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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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
May 23, 2018, 3:23 am
#2431
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA GGL, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 910
For transiting it's quite straightforward and I think there's been some comments on here. When you get to passport control you tell them that you are in transit and they will escort you through a check back into departures. There may be some questioning, especially as you're departing back to your origin point which did raise a few eyebrows but all was fine.
May 23, 2018, 3:37 am
#2432
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: BHX
Programs: BA GGL CCR GfL, SQ Gold, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond, Marriott Plat, Cafe Nero Loyalty Card (7 Stamps)
Posts: 7,328
May 23, 2018, 3:44 am
#2433
Join Date: May 2018
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 12
A B2B is pretty safe as you will have arrived on the departing aircraft (of course).
For transiting it's quite straightforward and I think there's been some comments on here. When you get to passport control you tell them that you are in transit and they will escort you through a check back into departures. There may be some questioning, especially as you're departing back to your origin point which did raise a few eyebrows but all was fine.
For transiting it's quite straightforward and I think there's been some comments on here. When you get to passport control you tell them that you are in transit and they will escort you through a check back into departures. There may be some questioning, especially as you're departing back to your origin point which did raise a few eyebrows but all was fine.
May 23, 2018, 3:51 am
#2434
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: BHX
Programs: BA GGL CCR GfL, SQ Gold, Hyatt Glob, HH Diamond, Marriott Plat, Cafe Nero Loyalty Card (7 Stamps)
Posts: 7,328
No-one cares. They don't allow it on a return ticket because you don't meet the MCT at the airport. On separate tickets, no-one is interested (assuming you're not flying somewhere that requires a visa).
May 23, 2018, 3:53 am
#2435
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
May 23, 2018, 4:22 am
#2436
Join Date: May 2014
Location: BRU
Programs: BA GGL, TK E (*G), ITA exec
Posts: 4,093
A B2B is pretty safe as you will have arrived on the departing aircraft (of course).
For transiting it's quite straightforward and I think there's been some comments on here. When you get to passport control you tell them that you are in transit and they will escort you through a check back into departures. There may be some questioning, especially as you're departing back to your origin point which did raise a few eyebrows but all was fine.
For transiting it's quite straightforward and I think there's been some comments on here. When you get to passport control you tell them that you are in transit and they will escort you through a check back into departures. There may be some questioning, especially as you're departing back to your origin point which did raise a few eyebrows but all was fine.
(going July)
May 23, 2018, 5:25 am
#2437
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Glasgow, UK
Programs: Seigneur des Tarifs Utils First Class Mucci with Honours :) - BA GGL / CCR
Posts: 1,551
To add to this and so you dont end up in the same situation as others a variation on this is spotted and managed strictly by a few airlines.
BA isnt one of them and neither is AA but nesting tickets is a no no on Malaysian for example, They refer to it as taking flights "out of sequence". an example is to get around minimum stay requirements one could book PEN - KUL - KTM r/t and then KTM - KUL - PEN r/t on a separate ticket to get the back to back to work, I have seen multiple horror stories of MH cancelling all the remaining tickets for flying them out of sequence, .however BA and AA don't really care. MH however detect it and enforce it. Not relevant to you in this case but something definitely worth knowing
May 23, 2018, 5:35 am
#2438
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
To add to this and so you dont end up in the same situation as others a variation on this is spotted and managed strictly by a few airlines.
BA isnt one of them and neither is AA but nesting tickets is a no no on Malaysian for example, They refer to it as taking flights "out of sequence". an example is to get around minimum stay requirements one could book PEN - KUL - KTM r/t and then KTM - KUL - PEN r/t on a separate ticket to get the back to back to work, I have seen multiple horror stories of MH cancelling all the remaining tickets for flying them out of sequence, .however BA and AA don't really care. MH however detect it and enforce it. Not relevant to you in this case but something definitely worth knowing
BA isnt one of them and neither is AA but nesting tickets is a no no on Malaysian for example, They refer to it as taking flights "out of sequence". an example is to get around minimum stay requirements one could book PEN - KUL - KTM r/t and then KTM - KUL - PEN r/t on a separate ticket to get the back to back to work, I have seen multiple horror stories of MH cancelling all the remaining tickets for flying them out of sequence, .however BA and AA don't really care. MH however detect it and enforce it. Not relevant to you in this case but something definitely worth knowing
MH let me book NRT-KUL-DPS-KUL-NRT and DPS-KUL-LGK-KUL-DPS nested inside it, on different tickets, on the same phone call. Maybe it didn't breach the minimum stay requirement though...
