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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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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 1, 2018, 8:16 am
  #16  
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Originally Posted by PAX_fips
So much information to sift through and either I overlooked it or where is the mileage cutoff in CE to earn either 40 or 80TP? Roughly looking at the meter at the bottom this should be between 1250 and 1500mi?
thanks

well a quick answer is that there isn't a defined point. Between about 1000 and 1150 it's a bit mixed really, there are some 80 TP routes which are shorter that some 40 TP ones. I think in that range you just have to see what BA decided on a route by route basis. Above 1150 I think they are all 80 TP.
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Old Jan 1, 2018, 8:21 am
  #17  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Programs: BA Executive Club
Posts: 124
Happy Healthy New Year to all and thanks to those that work tirelessly to keep this thread running and up-to-date.
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Old Jan 1, 2018, 4:20 pm
  #18  
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: London
Programs: Newbie BA Gold
Posts: 570
Happy new year and thanks for all the efforts with the new thread!

Sorry but I was looking for some ideas yesterday just before the old thread got the axe, hope its ok to repost here:

Just finished the last of my booked travels, and am 210 TP short of gold, membership renewing on Mar 8th. I have feb half term which I want to book a family trip, and I could also do a separate quick trip to top up if required. Is there anything in the sale that would get me across the line in one go? We just did iceland otherwise that would get me a good distance there and not keen on malta at this time of year.

Was thinking something like LHR-MAD-SVQ plus another cheap CE return which gives 120+80 but that leaves me 10 TP short! Any ideas? I'm so close I'm really keen on getting gold!

teledude: unfortunately I don't think the missus would approve of MAN-LHR-MAD-SVQ as we live 15 mins away from LHR!
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Old Jan 1, 2018, 4:29 pm
  #19  
 
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Why not wait and see what if a QR sale brings?
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Old Jan 1, 2018, 4:46 pm
  #20  
 
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Excellent, and thanks for updating this invaluable thread and resource
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Old Jan 1, 2018, 5:51 pm
  #21  
 
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 128
It looks like the CAI-HNL fare, IRCME, is valid (again?). And it looks like four transfers are allowed, two in Europe, and two in the US (am I reading the rules right?). Presumably this would allow a routing of CAI-LHR-JFK-LAX/PHX-HNL (8x140TP=1120TP). But ITA Matrix will only give me CAI-LHR-LAX-HNL (840TP). Any idea why I can't route through NYC? There seems to be oodles of I inventory on all legs.

Per ExpertFlyer:
2 TRANSFERS PERMITTED IN EACH DIRECTION.
2 PERMITTED VIA AA/AB/AY/BA/HG/IB ONLY IN
EUROPE IN EACH DIRECTION.
AND - 2 TRANSFERS PERMITTED IN EACH DIRECTION.
1 PERMITTED BETWEEN AA/BA/IB AND B6 IN BOS/
JFK IN EACH DIRECTION
1 PERMITTED BETWEEN AA/BA/IB AND AS IN LAX/
PDX/SEA IN EACH DIRECTION
1 PERMITTED BETWEEN AA/BA/IB AND WS IN
CANADA IN EACH DIRECTION
1 PERMITTED BETWEEN AA/BA/IB AND HA IN
HAWAII IN EACH DIRECTION
2 PERMITTED VIA AA/BA/IB ONLY IN UNITED
STATES/CANADA IN EACH DIRECTION.
FARE BREAK SURFACE SECTORS NOT PERMITTED AND
EMBEDDED SURFACE SECTORS PERMITTED ON THE FARE
COMPONENT.


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Old Jan 1, 2018, 9:10 pm
  #22  
 
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: E14
Programs: BA GGL, Marriott, IHG, Sirius, Dusit, Thai, Virgin, Hyatt, BAA, AS, AA(both)
Posts: 1,240
Originally Posted by mhaines94108
It looks like the CAI-HNL fare, IRCME, is valid (again?). And it looks like four transfers are allowed, two in Europe, and two in the US (am I reading the rules right?). Presumably this would allow a routing of CAI-LHR-JFK-LAX/PHX-HNL (8x140TP=1120TP). But ITA Matrix will only give me CAI-LHR-LAX-HNL (840TP). Any idea why I can't route through NYC? There seems to be oodles of I inventory on all legs.

