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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
Apr 10, 2020, 5:43 am
#4486
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
Thanks all. Advice makes sense (and I was never expecting to rely on ORC).
For the re-route, do all of the flights have to be AA coded? In my original booking the first LHR-MAN leg was BA coded. I've found an acceptable re-route LHR-CDG-JFK-LAX-PDX, which gets me in only an hour later than my original (very tight) itinerary -- but the LHR-CDG leg is only available on BA code...
I appreciate of course that it might be a bit pointless trying to get this perfect now, given that schedules are likely to change again. There is also a question as to whether I hold off on rerouting until it becomes clearer what BAEC will do about status in the current situation -- if my status gets rolled for another year, I'd probably prefer to cancel the run.
For the re-route, do all of the flights have to be AA coded? In my original booking the first LHR-MAN leg was BA coded. I've found an acceptable re-route LHR-CDG-JFK-LAX-PDX, which gets me in only an hour later than my original (very tight) itinerary -- but the LHR-CDG leg is only available on BA code...
I appreciate of course that it might be a bit pointless trying to get this perfect now, given that schedules are likely to change again. There is also a question as to whether I hold off on rerouting until it becomes clearer what BAEC will do about status in the current situation -- if my status gets rolled for another year, I'd probably prefer to cancel the run.
I think that 'I' fare deals would be available throughout the fall and winter season so it would be a great idea to wait until the BA announcement of general status extensions which would be made in the upcoming weeks.
Apr 10, 2020, 5:54 am
#4487
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 305
If the same fare is available currently on sale, ask for a full refund. Then rebook the flights whenever you want. AA refunds take 7-10 days, they are currently issuing refunds for affected passengers.
I think that 'I' fare deals would be available throughout the fall and winter season so it would be a great idea to wait until the BA announcement of general status extensions which would be made in the upcoming weeks.
I think that 'I' fare deals would be available throughout the fall and winter season so it would be a great idea to wait until the BA announcement of general status extensions which would be made in the upcoming weeks.
For what it's worth, while not the best TP run £ for £, the original fare worked exceptionally well for me because (i) it was based out of London, and (ii) I could do the full outbound in a single Friday, spend a day in Portland on the Saturday, and leave Sunday morning and be back in the office for Monday morning. This allowed me to do to the whole thing, including over 24 hours in Portland, with only one day off work (and there was a specific weekend when I wanted to do it). I'm sure there will be plenty more deals to see, but this one worked unusually well for me and I'm not counting on being able to replicate it with a future deal.
Last edited by hearingdouble; Apr 10, 2020 at 5:57 am Reason: More info
Apr 10, 2020, 6:16 am
#4488
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
Thanks. To be clear, the alternative routing I've found is not on the same fare (which isn't available any more). It is currently available on a different, much more expensive, fare -- so I know that it has availablility, meets MCT requirements, etc., but I don't have the option of cancellation and rebooking. (EDIT: I should probably add that it uses 'R' bucket inventory, rather than 'I' bucket inventory in the original booking - does that make a difference to whether AA will reroute me?)
For what it's worth, while not the best TP run £ for £, the original fare worked exceptionally well for me because (i) it was based out of London, and (ii) I could do the full outbound in a single Friday, spend a day in Portland on the Saturday, and leave Sunday morning and be back in the office for Monday morning. This allowed me to do to the whole thing, including over 24 hours in Portland, with only one day off work (and there was a specific weekend when I wanted to do it). I'm sure there will be plenty more deals to see, but this one worked unusually well for me and I'm not counting on being able to replicate it with a future deal.
For what it's worth, while not the best TP run £ for £, the original fare worked exceptionally well for me because (i) it was based out of London, and (ii) I could do the full outbound in a single Friday, spend a day in Portland on the Saturday, and leave Sunday morning and be back in the office for Monday morning. This allowed me to do to the whole thing, including over 24 hours in Portland, with only one day off work (and there was a specific weekend when I wanted to do it). I'm sure there will be plenty more deals to see, but this one worked unusually well for me and I'm not counting on being able to replicate it with a future deal.
I am not sure about AA willing you to rebook on another flight ( 3+ connections where a direct flight is available ) regardless of fare availability.
I would leave the comment on this to other FT members.
Apr 10, 2020, 8:33 am
#4489
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 86
Thanks all. Advice makes sense (and I was never expecting to rely on ORC).
