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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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
#571
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,464
It appears the OTP-PHX F fare is getting more popular, so I'll just put an example itinerary here to give some inspiration for some quick turnaround trips. Plenty of other options available, but I selected an AA F TATL sector instead of BA for the outbound, then the day time flight for JFK-LHR which is generally a decent experience, although I personally prefer an overnight. But plenty of options to try different things.
~£1,541 for 1,080 TPs - approx £1.43/TP
Happy to help if you need support searching/booking
~£1,541 for 1,080 TPs - approx £1.43/TP
Happy to help if you need support searching/booking
#572
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: British airways
Posts: 1
Hi, looking to book a big tier point run to get me as close to gold as possible for later this year. Is it possible to book these runs as a holiday so that a deposit is payable only? Such as with BA?
#574
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Berkshire / London
Programs: BAEC Gold, Nandos
Posts: 1,011
It appears the OTP-PHX F fare is getting more popular, so I'll just put an example itinerary here to give some inspiration for some quick turnaround trips. Plenty of other options available, but I selected an AA F TATL sector instead of BA for the outbound, then the day time flight for JFK-LHR which is generally a decent experience, although I personally prefer an overnight. But plenty of options to try different things.
~£1,541 for 1,080 TPs - approx £1.43/TP
Happy to help if you need support searching/booking
~£1,541 for 1,080 TPs - approx £1.43/TP
Happy to help if you need support searching/booking
#575
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Sapporo, Japan
Programs: Junior Jet Club, Nando's Card 1 Red Chilli, Tesco Clubcard, BAEC Gold, TK M&S Elite
Posts: 520
It appears the OTP-PHX F fare is getting more popular, so I'll just put an example itinerary here to give some inspiration for some quick turnaround trips. Plenty of other options available, but I selected an AA F TATL sector instead of BA for the outbound, then the day time flight for JFK-LHR which is generally a decent experience, although I personally prefer an overnight. But plenty of options to try different things.
~£1,541 for 1,080 TPs - approx £1.43/TP
(snip)
Happy to help if you need support searching/booking
~£1,541 for 1,080 TPs - approx £1.43/TP
(snip)
Happy to help if you need support searching/booking
#576
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Cumbria
Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 4,510
I appreciate that there are already hundreds of posts on this thread but around 75% are about this fare. Included are lots of examples of the search criteria you need to use on with ita matrix. There is also information about the fare rules etc. Reading through this will pay for itself.
If you have some idea of dates then you might get a more specific answer. Good luck.
#577
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Sapporo, Japan
Programs: Junior Jet Club, Nando's Card 1 Red Chilli, Tesco Clubcard, BAEC Gold, TK M&S Elite
Posts: 520
Ita matrix is a good starting point. Once you have found the flights and the fare you want then you can start looking to book via the airline.
I appreciate that there are already hundreds of posts on this thread but around 75% are about this fare. Included are lots of examples of the search criteria you need to use on with ita matrix. There is also information about the fare rules etc. Reading through this will pay for itself.
If you have some idea of dates then you might get a more specific answer. Good luck.
I appreciate that all that information is on here, but as a first glance and with a few searches I didn't really find a starting point.
Thanks for your help. My dates are November actually, so a while away.
#578
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Cumbria
Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 4,510
Actually, that's perfect. I hadn't heard of the ITA Matrix, and was looking for that exact journey so I could see how it all works to get familiar with the tools. My next step is to start plugging in the dates I want. 5 minutes on the matrix gave me £1789 for the August dates, which is much better than the £5000 I had found looking on the AA website.
I appreciate that all that information is on here, but as a first glance and with a few searches I didn't really find a starting point.
Thanks for your help. My dates are November actually, so a while away.
I appreciate that all that information is on here, but as a first glance and with a few searches I didn't really find a starting point.
Thanks for your help. My dates are November actually, so a while away.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29317183-post568.html
#579
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Sapporo, Japan
Programs: Junior Jet Club, Nando's Card 1 Red Chilli, Tesco Clubcard, BAEC Gold, TK M&S Elite
Posts: 520
It is a bit of a mountain of information but it really is worth looking through even if you just focus on those that show the screenshots of matrix. Ross posted recently that the fare is restricted to certain dates. Not sure if he was referring to just the F version of the route or the one in J as well. If the latter then you may well be out of luck finding this fare for your dates. Although sometimes these fares donoffercdrvent availability around Thanksgiving.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29317183-post568.html
I managed to find this:
It's on BA rather than AA for most of it, although there was the option for AA operated by BA for a £40 less. I guess having the flights operated by BA helps me with the 4 flights on BA metal for Gold?
Last edited by flyuk; Jan 21, 2018 at 12:57 am
#580
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,464
It is a bit of a mountain of information but it really is worth looking through even if you just focus on those that show the screenshots of matrix. Ross posted recently that the fare is restricted to certain dates. Not sure if he was referring to just the F version of the route or the one in J as well. If the latter then you may well be out of luck finding this fare for your dates. Although sometimes these fares donoffercdrvent availability around Thanksgiving.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29317183-post568.html
PERMITTED 01JUL THROUGH 31AUG OR 22NOV THROUGH 30NOV
OR 18DEC THROUGH 02JAN OR 27MAR THROUGH 11APR FOR EACH
TRANSATLANTIC SECTOR. SEASON IS BASED ON TRIP DATE.
OR 18DEC THROUGH 02JAN OR 27MAR THROUGH 11APR FOR EACH
TRANSATLANTIC SECTOR. SEASON IS BASED ON TRIP DATE.
VALID FOR TRAVEL COMMENCING ON/BEFORE 31AUG18.
#581
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: ORD
Programs: BA, AA, SQ, UA, AC, WS, MR TIT
Posts: 8,659
What other dates than August this fare can be used to fly with?
#582
#583
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,464
Um...available in the port directly above yours:
PERMITTED 01JUL THROUGH 31AUG OR 22NOV THROUGH 30NOV
OR 18DEC THROUGH 02JAN OR 27MAR THROUGH 11APR FOR EACH
TRANSATLANTIC SECTOR. SEASON IS BASED ON TRIP DATE.
OR 18DEC THROUGH 02JAN OR 27MAR THROUGH 11APR FOR EACH
TRANSATLANTIC SECTOR. SEASON IS BASED ON TRIP DATE.
VALID FOR TRAVEL COMMENCING ON/BEFORE 31AUG18.
#585
Join Date: Aug 2015
Programs: BA Gold/ Star Alliance Gold
Posts: 401
HI all,
I have looked around with the low fare finder and also via matrix, but the best I found was way over 100 GBP.
I am looking for 20TPs and would like to achieve this with a B2B best before Feb 10, although my earning year only ends in Mar.
What would you suggest for the best price to achieve these missing 20 TPs?
I could only find cheap seats in G and O class. Any chance to force this into one of the higher classes and still go with a cheap HBO fare?
I have looked around with the low fare finder and also via matrix, but the best I found was way over 100 GBP.
I am looking for 20TPs and would like to achieve this with a B2B best before Feb 10, although my earning year only ends in Mar.
What would you suggest for the best price to achieve these missing 20 TPs?
I could only find cheap seats in G and O class. Any chance to force this into one of the higher classes and still go with a cheap HBO fare?