Feb 6, 2021, 5:40 am
Last edit by: Prospero
This thread is the continuation of the discussion hosted in the BA Tier Point Runs | 2019-20 edition thread.
Useful tips and technical pointers
El_Duderito's explanation on fare routings and the maximum permitted distance you are allowed to travel (based on the distance between the origin and destination airports)
Helpful maps
The following series of maps show a 2,000 mile radius around each oneworld hub, useful for strategic planning purposes. Hopefully these will help your imagination to run free. Click on the images to reveal the accompanying maps.
EMEA
Asia Pacific
North America
Previous editions
BA Tier Point Runs | 2019-20 edition
BA Tier Point Runs | 2018 edition
BA Tier Point Runs | 2017 edition
BA Tier Point Runs | 2016 edition
BA Tier Point Runs | 2015 edition
BA Tier Point Runs | 2014 edition
BA Tier Point Runs | original edition
Useful tips and technical pointers
El_Duderito's explanation on fare routings and the maximum permitted distance you are allowed to travel (based on the distance between the origin and destination airports)
Helpful maps
The following series of maps show a 2,000 mile radius around each oneworld hub, useful for strategic planning purposes. Hopefully these will help your imagination to run free. Click on the images to reveal the accompanying maps.
EMEA
Asia Pacific
North America
Previous editions
BA Tier Point Runs | 2019-20 edition
BA Tier Point Runs | 2018 edition
BA Tier Point Runs | 2017 edition
BA Tier Point Runs | 2016 edition
BA Tier Point Runs | 2015 edition
BA Tier Point Runs | 2014 edition
BA Tier Point Runs | original edition
BA Tier Point Runs | 2021 edition
May 19, 2022, 5:12 am
#3181
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 15
Hi everyone
I'm trying to book the famous BUD-HNL fare and am doing pretty well on ITA Matrix with a THU outbound and SAT return (yes, 36 hours in Hawaii) for about £1450.
However I then tried to move the BUD-LHR initial leg to the day before (WED), but with less than 24 hours in London (so not a stopover) and the same flights thereafter.
Unfortunately, ITA Matrix reprices the ticket to add another £1,000
Does anyone know why that might be happening? As far as I can tell, I am still complying with all the fare rules, just with a 21h wait in LHR rather than 4h - ?
Or does anyone know a travel agent that can help book this - ?
Spending the night in London would be much nicer, as I could be at home rather than in a hotel in BUD and then 4 hours in the LHR lounge.
Many thanks
I'm trying to book the famous BUD-HNL fare and am doing pretty well on ITA Matrix with a THU outbound and SAT return (yes, 36 hours in Hawaii) for about £1450.
However I then tried to move the BUD-LHR initial leg to the day before (WED), but with less than 24 hours in London (so not a stopover) and the same flights thereafter.
Unfortunately, ITA Matrix reprices the ticket to add another £1,000
Does anyone know why that might be happening? As far as I can tell, I am still complying with all the fare rules, just with a 21h wait in LHR rather than 4h - ?
Or does anyone know a travel agent that can help book this - ?
Spending the night in London would be much nicer, as I could be at home rather than in a hotel in BUD and then 4 hours in the LHR lounge.
Many thanks
May 19, 2022, 6:41 am
#3182
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: London, UK and Southern France
Posts: 18,364
Hi everyone
I'm trying to book the famous BUD-HNL fare and am doing pretty well on ITA Matrix with a THU outbound and SAT return (yes, 36 hours in Hawaii) for about £1450.
However I then tried to move the BUD-LHR initial leg to the day before (WED), but with less than 24 hours in London (so not a stopover) and the same flights thereafter.
Unfortunately, ITA Matrix reprices the ticket to add another £1,000
Does anyone know why that might be happening? As far as I can tell, I am still complying with all the fare rules, just with a 21h wait in LHR rather than 4h - ?
Or does anyone know a travel agent that can help book this - ?
