Old Feb 6, 2021, 5:40 am
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This thread is the continuation of the discussion hosted in the BA Tier Point Runs | 2019-20 edition thread.

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BA Tier Point Runs | 2021 edition

Old Nov 15, 2021, 7:59 am
  #1531  
 
Join Date: Mar 2021
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Originally Posted by ISTFlyer
Just to let you know for option 1; SFO-LHR-MAN I think you made a typo as that's definitely 180 TP's for the leg rather than 360 at the first place.
Thanks for your reply, yes it was a typo - bah!

SFO-MIA-JFK-LHR-MAN it should be.
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Old Nov 15, 2021, 8:54 am
  #1532  
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
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Originally Posted by izzik
For example, it is < $600 from Chicago until early February. <$700 until early May.
FYI, airfares in June will be more expensive due to the busy summer travel season.
Thanks for that! I've managed to price up around June time.

LAS-LAX-CLT-JFK // EWR-CLT-LAX-PHX for approx. 701 for 440TP which would be about 1.59 per TP which is reasonably considering it fits around my dates
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Old Nov 15, 2021, 9:33 am
  #1533  
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Building up TPs using Alaska Airlines West Coast Routings

So here's a topic that's a bit of a twist on the idea of accumulating BAEC TPs on short haul AS itineraries in the Western US. One often reads about the TP runs in Europe that are done on OW aircraft, however it strikes me that there is real opportunity out there using Alaska Airlines metal, if one is located in the USA, where AS has a lot of short flights, usually offering "J" seats sold as AS First Class. Obviously one is going to need to get enough flights on BA Metal/BA marketed flights also, but for the person who doesn't constantly spend time traveling within or to Europe, it seems like there would be economical ways to get a bunch of TPs on AS without spending a whole lot of money. There is also a lot of potential to doing B2B flights, given that there is no border to cross and generally no covid documentation to check.

AS routinely presents both nonstop and connecting itineraries when one does fare searches, and while some of the connecting options are quite expensive, often they are not. AS also has frequent fare sales which occasionally include their First Class cabin.

Is anyone currently using this opportunity to augment their ascendance within the BAEC tiers?
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Old Nov 15, 2021, 9:52 am
  #1534  
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I assume you aren't thinking that AS "First Class" will earn first class TP, right?
It's still 40 TP for short segments.
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Old Nov 15, 2021, 10:34 am
  #1535  
 
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Originally Posted by champignon
So here's a topic that's a bit of a twist on the idea of accumulating BAEC TPs on short haul AS itineraries in the Western US. One often reads about the TP runs in Europe that are done on OW aircraft, however it strikes me that there is real opportunity out there using Alaska Airlines metal, if one is located in the USA, where AS has a lot of short flights, usually offering "J" seats sold as AS First Class. Obviously one is going to need to get enough flights on BA Metal/BA marketed flights also, but for the person who doesn't constantly spend time traveling within or to Europe, it seems like there would be economical ways to get a bunch of TPs on AS without spending a whole lot of money. There is also a lot of potential to doing B2B flights, given that there is no border to cross and generally no covid documentation to check.

AS routinely presents both nonstop and connecting itineraries when one does fare searches, and while some of the connecting options are quite expensive, often they are not. AS also has frequent fare sales which occasionally include their First Class cabin.

Is anyone currently using this opportunity to augment their ascendance within the BAEC tiers?
I hadn't used the grandeur of "augment my ascendance" in my thinking!

But - given I'm in LAX next week, I took advantage of AS prices to book LAX-SJC and LAX-SFO returns on the same day for 160 TP. I'm paying about 1.25 per TP as it's Thanksgiving week but on some dates (when I booked in September) it was as low as 1 per TP. It pushes me into Gold, so yes it does!

Last edited by nh1980; Nov 15, 2021 at 10:41 am
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Old Nov 15, 2021, 10:39 am
  #1536  
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Originally Posted by izzik
I assume you aren't thinking that AS "First Class" will earn first class TP, right?
It's still 40 TP for short segments.
I specifically said "J" class, which is not FC in the OW universe, it is Business.

Picking a random day in February, the 15th, I spent a few minutes looking at options departing from Boise. The best I could come up with in 10 minutes was about $380 for 160 TPs obtained in one day, from BOI-SJC. I found another itinerary on another regional route that might get 160 TPs for $320, but it needs work.

