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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
Sep 12, 2018, 8:33 am
#3811
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,709
Just to add, there's no such thing as a good/cheap internal QF flight! Most of the way QF flyers get value is because they credit to QF and often have double TP promotions that make the prices a bit more bearable. SYD-AKL-SYD flying on LAN in J is a good option, otherwise there's often decent fares to NAN or NOU.
Sep 12, 2018, 8:35 am
#3812
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: LHR
Programs: BA Silver, IHG Gold Amb.
Posts: 159
If it were me i would look to upgrade the WT on the LHR SFO trip, purely because it would make it a nicer trip.
but double check on the TP for upgrades, as i dont think other airlines award TP for upgrades. (Finnair dont)
If you can make it work routing SFO to San Diego via something like MIA, it would give you decent TP with not a huge addition on time. (addition on time vs doing a separate weekend trip)
sorry, i dont have time to go on Matrix at the moment, but im sure someone else will be along soon.
but double check on the TP for upgrades, as i dont think other airlines award TP for upgrades. (Finnair dont)
If you can make it work routing SFO to San Diego via something like MIA, it would give you decent TP with not a huge addition on time. (addition on time vs doing a separate weekend trip)
sorry, i dont have time to go on Matrix at the moment, but im sure someone else will be along soon.
Last edited by holloway1000; Sep 12, 2018 at 8:42 am
Sep 12, 2018, 8:39 am
#3813
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Cheshire/Wiltshire/Berkshire
Programs: BA GGL FL, AA EXP, MR Titanium, HH Dia, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Spire, Melia Plat, Amex Centurion
Posts: 184
Be warned
Current rules for I class fares on LAX - PTY have a 2 connection restriction - if you want more than 2 connections - dig very deeply into your pockets! 
Sep 12, 2018, 8:40 am
#3814
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: London (sometimes!)
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, United 1K, Avis Presidents Club, Hilton Diamond, IHG Gold Elite
Posts: 158
I am enjoying a bit of a sabbatical, and its been great to burn a few avios whilst I relax. However, I think there could be a real danger of me not requalifying got Gold (I've accepted I will not get GGL this year!) and am currently deciding how much to panic about it.
As I use LHR quite a lot, having a gold card, and therefore use of the first wing, is a pretty useful perk. So if I go into full panic mode and decide to do a monster TP run for c.1350 TPs, whats the best advice? As I am on sabbatical, I don't mind positioning to an ex-EU airport, and frequently use DUB. I was thinking about a Hawaii trip, but didn't see any mentioned recently.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
As I use LHR quite a lot, having a gold card, and therefore use of the first wing, is a pretty useful perk. So if I go into full panic mode and decide to do a monster TP run for c.1350 TPs, whats the best advice? As I am on sabbatical, I don't mind positioning to an ex-EU airport, and frequently use DUB. I was thinking about a Hawaii trip, but didn't see any mentioned recently.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Sep 12, 2018, 12:18 pm
#3815
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: London
Programs: BA - Gold for Life, CCR & GGL; IC Spire Elite Ambassador; Diamond Hilton Honors; Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 6,720
The HEL fares do look good!
Any idea how far into 2019 they go? Thanks.
Any idea how far into 2019 they go? Thanks.
Sep 12, 2018, 12:25 pm
#3816
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: LON
Programs: Mucci, BAEC, Eurostar
Posts: 3,293
Sep 12, 2018, 8:46 pm
#3817
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: American EXP; British Airways Gold
Posts: 1,896
Same-Day Turn out of Heathrow
Will be in LHR on January 1, arriving from FCO at 13:10. Looking to make short round-trip flight out of Heathrow and back that same day, and will spend the night at LHR. Just need two more BA segments to qualify for Gold.
Can't make anything work on the BA website, like AMS or DUB or CDG. Does the BA website not take into consideration a passenger in transit who could make the quick turn?
Can't make anything work on the BA website, like AMS or DUB or CDG. Does the BA website not take into consideration a passenger in transit who could make the quick turn?
Sep 12, 2018, 9:46 pm
#3818
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BAEC GGL/CR; Hilton Diamond; Mucci des Puccis
Posts: 5,612
superseded
Last edited by bisonrav; Sep 12, 2018 at 10:03 pm
Sep 12, 2018, 10:01 pm
#3819
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BAEC GGL/CR; Hilton Diamond; Mucci des Puccis
Posts: 5,612
Sep 12, 2018, 10:07 pm
#3820
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BAEC GGL/CR; Hilton Diamond; Mucci des Puccis
Posts: 5,612
Or take the 1745 outbound and 2100 return as two separate B2B tickets.
Sep 13, 2018, 4:33 am
#3821
Join Date: May 2015
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 158
I need some inspiration. For some reason we want to go to Vanuatu next year, around march-april-may. Our dates are flexible. Now Vanuatu has two international airports, VLI and SON, with flights to/from Sydney, Honiara, Auckland, Brisbane, although quite a few of those are operated by Virgin Australia, so it might be the case that the final BNE/SYD-VLI/SON leg will be on a separate ticket.
LHR-BNE business starts at 2.6k non-oneworld, and 3.2k oneworld.
OSL-BNE seems to be the cheapest OW C ex-eu at 2.3k.
I also have a 2-4-1 to use and HKG/TYO/SIN all have availability, but onwards business class tickets are still expensive at 1.4k+, and this might make it 3 separate tickets.
