a $420 KUL-KTM R/T (albeit on a 737). Total cost of ~$1,500 for 920 TPs which is roughly $1.63/TP or £1.26/TP.
Get about 24k Avios too for the combination as a BA Gold (tier bonus only on the short TYO-TPE JL coded flights).
Aug 7, 2018, 12:44 pm
#3216
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: London
Programs: BAEC-GGL, GFL, *A Gold, Hilton Diamond , IHG Diamond/Ambassador
Posts: 244
TP Run starting in Seoul SEL via Melbourne MEL ending SIN
Looking for a way to earn TP provided I can get some sleep on planes..
Start point is Seoul (GMP or ICN) no earlier than about 06:00 Saturday 25 August.
Need to be in Melbourne (MEL) city from about 09:00 Monday 27 August till about 11am Monday 27 August
End point is Singapore SIN by about 8am Tuesday 28 August ..
Budget is up to about £2000 - but ideally less...(over about £1,100 comes out of my own pocket)
FLights over about 3hrs lie flat so can sleep (and I am recovering from broken pelvis..)
Many thanks
Start point is Seoul (GMP or ICN) no earlier than about 06:00 Saturday 25 August.
Need to be in Melbourne (MEL) city from about 09:00 Monday 27 August till about 11am Monday 27 August
End point is Singapore SIN by about 8am Tuesday 28 August ..
Budget is up to about £2000 - but ideally less...(over about £1,100 comes out of my own pocket)
FLights over about 3hrs lie flat so can sleep (and I am recovering from broken pelvis..)
Many thanks
Aug 7, 2018, 1:23 pm
#3217
Join Date: Aug 2018
Programs: BA GFL
Posts: 21
3,000 TPs in three months
UK based newbie, keen to obtain 3,000 TP before November, to unlock CGL Jokers, Ideas greatly appreciated
Aug 7, 2018, 1:29 pm
#3218
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,945
thats quite an ask for a short period of time. Can I check do you already have 2000TPs or are you already a GGL? To renew GGL and get they jokers you only need 3000 TPs, but to get GGL for the first time you need to get 5000 TPs.
Aug 7, 2018, 1:37 pm
#3219
Join Date: Aug 2018
Programs: BA GFL
Posts: 21
I know... that’s why I would appreciate some advice. I have 2000 TPs this year already.
I am GFL - but fed up of never being able to redeem Avios ever for my family of five in premium cabins. Figure with GGL will be able to do so - so worth some time on planes and cost.
I am GFL - but fed up of never being able to redeem Avios ever for my family of five in premium cabins. Figure with GGL will be able to do so - so worth some time on planes and cost.
Aug 7, 2018, 2:06 pm
#3220
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
Programs: AF/KL Life Plat, BA GGL+GfL, ALL Plat, Hilton Diam, Marriott Gold, blablablah, etc
Posts: 30,520
I know... that’s why I would appreciate some advice. I have 2000 TPs this year already.
I am GFL - but fed up of never being able to redeem Avios ever for my family of five in premium cabins. Figure with GGL will be able to do so - so worth some time on planes and cost.
I am GFL - but fed up of never being able to redeem Avios ever for my family of five in premium cabins. Figure with GGL will be able to do so - so worth some time on planes and cost.
Aug 7, 2018, 2:19 pm
#3221
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BAEC GGL/CR; Hilton Diamond; Mucci des Puccis
Posts: 5,609
It's probably as difficult to find time to get the points as affording the flights. You'll need to be finding a lot of multiple hops long haul, and that eats a lot of holiday time. August is basically out now, so you have to do everything in September and October, assuming your TP year end is Nov 8th. Time has been my most difficult problem with my GGL quest, and I've been juggling a lot of days in lieu which I wouldn't ordinarily have bothered with. Realistically you'll need four reasonably high earning runs, so you'll need to get the bookings in. And no margin for error at all, one cancelled trip and you're high and dry and no time to do anything about it.
Personally, I'd say you'd do better to start next TP year. I assume you'll earn for work or whatever flying you used this year for the 2000 TP, so you can pick the rest off at your leisure and as decent runs turn up. You should also have access to PHX which is a great fare for maximising TP, I think it's not available in your 2018 year now unfortunately though I may be wrong.
Personally, I'd say you'd do better to start next TP year. I assume you'll earn for work or whatever flying you used this year for the 2000 TP, so you can pick the rest off at your leisure and as decent runs turn up. You should also have access to PHX which is a great fare for maximising TP, I think it's not available in your 2018 year now unfortunately though I may be wrong.
Aug 7, 2018, 2:20 pm
#3222
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold / OW Emerald
Posts: 753
I think that's more to do with the "family of five" part. 3000 TP should be had for 6k, and since it will give you a good chunk of avios as Gold, you could say the cost is around 5k.
Aug 7, 2018, 2:27 pm
#3223
Join Date: Aug 2018
Programs: British Airways
Posts: 4
Hey guys,
Have flown a ton without ever sticking with a loyalty program, but recently decided to stick with BA after my fourth trip to London this year. Looking for 320TP in 3 months (for silver) and am based in San Francisco. Don't really see any US domestic trips in the wiki up top, so am curious if earning TPs in the US is generally just less economical? I'm also making a trip to Queensland in mid October, but Qantas seems to be massively expensive outside of economy. Any general thoughts?
Thanks!
Have flown a ton without ever sticking with a loyalty program, but recently decided to stick with BA after my fourth trip to London this year. Looking for 320TP in 3 months (for silver) and am based in San Francisco. Don't really see any US domestic trips in the wiki up top, so am curious if earning TPs in the US is generally just less economical? I'm also making a trip to Queensland in mid October, but Qantas seems to be massively expensive outside of economy. Any general thoughts?
Thanks!
Aug 7, 2018, 2:31 pm
#3224
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 12,255
Welcome to Flyertalk flyingdoge
Currently LAS-PTY should sort you out easy enough enough? It’s cheap to position to LAS from SJC or SFO?
Have you got your four qualifying flights?
Currently LAS-PTY should sort you out easy enough enough? It’s cheap to position to LAS from SJC or SFO?
Have you got your four qualifying flights?
Aug 7, 2018, 2:43 pm
#3225
Join Date: Aug 2018
Programs: British Airways
Posts: 4
Yeah. I have more than enough flights on BA. Just no points! Will look into this later today. Thanks!!
Just no points! Will look into this later today. Thanks!!