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Old Jan 1, 2018, 5:20 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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
  • 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.

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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
Code:
3Feb 200TPs DUB-LHR-HEL/HEL-LHR all I class ba.com
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
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BA Tier Point Runs | 2018 master thread

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Old Jan 14, 2018, 6:13 am
  #391  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Programs: VA WP, NZ *A SG
Posts: 529
Originally Posted by leachster
btw, planes are a bit boring on all 4 legs, but I don't intend to be sober enough to care!
Boring?! Isnt HND an A350 destination? What plane types do you have.
smit0847 is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2018, 6:15 am
  #392  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Programs: VA WP, NZ *A SG
Posts: 529
Originally Posted by ExpatSomchai
Well just booked the following which may be of use to someone:

LHR (PE - upgrade to J with Avios) - MCT (First) - DOH (Buss) - BKK (Buss) - DOH (First) - MCT (PE) - LHR
Used Avios to drop the BA PE ticket down to £471
Upgrade additional tax £53 + 20000 Avios per ticket
QR MCT - BKK £616

Nets me 90 + 60 + 140 + 140 + 60 + 90 = 580 Tier Points for around £1100
Why not just book an ex-EU QR J fare to BKK? Similar TPs and GBP but less Avios required?
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Old Jan 14, 2018, 6:15 am
  #393  
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: BA Executive Club and OnBusiness
Posts: 721
OTP-LHR-LAX-PHX

Trying to book 30 MAR - 7 APR, Matrix finds the fares (£1,578) but Powertools gives an immediate error message (AA US/UK site) and falls over on page 2 (AA EU site); also fails to find the business class fares. It was working a couple of days ago - anyone else experiencing problems (or having success)?

Multicity booking on AA.COM prices up at over £7K
Ned1968 is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2018, 6:35 am
  #394  
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 84
Originally Posted by smit0847
Boring?! Isnt HND an A350 destination? What plane types do you have.
ho ho ho, you are correct, that's much better!
leachster is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2018, 6:47 am
  #395  
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Surrey, UK
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 484
Originally Posted by Ned1968
OTP-LHR-LAX-PHX

Trying to book 30 MAR - 7 APR, Matrix finds the fares (£1,578) but Powertools gives an immediate error message (AA US/UK site) and falls over on page 2 (AA EU site); also fails to find the business class fares. It was working a couple of days ago - anyone else experiencing problems (or having success)?

Multicity booking on AA.COM prices up at over £7K
I have a booking on hold that I did this morning 28/03 to 06/04 for the First Class TATL and Transcon. I used the info from google flights to do it on the aa UK site. Searched for as OTP-JFK, JFK-PHX, PHX-JFK, JFK-OTP using search by schedule with the appropriate times of day specified. Provided I chose the same flights as on my google flights result I got the same price of £1577. (I tried to make one little change and it put the price up by £1000).

I didn't mean to do this but, once again, it looks like I'll end up being led astray by people on here
Stez likes this.
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Old Jan 14, 2018, 6:51 am
  #396  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 251
Managed to price the following to HNL. I make it 1,240 TPs for £1,970. Was originally looking at GOT-HNL as noted upthread, but changing the outbound to AMS-HNL saved about £200 on these dates. Seems like quite good value to me.



woglet86 is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2018, 6:52 am
  #397  
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Cumbria
Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 4,510
Originally Posted by Ned1968
OTP-LHR-LAX-PHX

Trying to book 30 MAR - 7 APR, Matrix finds the fares (£1,578) but Powertools gives an immediate error message (AA US/UK site) and falls over on page 2 (AA EU site); also fails to find the business class fares. It was working a couple of days ago - anyone else experiencing problems (or having success)?

Multicity booking on AA.COM prices up at over £7K
Have you tried bookwithmatrix? Worked on my phone using safari. Prices in $ but can just call AA once on hold and they will give you the same price in £.
madfish is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2018, 7:10 am
  #398  
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 1,683
Originally Posted by woglet86
Managed to price the following to HNL. I make it 1,240 TPs for £1,970. Was originally looking at GOT-HNL as noted upthread, but changing the outbound to AMS-HNL saved about £200 on these dates. Seems like quite good value to me.
Flying half way round the world in First for under £2K - cracking value and then some, great find.
dougzz is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2018, 7:11 am
  #399  
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: BA Executive Club and OnBusiness
Posts: 721
Originally Posted by madfish


Have you tried bookwithmatrix? Worked on my phone using safari. Prices in $ but can just call AA once on hold and they will give you the same price in £.
Genius - got it on hold now. Thank you very much MADFISH, I'd forgotten that option.
Ned1968 is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2018, 7:17 am
  #400  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Taif, KSA
Programs: BA GGL, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,909

How much are stopovers on this itin?