May 23, 2018, 5:38 am
#2439
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Glasgow, UK
Programs: Seigneur des Tarifs Utils First Class Mucci with Honours :) - BA GGL / CCR
Posts: 1,551
May 23, 2018, 5:41 am
#2440
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
@flyuk That would be fine it would be different if you nested DPS - KUL - NRT in the middle instead, The ones that seem to get picked up the most are the KUL - PEN / LGK ones. Obviously not an exact science but I have seen evidence of it happening incidentally did you get a good price for that run?
May 23, 2018, 5:47 am
#2441
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
@flyuk That would be fine it would be different if you nested DPS - KUL - NRT in the middle instead, The ones that seem to get picked up the most are the KUL - PEN / LGK ones. Obviously not an exact science but I have seen evidence of it happening incidentally did you get a good price for that run?
May 23, 2018, 5:51 am
#2442
Join Date: May 2016
Location: UK
Programs: British Airways Executive Club Gold, Global Entry
Posts: 363
I recently booked an Ex-EU as follows:
GOT - LHR - LAX, JFK - LHR - GOT.
It priced up on Matrix at £1,650 in biz, (BA metal out, AA metal back for the TATL) with an overnight layover on the way out at LHR (I needed to be home on a Thurs evening)..I assumed with a long minconnect and multicity I wouldn't be able to get ba.com to price it, but after the phone agent failed to get close to the price Matrix was quoting, I simply used the multicity option at ba.com, put in the next day for LHR-LAX and hey presto got the right price, albeit in Swedish Kr.
I'm inexperienced at this but was surprised it was as easy as that, I assumed the 'multicity' was not the same as a single journey with a connection and would not benefit from the ex-EU pricing, clearly I was wrong, which got me wondering if there is any difference between a multicity booking and say a point to point booking that happens to offer a connection through an airport?
Clearly my reservation is all on one booking ref, but do the flights count as separate and does that offer me any protection if I missed the GOT departure? (I think I know the answer is no, but still wondering if there is a technical difference between multicity on BA.com and a point to point that ends up staging through another airport).
GOT - LHR - LAX, JFK - LHR - GOT.
It priced up on Matrix at £1,650 in biz, (BA metal out, AA metal back for the TATL) with an overnight layover on the way out at LHR (I needed to be home on a Thurs evening)..I assumed with a long minconnect and multicity I wouldn't be able to get ba.com to price it, but after the phone agent failed to get close to the price Matrix was quoting, I simply used the multicity option at ba.com, put in the next day for LHR-LAX and hey presto got the right price, albeit in Swedish Kr.
I'm inexperienced at this but was surprised it was as easy as that, I assumed the 'multicity' was not the same as a single journey with a connection and would not benefit from the ex-EU pricing, clearly I was wrong, which got me wondering if there is any difference between a multicity booking and say a point to point booking that happens to offer a connection through an airport?
Clearly my reservation is all on one booking ref, but do the flights count as separate and does that offer me any protection if I missed the GOT departure? (I think I know the answer is no, but still wondering if there is a technical difference between multicity on BA.com and a point to point that ends up staging through another airport).
May 23, 2018, 6:17 am
#2443
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: HKG
Programs: Marriott Ambassador (Titanium Lifetime), BA Gold, Ex-Hertz 5* PC, Ex-HH Diamond, Ex-BD*G
Posts: 3,062
So, I'm surprised I can't see it in the wiki (or a simple post), could anyone share with me a simple/low risk way to get my 4 BA flights in the minimum time possible.. due to circumstances mainly beyond BA's control I am likely to be travelling in Asia over the next year and my only definite trip back to the UK will be on CX as there is no way I am going to pay BA 25% less than CX for a BA premium economy fare (GUV'd to J) vs an ex-HKG CX fare in CX business class. As such I need to get in my 4 BA flights since I will easily hit 1500TPs and do like my CX first class lounge access.
Criteria: Flights in one day, or less, ideally starting in LON and ending in MAN/LDS, 4 flights. Cheap and cheerful is fine as I don't need any TPs, would just prefer low risk (i.e. outstations with plenty of flights so if one is cancelled I can be shifted around) as most important to me are the 4 flights, coming back to the UK from HKG to do the others (or trying to do SIN-SYD 4 times) wouldn't be fun. Bonus points if the destination(s) have a nice lounge. I was presuming AMS would be the best (i.e. LHR-AMS-LHR-AMS-LCY), then a train north, but is there a circular routing anyone can think of using codeshares?