Per ExpertFlyer:
2 TRANSFERS PERMITTED IN EACH DIRECTION.
2 PERMITTED VIA AA/AB/AY/BA/HG/IB ONLY IN
EUROPE IN EACH DIRECTION.
AND - 2 TRANSFERS PERMITTED IN EACH DIRECTION.
1 PERMITTED BETWEEN AA/BA/IB AND B6 IN BOS/
JFK IN EACH DIRECTION
1 PERMITTED BETWEEN AA/BA/IB AND AS IN LAX/
PDX/SEA IN EACH DIRECTION
1 PERMITTED BETWEEN AA/BA/IB AND WS IN
CANADA IN EACH DIRECTION
1 PERMITTED BETWEEN AA/BA/IB AND HA IN
HAWAII IN EACH DIRECTION
2 PERMITTED VIA AA/BA/IB ONLY IN UNITED
STATES/CANADA IN EACH DIRECTION.
FARE BREAK SURFACE SECTORS NOT PERMITTED AND
EMBEDDED SURFACE SECTORS PERMITTED ON THE FARE
COMPONENT.


It was refilled on the 1st November with this nasty addendum added into the fare rules AND
IF THE FARE COMPONENT INCLUDES TRAVEL WITHIN THE UNITED
STATES
THEN THAT TRAVEL MUST BE ON
ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING
ANY BA FLIGHT
ANY IB FLIGHT
ANY AS FLIGHT
ANY HA FLIGHT.
AND
IF THE FARE COMPONENT INCLUDES TRAVEL BETWEEN CANADA AND
THE UNITED STATES
THEN THAT TRAVEL MUST BE ON
ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING
ANY BA FLIGHT
ANY IB FLIGHT.
AND
IF THE FARE COMPONENT INCLUDES TRAVEL BETWEEN HAWAII AND
CONTIGUOUS U.S.A./ALASKA
THEN THAT TRAVEL MUST BE ON
ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING
ANY BA FLIGHT
ANY IB FLIGHT.
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Old Jan 2, 2018, 2:07 am
  #23  
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 561
I'm not doing a TP run as such but I thought this was the best place to post the two questions I have...

I used to be able to price up multi city itineraries fairly accurately on AA. Now however it seems to give me a load of nonsense especially ex-EU itineraries where it creates multi-leg journeys from the EU start to LHR. Has anyone found a way of avoiding this or getting it to price stuff accurately?

Second question, if you wanted the least risky option in a journey beginning at BRU, would you consider back-to-back, flying out a day early or Eurostar a day early? Very interested to hear thoughts on this. It seems fairly clear in my own mind, but a bit of sense checking never hurts!

TIA
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Old Jan 2, 2018, 2:54 am
  #24  
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BAEC GGL/CR; Hilton Diamond; Mucci des Puccis
Posts: 5,609
Originally Posted by Quarky Quark
I'm not doing a TP run as such but I thought this was the best place to post the two questions I have...

I used to be able to price up multi city itineraries fairly accurately on AA. Now however it seems to give me a load of nonsense especially ex-EU itineraries where it creates multi-leg journeys from the EU start to LHR. Has anyone found a way of avoiding this or getting it to price stuff accurately?

Second question, if you wanted the least risky option in a journey beginning at BRU, would you consider back-to-back, flying out a day early or Eurostar a day early? Very interested to hear thoughts on this. It seems fairly clear in my own mind, but a bit of sense checking never hurts!