Originally Posted by woglet86
Managed to price the following to HNL. I make it 1,240 TPs for £1,970. Was originally looking at GOT-HNL as noted upthread, but changing the outbound to AMS-HNL saved about £200 on these dates. Seems like quite good value to me.



Jamier45 is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2018, 7:22 am
  #401  
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 251
Originally Posted by Jamier45

How much are stopovers on this itin?


I'm not great at deciphering the fare rules but ITA has this.

Outbound
Fare 1: Carrier AA ILN8C1S4 AMS to HNL
Category 8: Stopover restrictions
UNLIMITED STOPOVERS PERMITTED IN EACH DIRECTION IN EUROPE
AT EUR 150.00 EACH.
CHILD/INFANT DISCOUNTS APPLY.
AND - UNLIMITED STOPOVERS PERMITTED IN EACH DIRECTION IN
THE UNITED STATES/CANADA/MEXICO AT EUR 600.00
EACH.
CHILD/INFANT DISCOUNTS APPLY.

Return
Fare 2: Carrier AA INX9T7S6 HNL to LCA
Category 8: Stopover restrictions
STOPOVERS NOT PERMITTED ON THE FARE COMPONENT.
woglet86 is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2018, 7:50 am
  #402  
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 762
Trip to Guangzhou and Auckland

Dear all,
I need to make a trip to Guangzhou and Auckland, preferably in Business given the distance. Specifically I would need to depart on the 20th Novemeber, stop in Guangzhou 21-25, then continue 25th to Auckland. The return trip would not include a stopover do diredt back home from Auckland on the 30th.
The options I see currently are as follows.
1. 20th: OSL-LHR-HKG (will take a separate flight oer train to HKG-CAN on 20th). Then HKG-AKL on 25th. Finally AKL-OSL on 30th. I can price this on BA/Cathay for ~£2700. See https://goo.gl/flights/LWJmQ
2. 20th: OSL-CAN (will take train/plane after to HKG). Then redemption(?) HKG-AKL; Then AKL-OSL on 30th. I can price OSL-CAN/AKL-OSL for ~£1500 on Qatar in current sale (but I need to add in HKL-AKL and this seems expensive even for redemptions and depends on availability..).
Have I missed any options? I'm keen to optimise price and tier points if possible. I prefer all One World, my main programme is BAEC.
Thanks in advance for any comments / suggestions.
jameslon
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Old Jan 14, 2018, 7:58 am
  #403  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Effectively grounded
Programs: BA GGL for a little while longer
Posts: 844
Originally Posted by smit0847
Why not just book an ex-EU QR J fare to BKK? Similar TPs and GBP but less Avios required?
We had the same thought but in the end the way the flight dates fell in November we are LHR-MCT in CW for £511.31 a head + GUF2, then spending a couple of days in Muscat before taking QR to DOH and on to BKK for about £600 a head in F/J and not too horrible timings. On the way back a couple of weeks later, again the connection in DOH is not too horrible then we will have a night and a morning in Muscat before the lunchtime BA back to London.

We could have a had a more straightforward trip e.g. exAMS but this way we get to visit Muscat itself (a place we've never been to) and it gets rid of a GUF2 which had already been extended and was running out
OverTheHorizon is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2018, 8:09 am
  #404  
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Cumbria
Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 4,510
Originally Posted by Ned1968
Genius - got it on hold now. Thank you very much MADFISH, I'd forgotten that option.
MIght see you in PHX. Doing 31/3 to 5/4. Positioning on 30/3.
madfish is offline  
Old Jan 14, 2018, 8:42 am
  #405  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Silver, M&M, HHonors Gold
Posts: 1,223
Originally Posted by woglet86
Managed to price the following to HNL. I make it 1,240 TPs for £1,970. Was originally looking at GOT-HNL as noted upthread, but changing the outbound to AMS-HNL saved about £200 on these dates. Seems like quite good value to me.
Good find. Just spent hours finding availability for GOT-KOA, now will have to check out AMS. OK, AMS is good for HNL but not for KOA

Also, maybe someone could point me, how could I book flights by flights numbers or how to force AA website to do this. Previously when searching, was able to find GOT flight with overnight break at LHR but on AA website there are only combinations with same day GOT flights. AA website was best to find availability, ITA didn't show it. I think It will net 1200TP, tried LCA as departure point but then couldn't find availability.


Also my husband decided he may go, but all my flights are optimised for TP run, not quickest way to get to Hawaii. So now have a bit of dilemma how to play it ;-)

Last edited by Richmond_Surrey; Jan 14, 2018 at 9:18 am
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