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
Jun 28, 2022, 4:00 pm
#3556
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Southampton
Posts: 221
Tier Point run DUB-LHR-BOS-LAX-SFO and vv: issues and info
I can't find a tier points run Trip Report thread so here goes (mods please move if required).
I'll just describe the points of interest rather than the whole trip as I guess most people reading this are aware what 'good/normal' looks like in BA/AA/AS Business and First.
Dublin, Friday 24-June...oh dear. We had 5 hours to kill thanks to a cancelled positioning flight. We thought we may as well use human check in to use up some time, so arrived at BA check in just after 1300 when it opened with 3 or 4 people ahead in the Priority line. It was an hour before we were checked in due to some local IT issue and although we'd completed API on the PNR that BA emailed us about our trip, the check in agent said it was missing...but it turned out they were using the other BA PNR (DUB-LHR showed in both). They also wanted to see a physical copy of ESTA a bit like SOF do. Then off to Fast Track security which took 45mins, so only had time for one speedy Guinness in the lounge before boarding.
I did have a printed ESTA so would suggest others do the same in case this wasn't just a one-off thing at DUB. Unfortunately, I can't help with advice re B2Bs at DUB, I tried asking at the Fast Track security channel but got a woolly response so we really need someone to try it and report back. If you are spat out from Flight Connections into Fast Track, it would appear extremely risky.
LHR-BOS on BA was ok. BOS-LAX we were getting regular AA app offers of $261 one way to upgrade to F. I attempted to negotiate a better price to no avail so we stuck with Business. LAX-SFO no issues.
Next day, SFO-LAX on Alaskan. Tried to get boarding passes for the whole trip home but AS agent was unable to do this on the iPad and told us to check in at LAX which we hadn't seen as a problem as it's a 2.5 hour connection. At LAX, we were told that the next segment LAX-BOS had been deleted for some reason and as all flights were full in the pointy end were told we were going economy which we were less than chuffed with. Not sure whether we stumbled upon AA's grumpiest person in the Flagship Lounge but they were coming out with some classics....they couldn't change the itinerary, we had to go to Boston in Economy as AA don't guarantee Business even if you've booked it; if we elected not to travel the rest of the itinerary will be cancelled as we no-showed and it was all BA's fault. These sounded like random cut n paste responses form a chatbot but this was a human who was somewhat defensive and no way were they letting me look or photograph their screen. I've emailed AA for an explanation so we can learn from it.
Were we bumped off the flight for AA VIPs above our GGL? Is there an AS-Oneworld integration issue so the system thought we'd no-showed for SFO-LAX? Or was it really just a glitch? There was an AA reschedule in late March from 1000 to 0956 departure from LAX, I get that if this breaks Min Connecting Time it'll delete the leg from the itinerary but this time change didn't, we still had 2.5 hrs at LAX and would have had same at BOS. But at all times the AA itinerary was correct and they were still emailing departure updates as we were being told that the segment had been deleted.
The lesson, I guess, is to keep checking the whole itinerary as we did on our first TP run so that it's less of a surprise.
We didn't get seats in economy on the LAX-BOS as it was full and subsequently spent all day at LAX after finding a friendly agent in the concourse who rebooked us direct to LHR on the evening AA flight.
I'll just describe the points of interest rather than the whole trip as I guess most people reading this are aware what 'good/normal' looks like in BA/AA/AS Business and First.
Dublin, Friday 24-June...oh dear. We had 5 hours to kill thanks to a cancelled positioning flight. We thought we may as well use human check in to use up some time, so arrived at BA check in just after 1300 when it opened with 3 or 4 people ahead in the Priority line. It was an hour before we were checked in due to some local IT issue and although we'd completed API on the PNR that BA emailed us about our trip, the check in agent said it was missing...but it turned out they were using the other BA PNR (DUB-LHR showed in both). They also wanted to see a physical copy of ESTA a bit like SOF do. Then off to Fast Track security which took 45mins, so only had time for one speedy Guinness in the lounge before boarding.
I did have a printed ESTA so would suggest others do the same in case this wasn't just a one-off thing at DUB. Unfortunately, I can't help with advice re B2Bs at DUB, I tried asking at the Fast Track security channel but got a woolly response so we really need someone to try it and report back. If you are spat out from Flight Connections into Fast Track, it would appear extremely risky.
