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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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
Jan 16, 2018, 3:54 pm
#466
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,951
I’ve priced up an OTP - PHX fare but it is too complex for ITA Matrix Power Tools to go through to the US/UK AA website and the EU ones don’t allow me to place a ticket on hold. I need to do this as I want to use a USD$100 voucher I have for service recovery.
Ive heard that if you call AA to book, they force the AA flight number and not the BA flight. Can anyon confirm this, obviously I’m keen to have BA flight numbers.
Jan 16, 2018, 4:14 pm
#467
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Dorset, UK
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 635
I’ve priced up an OTP - PHX fare but it is too complex for ITA Matrix Power Tools to go through to the US/UK AA website and the EU ones don’t allow me to place a ticket on hold. I need to do this as I want to use a USD$100 voucher I have for service recovery.
Ive heard that if you call AA to book, they force the AA flight number and not the BA flight. Can anyon confirm this, obviously I’m keen to have BA flight numbers.
Ive heard that if you call AA to book, they force the AA flight number and not the BA flight. Can anyon confirm this, obviously I’m keen to have BA flight numbers.
My understanding is that you cannot put an itinerary on hold unless it is entirely AA flight numbers - and I was under the impression that you can't use the voucher unless it's all AA flight numbers either.
Jan 16, 2018, 4:31 pm
#468
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: LHR
Programs: BAEC GGL & CCR / QF LTG
Posts: 829
Reservations containing one or more flights on airlines other than American Airlines or American Eagle must be purchased at time of booking.
Not sure why ITA Power Tools doesn't work. I'll continue to tinker and see if I can put it on hold on the UK site.
Jan 16, 2018, 4:36 pm
#469
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BAEC GGL/CR; Hilton Diamond; Mucci des Puccis
Posts: 5,609
By September? If that's the right date there's no hurry I guess? Should be no big deal, but there aren't all that many day trips that are TP efficient, typically you need one or two nights (e,g, BOD ). Another strategy is to do two B2B to somewhere like AMS straddling the TP boundary so you get 80 TP one year and 80 the next.
Jan 17, 2018, 2:11 am
#470
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Berkshire
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold, GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Accor Plat, Pucci Fan Club
Posts: 1,779
Yes, BookWithMatrix worked on the US AA site but no option to put on hold, although I am sure I have seen it before as an option. The website specifically says:
The voucher was actually posted to me and looks like something from the 1990's. No terms and conditions printed, or supplied.
Not sure why ITA Power Tools doesn't work. I'll continue to tinker and see if I can put it on hold on the UK site.
The voucher was actually posted to me and looks like something from the 1990's. No terms and conditions printed, or supplied.
Not sure why ITA Power Tools doesn't work. I'll continue to tinker and see if I can put it on hold on the UK site.
1. Plan your trip using ITA. Transfer the booking to AA.com. Keep it on the screen.
2. Ring up AA UK number. They will try and charge you a phone booking fee but just tell them you have a voucher that cannot be used online. They will waive the fee and build the trip for you over the phone manually.
3. AA will then knock off the voucher value from the trip and ask you to send the paper voucher to their Liverpool Office with your AA record locator on it.
4. AA won’t complete the booking until Liverpool receive the voucher in the post. It took a week to get my trip fully ticketed.
Bit of a faff but it did work. Good luck.
Jan 17, 2018, 2:17 am
#471
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: LHR
Programs: BAEC GGL & CCR / QF LTG
Posts: 829
I also received the $100 paper voucher due to the LAX catering issue in November. I’ve managed to redeem mine. This is what I did:-
1. Plan your trip using ITA. Transfer the booking to AA.com. Keep it on the screen.
2. Ring up AA UK number. They will try and charge you a phone booking fee but just tell them you have a voucher that cannot be used online. They will waive the fee and build the trip for you over the phone manually.
3. AA will then knock off the voucher value from the trip and ask you to send the paper voucher to their Liverpool Office with your AA record locator on it.
4. AA won’t complete the booking until Liverpool receive the voucher in the post. It took a week to get my trip fully ticketed.
Bit of a faff but it did work. Good luck.
1. Plan your trip using ITA. Transfer the booking to AA.com. Keep it on the screen.
2. Ring up AA UK number. They will try and charge you a phone booking fee but just tell them you have a voucher that cannot be used online. They will waive the fee and build the trip for you over the phone manually.
3. AA will then knock off the voucher value from the trip and ask you to send the paper voucher to their Liverpool Office with your AA record locator on it.
4. AA won’t complete the booking until Liverpool receive the voucher in the post. It took a week to get my trip fully ticketed.
Bit of a faff but it did work. Good luck.
Jan 17, 2018, 2:27 am
#472
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Berkshire
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold, GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Accor Plat, Pucci Fan Club
Posts: 1,779
Jan 17, 2018, 4:02 am
#473
Join Date: Mar 2015
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 2,447
You can force through AA bookings as if you're based in the States. I've done it before when in America by throwing in a local zip code. You're probably not meant to, but it can be done.
Jan 17, 2018, 4:30 am
#474
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Silver, HH Diamond, Avis President's Club
Posts: 1,219
BOD, BCN, LUX AND NCE are probably the best bets if you want a quickish turnaround and only 80TPs - somewhere in the £135-190 range and all nice places to spend a day or two.
Jan 17, 2018, 7:20 am
#475
Join Date: Jun 2017
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 383
Indeed, but just a reminder to the community that sometimes there is the option to go via SFO depending on timings and still benefit from the Transcon product (the SFO-PHX hop is of course a bit longer than the LAX-PHX).
Searching OTP-LHR-JFK-LAX/SFO-PHX-LAX/SFO-JFK-LHR-OTP can yield some interesting results, and sometimes opens up I class availabilities that may not be otherwise obvious.
Searching OTP-LHR-JFK-LAX/SFO-PHX-LAX/SFO-JFK-LHR-OTP can yield some interesting results, and sometimes opens up I class availabilities that may not be otherwise obvious.
I'm sure I saw an explanation somewhere and now for the life of me I cannot find it.
Jan 17, 2018, 7:32 am
#478
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,951
Jan 17, 2018, 7:37 am
#479
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: ORD
Programs: BA, AA, SQ, UA, AC, WS, MR TIT
Posts: 8,658
Why don't you make an additional 160 tier points by routing yourself from ARN to LHR via HEL @:-)
Jan 17, 2018, 7:39 am
#480
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 12,255