TIA
Least risk - fly out day early. Have a contingency plan in case the flight gets cancelled which may include a Eurostar booking (not difficult at short notice). I don't altogether trust B2B if I have an expensive itinerary depending on it, as things can go wrong outside the usual rules of the game. I care a lot less at the end of a trip.
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Old Jan 2, 2018, 4:58 am
  #25  
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 561
Originally Posted by bisonrav
Least risk - fly out day early. Have a contingency plan in case the flight gets cancelled which may include a Eurostar booking (not difficult at short notice). I don't altogether trust B2B if I have an expensive itinerary depending on it, as things can go wrong outside the usual rules of the game. I care a lot less at the end of a trip.
Agree re B2B unless it's something like BGO where you literally can't go wrong. However in my mind for ex-BRU getting the Eurostar out the day before seems the least risky, given that when things do go wrong, they go badly wrong and a day's grace wouldn't help. Obviously the chances of that are very minute, but it won't be much consolation all the same. Having almost had a horror story of my own (largely self-inflicted with a silly beginning to an ex-EU) I'm a bit more risk averse than normal.
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Old Jan 2, 2018, 5:32 am
  #26  
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Join Date: Apr 2012
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Posts: 42,966
Originally Posted by Quarky Quark
Agree re B2B unless it's something like BGO where you literally can't go wrong. However in my mind for ex-BRU getting the Eurostar out the day before seems the least risky, given that when things do go wrong, they go badly wrong and a day's grace wouldn't help. Obviously the chances of that are very minute, but it won't be much consolation all the same. Having almost had a horror story of my own (largely self-inflicted with a silly beginning to an ex-EU) I'm a bit more risk averse than normal.
BRU isn't of the AMS/BGO type, but tbh b2b there is fairly fool proof. You can either go up the ramp at the end of the jetbridge which delivers you right at the gate or if that's not open just go towards the end of the B pier and follow the transfer signs leading you off to the right and up to connections security. I wouldn't be concerned doing a b2b at BRU.
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Old Jan 2, 2018, 5:39 am
  #27  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: The North
Posts: 1,846
Originally Posted by benjai
Happy new year and thanks for all the efforts with the new thread!

Just finished the last of my booked travels, and am 210 TP short of gold, membership renewing on Mar 8th.
Goodness, benjai, you've rapidly ascended from the Silver you were on (or reaching?) when I had the pleasure of meeting you and your family last year Good luck in going for gold!
squawk is online now  
Old Jan 2, 2018, 5:58 am
  #28  
 
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: London
Programs: Newbie BA Gold
Posts: 570
Originally Posted by squawk
Goodness, benjai, you've rapidly ascended from the Silver you were on (or reaching?) when I had the pleasure of meeting you and your family last year Good luck in going for gold!
Haha I actually forgot to include my last flight so I now only have 170 TP to go, with the family trailing slightly behind with 260 left. Not sure I'll pull them across the line but I definitely want to get to gold now!
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Old Jan 2, 2018, 7:07 am
  #29  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,709
Thanks for sorting out again KARFA. May the gods bring many "really well priced fares" to us all in 2018
flashware is offline  
Old Jan 2, 2018, 7:27 am
  #30  
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Programs: IC Amb :-(, UA silver, BA Gold, SPG Plat, A-Club Plat, Marriott Plat
Posts: 913
Originally Posted by E14 26C
It was refilled on the 1st November with this nasty addendum added into the fare rules AND
IF THE FARE COMPONENT INCLUDES TRAVEL WITHIN THE UNITED
STATES
THEN THAT TRAVEL MUST BE ON
ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING
ANY BA FLIGHT
ANY IB FLIGHT
ANY AS FLIGHT
ANY HA FLIGHT.
AND
IF THE FARE COMPONENT INCLUDES TRAVEL BETWEEN CANADA AND
THE UNITED STATES
THEN THAT TRAVEL MUST BE ON
ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING
ANY BA FLIGHT
ANY IB FLIGHT.
AND
IF THE FARE COMPONENT INCLUDES TRAVEL BETWEEN HAWAII AND
CONTIGUOUS U.S.A./ALASKA
THEN THAT TRAVEL MUST BE ON
ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING
ANY BA FLIGHT
ANY IB FLIGHT.
Just to be clear, is it definitely impossible to book (for example) lhr-nyc-lax-hnl all on BA primes? Even if calling the Gold Line?

I know that one cannot get this to price using matrix, but can it be done at all?
catharsis is offline  


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