LHR-BOS on BA was ok. BOS-LAX we were getting regular AA app offers of $261 one way to upgrade to F. I attempted to negotiate a better price to no avail so we stuck with Business. LAX-SFO no issues.
Next day, SFO-LAX on Alaskan. Tried to get boarding passes for the whole trip home but AS agent was unable to do this on the iPad and told us to check in at LAX which we hadn't seen as a problem as it's a 2.5 hour connection. At LAX, we were told that the next segment LAX-BOS had been deleted for some reason and as all flights were full in the pointy end were told we were going economy which we were less than chuffed with. Not sure whether we stumbled upon AA's grumpiest person in the Flagship Lounge but they were coming out with some classics....they couldn't change the itinerary, we had to go to Boston in Economy as AA don't guarantee Business even if you've booked it; if we elected not to travel the rest of the itinerary will be cancelled as we no-showed and it was all BA's fault. These sounded like random cut n paste responses form a chatbot but this was a human who was somewhat defensive and no way were they letting me look or photograph their screen. I've emailed AA for an explanation so we can learn from it.
Were we bumped off the flight for AA VIPs above our GGL? Is there an AS-Oneworld integration issue so the system thought we'd no-showed for SFO-LAX? Or was it really just a glitch? There was an AA reschedule in late March from 1000 to 0956 departure from LAX, I get that if this breaks Min Connecting Time it'll delete the leg from the itinerary but this time change didn't, we still had 2.5 hrs at LAX and would have had same at BOS. But at all times the AA itinerary was correct and they were still emailing departure updates as we were being told that the segment had been deleted.
The lesson, I guess, is to keep checking the whole itinerary as we did on our first TP run so that it's less of a surprise.
We didn't get seats in economy on the LAX-BOS as it was full and subsequently spent all day at LAX after finding a friendly agent in the concourse who rebooked us direct to LHR on the evening AA flight.
Jun 28, 2022, 4:32 pm
#3557
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 164
I can't find a tier points run Trip Report thread so here goes (mods please move if required).
I'll just describe the points of interest rather than the whole trip as I guess most people reading this are aware what 'good/normal' looks like in BA/AA/AS Business and First.
Dublin, Friday 24-June...oh dear. We had 5 hours to kill thanks to a cancelled positioning flight. We thought we may as well use human check in to use up some time, so arrived at BA check in just after 1300 when it opened with 3 or 4 people ahead in the Priority line. It was an hour before we were checked in due to some local IT issue and although we'd completed API on the PNR that BA emailed us about our trip, the check in agent said it was missing...but it turned out they were using the other BA PNR (DUB-LHR showed in both). They also wanted to see a physical copy of ESTA a bit like SOF do. Then off to Fast Track security which took 45mins, so only had time for one speedy Guinness in the lounge before boarding.
I did have a printed ESTA so would suggest others do the same in case this wasn't just a one-off thing at DUB. Unfortunately, I can't help with advice re B2Bs at DUB, I tried asking at the Fast Track security channel but got a woolly response so we really need someone to try it and report back. If you are spat out from Flight Connections into Fast Track, it would appear extremely risky.
LHR-BOS on BA was ok. BOS-LAX we were getting regular AA app offers of $261 one way to upgrade to F. I attempted to negotiate a better price to no avail so we stuck with Business. LAX-SFO no issues.
Next day, SFO-LAX on Alaskan. Tried to get boarding passes for the whole trip home but AS agent was unable to do this on the iPad and told us to check in at LAX which we hadn't seen as a problem as it's a 2.5 hour connection. At LAX, we were told that the next segment LAX-BOS had been deleted for some reason and as all flights were full in the pointy end were told we were going economy which we were less than chuffed with. Not sure whether we stumbled upon AA's grumpiest person in the Flagship Lounge but they were coming out with some classics....they couldn't change the itinerary, we had to go to Boston in Economy as AA don't guarantee Business even if you've booked it; if we elected not to travel the rest of the itinerary will be cancelled as we no-showed and it was all BA's fault. These sounded like random cut n paste responses form a chatbot but this was a human who was somewhat defensive and no way were they letting me look or photograph their screen. I've emailed AA for an explanation so we can learn from it.
