Jan 4, 2019, 9:09 am

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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

Advanced Promotion 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

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May 20, 2019, 11:34 pm

#1756

Gino Troian

Join Date: Nov 2014

Location: Aspen, CO

Posts: 792

880 tp

aks120 likes this.

May 21, 2019, 12:08 am

#1757

Gino Troian

Join Date: Nov 2014

Location: Aspen, CO

Posts: 792

88tps again

May 21, 2019, 12:29 am

#1758

dave_in_gva

Join Date: Sep 2007

Programs: BAEC GGL; Hilton Honors Diamond

Posts: 75

Quote:

Originally Posted by wanderingjock

Dave, you wont be very far off 5000 [for the first year] and my suggestion would be to get yourself [ no need to take wife as she will enjoy the benefits of GGL with you] on a TP run. Suggest CDG-SAN or OTP-PHX over 4-5 days and you will be almost there for £1200-1300. Jokers are great and you will get further GUFs too.

PS bookmark this thread and check twice per day!! You'll be hooked quickly!

Quote:

Originally Posted by bisonrav

Would suggest the AUH to CGK fares to go to Jakarta for a mini-holiday. Positioning from GVA in Y/W probably isn't expensive and will yield a couple of hundred TPs on top of the 560 for Jakarta, and it's a fairly easy trip to a reasonable destination.

Thank you wanderingjock and bisonrav. Excuse my ignorance but what is the best way to position oneself at the start of a TP run?

On the same TP run ticket with a OW carrier?
On a separate ticket on a OW carrier?
On a separate ticket with a cheap carrier (e.g. EasyJet covers a good number of destinations out of GVA)?

Sorry for the beginner level question but I've never really looked at this seriously and am still trying to get the mechanics of the various steps involved. My understanding is a positioning flight is done to take advantage of cheaper sales prices on business fares that are given to some markets by the OW carriers. It seems to me then that getting positioned would not make sense to purchase on the same ticket you are doing a TP run on, so I am thinking the most sensible option is either option #2 or #3 depending on the situation but thanks for the continued education.

May 21, 2019, 12:45 am

#1759

mikeyfly

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: May 2014

Location: UK

Programs: BA Gold

Posts: 12,255

Have a good read through Post 2 by KARFA about starting in Continental Europe. You will always have to buy separately the outbound to start your trip - and it won't become part of the main / longhaul ticket - it will be a stand alone "positioning flight"

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/30609125-post2.html

Also - the safest / lowest risk is to do a "back 2 back" where you get off the outbound aircraft - and then return back on the same aircraft. I'd read the following guide and familiarise yourself with the starting airports where this works. DO NOT consider luggage with this kind of ticketing - hand baggage only :

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...tinations.html

By all means - consider other ways of getting to your starting point, but build in lots of buffer timewise, miss your first leg and the whole itinerary could be lost

wanderingjock likes this.

May 21, 2019, 1:02 am

#1760

maxpedals

Join Date: Nov 2018

Location: UK

Programs: BA Gold

Posts: 59

Without scouting through the above threads, I’m after 80 TPs last week of July. Ideally a one day trip somewhere interesting from LGW, any recommendations?

May 21, 2019, 1:07 am

#1761

Misco60

Join Date: Oct 2015

Location: Vale of Glamorgan

Programs: BAEC Gold

Posts: 2,991

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxpedals

Without scouting through the above threads, I’m after 80 TPs last week of July. Ideally a one day trip somewhere interesting from LGW, any recommendations?

What's the best deal you've found so far? What are we aiming to improve upon?

etiene likes this.

May 21, 2019, 1:10 am

#1762

maxpedals

Join Date: Nov 2018

Location: UK

Programs: BA Gold

Posts: 59

£274 to EDI is the best I can think of, gives a decent amount of time to check out the city too.

May 21, 2019, 1:19 am

#1763

dave_in_gva

Join Date: Sep 2007

Programs: BAEC GGL; Hilton Honors Diamond

Posts: 75

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeyfly

Tx Mikey - had a quick look over the last few days but there's been so much new information I am still getting my head around hardwiring in some of the basics. Appreciate the steer back to Karfa's post 2. I did read the first page or two of this thread and have scouted around elsewhere on the net with regard to TP runs. Tx also for the advice and guide re B2B flights. Helpful although I think in my case with my wife with me we will be looking more at getting to a vacation destination that inherently requires a more complex routing.