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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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 May 24, 2018, 12:19 pm
  #2461  
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 732
Pretty good MH fare from DPS-KUL-JHB and back (thats Johor Baru in Malaysia, not Johannesburg). £125 in business class. Earns 160 tier points and 3,558 avios. Min stay 2 nights.

Lie flat A330 on the DPS-KUL leg is possible once per day too.

Example dates: https://www.google.com/flights/#flt=...938*.GBP.11938

£0.78 per tier point

*JHB is a 90 minute + £3 bus ride from downtown Singapore, sitting just across the border.
Frequent flyer 101 is offline  
Old May 24, 2018, 1:07 pm
  #2462  
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BAEC GGL/CR; Hilton Diamond; Mucci des Puccis
Posts: 5,518
DUB HEL is 40 TP, yes. Odd as it seems.
bisonrav is online now  
Old May 24, 2018, 1:17 pm
  #2463  
 
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: BCN
Programs: BA GGL, IB, LH, IHG Gold
Posts: 582
Originally Posted by caroaec
Hi everyone. First, thanks for the thread and forum - very educational for a first timer like me.

I have to go from Dublin to Hong Kong in late June and was thinking of trying to do it in a way that would maximise TPs with BA. I dont have a lot of date flexibility (out between 21-23 and back 27-28). I can see some routings via BKK out of both LHR and HEL that look like they might be worth considering (unless anyone has any other suggestions).

But I have a question about DUB-HEL. The BA calculator is showing it as 40TP. Is that correct? My understanding is EDI and LHR are 80TP and Dublin looks to be a similar distance.

Sorry if this has already been answered but I couldnt locate it amongst all the DUB-LHR-HEL search results.
the 80 TP SH+ routes are from the UK only.
ubiest is offline  
Old May 24, 2018, 2:41 pm
  #2464  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 917
Just having a play about on matrix on a whim and I notice that in February next year you can get OTP-LHR-JFK-LAX-HNL return for £2029 or leaving from BUD for £1972, but 80 tp less. I was looking at 7-10 nights in HNL for a holiday. Couple of questions :

Is this price as good as it gets now for an ex EU HNL tp run?

Am I correct in thinking that the ex OTP option will yield 1,000 tp.

Many thanks
Cw novice is offline  
Old May 24, 2018, 4:10 pm
  #2465  
 
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 732
Originally Posted by Cw novice
Just having a play about on matrix on a whim and I notice that in February next year you can get OTP-LHR-JFK-LAX-HNL return for £2029 or leaving from BUD for £1972, but 80 tp less. I was looking at 7-10 nights in HNL for a holiday. Couple of questions :

Is this price as good as it gets now for an ex EU HNL tp run?

Am I correct in thinking that the ex OTP option will yield 1,000 tp.

Many thanks
Yes those numbers are correct. Just remember that BUD flights leave from terminal 3.
Frequent flyer 101 is offline  
Old May 24, 2018, 4:53 pm
  #2466  
 
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: London(ish)
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 562
Guys,

I need 120 tier point run within the next 4 weeks for a cheaply as possible.

Any tips on how to achieve this?
eugegall is offline  
Old May 24, 2018, 5:08 pm
  #2467  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 917
Originally Posted by Frequent flyer 101
Yes those numbers are correct. Just remember that BUD flights leave from terminal 3.
Thanks further tinkering has yielded ex Dub including BA 1 via LCY for the same tp as ex BUD for April next year for £1974 . TP's aside have always wanted to try the babybus TATL.

DUB is also far easier to position to either with BA or LCC.
Cw novice is offline  
Old May 25, 2018, 12:33 am
  #2468  
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Programs: BA GGL, IB PLATINO, AB GOLD, HH DIAMOND
Posts: 115
Originally Posted by eugegall
Guys,

I need 120 tier point run within the next 4 weeks for a cheaply as possible.

Any tips on how to achieve this?
Birmingham route to Malaga is less than 250 pounds return in CE but you must spend a week there. 02 Jun to 09 Jun.
PLATINOIB is offline  
Old May 25, 2018, 12:38 am
  #2469  
 
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BAEC GGL/CR; Hilton Diamond; Mucci des Puccis
Posts: 5,518
You can usually do a LON->MAD->BCN->MAD->LON over a sat-sun night for around £250 for exactly 120 TPs. Needs a bit of fiddling with matrix sometimes and the one I did used the A340 out at about 7pm on the Saturday, then the other flights on Sunday which the IB site doesn't like, I think I booked through flightnetwork from bookwithmatrix.
bisonrav is online now  
Old May 25, 2018, 1:43 am
  #2470  
 
Join Date: May 2014
Location: BRU
Programs: BA GGL, TK E (*G), ITA exec
Posts: 4,023
Another question about the OTP-PHX run.
I remember having read a checked bag can't transit two times at the same airport. But how it's managed in cases like the OTP run, when you can have LHR-XXX-LHR-YYY-PHX (or the other way around) on single ticket?
Has the bag to be claimed anyway at XXX and rechecked, no matter if it's an overnight or a day time layover? Or the bag is tagged to go directly to destination, regardless its owner routing?

And since we're talking about checked luggage... (yes, blasphemy, I know ) ...If you check a carry-on, can you pick it up at the first US point of entry e do not recheck it, bringing it on board all the subsequent flights?
Lefly is offline  
Old May 25, 2018, 2:54 am
  #2471  
 
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: 7,311
Originally Posted by eugegall
Guys,

I need 120 tier point run within the next 4 weeks for a cheaply as possible.

Any tips on how to achieve this?
AMS-JER return in CE will give 160 TPs for just under £300. Positioning should be super cheap. Pretty easy way to do it.
Wozza2404 is offline  
Old May 25, 2018, 8:57 am
  #2472  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 12,976
Originally Posted by eugegall
Guys,

I need 120 tier point run within the next 4 weeks for a cheaply as possible.

Any tips on how to achieve this?
Don't get too fancy. Just go for the weekend to your preferred spot of the 80 TP destinations. Or Spain with a connection in MAD.

Otherwise you're positioning to JER and then spending a day hoping all of your flights are on time...
craigthemif is online now  
Old May 25, 2018, 11:50 am
  #2473  
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold (woohoo)
Posts: 189
I may be stretching the topic slightly but has anyone done a PDX trip yet? I'm there from 23:00 to 18:00 the next day so am thinking of crashing close to the airport and heading into town for the day the next morning. Any recommendations on the hotel options at the airport?
Keep it Riel is offline  
Old May 25, 2018, 3:43 pm
  #2474  
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: London
Programs: BA Silver
Posts: 1,268
Originally Posted by eugegall
Guys,

I need 120 tier point run within the next 4 weeks for a cheaply as possible.

Any tips on how to achieve this?

£328 for BA/IB 9 June to 10 June LHR to Asturias via Madrid in Business gets you 120TP. No hotel required as you leave LHR at 5pm and return the next morning.
eugegall likes this.
BERbound is offline  
Old May 25, 2018, 5:02 pm
  #2475  
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 590
that looks spot on for mrs endo's 50 th. She loved Hawaii.
endoman is offline  

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