Were we bumped off the flight for AA VIPs above our GGL? Is there an AS-Oneworld integration issue so the system thought we'd no-showed for SFO-LAX? Or was it really just a glitch? There was an AA reschedule in late March from 1000 to 0956 departure from LAX, I get that if this breaks Min Connecting Time it'll delete the leg from the itinerary but this time change didn't, we still had 2.5 hrs at LAX and would have had same at BOS. But at all times the AA itinerary was correct and they were still emailing departure updates as we were being told that the segment had been deleted.
The lesson, I guess, is to keep checking the whole itinerary as we did on our first TP run so that it's less of a surprise.
We didn't get seats in economy on the LAX-BOS as it was full and subsequently spent all day at LAX after finding a friendly agent in the concourse who rebooked us direct to LHR on the evening AA flight.
I'll just describe the points of interest rather than the whole trip as I guess most people reading this are aware what 'good/normal' looks like in BA/AA/AS Business and First.
Dublin, Friday 24-June...oh dear. We had 5 hours to kill thanks to a cancelled positioning flight. We thought we may as well use human check in to use up some time, so arrived at BA check in just after 1300 when it opened with 3 or 4 people ahead in the Priority line. It was an hour before we were checked in due to some local IT issue and although we'd completed API on the PNR that BA emailed us about our trip, the check in agent said it was missing...but it turned out they were using the other BA PNR (DUB-LHR showed in both). They also wanted to see a physical copy of ESTA a bit like SOF do. Then off to Fast Track security which took 45mins, so only had time for one speedy Guinness in the lounge before boarding.
I did have a printed ESTA so would suggest others do the same in case this wasn't just a one-off thing at DUB. Unfortunately, I can't help with advice re B2Bs at DUB, I tried asking at the Fast Track security channel but got a woolly response so we really need someone to try it and report back. If you are spat out from Flight Connections into Fast Track, it would appear extremely risky.
LHR-BOS on BA was ok. BOS-LAX we were getting regular AA app offers of $261 one way to upgrade to F. I attempted to negotiate a better price to no avail so we stuck with Business. LAX-SFO no issues.
Next day, SFO-LAX on Alaskan. Tried to get boarding passes for the whole trip home but AS agent was unable to do this on the iPad and told us to check in at LAX which we hadn't seen as a problem as it's a 2.5 hour connection. At LAX, we were told that the next segment LAX-BOS had been deleted for some reason and as all flights were full in the pointy end were told we were going economy which we were less than chuffed with. Not sure whether we stumbled upon AA's grumpiest person in the Flagship Lounge but they were coming out with some classics....they couldn't change the itinerary, we had to go to Boston in Economy as AA don't guarantee Business even if you've booked it; if we elected not to travel the rest of the itinerary will be cancelled as we no-showed and it was all BA's fault. These sounded like random cut n paste responses form a chatbot but this was a human who was somewhat defensive and no way were they letting me look or photograph their screen. I've emailed AA for an explanation so we can learn from it.
Were we bumped off the flight for AA VIPs above our GGL? Is there an AS-Oneworld integration issue so the system thought we'd no-showed for SFO-LAX? Or was it really just a glitch? There was an AA reschedule in late March from 1000 to 0956 departure from LAX, I get that if this breaks Min Connecting Time it'll delete the leg from the itinerary but this time change didn't, we still had 2.5 hrs at LAX and would have had same at BOS. But at all times the AA itinerary was correct and they were still emailing departure updates as we were being told that the segment had been deleted.
The lesson, I guess, is to keep checking the whole itinerary as we did on our first TP run so that it's less of a surprise.
We didn't get seats in economy on the LAX-BOS as it was full and subsequently spent all day at LAX after finding a friendly agent in the concourse who rebooked us direct to LHR on the evening AA flight.
The main difference is that back in March AA emailed me and said that, on Sunday 26 June I could no longer fly SFO-LAX-BOS-LHR-DUB for my return trip, and instead they re-routed me to SFO-PHL-LHR-DUB. I guess this is why you discovered that your LAX-BOS leg was no longer there. The thing I don't understand is that why you did not receive the AA notification like I did.