If one uses the metric of GBP per TP, that comes out to around 1.76 GBP per TP, not great, but not horrible, either. I think with some effort, a person looking to augment their TP stash by several hundred TPs would be doable on short hops in the Western US. Since the AS route system is highly tethered to SEA, this probably wouldn't work for someone who isn't relatively close to Seattle.
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Old Nov 15, 2021, 10:45 am
  #1537  
 
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Some of the Boise, Spokane, Portland runs out of SEA can be quite good, some tight connection times but I suspect they are hardly the most complex of airports to navigate.
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Old Nov 15, 2021, 10:49 am
  #1538  
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Originally Posted by nh1980
I hadn't used the grandeur of "augment my ascendance" in my thinking!

But - given I'm in LAX next week, I took advantage of AS prices to book LAX-SJC and LAX-SFO returns on the same day for 160 TP. I'm paying about 1.25 per TP as it's Thanksgiving week but on some dates (when I booked in September) it was as low as 1 per TP. It pushes me into Gold, so yes it does!
The more that I look at this and also considering your own ascendance , it seems like the key to the economies would be to concentrate on routes having significant competition between AS and "her" competitors, which would tend to keep J fares down. These competitors would be principally UA and DL in the western region, although potentially SW would be in the mix as well, if AS is keeping the differential between Y and J fares at some reasonable level.
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Old Nov 16, 2021, 1:56 am
  #1539  
 
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Over the past few days I've had several schedule changes from American Airlines for early- to mid-2022, some very significant and inconvenient (including an overnight flight from LAS to PHL followed by a 14-hour wait for my TATL).

In every case, I've managed to get straight through to AA Customer Service with no wait whatsoever and have had a very helpful and patient agent who has rebooked according to my wishes and even managed to increase the TPs earned.

I get the impression that the agents are so busy at the moment that if you have done your prior research and simply present them with flight numbers you would like to be rebooked onto then they are happy to do it without fuss. Otherwise you're going to have to repeatedly explain that you really don't want to be routed through DFW or ORD.
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Old Nov 16, 2021, 3:03 am
  #1540  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
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Originally Posted by Misco60
Over the past few days I've had several schedule changes from American Airlines for early- to mid-2022, some very significant and inconvenient
I've had JFK-LAS moved by almost 5hrs, making the connection from LHR something like 8hrs.
Problem: I've booked with BA Holidays for double TP promotion so it'll take about 8hrs to get through to them on the phone line to request a change... :-|
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Last edited by mmxbreaks; Nov 16, 2021 at 3:51 am
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Old Nov 16, 2021, 3:20 am
  #1541  
 
Join Date: Mar 2021
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I've just had a new ticket emailed to me - I've been rebooked on the direct LHR-SFO and return! That's really not what I want, so going to have to ring up and request indirect routings!
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Old Nov 16, 2021, 3:51 am
  #1542  
 
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Originally Posted by LancashireFlyer
I've just had a new ticket emailed to me - I've been rebooked on the direct LHR-SFO and return! That's really not what I want, so going to have to ring up and request indirect routings!
I managed to swap LHR-JFK-LAS to LHR-SFO-LAS (with AS connection - unexpected!). Loss of 100TP (200 if factoring in Double promotion), but I should be able to 'afford' that and the increase in comfort over long distance and a far better arrival time is much more worthwhile to me.
I would have been rebooked onto the direct LHR-LAS, but no F is offered (an utterly bizarre operations decision on this route IMO!).
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Old Nov 16, 2021, 3:53 am
  #1543  
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Also folks, a kind reminder that if you have a BAH booking that would qualify for the double TP promo, you would need all segments issued under the BA marketing code. During schedule changes, please don't forget to pay detail to this attention.
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Old Nov 16, 2021, 4:16 am
  #1544  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
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Originally Posted by ISTFlyer
Also folks, a kind reminder that if you have a BAH booking that would qualify for the double TP promo, you would need all segments issued under the BA marketing code. During schedule changes, please don't forget to pay detail to this attention.
Yes indeed. Not all AS flights offer BA codes from what I can see, but some do.

Although having seen the ticket reissue email I've somehow got LHR-SFO JFK-LAS // LAS-LAX-LHR. No sign of SFO-LAS or separate PNR.

Might have to call again...
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Old Nov 16, 2021, 6:11 am
  #1545  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
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Originally Posted by mmxbreaks
Yes indeed. Not all AS flights offer BA codes from what I can see, but some do.

Although having seen the ticket reissue email I've somehow got LHR-SFO JFK-LAS // LAS-LAX-LHR. No sign of SFO-LAS or separate PNR.

Might have to call again...
Called again. Second agent was baffled why a ticket had been reissued in such a state. Was a total error.

Then couldn't find any SFO or LAX routing, as said the Alaska and Skywest metal flights aren't eligible (didn't think this was a problem given available BA codes).

So it turned into LHR-DFW-LAS or nothing. Booked that.

But now there are two LAS-LAX flights in my return booking... Shambles? :-[[[[[
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