Spending the night in London would be much nicer, as I could be at home rather than in a hotel in BUD and then 4 hours in the LHR lounge.
Many thanks
I'm trying to book the famous BUD-HNL fare and am doing pretty well on ITA Matrix with a THU outbound and SAT return (yes, 36 hours in Hawaii) for about £1450.
However I then tried to move the BUD-LHR initial leg to the day before (WED), but with less than 24 hours in London (so not a stopover) and the same flights thereafter.
Unfortunately, ITA Matrix reprices the ticket to add another £1,000
Does anyone know why that might be happening? As far as I can tell, I am still complying with all the fare rules, just with a 21h wait in LHR rather than 4h - ?
Or does anyone know a travel agent that can help book this - ?
Spending the night in London would be much nicer, as I could be at home rather than in a hotel in BUD and then 4 hours in the LHR lounge.
Many thanks
May 19, 2022, 7:25 am
#3183
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 15
Thanks a lot, appreciate it. It's not no.1 because I class is available on that flight for other combinations.
It might be 2, but I don't understand it properly. Or 3, which would be good because I could possibly get around that.
Here's the weird bit:
Thurs BUD-HNL and Sunday HNL-BUD prices fine at £1,350
Thurs BUD-HNL and Saturday HNL-BUD prices fine at £1,450 (+£100 as not midweek return)
Weds BUD-LHR / Thurs LHR-HNL and Sunday HNL-BUD prices fine at £1,350
Weds BUD-LHR / Thurs LHR-HNL and Saturday HNL-BUD does not price fine at £2,200
So there is clearly availability on the relevant flights, and they can be combined as well, but there's something about the specific combination.
And yes I DO know I could just stay in HNL an extra day and be done with it, but I've got a work thing I need to be back for...
Again many thanks
It might be 2, but I don't understand it properly. Or 3, which would be good because I could possibly get around that.
Here's the weird bit:
Thurs BUD-HNL and Sunday HNL-BUD prices fine at £1,350
Thurs BUD-HNL and Saturday HNL-BUD prices fine at £1,450 (+£100 as not midweek return)
Weds BUD-LHR / Thurs LHR-HNL and Sunday HNL-BUD prices fine at £1,350
Weds BUD-LHR / Thurs LHR-HNL and Saturday HNL-BUD does not price fine at £2,200
So there is clearly availability on the relevant flights, and they can be combined as well, but there's something about the specific combination.
And yes I DO know I could just stay in HNL an extra day and be done with it, but I've got a work thing I need to be back for...
Again many thanks
May 19, 2022, 7:32 am
#3184
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: E14, LON
Programs: Virtuoso TA; SELECT TA; BAEC Gold; Hilton Honors Diamond; IHG Plantinum Amb
Posts: 239
From the fare rules:
TRAVEL FROM INBOUND TRANSATLANTIC SECTOR MUST COMMENCE NO EARLIER THAN THE FIRST SUN AFTER ARRIVAL AT THE TURNAROUND.
AND - TRAVEL FROM TURNAROUND MUST COMMENCE NO EARLIER THAN 24 HOURS AFTER ARRIVAL AT THE TURNAROUND.
AND - TRAVEL FROM TURNAROUND MUST COMMENCE NO EARLIER THAN 24 HOURS AFTER ARRIVAL AT THE TURNAROUND.
May 19, 2022, 7:58 am
#3185
Join Date: May 2005
Programs: BA Gold, AA PLT PRO, AGR, Strawberry (Nordic Choice), Marriott Bonvoy
Posts: 4,248
Hi All, wondering if you'd be kind enough to help.
Very likely I've got to go to Riyadh in October for business for 2 weeks. Approximate dates are first two weeks of Oct. Given I run the company and I'm fairly location indepedent, I'm quite flexible on going a few days (even a week) beforehand and returning a few days later too. I.e. happy to fly to Europe, stay a few nights and then head on, and the same returning.