Anyway sounds like you managed to get a comfortable flight directly back to LHR at the end
Jun 28, 2022, 8:06 pm
#3558
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL, OZ, AC, AS, AA, BA, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG
Posts: 19,903
440 Tier Points for GBP 946 is a good value, especially if originating from London, however, there are a few things to notice.
- Unless you have BA Silver status or higher, there would be no lounge access, no complimentary seat selection, no priority check-in, and any additional benefits that comes with Business Class unless you pay the upcharge to Business Classic ( should be about GBP 100-150 per direction )
- Hotels in Dubai are expensive. If you are planning to overnight bear that in mind. Food&beverage is also expensive in Dubai compared to other European cities.
Thus doing 3 Sofia back-to-backs in Club Europe could accrue similar number of Tier Points for the same price but this once is more comfortable alongside with additional costs.
- Unless you have BA Silver status or higher, there would be no lounge access, no complimentary seat selection, no priority check-in, and any additional benefits that comes with Business Class unless you pay the upcharge to Business Classic ( should be about GBP 100-150 per direction )
- Hotels in Dubai are expensive. If you are planning to overnight bear that in mind. Food&beverage is also expensive in Dubai compared to other European cities.
Thus doing 3 Sofia back-to-backs in Club Europe could accrue similar number of Tier Points for the same price but this once is more comfortable alongside with additional costs.
Jun 28, 2022, 8:29 pm
#3560
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Programs: DL, OZ, AC, AS, AA, BA, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG
Posts: 19,903
Jun 28, 2022, 8:41 pm
#3561
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1,110
Playing around with ITA Matrix, you could get something like ARN - HEL - LHR - JFK - PHX - LAX and LAX - PHX - JFK - LHR - HEL - ARN. You can mix and match. 2 transfers permitted in Europe with AA/BA/IB/AY (excluding Ireland and Poland) and 2 permitted with AA in USA.
880 TPs for the above. A further 80 TPs stand to be gained from positioning LHR-ARN-LHR which are going for approx £200 from Sept onwards also. So you'd stand to gain 960 TPs in total. That would leave you only needing another 165 TPs to meet the reduced requirement by the end of 2022.
You can of course change JFK to BOS or PHL. I'd recommend keeping HEL and LHR in there so you get 80 TPs each way for that sector rather than just 40.
Once you've got it all written down/figured out via ITA matrix, then you can call BA and get it booked. I booked very similar itinerary myself recently. So if you want any pointers/tips/help, feel free to PM me
Jun 29, 2022, 1:57 am
#3562
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Southampton
Posts: 221
I booked the exact same itinerary as yours and I am probably one of the ppl in front of you at the outbound DUB queue. I got lucky and was upgraded to F for the LHR-BOS segment -- probably because I was travelling solo.
The main difference is that back in March AA emailed me and said that, on Sunday 26 June I could no longer fly SFO-LAX-BOS-LHR-DUB for my return trip, and instead they re-routed me to SFO-PHL-LHR-DUB. I guess this is why you discovered that your LAX-BOS leg was no longer there. The thing I don't understand is that why you did not receive the AA notification like I did.
The main difference is that back in March AA emailed me and said that, on Sunday 26 June I could no longer fly SFO-LAX-BOS-LHR-DUB for my return trip, and instead they re-routed me to SFO-PHL-LHR-DUB. I guess this is why you discovered that your LAX-BOS leg was no longer there. The thing I don't understand is that why you did not receive the AA notification like I did.
Pleased that you were upgraded, I was actually red beeped at LHR and smugly gave my companion that upgrade look, only for him to nearly require medical assistance for laughing hysterically while swigging his water as he heard that I'd been downgraded due IFE u/s. Suffice to say that I declined BA's kind seat/class change and stuck with the Business seat!
Jun 29, 2022, 3:01 am
#3563
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Wolverhampton
Programs: BA Silver, Hilton Diamond, Marriot Gold, Radisson Gold, Amex Platinum
Posts: 1,608
We've never been asked for ESTA's printed off anywhere, and not Dublin start of April, and I'd be interested if there are places asking for such documentation nowadays. We tend to print it off when we've got a new one, just in case, and it's no hassle to keep that copy for the next trip. But I've never heard of this requirement in recent times.
