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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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
#526
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: BCN
Programs: BA GGL, IB, LH, IHG Gold
Posts: 582
A) on BA for about GBP800 MXP-LHR-DEL in WT+ For 200 TPs or
B) on AY AGP-HEL-DEL for GBP 1160 in J for 560 TPs
Then followed by DEL-KUL-SYD-PER on MH and SYD-PER on QF for 990 GBP and 840 TPs
#527
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: The Garden of England
Programs: BA Silver AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 662
Well I've been threatening it for a while, been AA Plat for 20 years now but with a ex-AMS JNB/CPT, taking Mum to St Helena, and now an OTP-PHX F trip I'll be banging on the door of BAEC Gold in August.
For anyone looking at the OTP F fare, took me a while but I managed to get a 22 hour stop in LHR on the outbound to get the full First experience rather than the 1.5 hour that seems to be offered. Did anyone manage to get anything other than the 0830 OTP departure on the F fare?
Thanks.
Spike
For anyone looking at the OTP F fare, took me a while but I managed to get a 22 hour stop in LHR on the outbound to get the full First experience rather than the 1.5 hour that seems to be offered. Did anyone manage to get anything other than the 0830 OTP departure on the F fare?
Thanks.
Spike
#528
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Cumbria
Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 4,510
Well I've been threatening it for a while, been AA Plat for 20 years now but with a ex-AMS JNB/CPT, taking Mum to St Helena, and now an OTP-PHX F trip I'll be banging on the door of BAEC Gold in August.
For anyone looking at the OTP F fare, took me a while but I managed to get a 22 hour stop in LHR on the outbound to get the full First experience rather than the 1.5 hour that seems to be offered. Did anyone manage to get anything other than the 0830 OTP departure on the F fare?
Thanks.
Spike
For anyone looking at the OTP F fare, took me a while but I managed to get a 22 hour stop in LHR on the outbound to get the full First experience rather than the 1.5 hour that seems to be offered. Did anyone manage to get anything other than the 0830 OTP departure on the F fare?
Thanks.
Spike
#529
Join Date: Jun 2017
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 384
I have used the ITA Matrix and found a result for the OTP to PHX fare that works date and price wise.
However, when I put it into the AA website the price is considerably higher.
Why would that be?
Ignore me. I think it's because I didn't get one of the times right.
Or maybe not. Definitely not pricing the same.
However, when I put it into the AA website the price is considerably higher.
Why would that be?
Ignore me. I think it's because I didn't get one of the times right.
Or maybe not. Definitely not pricing the same.
Last edited by webstereo; Jan 19, 2018 at 4:34 am
#530
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,991
rather than manually trying to enter it in to aa.com which sounds like what you are doing, I would recommend using any of teh tools listed at the bottom of post 4 of this thread - I tend to use ITA powertools myself but others also use Book with matrix. Once it is priced on itamatrix these tools should just take your itinerary and transfer it straight in to aa.com ready for you to book and pay.
#531
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: LHR
Programs: BAEC GGL & CCR / QF LTG
Posts: 829
OTP - PHX Alternatives?
While I realise PHX is the cheapest, are there any other West Coast destinations via LAX that price out about the same, or a little higher? Not sure I am a fan of visiting PHX!
#532
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Cumbria
Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 4,510
#533
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,464
800 TPs - £1.89/TP
#534
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: London Town
Programs: BA Silver, AF Silver
Posts: 465
I must be doing it wrong, as I can't get prices for much below £2500 on any dates in Feb/March, originating in OTP, DUB, AMS or HEL, whether going to LAX or any other west coast-ish end destination. Any advice as to a tool that will take my routing and preferred dates, and show me prices over several different days? Using Google Flights is an endless and frustrating process of tweaking the dates of every leg with no indication of when or by how much prices will change. Help!!!
#535
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,464
I must be doing it wrong, as I can't get prices for much below £2500 on any dates in Feb/March, originating in OTP, DUB, AMS or HEL, whether going to LAX or any other west coast-ish end destination. Any advice as to a tool that will take my routing and preferred dates, and show me prices over several different days? Using Google Flights is an endless and frustrating process of tweaking the dates of every leg with no indication of when or by how much prices will change. Help!!!
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29240873-post36.html
#536
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: BHX
Programs: BA GGL CCR GfL, SQ Gold, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond, Marriott Plat, Cafe Nero Loyalty Card (7 Stamps)
Posts: 7,335
Can anyone help me out with a decent priced way to get to LAS (usual LAX, SFO, etc. are also fine) next September, but flying back from an East cost airport (PHL, ATL, NYC, etc.)?
