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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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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 Mar 4, 2018, 7:27 am
  #1321  
 
Join Date: May 2012
Programs: BA Gold, HHonors Diamond, IHG Platinum, Senior Railcard & Bus Pass
Posts: 983
Originally Posted by flyuk
I'm doing LHR-OTP-LHR-JFK-LAX-PHX-JFK-LHR-OTP-LHR leaving on the 23rd of November. 820 points only though, the first and last leg are in ET as I only need 800 TP.
I am doing LHR-OTP-LHR-HEL-JFK-LAX-PHX-JFK-LHR-OTP-LHR, arriving PHX on 22nd Nov and leaving 26th. We might bump into each other somewhere along the way! Are you planning to add your flight numbers and dates to the wiki of the Phoenix Do thread?
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Old Mar 4, 2018, 7:37 am
  #1322  
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Sapporo, Japan
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Posts: 520
Originally Posted by WickedStepMother


I am doing LHR-OTP-LHR-HEL-JFK-LAX-PHX-JFK-LHR-OTP-LHR, arriving PHX on 22nd Nov and leaving 26th. We might bump into each other somewhere along the way! Are you planning to add your flight numbers and dates to the wiki of the Phoenix Do thread?
Yup. I'm not 90 days old yet though, so I can't update the wiki.
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Old Mar 4, 2018, 7:48 am
  #1323  
 
Join Date: May 2012
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Posts: 983
Originally Posted by flyuk
Yup. I'm not 90 days old yet though, so I can't update the wiki.
PM me yours if you like and I will add them when I do mine. It won’t be for a few days though. Am in Singapore about to board a flight to Sydney.
flyuk likes this.
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Old Mar 4, 2018, 7:49 am
  #1324  
 
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
Originally Posted by WickedStepMother


PM me yours if you like and I will add them when I do mine. It won’t be for a few days though. Am in Singapore about to board a flight to Sydney.
Will do. Cheers!
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Old Mar 4, 2018, 11:33 am
  #1325  
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 7,464
Originally Posted by rossmacd
It is becoming very apparent that we have a number of ambitious TP runners, who in particular seem to be taking advantage of the OTP-PHX F or J fares (very widely discussed in this thread). One question I am getting many times over by PM is how can additional TPs be generated whilst in the US, and the obvious candidate of LAX-PTY comes to mind. I thought it would be wise to lay out some options for those wanting to make their trips into more lucrative runs.

The LAX-PTY is a well trudged route, with a varying number of AA sectors between the two points yielding different amounts of TPs. This itinerary will maximise the possible TP yield to 840 TPs over 16 sectors in ~3.5 days, for a grand total of £730, or £0.87/TP which is the cheapest possible at present.

Of course, you will have to position your self from PHX to LAX and back to start and finish this run (in full). This could be done with cash (more TPs) or a handful of Avios.

The optimum itinerary seems to be something like the following - giving plenty time on the Saturday morning to position to LAX (from PHX, in the case of the OTP-PHX runners) and time after the last sector to position back to PHX on the Tuesday evening (in preparation for the OTP-PHX runners to get back to PHX to start their return journey to OTP):



There are literally countless combinations to this fare, in order to maximise TPs, but I have tried to consolidate it into taking the least (but sensible) time possible. Only 2 overnights are required to complete this - one in PTY and the other in RDU. Note, there are plenty of ways to go in and out of PTY on the same day also, should you wish.

The search query for this routing is as follows (routing codes pasted below, since the input fields block the majority of important text):



(Copy/paste these into the respective search fields)

Outbound routing codes: AA LAS AA453 PHX AA2026 PHL AA2001 RDU AA657 CLT AA1887,AA2005 TPA,MCO AA2636,AA1061 MIA AA959
Outbound extension codes: MAXCONNECT 1000

Return routing codes: AA960 MIA AA1061 MCO AA727 CLT AA765 RDU AA4737,AA782,AA2001 PHL AA2022,AA793,AA659 PHX AA1888,AA5942,AA453,AA560 LAS,TUS,SFO AA2384,AA6037,AA1101,AA6007,AA131
Return extension codes: MAXCONNECT 1000

This gives plenty of different options on the return to choose your departure time from RDU (either early or later) and to route via either LAS, TUS or SFO towards the end of your journey. Also, you can have the option to spend the day in LAS on the way out, should you wish to hit the casinos for a few hours

Booking is best done by using ITA Powertools, porting your booking over to AA.com US version for easy payment (and seat selection). Other booking and payment options are in post 4 of this thread.

