Jan 4, 2019, 9:09 am
Last edit by: jfkeze
Welcome to the thread. This is a continuation of the highly popular 2018 Tier Point thread (found here). 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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.
A new guideline thread for TP meetups has been created on 31 March 2020. If you would like other members to join your TP, or if you want to organize a TP run with other members. Please visit there. From the first few posts over there you could see the active ( confirmed ) TP meetings and the links to their relevant discussion threads, connect with other members and learn the details about the run. Click here to access that thread.
Current Promotions of Interest
Sale Fares
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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.
A new guideline thread for TP meetups has been created on 31 March 2020. If you would like other members to join your TP, or if you want to organize a TP run with other members. Please visit there. From the first few posts over there you could see the active ( confirmed ) TP meetings and the links to their relevant discussion threads, connect with other members and learn the details about the run. Click here to access that thread.
Current Promotions of Interest
Sale Fares
See here in post 9 for a 2019 archive of exEU sale fare, and see this post in the 2018 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
15 Oct £0.96/TP £154 160 TPs LHR-SOF (2021 dates)
24 Feb £1.90/TP £152 80TP MAD-FRA Z/Z LA (available Feb-Mar 2019, immediate turnarounds possible)
10 Aug £2.06/TP £329 160TP LHR-MAD-RAK RAK-MAD-LHR I/I/I/I IB (available August, Sat night stay) BA.com, note hotels on offer until 26 March
3 Jul £2.99/TP £2,758.45 920TP DUB-LHR-JFK-LAX-HNL-LAX-JFK-LHR-DUB J/I/I/I/I/I/I/J Fare basis INX4C3S4 and INN4C1S4. Booked on AA via ITA Matrix Powertools script
18 Dec £1.90/TP £1370 720TP DUB-LHR-JFK-LAX-LAS-LAX-JFK-LHR-DUB All I class Flights 25 December to 31 March 2020, transatlantic Mon to Thur. Offer to 18 Dec. ITA details booked by TA Propeller
27 Apr £2.29/TP £640TP BEG-DOH-KUL-PEN-KUL-DOH-BEG I / I / I / I / I / I Fare IJR2R1RE Bookable on QR.com
From North, Central and South America
10Jan £1.52/TP £668 440tp JFK-BOS/CLT-LAX-LAS-LAX-BOS/CLT-JFK I / I / I / I / I / I HPN-HRL AA (find with ITA; probably have to book via a TA)
12Apr £0.90/TP £215 240tp DCA-ORD-CLT-RDU-CLT-ORD-DCA I/I/I/I/I/I/I AA Found with ITA, booked on the AA site with BookWithMatrix
23Apr £ 0.76/TP £ 182 240TP DCA-PHL-CLT-RDU-CLT-ORD-DCA I / I / I / I / I / I AA Found with ITA Matrix, Book on AA.com via BookWithMatrix or PowerTools
24Apr £ 1.04/TP £ 459 440TP YVR-LAX-CLT-ATL-CLT-LAX-YVR I / I / I / I / I / I AA Found with ITA Matrix, Book on AA.com via BookWithMatrix or PowerTools
23May £ 0.70/TP £ 169 240TP EWR-ORD-CLT-RDU-CLT-DFW-EWR I / I / I / I / I / I AA Found with ITA Matrix, Book on AA.com via BookWithMatrix or PowerTools
24Jun £ 0.52/TP £ 128 240TP LAX-DFW-PHX-SJC-PHX-DFW-LAX I / I / I / I / I / I AA Found with ITA Matrix, Book on AA.com via BookWithMatrix or PowerTools
From Middle East, Asia and Australasia
04/01 £0.95/TP £479 560tp AUH-CMB-CGK-CMB-AUH I / I / I / I cgtechuk UL
1FEB £1.49/TP £1,673 1,120tp PER-SYD-SIN-TYO-BKK Return (All book in I Class) timcjp BA (Ticket sold by BA, flights are on QF, BA & JL and lie flat seats available for all sectors)
23/04 £2.07/TP £2,112 1020TP CAI-LHR-JFK-LAX-HNL-DFW-ORD-LHR-CAI I/R here (All flights must be BA numbered)
From Africa
04/01 £1.80/TP £721 400tp CPT-JNB-GRU-JNB-DUR-CPT I / Z / Z / I / I ubiest LA
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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 (here), 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 BA flight out on a Saturday, airport hotel and return on 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
2018 Archive
2017 Archive
2016 Archive
2015 Archive (6 months Jul to Dec)
2015 Archive (6 months Jan to Jun)
2014 Archive
BA Tier Point Runs | 2019-20 edition
Dec 3, 2019, 5:59 am
#3286
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold, Accor Live Limitless Gold, Hilton Honours Gold, Avis Preferred Plus
Posts: 1,807
Calling all TP run experts.
