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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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 28, 2020, 1:09 pm
#6151
Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: LHR
Programs: Centurion BA GGL IHG Diamond
Posts: 134
Dec 28, 2020, 2:39 pm
#6152
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: BER
Programs: BAEC GGL/GfL, Lufthansa SEN, Hilton Diamond, misc other stuff
Posts: 1,374
While you are not hitting the allowed number of transfers you are exceeding the maximum permitted miles (MPM). In general there are two types of fares: routing based (often seen on Star Alliance) with fixed routings like BER-FRA/MUC/ZRH/VIE-EWR-MIA and MPM fares which define a maximum permitted number of miles you are allowed to travel based on the distance between the origin and destination airports.
In this case this is what Expertflyer shows (ITA won't show this):
Code:
V FARE BASIS BK FARE TRAVEL-TICKET AP MINMAX RTG 1 INN1T1S4 I‡R 1095.00 ---- ‡/3 ‡‡/12M AT01 PASSENGER TYPE-ADT AUTO PRICE-YES FROM-DUB TO-ORL CXR-AA TVL-28DEC20 RULE-J604 IPRA/1 FARE BASIS-INN1T1S4 SPECIAL FARE DIS-E VENDOR-ATP FARE TYPE-BX RT-BUSINESS CLASS EXCURSION EUR 898.00 MPM E18DEC20 D-INFINITY FC-INN1T1S4 FN-2L SYSTEM DATES - CREATED 17DEC20/1011 EXPIRES INFINITY PUBLISHED RTG DUB-ORL/AA EF-18DEC20 DIS-INDEF /VIA THE ATLANTIC/ MPM 4875 MILEAGE SYSTEM APPLIES BETWEEN ORIGIN AND DESTINATION MILEAGE SYSTEM APPLIES ORIGIN TO DESTINATION TICKETED POINT DEDUCTION OF 550 MILES APPLIES WHEN TRAVEL IS VIA CHI AND/OR MIA AND/OR RDU AND/OR CLT TICKETED POINT DEDUCTION OF 550 MILES APPLIES WHEN TRAVEL IS VIA DFW TICKETED POINT DEDUCTION OF 550 MILES APPLIES WHEN TRAVEL IS VIA CHI AND/OR RDU AND/OR MIA AND/OR CLT TICKETED POINT DEDUCTION OF 705 MILES APPLIES WHEN TRAVEL IS VIA SUB AREA 21 TICKETED POINT DEDUCTION OF 550 MILES APPLIES WHEN TRAVEL IS VIA CHI AND/OR MIA AND/OR RDU AND/OR CLT .
... and there's a somewhat hidden bonus feature which allows you to exceed the MPM values by paying an added percentage on the base fare based on these buckets:
Code:
DUBORL-AA 28DEC20 TICKETED POINT SURCHARGES APPLY. GI M 5M 10M 15M 20M 25M MPM AT 4875 5118 5362 5606 5850 6093 .
Based on GCMAP.com your DUB-LHR-JFK-MIA-MCO comes in at 5012 miles. You need to substract 550mi from the traveled miles because you are transferring in MIA. So those <4500 miles on your ticket mean you are within the 4875mi limit and don't have to pay any additional base fare.
What happens if you exceed the allowed miles?
You can see that the base fare for the return part is higher. The fare construction line shows that it charged me the 20M bucket.
I assume you are looking to travel DUB-LHR-HEL-JFK-MIA-MCO. This comes in at 6829mi. You are transferring in MIA which means you can deduct 550mi, but that's still 6279 miles traveled and thus above the MPM+25% limit (i.e. 6093mi).
You need to keep it below that 6093mi limit to make it work.
Here's a routing that works, but at the 25% additional cost:
Last edited by El_Duderito; Dec 29, 2020 at 5:06 am
Dec 28, 2020, 2:40 pm
#6153
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
Unfortunately the MPM ( maximum permitted mileage ) for the DUB-MCO fare is 6093 miles when pursuing a route DUB-LHR-HEL-JFK-MIA-MCO you're going up to 6829 miles so that's why you're not able to add HEL to your itinerary.
It might not be worth it but for an extra 40TP's in addition to what you found ( per direction ), you are welcome to add a stop in MAD and follow DUB-LHR-MAD-JFK-MIA-MCO and fly Iberia on the transatlantic leg which would be 5923 miles per direction.
Edit: El_Duderito beat me by a minute.
It might not be worth it but for an extra 40TP's in addition to what you found ( per direction ), you are welcome to add a stop in MAD and follow DUB-LHR-MAD-JFK-MIA-MCO and fly Iberia on the transatlantic leg which would be 5923 miles per direction.