Jun 29, 2022, 3:07 am
#3564
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: UK
Programs: BA GGL; Virgin Gold; HHonors Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 417
Do we earn tier points based on the marketed class or the fare code?
Ie I’m looking at a London-Hawaii trip on America in First but with fare codes of R/I. Are those legs within the US going to earn me 140 or 210, if they’re labelled “First(R)”?
PS that ITA Matrix thing is a game changer once you get the hang of the codes.
Ie I’m looking at a London-Hawaii trip on America in First but with fare codes of R/I. Are those legs within the US going to earn me 140 or 210, if they’re labelled “First(R)”?
PS that ITA Matrix thing is a game changer once you get the hang of the codes.
Jun 29, 2022, 3:14 am
#3565
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: near Heathrow
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL (OWE), SA LifePlat (*G), BD Gold to the end, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,912
Do we earn tier points based on the marketed class or the fare code?
Ie I’m looking at a London-Hawaii trip on America in First but with fare codes of R/I. Are those legs within the US going to earn me 140 or 210, if they’re labelled “First(R)”?
PS that ITA Matrix thing is a game changer once you get the hang of the codes.
Ie I’m looking at a London-Hawaii trip on America in First but with fare codes of R/I. Are those legs within the US going to earn me 140 or 210, if they’re labelled “First(R)”?
PS that ITA Matrix thing is a game changer once you get the hang of the codes.
Jun 29, 2022, 3:14 am
#3566
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: UK
Programs: BA GfL & GGL, FB Platinum, MB Titanium, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,403
We've never been asked for ESTA's printed off anywhere, and not Dublin start of April, and I'd be interested if there are places asking for such documentation nowadays. We tend to print it off when we've got a new one, just in case, and it's no hassle to keep that copy for the next trip. But I've never heard of this requirement in recent times.
Jun 29, 2022, 3:23 am
#3567
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: near Heathrow
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL (OWE), SA LifePlat (*G), BD Gold to the end, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,912
OTP wanted to see printed ESTAs at the boarding gate pre Covid, I think when we all did the PHX do. Not sure of the current situation there.
I'm of an age though where I still carry printed copies of documentation such as COVID vax certificate, Visas, etc. Technology is my sworn enemy in life.
I'm of an age though where I still carry printed copies of documentation such as COVID vax certificate, Visas, etc. Technology is my sworn enemy in life.
Last edited by gcuk; Jun 29, 2022 at 3:29 am
Jun 29, 2022, 4:26 am
#3568
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1,110
OTP wanted to see printed ESTAs at the boarding gate pre Covid, I think when we all did the PHX do. Not sure of the current situation there.
I'm of an age though where I still carry printed copies of documentation such as COVID vax certificate, Visas, etc. Technology is my sworn enemy in life.
I'm of an age though where I still carry printed copies of documentation such as COVID vax certificate, Visas, etc. Technology is my sworn enemy in life.
Jun 29, 2022, 6:24 am
#3569
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: London
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Avis President's Club, BA GGL CCR, Amex Plat
Posts: 77
OTP wanted to see printed ESTAs at the boarding gate pre Covid, I think when we all did the PHX do. Not sure of the current situation there.
I'm of an age though where I still carry printed copies of documentation such as COVID vax certificate, Visas, etc. Technology is my sworn enemy in life.
I'm of an age though where I still carry printed copies of documentation such as COVID vax certificate, Visas, etc. Technology is my sworn enemy in life.
Jun 29, 2022, 7:11 am
#3570
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Kent, UK
Programs: BA Gold; Virgin FF; United Airlines; American Airlines; and was frequent c/c churner - RIP!
Posts: 945
There’s no requirement to have a paper copy of any docs, although it doesn’t hurt and can speed things up especially during the Covid circus. Showing the ESTA email or screenshot on your phone should be sufficient enough and I would ask for a supervisor if they wouldn’t accept an electronic version.
As regards ESTAs, I am flying DUB-LHR-BOS-LAX (and return on separate flights and single ticket) in August. At which point will I be required to go through US immigration? Will it be on arrival at BOS before transit to LAX or on arrival at LAX?
Thanks