For the re-route, do all of the flights have to be AA coded? In my original booking the first LHR-MAN leg was BA coded. I've found an acceptable re-route LHR-CDG-JFK-LAX-PDX, which gets me in only an hour later than my original (very tight) itinerary -- but the LHR-CDG leg is only available on BA code...
I appreciate of course that it might be a bit pointless trying to get this perfect now, given that schedules are likely to change again. There is also a question as to whether I hold off on rerouting until it becomes clearer what BAEC will do about status in the current situation -- if my status gets rolled for another year, I'd probably prefer to cancel the run.
For the re-route, do all of the flights have to be AA coded? In my original booking the first LHR-MAN leg was BA coded. I've found an acceptable re-route LHR-CDG-JFK-LAX-PDX, which gets me in only an hour later than my original (very tight) itinerary -- but the LHR-CDG leg is only available on BA code...
I appreciate of course that it might be a bit pointless trying to get this perfect now, given that schedules are likely to change again. There is also a question as to whether I hold off on rerouting until it becomes clearer what BAEC will do about status in the current situation -- if my status gets rolled for another year, I'd probably prefer to cancel the run.
I'll be waiting until later in May before I get in touch with BA again. Just monitoring what the situation will be like in the US ,and of course whether there'll be any status extensions.
Apr 10, 2020, 9:19 am
#4490
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: South Glos, UK
Programs: BAEC Silver/OW Sapphire
Posts: 1,157
I’ve priced up a run to HNL on Google flights and the only booking option is through AA. Are there any advantages/disadvantages of AA over BA? All international flights are on BA metal with AA codeshare flight numbers.
Apr 10, 2020, 9:20 am
#4491
Join Date: May 2009
Location: HAM
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold
Posts: 115
You will earn less miles (same TP) when on AA-ticket.
Apr 10, 2020, 9:23 am
#4492
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
However, you would get the same amount of Tier Points.
Apr 10, 2020, 9:30 am
#4493
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: South Glos, UK
Programs: BAEC Silver/OW Sapphire
Posts: 1,157
Stupid question, but I assume I clear immigration on arrival and departure from the US? I haven’t been stateside in a long time. Is it still horrendous getting through immigration?
Also, if HBO Do I have to go land side or can I transit airside?
Apr 10, 2020, 9:33 am
#4494
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
A few thousand Avios doesn’t matter. It’s the TPs I’m after.
Stupid question, but I assume I clear immigration on arrival and departure from the US? I haven’t been stateside in a long time. Is it still horrendous getting through immigration?
Also, if HBO Do I have to go land side or can I transit airside?
Stupid question, but I assume I clear immigration on arrival and departure from the US? I haven’t been stateside in a long time. Is it still horrendous getting through immigration?
Also, if HBO Do I have to go land side or can I transit airside?
And, regardless of traveling HBO or not, you would need to clear security before your first domestic flight.
Apr 10, 2020, 9:39 am
#4495
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: South Glos, UK
Programs: BAEC Silver/OW Sapphire
Posts: 1,157
Presumably after the final domestic flight I’d also have to go landside and check in again too? Need to check these things so I give myself enough time between connections.
Apr 10, 2020, 9:42 am
#4496
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
No, when leaving the USA, your bag would be accepted at your first point of departure ( HNL ) and would be checked thru ( SOF ) and you would not need to claim it. From HNL until ( LHR or HEL ) you would not need to re-clear security and leave airside at any US airport.
Apr 10, 2020, 9:45 am
#4497
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
Apr 10, 2020, 9:50 am
#4498
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: South Glos, UK
Programs: BAEC Silver/OW Sapphire
Posts: 1,157
No, when leaving the USA, your bag would be accepted at your first point of departure ( HNL ) and would be checked thru ( SOF ) and you would not need to claim it. From HNL until ( LHR or HEL ) you would not need to re-clear security and leave airside at any US airport.
Apr 10, 2020, 9:53 am
#4499
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
The process of departing flights in the USA is the same for domestic and international flights.
Apr 10, 2020, 10:12 am
#4500
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,967
If you are doing AA->AA within T8 then you just stay airside at JFK and no security check or need to go landside. If you are doing AA to BA at JFK then you will have to go landside, get the airtrain one stop, and go through security at T7. There is no airside route between T8 and T7 unfortunately.