Edit: El_Duderito beat me by a minute.
Dec 30, 2020, 7:08 am
#6154
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: London, England
Programs: BA:Gold; IHG: Platinum;
Posts: 69
Thanks, El_Duderito.
I don't think that I've ever previously learned so much from a single post on FT!
I don't think that I've ever previously learned so much from a single post on FT!
Dec 30, 2020, 10:01 am
#6155
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 98
You can check the fare rules on Expertflyer and even ITA (blue link on details page to e.g. INN1T1S4).
While you are not hitting the allowed number of transfers you are exceeding the maximum permitted miles (MPM). In general there are two types of fares: routing based (often seen on Star Alliance) with fixed routings like BER-FRA/MUC/ZRH/VIE-EWR-MIA and MPM fares which define a maximum permitted number of miles you are allowed to travel based on the distance between the origin and destination airports.
In this case this is what Expertflyer shows (ITA won't show this):
Effectively this says that you have 4875 miles to play with. But then there's some deductions if you transfer at specific airports.
... and there's a somewhat hidden bonus feature which allows you to exceed the MPM values by paying an added percentage on the base fare based on these buckets:
Based on GCMAP.com your DUB-LHR-JFK-MIA-MCO comes in at 5012 miles. You need to substract 550mi from the traveled miles because you are transferring in MIA. So those <4500 miles on your ticket mean you are within the 4875mi limit and don't have to pay any additional base fare.
What happens if you exceed the allowed miles?
You can see that the base fare for the return part is higher. The fare construction line shows that it charged me the 20M bucket.
I assume you are looking to travel DUB-LHR-HEL-JFK-MIA-MCO. This comes in at 6829mi. You are transferring in MIA which means you can deduct 550mi, but that's still 6279 miles traveled and thus above the MPM+25% limit (i.e. 6093mi).
You need to keep it below that 6093mi limit to make it work.
Here's a routing that works, but at the 25% additional cost:
While you are not hitting the allowed number of transfers you are exceeding the maximum permitted miles (MPM). In general there are two types of fares: routing based (often seen on Star Alliance) with fixed routings like BER-FRA/MUC/ZRH/VIE-EWR-MIA and MPM fares which define a maximum permitted number of miles you are allowed to travel based on the distance between the origin and destination airports.
In this case this is what Expertflyer shows (ITA won't show this):
Code:
V FARE BASIS BK FARE TRAVEL-TICKET AP MINMAX RTG 1 INN1T1S4 I‡R 1095.00 ---- ‡/3 ‡‡/12M AT01 PASSENGER TYPE-ADT AUTO PRICE-YES FROM-DUB TO-ORL CXR-AA TVL-28DEC20 RULE-J604 IPRA/1 FARE BASIS-INN1T1S4 SPECIAL FARE DIS-E VENDOR-ATP FARE TYPE-BX RT-BUSINESS CLASS EXCURSION EUR 898.00 MPM E18DEC20 D-INFINITY FC-INN1T1S4 FN-2L SYSTEM DATES - CREATED 17DEC20/1011 EXPIRES INFINITY PUBLISHED RTG DUB-ORL/AA EF-18DEC20 DIS-INDEF /VIA THE ATLANTIC/ MPM 4875 MILEAGE SYSTEM APPLIES BETWEEN ORIGIN AND DESTINATION MILEAGE SYSTEM APPLIES ORIGIN TO DESTINATION TICKETED POINT DEDUCTION OF 550 MILES APPLIES WHEN TRAVEL IS VIA CHI AND/OR MIA AND/OR RDU AND/OR CLT TICKETED POINT DEDUCTION OF 550 MILES APPLIES WHEN TRAVEL IS VIA DFW TICKETED POINT DEDUCTION OF 550 MILES APPLIES WHEN TRAVEL IS VIA CHI AND/OR RDU AND/OR MIA AND/OR CLT TICKETED POINT DEDUCTION OF 705 MILES APPLIES WHEN TRAVEL IS VIA SUB AREA 21 TICKETED POINT DEDUCTION OF 550 MILES APPLIES WHEN TRAVEL IS VIA CHI AND/OR MIA AND/OR RDU AND/OR CLT .
... and there's a somewhat hidden bonus feature which allows you to exceed the MPM values by paying an added percentage on the base fare based on these buckets:
Code:
DUBORL-AA 28DEC20 TICKETED POINT SURCHARGES APPLY. GI M 5M 10M 15M 20M 25M MPM AT 4875 5118 5362 5606 5850 6093 .
Based on GCMAP.com your DUB-LHR-JFK-MIA-MCO comes in at 5012 miles. You need to substract 550mi from the traveled miles because you are transferring in MIA. So those <4500 miles on your ticket mean you are within the 4875mi limit and don't have to pay any additional base fare.