Thus, I'm interested to know any thoughts on maximising TPs for this trip. Will be starting in Mexico City and see return fares in J approximately 5k USD to Riyadh, but I feel there could be much better value in interlocking some flights and heading to Europe first then buying a separate journey once there. Any tips on routes that may allow better ex-EU to Saudi once already positioned to Europe? Also, is it best to consider positioning to DOH or another major hub then travelling onto Saudi from there?
Very likely I've got to go to Riyadh in October for business for 2 weeks. Approximate dates are first two weeks of Oct. Given I run the company and I'm fairly location indepedent, I'm quite flexible on going a few days (even a week) beforehand and returning a few days later too. I.e. happy to fly to Europe, stay a few nights and then head on, and the same returning.
Thus, I'm interested to know any thoughts on maximising TPs for this trip. Will be starting in Mexico City and see return fares in J approximately 5k USD to Riyadh, but I feel there could be much better value in interlocking some flights and heading to Europe first then buying a separate journey once there. Any tips on routes that may allow better ex-EU to Saudi once already positioned to Europe? Also, is it best to consider positioning to DOH or another major hub then travelling onto Saudi from there?
for example from TUN ~$800
https://www.google.com/travel/flight...MPycH7m4j2rQ97
MEX-MAD on IB ~$2600
https://www.google.com/travel/flight...RNVShry3TTS9G8
MAD-TUN via CMN on AT ~$1300
https://www.google.com/travel/flight...catCpso5veRhG7
Youll have to play around with exact timings since I just threw dates into Google flights. I haven’t looked carefully enough to see that those flights can connect but you get the idea…
Last edited by salut0; May 19, 2022 at 8:16 am
May 19, 2022, 9:24 am
#3186
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Mexico
Programs: BAEC Gold / Marriott Platinum
Posts: 3,549
Dont have experience of travel to Saudi specifically but I do know that RJ have some great business class fares from certain origins. Maybe nest that ticket inside a BA/other oneworld ticket to those points?
for example from TUN ~$800
https://www.google.com/travel/flight...MPycH7m4j2rQ97
MEX-MAD on IB ~$2600
https://www.google.com/travel/flight...RNVShry3TTS9G8
MAD-TUN via CMN on AT ~$1300
https://www.google.com/travel/flight...catCpso5veRhG7
Youll have to play around with exact timings since I just threw dates into Google flights. I haven’t looked carefully enough to see that those flights can connect but you get the idea…
for example from TUN ~$800
https://www.google.com/travel/flight...MPycH7m4j2rQ97
MEX-MAD on IB ~$2600
https://www.google.com/travel/flight...RNVShry3TTS9G8
MAD-TUN via CMN on AT ~$1300
https://www.google.com/travel/flight...catCpso5veRhG7
Youll have to play around with exact timings since I just threw dates into Google flights. I haven’t looked carefully enough to see that those flights can connect but you get the idea…
Thanks a lot, that's some serious flying. I'll start playing around with it and see what I can do. Appreciate the tips. I'm also going to look at options for positioning to ARN or something like that. Thoughts?
May 19, 2022, 9:28 am
#3187
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 15
Ref #3184
Unfortunately not, because the THU-SAT version prices OK and the requirement is for the transatlantic sector to be on Sunday.
So you can leave HNL on SAT overnight, and then come back to Europe on SUN
But thank you :-)
Unfortunately not, because the THU-SAT version prices OK and the requirement is for the transatlantic sector to be on Sunday.
So you can leave HNL on SAT overnight, and then come back to Europe on SUN
But thank you :-)
May 19, 2022, 9:45 am
#3188
Join Date: May 2014
Location: BRU
Programs: BA GGL, TK E (*G), ITA exec
Posts: 4,105
Are we talking of the same BUD-HNL fare with 180 days advance booking? From what I remember the TATL flight back had to be on Monday.