Due to a last minute trip cancellation I am in a position on which I need 25TP to renew Gold before 8th Jan. Realistically I can only do a same-day return from London on 13th, 14th or 15th Dec, or a same-day return from MAD between the 18th-31st Dec.
I have been looking at the different options and the cheapest I can find is a turnaround to AMS (LHR-AMS in J and AMS-LHR in Y) for about 250GBP. Is this the cheapest option out there? I would appreciate any help from the experts!
Thanks a lot,
Etxebas
Due to a last minute trip cancellation I am in a position on which I need 25TP to renew Gold before 8th Jan. Realistically I can only do a same-day return from London on 13th, 14th or 15th Dec, or a same-day return from MAD between the 18th-31st Dec.
I have been looking at the different options and the cheapest I can find is a turnaround to AMS (LHR-AMS in J and AMS-LHR in Y) for about 250GBP. Is this the cheapest option out there? I would appreciate any help from the experts!
Thanks a lot,
Etxebas
- A risky back-to-back to ALC with a very early start on the 13th Dec: £116 - BA2632 LGW-ALC in Y and BA2633 ALC-LGW in J
- An easy back-to-back to VCE with a bit of an early start on the 14th Dec: £132 - BA2582 LGW-VCE in Y and BA2583 VCE-LGW in J (or can take BA2585 or BA2587 if you want to spend a bit of time in Venice)
- Another risky back-to-back to BOD with an even earlier start on the 14th Dec: £132 - BA2786 LGW-BOD in Y and BA2787 BOD-LGW in J (can do J outbound and Y inbound for £1ish more)
Dec 3, 2019, 9:48 am
#3287
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: Executive Club
Posts: 78
I assume this is a reward booking? It might be worth considering cancelling it and booking a revenue ticket in CE on that flight. I found myself needing 40TPs before the end of my collection year, and had a RFS to DUB booked. I cancelled it (getting a refund of all Avios and cash except for 50p) and booked a CE revenue ticket on the same flight for about £160. Obviously, that's more expensive than the cheapest same day trip, but it was a trip I was going to take anyway - no need for another trip to airport, car parking, etc etc etc.
Check the conditions of your ticket before cancelling!
Check the conditions of your ticket before cancelling!
Dec 3, 2019, 11:18 am
#3288
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: PHL
Posts: 71
Should get you in the spirit of searching on your own
Dec 3, 2019, 3:51 pm
#3289
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: Heathrow
Posts: 218
Just booked my first TP run. I’m on the east coast of the US for work anyway so booked a trip up to BOS via CLT and PHL one weekend. Same day turnaround will mean a 14 hour day but it will tip me over the line for gold before my current spell of flying a lot for work ends.
My first shiny status card since leaving BA! I don’t think I did too badly either, the 6 sectors set me back $364, so £1.16/TP. My year just reset so that’s nearly two years at gold and a year at silver.
My first shiny status card since leaving BA! I don’t think I did too badly either, the 6 sectors set me back $364, so £1.16/TP. My year just reset so that’s nearly two years at gold and a year at silver.
