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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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
#4381
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: UK
Programs: BA Silver (temp demotion), *A Silver, HH Gold, IHG Diamond
Posts: 492
#4382
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 12,258
Great find and lovely price SavvyTravel
Welcome to FT and make sure you hang around - you'll learn (and earn!) lots
Welcome to FT and make sure you hang around - you'll learn (and earn!) lots
#4383
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,964
290 is definitely an awkward number to get. Doing it all in one trip something like LBA-LHR-ABZ-LHR-HEL-LHR-LBA would do it for 40+40+40+80+80+40. You may have to play around with it so for ABZ sub in any of INV/EDI/GLA/NCL/MAN/LUX/AMS. Also depending on the days you may have to start/finish at MAN rather than LBA.
#4384
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 4,709
If there's no close time limit on your Amex, I'd recommend you to wait and see, the MH sales tend to come and go every other month. Bookmark MH sales page. After opening just change Yangoon (default) to Bangkok, I usually search for Business/Return/Any, but if not considering anything else, replace with KTM.
Just finishing a BKK-KUL-TPE r/t, I can really recommend this destination, and KUL-TPE is 140 TP, just like KTM
Just finishing a BKK-KUL-TPE r/t, I can really recommend this destination, and KUL-TPE is 140 TP, just like KTM
This link MH Thailand deals should go directly to "deals of the day" for ex-Thailand (change "th" in the http address e.g to "my" for ex-Malaysia, "cn" for ex-China, etc.).
#4385
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: UK
Programs: BAEC GGL, HH DIAMOND, AVIS Presidents Club, Karahi Express
Posts: 1,229
I cannot seem to edit / delete previous post. Have notified mods ... something went wrong with pasting itamatrix image. Trying again.
#4386
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: LON
Programs: BA Gold; LH FTL; IHG Diamond; Marriott Gold; ALL Gold
Posts: 1,758
#4387
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: UK
Programs: BAEC GGL, HH DIAMOND, AVIS Presidents Club, Karahi Express
Posts: 1,229
See above your post
#4388
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: UK
Programs: BAEC GGL, HH DIAMOND, AVIS Presidents Club, Karahi Express
Posts: 1,229
But cannot get it to work on AA or BA. FlightNetwork works. Would rather do it on BA as a Holiday booking.
#4389
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: WAW ✈ LHR ✈ GLA
Programs: BA GfL/GGL/CCR, HH Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 2,501
#4390
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Beijing
Programs: SK EBG, BAEC Gold
Posts: 932
....
Thanks! I can see the current deals there only offer for travel up to 31/3/2019 and we'd be starting just a few days after that, so I'm thinking any upcoming sales will also probably cover the same date range so just need to weigh up whether I pull the trigger on £500 p/p return or take a gamble, wait and maybe come in better or maybe not....!
Thanks! I can see the current deals there only offer for travel up to 31/3/2019 and we'd be starting just a few days after that, so I'm thinking any upcoming sales will also probably cover the same date range so just need to weigh up whether I pull the trigger on £500 p/p return or take a gamble, wait and maybe come in better or maybe not....!
#4392
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: London
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 6
Discovered this thread last week, really useful - thanks all. I was in a position of needing 130 TPs to get me up to Silver by the end of the year.
Found an interesting flight + hotel deal. LHR-HEL-LHR in Club for 17/18 November... as suggested, last flight Saturday night, airport hotel, then first flight back Sunday
There seems to be a weird quirk on the BA site where the price kept jumping up and down. Cheapest offer I was shown was GBP 296 but got an error message before I booked. Successfully booked at GBP 345
Found an interesting flight + hotel deal. LHR-HEL-LHR in Club for 17/18 November... as suggested, last flight Saturday night, airport hotel, then first flight back Sunday
There seems to be a weird quirk on the BA site where the price kept jumping up and down. Cheapest offer I was shown was GBP 296 but got an error message before I booked. Successfully booked at GBP 345
#4393
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,964
Discovered this thread last week, really useful - thanks all. I was in a position of needing 130 TPs to get me up to Silver by the end of the year.
Found an interesting flight + hotel deal. LHR-HEL-LHR in Club for 17/18 November... as suggested, last flight Saturday night, airport hotel, then first flight back Sunday
There seems to be a weird quirk on the BA site where the price kept jumping up and down. Cheapest offer I was shown was GBP 296 but got an error message before I booked. Successfully booked at GBP 345
Found an interesting flight + hotel deal. LHR-HEL-LHR in Club for 17/18 November... as suggested, last flight Saturday night, airport hotel, then first flight back Sunday
There seems to be a weird quirk on the BA site where the price kept jumping up and down. Cheapest offer I was shown was GBP 296 but got an error message before I booked. Successfully booked at GBP 345
Thanks for posting. HEL can offer decent deals sometimes - in the recent CE sale I think it was bookable for around £230 rtn in CE for 160 TPs. Also often if you do a holiday booking it can be cheaper than buying flights and hotels separately. Looking forward to more contributions to the thread from you. There are also a few other threads on FT covering cheaper fares from slightly different angles which you may wish to keep an eye on - there is a list in post 1.
#4394
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: London
Programs: BAEC
Posts: 6
Thanks for the welcome, and advice! I’m sure others could’ve found more cost effective deals, but I was pretty restricted on dates and just went for it! Possibly more interesting was the weird price jumps on the BA site. When I first searched it offered me 485 GBP, so I went clicking around a bit, changing dates/destinations etc, and then when I went back to my original 10 mins later, it had dropped pretty dramatically for no apparent reason. It was tough to get it booked - error messages galore - but eventually it stuck. Does this happen a lot?
#4395
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: LON
Programs: Mucci, BAEC, Eurostar
Posts: 3,293
Thanks for the welcome, and advice! I’m sure others could’ve found more cost effective deals, but I was pretty restricted on dates and just went for it! Possibly more interesting was the weird price jumps on the BA site. When I first searched it offered me 485 GBP, so I went clicking around a bit, changing dates/destinations etc, and then when I went back to my original 10 mins later, it had dropped pretty dramatically for no apparent reason. It was tough to get it booked - error messages galore - but eventually it stuck. Does this happen a lot?
Make sure you get your name added to the dedicated thread, there are other FT'ers to meet on your trip!