May 19, 2022, 10:45 am
#3189
Join Date: Feb 2020
Location: BHD/DUB/PTY
Programs: BA Silver / EI Silver
Posts: 419
Need to some help. Have a SOF-SFO for August, but BA cancelled the flight and there's no other partner flights out of SOF on the day.
Called BA already and their answer was "No flights available, we can only offer a refund". Told her I needed some time to think.
Any suggestions on what to do or alternative flights I could check? I already booked a positioning flight to SOF the day before (Aug 16). Would be a shame to cancel the ticket as it would have reached BA Gold. Only need 690 TP to reach Gold.
Called BA already and their answer was "No flights available, we can only offer a refund". Told her I needed some time to think.
Any suggestions on what to do or alternative flights I could check? I already booked a positioning flight to SOF the day before (Aug 16). Would be a shame to cancel the ticket as it would have reached BA Gold. Only need 690 TP to reach Gold.
May 19, 2022, 10:53 am
#3190
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: London
Programs: BA GGL / GfL
Posts: 3,265
Need to some help. Have a SOF-SFO for August, but BA cancelled the flight and there's no other partner flights out of SOF on the day.
Called BA already and their answer was "No flights available, we can only offer a refund". Told her I needed some time to think.
Any suggestions on what to do or alternative flights I could check? I already booked a positioning flight to SOF the day before (Aug 16). Would be a shame to cancel the ticket as it would have reached BA Gold. Only need 690 TP to reach Gold.
Called BA already and their answer was "No flights available, we can only offer a refund". Told her I needed some time to think.
Any suggestions on what to do or alternative flights I could check? I already booked a positioning flight to SOF the day before (Aug 16). Would be a shame to cancel the ticket as it would have reached BA Gold. Only need 690 TP to reach Gold.
Pilot37
May 19, 2022, 10:59 am
#3191
Join Date: Jun 2021
Posts: 35
Best bet is to start out with a fairly wide set of requirements. populate a simple return in business class between your start and end point (in this case i've chosen BUD and HNL because I know there is a good fare around at the moment - thanks to FT!) Don't initially put in any routing codes (or if you do, just use LHR for both ends) and make sure you have Oneworld Alliance set in the extension codes. Then search based on calendar of lowest fares, with a duration of 0-7 night and do an initial search (at least 6 months out) to find some dates with the duration you're after and at roughly the right price.
The try adding a couple of additional routing options in (in my case, I added in LHR HEL LAX initially, and the same in reverse). ITA doesnt seem to handle more than three connections in either direction on the simple return.
Once you have another set of flights at the right dates, make a note of the dates and then change to a multi-city search. Split your journey into a couple of different flights in each direction (remember you can add routing options into each of these flights) - for example:
this then gives you some additional options and lets you optimise your routes, but the importance is to be flexible with your dates, and ensure you select the "+/-2days" option against each departure. This is the exact search that i used to get the results I posted earlier.
There's quite a few youtube videos out there and i'm sure some of our fellow FTers can provide other suggestions.
The try adding a couple of additional routing options in (in my case, I added in LHR HEL LAX initially, and the same in reverse). ITA doesnt seem to handle more than three connections in either direction on the simple return.
Once you have another set of flights at the right dates, make a note of the dates and then change to a multi-city search. Split your journey into a couple of different flights in each direction (remember you can add routing options into each of these flights) - for example:
this then gives you some additional options and lets you optimise your routes, but the importance is to be flexible with your dates, and ensure you select the "+/-2days" option against each departure. This is the exact search that i used to get the results I posted earlier.
There's quite a few youtube videos out there and i'm sure some of our fellow FTers can provide other suggestions.
May 19, 2022, 11:00 am
#3192
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: near Heathrow
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL (OWE), SA LifePlat (*G), BD Gold to the end, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,911
Need to some help. Have a SOF-SFO for August, but BA cancelled the flight and there's no other partner flights out of SOF on the day.
Called BA already and their answer was "No flights available, we can only offer a refund". Told her I needed some time to think.