This is in August and my available days are Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I've got another year till my TP year expires so no need for a specific date (yet)
Criteria: Flights in one day, or less, ideally starting in LON and ending in MAN/LDS, 4 flights. Cheap and cheerful is fine as I don't need any TPs, would just prefer low risk (i.e. outstations with plenty of flights so if one is cancelled I can be shifted around) as most important to me are the 4 flights, coming back to the UK from HKG to do the others (or trying to do SIN-SYD 4 times) wouldn't be fun. Bonus points if the destination(s) have a nice lounge. I was presuming AMS would be the best (i.e. LHR-AMS-LHR-AMS-LCY), then a train north, but is there a circular routing anyone can think of using codeshares?
This is in August and my available days are Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I've got another year till my TP year expires so no need for a specific date (yet)
May 23, 2018, 6:18 am
#2444
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Glasgow, UK
Programs: Seigneur des Tarifs Utils First Class Mucci with Honours :) - BA GGL / CCR
Posts: 1,551
I recently booked an Ex-EU as follows:
GOT - LHR - LAX, JFK - LHR - GOT.
It priced up on Matrix at £1,650 in biz, (BA metal out, AA metal back for the TATL) with an overnight layover on the way out at LHR (I needed to be home on a Thurs evening)..I assumed with a long minconnect and multicity I wouldn't be able to get ba.com to price it, but after the phone agent failed to get close to the price Matrix was quoting, I simply used the multicity option at ba.com, put in the next day for LHR-LAX and hey presto got the right price, albeit in Swedish Kr.
I'm inexperienced at this but was surprised it was as easy as that, I assumed the 'multicity' was not the same as a single journey with a connection and would not benefit from the ex-EU pricing, clearly I was wrong, which got me wondering if there is any difference between a multicity booking and say a point to point booking that happens to offer a connection through an airport?
Clearly my reservation is all on one booking ref, but do the flights count as separate and does that offer me any protection if I missed the GOT departure? (I think I know the answer is no, but still wondering if there is a technical difference between multicity on BA.com and a point to point that ends up staging through another airport).
GOT - LHR - LAX, JFK - LHR - GOT.
It priced up on Matrix at £1,650 in biz, (BA metal out, AA metal back for the TATL) with an overnight layover on the way out at LHR (I needed to be home on a Thurs evening)..I assumed with a long minconnect and multicity I wouldn't be able to get ba.com to price it, but after the phone agent failed to get close to the price Matrix was quoting, I simply used the multicity option at ba.com, put in the next day for LHR-LAX and hey presto got the right price, albeit in Swedish Kr.
I'm inexperienced at this but was surprised it was as easy as that, I assumed the 'multicity' was not the same as a single journey with a connection and would not benefit from the ex-EU pricing, clearly I was wrong, which got me wondering if there is any difference between a multicity booking and say a point to point booking that happens to offer a connection through an airport?
Clearly my reservation is all on one booking ref, but do the flights count as separate and does that offer me any protection if I missed the GOT departure? (I think I know the answer is no, but still wondering if there is a technical difference between multicity on BA.com and a point to point that ends up staging through another airport).
In relation to your Multi City the only protection you get is if a flight being delayed or cancelled being the cause of missing the next flight as they would rebook, Sleeping in on Friday for morning you aren't protected as that is within your control.
The reason you are keeping the same price is that your layover is less than 24 hours if it is more than 24 hours the price goes up as it is then a stop over and no longer a layover. If that makes sense
May 23, 2018, 6:40 am
#2445
Join Date: May 2016
Location: UK
Programs: British Airways Executive Club Gold, Global Entry
Posts: 363
No protection at all for missing the GOT flight as it is the first flight, Getting to GOT first would be your issue not the airlines which is the risk with exEU, You also MUST take the first flight from GOT or the rest will all be cancelled automatically.
In relation to your Multi City the only protection you get is if a flight being delayed or cancelled being the cause of missing the next flight as they would rebook, Sleeping in on Friday for morning you aren't protected as that is within your control.
The reason you are keeping the same price is that your layover is less than 24 hours if it is more than 24 hours the price goes up as it is then a stop over and no longer a layover. If that makes sense
In relation to your Multi City the only protection you get is if a flight being delayed or cancelled being the cause of missing the next flight as they would rebook, Sleeping in on Friday for morning you aren't protected as that is within your control.
The reason you are keeping the same price is that your layover is less than 24 hours if it is more than 24 hours the price goes up as it is then a stop over and no longer a layover. If that makes sense