Basically, I need routing / fare suggestions for business from LHR/EX-EU to VLI / SON / BNE / SYD. Thank you!
edited to add: (Funnily enough, the cheapest EX-EU in Economy appears to be LHR-SIN-BNE on Quantas for 680GBP, and there are virtually no OW fares in Y to Vanuatu proper)
LHR-BNE business starts at 2.6k non-oneworld, and 3.2k oneworld.
OSL-BNE seems to be the cheapest OW C ex-eu at 2.3k.
I also have a 2-4-1 to use and HKG/TYO/SIN all have availability, but onwards business class tickets are still expensive at 1.4k+, and this might make it 3 separate tickets.
Basically, I need routing / fare suggestions for business from LHR/EX-EU to VLI / SON / BNE / SYD. Thank you!
edited to add: (Funnily enough, the cheapest EX-EU in Economy appears to be LHR-SIN-BNE on Quantas for 680GBP, and there are virtually no OW fares in Y to Vanuatu proper)
Last edited by linz36; Sep 13, 2018 at 4:38 am
Sep 13, 2018, 7:19 am
#3822
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: LON
Programs: BA GFL, OW Gold, CX/MP Diamond, SPG Plat
Posts: 258
I need some inspiration. For some reason we want to go to Vanuatu next year, around march-april-may. Our dates are flexible. Now Vanuatu has two international airports, VLI and SON, with flights to/from Sydney, Honiara, Auckland, Brisbane, although quite a few of those are operated by Virgin Australia, so it might be the case that the final BNE/SYD-VLI/SON leg will be on a separate ticket.
LHR-BNE business starts at 2.6k non-oneworld, and 3.2k oneworld.
OSL-BNE seems to be the cheapest OW C ex-eu at 2.3k.
I also have a 2-4-1 to use and HKG/TYO/SIN all have availability, but onwards business class tickets are still expensive at 1.4k+, and this might make it 3 separate tickets.
Basically, I need routing / fare suggestions for business from LHR/EX-EU to VLI / SON / BNE / SYD. Thank you!
edited to add: (Funnily enough, the cheapest EX-EU in Economy appears to be LHR-SIN-BNE on Quantas for 680GBP, and there are virtually no OW fares in Y to Vanuatu proper)
LHR-BNE business starts at 2.6k non-oneworld, and 3.2k oneworld.
OSL-BNE seems to be the cheapest OW C ex-eu at 2.3k.
I also have a 2-4-1 to use and HKG/TYO/SIN all have availability, but onwards business class tickets are still expensive at 1.4k+, and this might make it 3 separate tickets.
Basically, I need routing / fare suggestions for business from LHR/EX-EU to VLI / SON / BNE / SYD. Thank you!
edited to add: (Funnily enough, the cheapest EX-EU in Economy appears to be LHR-SIN-BNE on Quantas for 680GBP, and there are virtually no OW fares in Y to Vanuatu proper)
Sep 13, 2018, 8:44 am
#3823
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Surrey
Programs: BA Gold, VS Gold, Eurostar CB, IHG Spire, Hilton Diamond, Bonvoy Titanium, Hertz President Circle
Posts: 435
Just booked JER-LGW / LHR-HEL-LHR for £258 but I'm expecting a £35 voucher from the updated Best Rate Guarantee against TravelUp, which will make the LGW-JER positioning flight £12. I'm exactly 205 TPs short of Silver so the £270 spend was enough to entice me into my first ever TP run!
Sep 13, 2018, 9:21 am
#3824
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold / OW Emerald
Posts: 753
I am enjoying a bit of a sabbatical, and its been great to burn a few avios whilst I relax. However, I think there could be a real danger of me not requalifying got Gold (I've accepted I will not get GGL this year!) and am currently deciding how much to panic about it.
As I use LHR quite a lot, having a gold card, and therefore use of the first wing, is a pretty useful perk. So if I go into full panic mode and decide to do a monster TP run for c.1350 TPs, whats the best advice? As I am on sabbatical, I don't mind positioning to an ex-EU airport, and frequently use DUB. I was thinking about a Hawaii trip, but didn't see any mentioned recently.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
As I use LHR quite a lot, having a gold card, and therefore use of the first wing, is a pretty useful perk. So if I go into full panic mode and decide to do a monster TP run for c.1350 TPs, whats the best advice? As I am on sabbatical, I don't mind positioning to an ex-EU airport, and frequently use DUB. I was thinking about a Hawaii trip, but didn't see any mentioned recently.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
If you need over 1000 tier points, you could think about re-qualify during the "grace period" of about 8 weeks where your status is still valid but you are already into your next tier point collection year. If not, you have to weigh whether you have somewhere to be before that date, and whether a TP run there would make sense.
As far as TP runs go, if you are based in London there is LHR-DME-LHR-JFK-LAX-HNL currently to be had for ~2.3k I would think. That's at least 1160TP, and more if you position in Club. That's a good one to do in one trip and you'll need 340 more TP which is doable if you need to go somewhere on a business class flight in the same two months, or you can also do those 340TP within Europe.
For my part, I think I will be paying a bit more, and re-qualifying every year, and just upgrade / re-route my long haul flights (3-4 of those each year) to be TP runs. Do as you like
Sep 13, 2018, 11:07 am
#3825
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: West Sussex, UK
Programs: BAEC Gold (11/Dec/18)
Posts: 262
240TP for JER - MLA in J in the sale fares. £1.33/TP, I'm tempted. Sorry but I can't put it into the Wiki as I've not posted enough (too many years of lurking!)