Any suggestions on what to do or alternative flights I could check? I already booked a positioning flight to SOF the day before (Aug 16). Would be a shame to cancel the ticket as it would have reached BA Gold. Only need 690 TP to reach Gold...
Called BA already and their answer was "No flights available, we can only offer a refund". Told her I needed some time to think.
Any suggestions on what to do or alternative flights I could check? I already booked a positioning flight to SOF the day before (Aug 16). Would be a shame to cancel the ticket as it would have reached BA Gold. Only need 690 TP to reach Gold...
Assuming a BA ticket, if the flight is cancelled, one option is they should allow you to move the departure point 300 miles. That would include OTP which is a popular alternative. Doesn't help your outbound positioning flight but you should be able to cancel that for an eVoucher and rebook to your new departure point.
Alternatively you could move the SOF-LHR to the day before. Recent reports suggest a back to back is easy at SOF. That means you have the extra time in London or you could move your entire outbound a day earlier, or up to 3 days earlier or 14 days later under normal rules, or within ticket validity under covid rules, which currently seems to be within a year of issue.
May 19, 2022, 11:01 am
#3193
Join Date: Sep 2015
Programs: A3*G,BA Silver
Posts: 2,012
You can book it direct with AA. You need to download the power tools extension
May 19, 2022, 11:10 am
#3194
Join Date: Sep 2016
Programs: BAEC GGL
Posts: 63
Need to some help. Have a SOF-SFO for August, but BA cancelled the flight and there's no other partner flights out of SOF on the day.
Called BA already and their answer was "No flights available, we can only offer a refund". Told her I needed some time to think.
Any suggestions on what to do or alternative flights I could check? I already booked a positioning flight to SOF the day before (Aug 16). Would be a shame to cancel the ticket as it would have reached BA Gold. Only need 690 TP to reach Gold.
Called BA already and their answer was "No flights available, we can only offer a refund". Told her I needed some time to think.
Any suggestions on what to do or alternative flights I could check? I already booked a positioning flight to SOF the day before (Aug 16). Would be a shame to cancel the ticket as it would have reached BA Gold. Only need 690 TP to reach Gold.
May 19, 2022, 11:11 am
#3195
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: BAEC Silver, IHG Diamond
Posts: 7,775
What about moving the positioning and starting flight from Sofia to Corfu, Greece? It appears to only be 277 miles, so would work within the 300mile rule and BA fly each day in August, in some cases with multiple flights a day, so while I would not suggest a straight b2b, you could outbound the day before or an early flight and return on a late one?
Pilot37
Pilot37
I just changed to OTP and booked an Avios positioning flight the day before (cash prices are fairly high, and Avios might be easier to change if need be).
BA don't seem to like SOF and every time I've booked a flight there or back, they've cancelled that day.
As I mentioned earlier, unless things change, I'm doing OTP-LHR; LHR-JFK; JFK-SFO same day now. Saves a short overnight at JFK and if all goes well, I'll get to SFO at 8:20pm so I've still got time to get into the city should I want to stay there.
I'll stay overnight at an airport hotel in Bucharest, or I could change to the day before and have a couple of days there. Just wanted a positioning flight in place whilst I could get one.
Coming back isn't that cheap. Some Wizzair fares are over £200, and FR to MAN aren't that much off a BA fare once a checked bag is taken into account.
I would probably get something in place sooner rather than later as prices are high to a lot of places even on the low cost carriers.
LHR-CFU on the 16th Aug:
10:05-15:25 Economy £295 Business £939!
15:15-20:25 Economy £146 Business £383
LHR-CFU 17th Aug
10:40-16:00 Economy £174 Business £533
(Did look at Finnair from LHR-HEL-OTP) but it's coming in as £500 in business and I can't seem to book the HEL-OTP bit separately as AY don't fly it even though they say Norra do)
Last edited by xenole; May 19, 2022 at 11:41 am