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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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
Print Wikipost

BA Tier Point Runs | 2018 master thread

Old Mar 17, 2018, 1:35 am
  #1501  
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Originally Posted by Lefly
I choose to route the inbound via LAX because I wanted to use the long layover to see a bit of the city, as this wasn't a TP run only but also a mini-vacation
I'll try your suggestion and see if A) I can make it work and B) the price drop is worth of skipping the LAX tour
Thank you!
Or if LAX is where you want to see, how about doing the route to and from PHX and adding in a separate booking for PHX/LAX/PHX?

Have not looked, but may also be worth checking out openjaw options.
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Old Mar 17, 2018, 1:49 am
  #1502  
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Originally Posted by Only1BD
Thanks for the reponses to my OTP-PHX query. In the end we have put together an interesting 1280 tier point Asian tour @1.70/TP (good value for travelling East I believe). So our November trip goes OSL-DOH-PEN-KUL-CGK-CMB-DXB returning back to ARN on QR (359 & 788), MH and UL, plus positioning to OSL and back from ARN.

Appreciate all the great ideas and wealth of assistance on here.
You may want to just double check your MH fare classes to ensure they're earners - I class for example, earns nothing.

M

Last edited by msm2000uk; Mar 17, 2018 at 2:22 am
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Old Mar 17, 2018, 1:57 am
  #1503  
 
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Originally Posted by madfish


Or if LAX is where you want to see, how about doing the route to and from PHX and adding in a separate booking for PHX/LAX/PHX?

Have not looked, but may also be worth checking out openjaw options.

Unfortunately open Jaws give me a price higher than the separate ticket to/from LAX. My idea was to arrive in PHX and take a side trip to LAS. Then using the layover on the PHX-OTP return to see also a bit of LAX, since I transited there at least 4 times and never had the chance to venture outside the airport area
Anyway, maybe I am doing something wrong, but the inbound option PHX-JFK-LHR-HEL-LHR-OTP on same dates comes with a difference of just 15/20 eur comparing the "original" routing.
Basically going through lax, one or two times doesn't matter, adds around 150 eur to the ticket price. Returning via MAD, or MXP, or even CDG lowers the price to 1640 eur, but of course loses other 40 TPs, for a total of "just" 960 TPs. I can live with that, of course, even if I liked the idea of trying AY on the TATL
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Old Mar 17, 2018, 2:21 am
  #1504  
 
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Originally Posted by thepowerbook
Is it possible to do this with a few days in HKG? I need to be there between 10-12th Dec. The fare works for this route and these dates, but not sure how I can get the stopover in HKG?
Yes I did this when I first moved out to HKG for work...

AMS-LHR-BKK-HKG in one go, 7 week stopover in HKG then HKG-LHR (LGW-AMS)

You cant book this online as BA.com wont price CX/KA (for BKK to HKG) - need to call
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Old Mar 17, 2018, 4:57 am
  #1505  
 
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Originally Posted by msm2000uk
You may want to just double check your MH fare classes to ensure they're earners - I class for example, earns nothing.

M
Thanks alot - I did that prior to booking and we are booked into Z class. Only I class sectors are UL which earn will TPs. QR is in R. Hopefully only potential non earners will be the positioning legs; yet to decide on those.
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Old Mar 17, 2018, 6:41 am
  #1506  
 
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My wife won't requalify for Silver this year - her year ends 8 July. She is wanting to visit her family in Kentucky in July (probably mid-end of the month) and is pretty happy to go a round about way ex-EU and multiple connections to either get it back in one swing, or close to it. Is there a way to make the OTP-PHX fare work, or something similar? This would be going into BNA/SDF ideally, but I guess ORD could work. When I looked recently ORD was a fair bit more than PHX. Any help/ideas would be great! Happy to use Avios to position to keep costs down.
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Old Mar 17, 2018, 7:53 am
  #1507  
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Originally Posted by gustavmahler
My wife won't requalify for Silver this year - her year ends 8 July. She is wanting to visit her family in Kentucky in July (probably mid-end of the month) and is pretty happy to go a round about way ex-EU and multiple connections to either get it back in one swing, or close to it. Is there a way to make the OTP-PHX fare work, or something similar? This would be going into BNA/SDF ideally, but I guess ORD could work. When I looked recently ORD was a fair bit more than PHX. Any help/ideas would be great! Happy to use Avios to position to keep costs down.
Hi,

How close is she to Silver ( ie how many points does she need?) Also there should be a two week grace period ( ie if you phone up just after the 8th July and fly before 22nd July those tier points will be credited to the old year) which might be useful

Regards

TBS
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Old Mar 17, 2018, 8:12 am
  #1508  
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
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0 at the moment, so she will need to start again. All her travel has been on Avios this year. However some Y work travel is likely to kick in again in September.
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Old Mar 17, 2018, 8:29 am
  #1509  
 
