Good sub-£1,300 BA transatlantic flights from Dublin with decent tier point potential

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• Graeme says:

  12 Jan12 January 06:05

  I used to do several TP runs a year from DUB as I’m sure many of us did, never paying more than £1,100 for a DUB-LON-NYC-MIA-West Coast itinerary netting 700+ TPs pre pandemic. The double TP holiday promotion make these runs less appealing. For £2,000 I can do a one stop GLA-ORD for 5 nights and car earning 720 and no need for positioning flights or hotels or the hassle they can bring. If the double TPs applied from any EU country that of course would be a different story!!

  • Thegasman says:

    12 Jan12 January 07:10

    An easier & more comfortable way to get 700+ TP’s would be DUB-LHR-JFK-LAX/SFO (on a transcon A321 with flatbeds)-LAS.

    The stop in JFK on the way out is pretty painless. Availability in I class on the A321 can be tight though.

    • Graeme says:

      12 Jan12 January 07:34

      The word easy isn’t in the tier point runner’s vocabulary!! I always looked for the 777s from Miami to Dallas or LA and sometimes on to Honolulu. I think it’s all
      narrowbody service now.

      • Metty says:

        12 Jan12 January 14:31

        Until end winter schedule (end March) it’s still 2x daily B777 MIA-LAX, around 1530 and 1930 deps. Not sure if any availability, but these are usually more comfy for solo travellers in Business than the 321Transcon.

• Paul says:

  12 Jan12 January 06:14

  You can hop at Heathrow on the return!!! Hmm

  Yes with hand baggage only, and in the past even with bags. Like others, I have enjoyed the comfort of ex EU fares for more than a decade.

  In April 23 when returning from LAX AA absolutely would not check the bag to LHR only to BUD despite an 18 hour overnight layover. Fortunately I was able to get AA in T3 to retrieve the bag on arrival.

  For security either travel with hand baggage only or route the final sector out of LGW. That way the bag must be reclaimed at LHR.

  • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

    12 Jan12 January 06:20

    Or LCY.

    Or price up the trip to end in London not DUB.

    Or have the LHR-DUB leg a few days later. Because if there are irrops and they need to reroute you your destination is London not Dublin.

  • david says:

    12 Jan12 January 08:57

    I was told by BA reps if its more than 10 hours layover in LHR then they have to offload bags but guessing this may have changed.

    • Nick says:

      12 Jan12 January 09:20

      It’s a night thing rather than hours – any connection overnight and you can ask for it back, any connection in the daytime then it’ll be through checked by default.

      • Paul says:

        12 Jan12 January 11:42

        You can ask but while BA may be willing AA may not. They have a huge issue in the US with pax’s getting off at midpoints to save money.
        It’s simply an issue to be conscious of and if you wish to dump the last sector to plan accordingly. The AA staff at flagship checkin were unmovable from the outset. Indeed I was told that if I wanted the bag in London I’d need to buy a ticket to London. This was not something I had ever encountered before. Fortunately AA in T3 we’re both willing and able to retrieve the bag.

• Earthman says:

  12 Jan12 January 06:53

  Hey
  I live in Dublin and get paid in Euro’s
  So all good

• tony says:

  12 Jan12 January 07:18

  A quick glance at the AA website shows plenty of options direct to the US out of Dublin, so benefitting from the pre-clearance and getting TPs, by using the American Airlines service. (DUB-MCO, £1553 in August via PHL.)

• daveinitalia says:

  12 Jan12 January 07:32

  I looked at these fares a few days ago and (it may have changed now) but was cheaper if you ended in Spain (but started in DUB). This fare is also valid from other departure points in Ireland but be aware that connecting flights operated by Aer Lingus are single class so even on a BA code will only earn economy tier points.

  There were also similarly good fares from Italy when I last checked a few days ago. Again they were cheaper if you finished in Spain for some reason.

  • Terri says:

    12 Jan12 January 08:44

    How would you book a flight starting in Dublin but ending in Spain?

    • dougzz99 says:

      12 Jan12 January 10:02

      Using the multi-city tool, or on the phone.
      Typically there are always deals like this around, but they’re not for everyone. You absolutely must be in Dublin for the initial flight, and you’ll be doing that on a separate ticket with an unprotected connection. Dublin is not really suitable for B2B anymore, so you need to (more than) overnight or leave a very big gaps between your initial positioning flight and the first leg of your main itinerary. Dublin airport hotels are not cheap. I say more than overnight as being on the last flight one day, and your main itinerary starting with the first flight the next day has no safety margin. 4 hours waiting at an airport seems forever, but if your initial positioning flight is cancelled what alternates do you have in that 4 hour window?
      If doing this you’ll be using an advance purchase fare, and AA messing around your connections is near guaranteed, you can work that to your advantage if you’re prepared to put some effort in, but don’t expect to fly the times you originally booked.
      These can be great deals, but you need to research and plan carefully around what-ifs.
      I’ve done enough of these that I’ve saved sufficient that if one was completely trashed by not being in the right place/time initially I could just suck it up. But if you’re doing just one of these think carefully about that initial positioning timing and your alternates if things go wrong.

  • david says:

    12 Jan12 January 08:53

    No it has not changed. go to BA and search DUB-SJC (2 stops) and SJC-MAD (2 stops) €1,148.77. 5 Nov-19Nov

    • david says:

      12 Jan12 January 08:56

      Anyone interested in more can go to travel-dealz.de 1 of the most reliable sites around. note: i dont work for them

• Not Long Now... says:

  12 Jan12 January 07:59

  Surprise surprise, not really sale prices… these have been around since at least last July. I booked DUB-PSP (January) then for £1350 each, and DUB-DEN (September) for very similar price. Seemed to be at least 6 month advance was the key…

• SammyJ says:

  12 Jan12 January 08:22

  Anyone know offhand how many TPs the DUB-LHR-PHL-FLL flight would net please? I’m being lazy!

  • daveinitalia says:

    12 Jan12 January 08:31

    I think 220 each way.
    40 DUB-LHR (unless operated by Aer Lingus as it’s economy only)
    140 LHR-PHL
    40 PHL-FLL

• Gary says:

  12 Jan12 January 08:24

  I just looked at booking this and BA had me flying to London for the JFK flight. Could not find a DUB-JFK flight on ba.com

  • jjoohhnn says:

    12 Jan12 January 09:14

    Yes, this is as Rob describes in the article.

    • The real Swiss Tony says:

      12 Jan12 January 13:31

      Note that on AA.com it will offer NYC via ORD for £1433, and you can add in an extra sector via BUF if you’re so inclined for a few ££s more.

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