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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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 24, 2018, 10:43 am
#766
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Surrey, UK
Programs: BA GGL
Posts: 485
I think the OP was referring to the lounge at T5B at LHR. I think the lounge at OTP is smoking or has a smoking section.
https://www.sleepinginairports.net/e...est.htm#lounge
and would have have noticed.
Jan 24, 2018, 10:49 am
#767
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Cumbria
Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 4,510
Jan 24, 2018, 10:53 am
#768
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: London
Programs: BA GGL / GfL
Posts: 3,266
I second this -- do not try a B2B.
Depending on the day you arrive, ALG immigration could be completely full or empty (those twice-a-week MRS/NCE/BOD/LYS/etc seem to never depart or arrive at the same hour...), and the process to get someone to get your boarding pass/go through security is a 30-minute affair at the minimum.
Given that boarding for flights at ALG begins well before departure (I've seen gates open 2 hours before departure), it's best not to do a B2B there.
As a counterpoint though, first-hand experience says that airport officials are bribe-able, so you might be able to do something (under)-handed there...
Depending on the day you arrive, ALG immigration could be completely full or empty (those twice-a-week MRS/NCE/BOD/LYS/etc seem to never depart or arrive at the same hour...), and the process to get someone to get your boarding pass/go through security is a 30-minute affair at the minimum.
Given that boarding for flights at ALG begins well before departure (I've seen gates open 2 hours before departure), it's best not to do a B2B there.
As a counterpoint though, first-hand experience says that airport officials are bribe-able, so you might be able to do something (under)-handed there...
Btw - for anybody interested, I was able to get an ALG>LON>JFK>LAX>HNL>LAX>JFK>MAD>ALG to price up on AA.com for around £1,370 if anybody else wanted to test the limits of what can be earned on this routing from a TP perspective - that routing gets 960 which is around £1.42/TP - so not too bad and certainly offers a new starting point / new metal (IB) to the well worn HNL pathway.
Pilot37
Jan 24, 2018, 11:56 am
#769
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: WAS
Programs: BA Gold, HH
Posts: 673
I appreciate that context point. I see all these great TP runs, and then have to take into consideration gender/age as well as the usual logistics before jumping on them.
Jan 24, 2018, 1:26 pm
#771
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: Mucci, BAEC GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador, Stena Gold
Posts: 1,094
I need to book the positioning flights for my OTP-PHX run. The options involve getting there at 1700, or 0015, and then getting the morning rotation back to LHR
With my Risk Management hat on, is it better to get the earlier flight, in case the later flight is cancelled?
With my Risk Management hat on, is it better to get the earlier flight, in case the later flight is cancelled?
Jan 24, 2018, 1:35 pm
#772
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,464
I need to book the positioning flights for my OTP-PHX run. The options involve getting there at 1700, or 0015, and then getting the morning rotation back to LHR
With my Risk Management hat on, is it better to get the earlier flight, in case the later flight is cancelled?
With my Risk Management hat on, is it better to get the earlier flight, in case the later flight is cancelled?
This may give you a way of amending your ticket at LHR to remove the OTP-LHR sector, and just start from LHR (less TPs of course, but saves your ticket).
Jan 24, 2018, 1:36 pm
#773
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,997
I need to book the positioning flights for my OTP-PHX run. The options involve getting there at 1700, or 0015, and then getting the morning rotation back to LHR
With my Risk Management hat on, is it better to get the earlier flight, in case the later flight is cancelled?
With my Risk Management hat on, is it better to get the earlier flight, in case the later flight is cancelled?
Jan 24, 2018, 1:43 pm
#774
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: Mucci, BAEC GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador, Stena Gold
Posts: 1,094
Jan 24, 2018, 2:20 pm
#775
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Cumbria
Programs: BAEC GGL/CCR, Hilton Diamond, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 4,510
Jan 24, 2018, 3:55 pm
#776
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: BG
Programs: BAEC Silver, TK Elite, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 827
I have done the walk many times from the Vienna hotel and I would indeed and have done that walk late at night. You can see the hotel from the terminal entrance with the words Angelo written on the side in big letters. Walk straight out of the airport, on the footpath next to where the traffic is coming in. You then go across the motorway and it's on the other side of the road. They have a nice bar area which is open late for drinks too.
Last edited by englisha; Feb 5, 2018 at 1:11 pm Reason: corrected directions
Jan 24, 2018, 3:56 pm
#777
Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: UK
Posts: 10,161
Can anyone put together a good short haul tps run for me
starting and finishing in Edinburgh , guess London will 1st stop then onto 3 or 4 stops in Europe
i will have 5 days to do it so maybe spend 1 night in each
European stop off
thanks in advance
starting and finishing in Edinburgh , guess London will 1st stop then onto 3 or 4 stops in Europe
i will have 5 days to do it so maybe spend 1 night in each
European stop off
thanks in advance
Or even EDI-LHR-MAN return that weekend, (Sat-Sun) comes out at around £366. This would give you 160TP's. If you play around with ba.com and also try flight + hotel as that may give some savings too.
Jan 24, 2018, 4:35 pm
#778
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: LHR
Programs: Accor PLT,Thai Silver, HH Dia, SPG Titanium (LT Gold), Aegean Gold, BA Silver
Posts: 5,120
£450 gets you EDI - LHR - IST - LHR - EDI for 240 TPs
Jan 24, 2018, 4:45 pm
#779
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 833
Spent all evening refining my search - got my perfect itinerary, but when I got to the final booking screen in AA - I got this error message
The itinerary loaded up fine on the earlier screens with the correct price. Only got the error after I entered my passenger details
Anyone else have this problem?
The itinerary loaded up fine on the earlier screens with the correct price. Only got the error after I entered my passenger details
Anyone else have this problem?
Jan 24, 2018, 4:47 pm
#780
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 833
I need to book the positioning flights for my OTP-PHX run. The options involve getting there at 1700, or 0015, and then getting the morning rotation back to LHR
With my Risk Management hat on, is it better to get the earlier flight, in case the later flight is cancelled?
With my Risk Management hat on, is it better to get the earlier flight, in case the later flight is cancelled?