180 tier points – how best to earn from Manchester?

[MAN]

With MAN as my local airport, and currently sitting at 420 Tier points. Are there any decent options to get the 180 tier point balance to make silver. I have a few economy flights to take in the next 12months so silver for lounge access, seat choice and faster checkin could be worth it.

Unfortunately I don’t have the time for a five day holiday.

[AndrewT]

Partly depends on what you’ve got lined up when. 180 is a bit of an irritating number.

CE somewhere close and cheap from MAN via LHR would get 4×40, Belfast or Dublin are good places to look. Both achievable in a day trip if time is limited. Then you need 20 from something else.

Heading further afield, for more cost and probably requiring at least one night away, any of the longer 80TP destinations plus MAN connection would get 240 in one trip. Sofia is the usual place to start looking.

[MAN]

Thanks @andrewt

[NorthernLass]

You don’t have to do a 5-day holiday. Book a BAH within the U.K., with 5 days car hire. Pick up the car, take it home, then return it 5 days later. You’ll get 80 TPs for each CE leg, so you could do, say, MAN-LHR-NCL-LHR for 240 TPs, pick up & drop off the car anywhere you want in the U.K. between the first and last flight. Then either get the train back from LHR or book a cheap ET or avios flight separately.

[BA Flyer IHG Stayer]

When does this need to be done by?

[runnerbean]

@ NorthernLass This option had never occurred to me.

I realise this is off topic for this specific post, but is there any reason why a BA hol couldn’t be combined with a 241 eg for the flights out and return to a useful positioning point, with the BA hotels used there and the ultimate long haul destination?

[memesweeper]

I realise this is off topic for this specific post, but is there any reason why a BA hol couldn’t be combined with a 241 eg for the flights out and return to a useful positioning point, with the BA hotels used there and the ultimate long haul destination?

You mean something like

MAN – LHR – MAN (ba holiday flights)

LHR – SIN – LHR (avios with voucher)

Conrad Sinapore (ba holiday booking)

with the booking for the last two nested within the dates of the first?

[runnerbean]

Yes, like that, or a Man – non-uk instead on LHR.

[MAN]

@northernlass that’s a nifty solution, and even possible in my case, I do go to London quite regularly, but usually by train.

I also have 241 and upgrade vouchers available, so the nested holiday idea is also good for thought.

Thanks

[MrWhite]

If you use a reward booking, then you won’t get the tier points and you can’t use this on a BAH. For an upgrade voucher, I think you’ll only get the tier points from the lower cabin (ET).

[NorthernLass]

I think people are referring to using 241s & avios to book a separate “nested” trip between the start and finish of the BAH.

Just bear in min the max length of the holiday for double TPs is 30 days.

[James C]

I’d do a weekend run to Spain where internal J flights on Iberia are 20TPs so combined with a stop in LHR on the outbound something like MAN-LHR-MAD-PMI-LHR-MAN would do it. Or MAN-LHR-SOF/OTP-LHR-MAN which would net 240TPs

[Leonidasc]

EDI – LHR – MAD – PMI and back

40 + 40 + 20 x 2. Quite affordable pricing for a 1 days’ travel. Can go down to £280