The ARN/GOT fare seems to couple with a PHL-MAN return in J for around £1650 - but that's not an amazing price.
Additionally, something allowing stopovers on the East coast would work (jump off at NYC for a few days, for example) on the return, but I can't find much like that either.
Anyone got anything up their sleeve?
Oh, and whilst I know it's sacrilege on this thread - most direct routing will win on this occasion.
The ARN/GOT fare seems to couple with a PHL-MAN return in J for around £1650 - but that's not an amazing price.
Additionally, something allowing stopovers on the East coast would work (jump off at NYC for a few days, for example) on the return, but I can't find much like that either.
Anyone got anything up their sleeve?
Oh, and whilst I know it's sacrilege on this thread - most direct routing will win on this occasion.
#537
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.
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.
I ended up finding First availability LHR - JFK - LAX return, as below, for an extra £276.36 more than Business. 1000TP in total. As a point of reference, the above worked fine and as they were all AA flight numbers, could place on hold and then call up without having to read out flight numbers and fare classes. The address given for the voucher was:
American Airlines
7th Floor The Plaza
100 Old Hall Street
Liverpool
L3 9QJ
Last edited by Jase76; Jan 19, 2018 at 7:34 am
#538
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: London Town
Programs: BA Silver, AF Silver
Posts: 465
Apologies if this is another stupid question - I've read the wiki and I think I know the answer, but just checking.
A cheap way to get close to my 600 TPs would seem to be QR TUN-DOH-JNB-DOH-TUN with positioning. It's less than £1200 for 560 TPs. I can't book in on BA.com as BA don't fly to Tunis so it comes up as an error. However it can be booked on the QR site. Provided I give my Exec Club details when booking, as all the flights are on QR metal will I earn the 560 TPs as indicated?
A cheap way to get close to my 600 TPs would seem to be QR TUN-DOH-JNB-DOH-TUN with positioning. It's less than £1200 for 560 TPs. I can't book in on BA.com as BA don't fly to Tunis so it comes up as an error. However it can be booked on the QR site. Provided I give my Exec Club details when booking, as all the flights are on QR metal will I earn the 560 TPs as indicated?
#539
Join Date: Mar 2017
Programs: BAEC Bronze
Posts: 388
Apologies if this is another stupid question - I've read the wiki and I think I know the answer, but just checking.
A cheap way to get close to my 600 TPs would seem to be QR TUN-DOH-JNB-DOH-TUN with positioning. It's less than £1200 for 560 TPs. I can't book in on BA.com as BA don't fly to Tunis so it comes up as an error. However it can be booked on the QR site. Provided I give my Exec Club details when booking, as all the flights are on QR metal will I earn the 560 TPs as indicated?
A cheap way to get close to my 600 TPs would seem to be QR TUN-DOH-JNB-DOH-TUN with positioning. It's less than £1200 for 560 TPs. I can't book in on BA.com as BA don't fly to Tunis so it comes up as an error. However it can be booked on the QR site. Provided I give my Exec Club details when booking, as all the flights are on QR metal will I earn the 560 TPs as indicated?
#540
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BAEC GGL/CR; Hilton Diamond; Mucci des Puccis
Posts: 5,629
Apologies if this is another stupid question - I've read the wiki and I think I know the answer, but just checking.
A cheap way to get close to my 600 TPs would seem to be QR TUN-DOH-JNB-DOH-TUN with positioning. It's less than £1200 for 560 TPs. I can't book in on BA.com as BA don't fly to Tunis so it comes up as an error. However it can be booked on the QR site. Provided I give my Exec Club details when booking, as all the flights are on QR metal will I earn the 560 TPs as indicated?
A cheap way to get close to my 600 TPs would seem to be QR TUN-DOH-JNB-DOH-TUN with positioning. It's less than £1200 for 560 TPs. I can't book in on BA.com as BA don't fly to Tunis so it comes up as an error. However it can be booked on the QR site. Provided I give my Exec Club details when booking, as all the flights are on QR metal will I earn the 560 TPs as indicated?
For example:
https://www.google.co.uk/flights/#se...=ONEWORLD;eo=e
with this wrapped around it (noting for a couple of hundred more you can do it WT+ for the LHR to DOH leg)
https://www.google.co.uk/flights/#se...=ONEWORLD;eo=e
With one positioning flight to AMS you have 4 BA flights (even if you drop the last leg) plus more than 600 TP. Silver in one hit, lots of availability. DISCLAIMER: I haven't checked the practicality of connections.
Last edited by bisonrav; Jan 19, 2018 at 9:45 am