Dec 3, 2019, 4:01 pm
#3290
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Taif, KSA
Programs: BA GGL, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,908
Dec 3, 2019, 4:28 pm
#3291
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: LHR/ATL
Programs: EY Gold, AS MVPG, BAEC Gold, DL PM
Posts: 821
Dec 3, 2019, 8:37 pm
#3292
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: PHL
Posts: 71
I wouldn't call the PHL->RDU one really expensive.. more like yours is really that much better
South of $2US a TP is great in general.
Dec 4, 2019, 2:00 am
#3293
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: LHR/ATL
Programs: EY Gold, AS MVPG, BAEC Gold, DL PM
Posts: 821
Apologies if it sounded a bit aggressive. I was factoring in additional costs such as an overnight stay in RDU (say $50-100) and meals etc (say another $25-50) which bumps the overall costs up closer to $500 for 240 TPs.
Dec 4, 2019, 8:29 am
#3294
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: PHL
Posts: 71
Really fortunate to have a same day run on EC. I tend to make some mini-vacations or see people combined with TP runs to make it worth while. For sure the hidden costs of overnight stay should be made obvious.
DCA-RDU fare definitely has opened my eyes. Trying to work in a nested run myself at the moment
During the winter I try to do a quick getaway + TP run down to Florida if I can..trying to make options work with MIA overnight layovers using the PHL-RDU or DCA-RDU rules. Interesting
Dec 4, 2019, 2:37 pm
#3295
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: 13,050
Yeah, but 5:55am out of DCA. Unless you live quite close to DCA, that's a hotel night (and a stupid o'clock wake up call).
Dec 4, 2019, 3:21 pm
#3296
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 59
Looking for a West Coast equivalent out of SFO/SJC/OAK, I had some good options for February but that seems to have gone.
What are the go to routes out of the above airports? Thinking more B2B and day trips.
What are the go to routes out of the above airports? Thinking more B2B and day trips.
Dec 4, 2019, 8:39 pm
#3297
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 3,190
rb211.
Dec 6, 2019, 8:56 am
#3298
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: UK
Programs: Baec
Posts: 191
Needed to do three BA flights before the end of the year so last week did LHR-AMS-LHR-AMS. Apparently this confuses the system and I had to request one of the LHR-AMS legs to be added manually.
Dec 9, 2019, 10:05 pm
#3299
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: HEL
Programs: AY+ Gold, SK EBS
Posts: 191
Not quite TP run territory but there's a great Spain-Shanghai J fare you might be interested in - I'm seeing MAD/BCN-LHR-PVG for around €1270/£1060 in Jan/Feb 2020
If anyone else can suggest decent J fares from Europe to East Asia I'm always up for them!
If anyone else can suggest decent J fares from Europe to East Asia I'm always up for them!
Dec 9, 2019, 10:29 pm
#3300
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Mexico
Programs: BAEC Gold / Marriott Platinum
Posts: 3,547
I'm not sure how many TPs you are looking for, but I have done two LAX runs in a day from SFO, I've also done SFO-LAX-LAS-LAX-SFO as well (PHX and others may be an option rather than LAS!) The circle flights can work out well, SFO-PHX-LAX-SFO and variations. For more points, Charlotte is good because it's just a tad over 2K miles from SFO and thus gets the 140 TPs vs 40 TPs up front - albeit an uncomfortable 140 TPs each way! Then there are the transcon flights, so you can so SFO-JFK-SFO for 2 x 140 or 2 x 210 TPs, and SFO-LAX-JFK-SFO-LAX for up to 500 TPs, although I''m not sure that's doable in one day and is traditionally quite expensive. Whether any of these are available at decent prices is another matter - IME SFO seems to be slightly cheaper these days than SJC or OAK for these types of runs, but that hasn't always been the case. YMMV.
rb211.
rb211.
Thanks