Happy to help those who need some support to take advantage of this fare
With the overnight schedule change butchering by AA, the information posted regarding the LAX-PTY fare needs to be updated. The above information is still valid, however, you will need to use the following routing codes in order to successfully search for something similar:

Outbound routing codes: AA501 LAS AA2143 PHX AA782,AA1658 PHL AA1710 RDU AA2647 CLT AA1380,AA1637 MCO,JAX,ATL,TPA AA4696,AA2807 MIA AA959
Outbound extension codes: MAXCONNECT 1000

Return routing codes: AA960 MIA AA1362,AA4696,AA2807 MCO,JAX,TPA AA561,AA1637,AA2479 CLT AA595 RDU AA2196 PHL AA474,AA1970 PHX AA2063 LAS AA2307
Return extension codes: MAXCONNECT 1000

This will achieve something like this:



Blue Skye, megaloman, l31g and 1 others like this.
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Old Mar 5, 2018, 2:42 am
  #1326  
formerly JackDann
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Northern Ireland
Posts: 1,647
I'm now just 10TP away from Silver, my year ends on the 8th. Does anyone know if I was to travel on the 8th whether than day would be included in the year?

Does anyone know if BA ever offer an extension on the year, as i'll certainly be travelling again within the next couple of weeks.
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Old Mar 5, 2018, 3:09 am
  #1327  
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Join Date: May 2014
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Posts: 12,236
You can request a two week extension for tier level, but not for "bonuses" such as GUFs etc
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Old Mar 5, 2018, 3:11 am
  #1328  
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
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Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,887
Originally Posted by JackDann
I'm now just 10TP away from Silver, my year ends on the 8th. Does anyone know if I was to travel on the 8th whether than day would be included in the year?

Does anyone know if BA ever offer an extension on the year, as i'll certainly be travelling again within the next couple of weeks.
flights scheduled to depart up to midnight on 8th will count to the current year, flight scheduled to depart from midnight onwards on 9th will count to the next membership year.
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Old Mar 5, 2018, 3:20 am
  #1329  
formerly JackDann
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Northern Ireland
Posts: 1,647
Originally Posted by mikeyfly
You can request a two week extension for tier level, but not for "bonuses" such as GUFs etc
From my research on here, it seems that the extension can be applied After you have travelled again within the 2 weeks from the year end. I'll be doing 4 flights to Spain and back next week which would take me over the line so it would be helpful if I could do that.
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Old Mar 5, 2018, 4:19 am
  #1330  
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: BA Bronze, Hilton Gold, IHG Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 454
Can I get a reminder of how many TP's LAX-PTY offers?

840TP's get's me a GUF2, which I'd value at more than a £765 add-on to my next US trip.
rossmacd likes this.
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Old Mar 5, 2018, 4:26 am
  #1331  
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: BA GGL, A3*G, Mucci de l'expertise des Apps
Posts: 3,363
Originally Posted by ianwall
Can I get a reminder of how many TP's LAX-PTY offers?

840TP's get's me a GUF2, which I'd value at more than a £765 add-on to my next US trip.
840 is the absolute max using all 16 segments allowed, 14x40 + 2x140.
rossmacd likes this.
Airprox is offline  
Old Mar 5, 2018, 6:01 am
  #1332  
 
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: BA GGL, CR
Posts: 193
Happy to try the Bucharest - phx route either or both of the July weekends my wife and kids are away (21/22 July) and (28/29 July), but when I try and put that into Matrix KI only get one or two stops. I've never used the tool before, how do I get all the great routes people have managed?
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Old Mar 5, 2018, 6:39 am
  #1333  
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Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: ±38,000 feet
Programs: LH HON, BA GGL, AF Plat, EK Plat
Posts: 6,426
Originally Posted by Airprox
840 is the absolute max using all 16 segments allowed, 14x40 + 2x140.
no it’s not. I am sorry but you can get more.
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Old Mar 5, 2018, 6:52 am
  #1334  
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: BA GGL, A3*G, Mucci de l'expertise des Apps
Posts: 3,363
Originally Posted by nufnuf77

no it’s not. I am sorry but you can get more.
How? 16 segments limit, 2 flights >2000 miles, everything else <2000 miles.

I suppose you could pay extra and book two one-ways giving you 16 segments in each direction for a return.
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Old Mar 5, 2018, 7:30 am
  #1335  
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Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: ±38,000 feet
Programs: LH HON, BA GGL, AF Plat, EK Plat
Posts: 6,426
Originally Posted by Airprox
How? 16 segments limit, 2 flights >2000 miles, everything else <2000 miles.

I suppose you could pay extra and book two one-ways giving you 16 segments in each direction for a return.
Correct. most of the one-ways are filed on this route at OR near half or return, so it would cost you about the same to do 32 segments.! Now this is a special TP territory that I operate in.
As an example, I recently booked a WTP BA ticket for long-haul travel that is below £1/TP, I will let you figure the rest
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