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 Please add important information to it or correct outdated information by clicking the "Edit" button below.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









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BA Tier Point Runs | 2019-20 edition

Old Jul 9, 2019, 2:38 am
  #2116  
 
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Originally Posted by nivsy
Has anyone ever found decent tier points runs to Australia ex EU or are we just better just doing the normal checking with QR ex Scandinavia?
If TPs are your primary factor, consider UK-DXB-SIN-Australia, marketed as Qantas, but operated by Emirates. Full BA TPs, chauffeur service possibly (those rules change often, I'm not up to speed on the current rules). 1260 TP in F. Can get A380 all the way if you choose the right flights. Pricing can be competitive, but can also be silly.
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 2:40 am
  #2117  
 
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Originally Posted by nivsy
Has anyone ever found decent tier points runs to Australia ex EU or are we just better just doing the normal checking with QR ex Scandinavia?

If you don't mind a longer positioning flight, there is still a good run with Malaysian from Delhi to Perth for around 1200, we flew DEL-KUL-SYD-PER for 840tp. You can increase the points using Oneworld out to Delhi, but we snagged the 2-4-1 Swiss First offer for our trip.
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Last edited by moeman982; Jul 9, 2019 at 2:56 am
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 2:45 am
  #2118  
 
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Originally Posted by rjn21
If TPs are your primary factor, consider UK-DXB-SIN-Australia, marketed as Qantas, but operated by Emirates. Full BA TPs, chauffeur service possibly (those rules change often, I'm not up to speed on the current rules). 1260 TP in F. Can get A380 all the way if you choose the right flights. Pricing can be competitive, but can also be silly.
What's classed as 'competetive'? I can't see anything lower than 7800 for LON-SYD on QF codes in F right through to EOS.
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 2:47 am
  #2119  
 
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This is not disputed but when considering BA will never be the operating carrier with the US then there are times when EU 261 would not be payable on an AA fare when it would have been on a BA.
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 3:01 am
  #2120  
 
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Originally Posted by Wozza2404
What's classed as 'competetive'? I can't see anything lower than 7800 for LON-SYD on QF codes in F right through to EOS.
I paid 2500 for MAN DXB SIN MEL, in F, and return operated by emirates a380 and Qantas a380. 7,800 would, personally, count as a silly price option. Fiddling about with emirates U.K. departure points may, or may not, get better pricing.
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 3:36 am
  #2121  
 
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Originally Posted by moeman982
If you don't mind a longer positioning flight, there is still a good run with Malaysian from Delhi to Perth for around 1200, we flew DEL-KUL-SYD-PER for 840tp. You can increase the points using Oneworld out to Delhi, but we snagged the 2-4-1 Swiss First offer for our trip.
position out on AY AGP-HEL-DEL for a additional 560 TPs for 1300 EUR
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 3:54 am
  #2122  
 
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Originally Posted by alex67500
I think the idea is to add LAX in the run to get the "nicer" AA planes on the longer transcontinental flight. PHL-PHX won't have that.

AA domestic first is basically a glorified PE. I did LAS-JFK overnight recently, not a great experience.

And last but not least, there is no lounge access on domestic first, unless you're silver already (whereas you'd get access on a JFK-LAX). On such long runs, I expect that lounges are a welcome break.
Would also add that its often very cheap to add in a LHR-MAN leg for extra 40 TP and take the AA transatlantic MAN-PHL. Looking at the summer schedule the connection to the A330 PHL-LAX works well on the outbound. The transatlantic seems to be on a 767 in summer which I have no experience with. I booked something in February (on an INV-LAS fare from memory) which has a 787 on the transatlantic connecting to the A330 on the transcon flight. I would take either of these hard products over the current BA Club World. Unfortunately schedule changes have already seen my return PHL-MAN-LHR routing replaced with PHL-LHR direct
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 3:58 am
  #2123  
 
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Originally Posted by kingcole974
This is not disputed but when considering BA will never be the operating carrier with the US then there are times when EU 261 would not be payable on an AA fare when it would have been on a BA.
I thought it was the operating carrier of the flight that causes the delay that matters for EU261 - I thought codeshares, ticketing carrier etc don't matter.
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 4:21 am
  #2124  
 
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Originally Posted by megaloman
It doesn't matter who sells the ticket, operating carrier matters. EU261 applies to *all* airlines departing from the EU and to European airlines departing from outside of the EU. So:

LHR-IAD operated by AA - EU261 works
LHR-IAD operated by BA - EU262 works

IAD-LHR operated by AA - EU261 doesn't work
IAD-LHR operated by BA - EU261 works

​​
Ah, thanks! I never realised it was only departing from EU, not arriving into EU as any carrier.
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 4:26 am
  #2125  
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Originally Posted by omk298
I thought it was the operating carrier of the flight that causes the delay that matters for EU261 - I thought codeshares, ticketing carrier etc don't matter.
yes that is correct. operating carrier is what matters, whether you booked on a AA/BA ticket or on a codeshare is irrelevant.
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 7:38 am
  #2126  
 
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Originally Posted by onobond
Yes, they sure are.

Service roughly the same as Business transcon SFO/LAX <-> JFK, space and privacy, however, sticks out as much better
Excellent, AA are getting quite good at deploying the A330 on useful routes, I dislike JFK (and LAX too for that matter) so my usual connections are via PHL and PHX - already enjoyed the 330 PHX-HNL .
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 9:19 am
  #2127  
 
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any good ideas for routes into Miami around September that can capitalise on earning tier points? don't mind departure points around Europe ..been seeing a few 1700ish but wonder if can find better...

Many thxs in advance
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Old Jul 9, 2019, 3:34 pm
  #2128  
 
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Originally Posted by craigthemif
Australia isn't really a "TP run" because you're only getting 2 long-hauls each way out of it - i.e. connecting in DOH, HKG, SIN, KUL etc. - despite a much higher fare. There's no single airline that will get you more long haul connections on a single ticket. At best you could maybe get BA or QF to tag on a European / Australian leg, but the usual HEL games don't really apply without the TATL joint venture in play.
This is not strictly true. Being from Oz, I am going back for Christmas and was able to turn the trip in to a bit of a TP run, although certainly at the higher end of per TP. My routing is ARN - DXB - SIN - SYD. This had to be booked with QF codeshare on EK metal for ARN - DXB - SIN. As the fare allowed end-on-end, I was also able to have all my internal Oz flights added to one PNR, which was cheaper than buying from QF. I used Propeller Travel for this, priced on ITA Matrix.
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Old Jul 10, 2019, 12:21 am
  #2129  
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Originally Posted by Jase76
This is not strictly true.
So it seems. I wasn't aware that QF are selling EK tickets via SIN/PER and DXB.

Happy to have been corrected, although it still seems to me to be less of a "TP run" just for the TPs and a lot more like a TP maximising way of getting to Australia. Perhaps just semantics...
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Old Jul 10, 2019, 2:58 am
  #2130  
 
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Originally Posted by craigthemif
Happy to have been corrected, although it still seems to me to be less of a "TP run" just for the TPs and a lot more like a TP maximising way of getting to Australia. Perhaps just semantics...
It's a long way to go on a TP run, for sure. But so is Hawaii.

At 2200 for 960TPs (OSL-PER on BA) it falls within TP run territory, albeit at the higher end, at 2.29/TP.
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