What happens if you exceed the allowed miles?
You can see that the base fare for the return part is higher. The fare construction line shows that it charged me the 20M bucket.
I assume you are looking to travel DUB-LHR-HEL-JFK-MIA-MCO. This comes in at 6829mi. You are transferring in MIA which means you can deduct 550mi, but that's still 6279 miles traveled and thus above the MPM+25% limit (i.e. 6093mi).
You need to keep it below that 6093mi limit to make it work.
Here's a routing that works, but at the 25% additional cost:
Dec 30, 2020, 10:09 am
#6156
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 12,262
if you’re new to this and want to learn more, I really recommend reading the Wiki and first posts of this thread. It’s so informative and you can then follow the links and learn more.
Dec 30, 2020, 10:10 am
#6157
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: BER
Programs: BAEC GGL/GfL, Lufthansa SEN, Hilton Diamond, misc other stuff
Posts: 1,374
You cannot book there but you can search and then book somewhere else. You can also install a browser extension (e.g. Tampermonkey or Greasemonkey) that allows you to add custom Javascript (called ITA Powertools (instructions and download: ITA-Matrix-PowerTools - Userscript for Orbitz/DL/UA/AA/BA/CZ/IB/LA/LH/LX/TK)) which in turn adds the ability to create deep-links to various websites such as AA, BA, Kayak, Expedia, .. and those allow you to book there.
Dec 30, 2020, 10:30 am
#6158
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 98
thanks El_Duderito mikeyfly .... i feel this could be both good, and bad for me haha
Jan 3, 2021, 8:35 am
#6159
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 947
Am considering this to combine my holiday next year (SEA & YVR) with a to run. Am aware that this will be heavily caveated with the Covid situation.
Is this something BA can book over the phone or should I go through Propellor for it. Found that departing on the Sunday meant I could get to SEA on the same day.
Any further tips on finessing this. It's also nice to get a TP run starting from my closest airport at just under £2 a tp.
Also am I right in thinking that all JFK flights are now club suite.
Jan 3, 2021, 8:50 am
#6160
Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: LHR
Programs: Centurion BA GGL IHG Diamond
Posts: 134
Am considering this to combine my holiday next year (SEA & YVR) with a to run. Am aware that this will be heavily caveated with the Covid situation.
Is this something BA can book over the phone or should I go through Propellor for it. Found that departing on the Sunday meant I could get to SEA on the same day.
Any further tips on finessing this. It's also nice to get a TP run starting from my closest airport at just under £2 a tp.
Also am I right in thinking that all JFK flights are now club suite.
Jan 3, 2021, 9:24 am
#6161
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: BER
Programs: BA GGL, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,843
edit: nope it seems that this isnt possible.
and EDI-LHR-HEL-JFK-LAX_SEA and return prices for 18000 GBP for me. maybe cause MPM is exceeded and it prices into J class
Last edited by Nephoi; Jan 3, 2021 at 9:30 am
Jan 3, 2021, 9:35 am
#6162
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
For the OP, the screenshot you've shared is from an AA fare thus could be purchased by AA. If you purchase it through Propellor, it would be issued on 001- AA stock and AA ticketing policies would be in place.
Both would not work because of the MPM ( maximum permitted mileage ) on this fare which is 6826 miles.
Jan 3, 2021, 9:48 am
#6163
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: BER
Programs: BA GGL, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,843
For the OP, the screenshot you've shared is from an AA fare thus could be purchased by AA. If you purchase it through Propellor, it would be issued on 001- AA stock and AA ticketing policies would be in place.
Both would not work because of the MPM ( maximum permitted mileage ) on this fare which is 6826 miles.
Both would not work because of the MPM ( maximum permitted mileage ) on this fare which is 6826 miles.
edit: sorry, i wanted to upload this picture.
Jan 3, 2021, 10:04 am
#6164
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
Indeed, the A321T is dead and the AA domestic schedule for March 2021 is a placeholder so aircraft types could change. Plus the OP should be ready for major schedule change and multiple calls to the airline who would issue his ticket or his OTA ( Propellor, etc... )
Jan 3, 2021, 10:05 am
#6165
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: BER
Programs: BA GGL, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,843
i'd try to book with BA directly no matter what. afaik the call center operating hrs in the UK are quite decent. i called them several times via +44203..... when German call center was closed (right now Mon thru Fri 9-18)
my followup question would be if there will be a premium service for transcontinental service at all or only the very few domestic widebody services... will they use the 777s/787s for LAX-JFK and SFO-JFK in the future?