Join Date: Jul 2012
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Originally Posted by gustavmahler
0 at the moment, so she will need to start again. All her travel has been on Avios this year. However some Y work travel is likely to kick in again in September.
I dont know how much time she has to kill, but in that situation Id be tempted to shoot for Gold for almost 2 years: 1) let Silver expire, as shed still have the Silver benefits until the end of August; 2) use a TP-optimised OTP-PHX fare in mid-July to kick straight up to >1000 TP; 3) tag on the domestic US sectors to the end of that to get her where she actually wants to go (if possible, racking up some more business class TPs en route) - ending up at perhaps 1200 TP before the work Y travel kicks in. If shes really keen she could even fit in a short TP run in the US while shes there...

But even if she doesnt, that just leaves a few nice weekend trips for the two of you, or a short European TP run,and she could have Gold from sometime in autumn this year until summer 2020...
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Old Mar 17, 2018, 8:30 am
  #1510  
 
Join Date: Nov 2015
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Originally Posted by gustavmahler
My wife won't requalify for Silver this year - her year ends 8 July. She is wanting to visit her family in Kentucky in July (probably mid-end of the month) and is pretty happy to go a round about way ex-EU and multiple connections to either get it back in one swing, or close to it. Is there a way to make the OTP-PHX fare work, or something similar? This would be going into BNA/SDF ideally, but I guess ORD could work. When I looked recently ORD was a fair bit more than PHX. Any help/ideas would be great! Happy to use Avios to position to keep costs down.
I can see for 1765 via HEL on the way out, so looking at around 460TP. Adding HEL in the return to get to 560TP pushes it to around 2K. Not sure this is real TP run value.


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Old Mar 18, 2018, 9:40 am
  #1511  
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
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Am looking to book the OTP>PHX on a simple OTP-LHR-JFK-PHX routing to get me back to Silver BUT looking at AA Biz on the 737 I now realise why everyone is going to LAX before PHX to get the A321. So my question : Are all AA 737s fitted this way with just the larger recliner chairs ? Theres not even IFE !

LHR-PHL-PHX gets me on an AA321 for 5 hours which would be next option I guess. I do want to arrive PHX early evening to make a night of it so dont really want to go via LAX.The AA A321 v B738 is a much better product right ??

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Old Mar 18, 2018, 9:44 am
  #1512  
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Originally Posted by THEOBCMAN
Am looking to book the OTP>PHX on a simple OTP-LHR-JFK-PHX routing to get me back to Silver BUT looking at AA Biz on the 737 I now realise why everyone is going to LAX before PHX to get the A321. So my question : Are all AA 737’s fitted this way with just the larger recliner chairs ? There’s not even IFE !

LHR-PHL-PHX gets me on an AA321 for 5 hours which would be next option I guess. I do want to arrive PHX early evening to make a night of it so don’t really want to go via LAX.



Although AA have a number of A321 aircraft the only three class ones operate on JFK to LAX/SFO and not on other routes. (Although occasionally on JFK/BOS but cannot be relied upon.)

If you want the Transcon A321 you will need to go via LAX.

If TPs are not that important how about OTP/LHR/LAX/PHX for 520TPs


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Old Mar 18, 2018, 9:51 am
  #1513  
 
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YES thanks madfish that routing via LAX will work for me. Cheers- back to the matrix !
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Old Mar 18, 2018, 11:08 am
  #1514  
 
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Originally Posted by madfish
Although AA have a number of A321 aircraft the only three class ones operate on JFK to LAX/SFO and not on other routes. (Although occasionally on JFK/BOS but cannot be relied upon.)

If you want the Transcon A321 you will need to go via LAX.

If TPs are not that important how about OTP/LHR/LAX/PHX for 520TPs
Via SFO should works too
I am just toying with that route for my OTP-PHX trip, since I've never been or transited there.
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Old Mar 18, 2018, 11:29 am
  #1515  
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Originally Posted by Lefly
I'm working on the OTP-PHX deal trying to maximize TPs earning.
So far this is the higher I could get, though I was unable to add any other connection between PHL and PHX without the price going quite up.
I was wondering if can be better optimized? Thanks!

Just a word of warning - don't even try to travel through JFK to LAX on July 3, all transcons are cancelled after 15.00 as also the morning flights on July 4. I was rebooked to the direct flight JFK-PHX on a 737 but wanted to keep transcon as I managed to grab the F seat (and TPs) before that was enhanced away, otherwise losing 70+40 TPs. After an offer to stay overnight in NYC, I was rebooked to the first westbound flight the next day at 10.00.

Actually anticipating a mini TPrun from NYC, there were hardly any domestic flights, maybe the Americans celebrate the night before the National Day?
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