Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Forums Frequent flyer programs British Airways Executive Club Tier point run planning services

  • Leonidasc 17 posts

    Just looked at the Propeller site, looks great!

    I usually rack up enough business travel to hit Gold but with the year end adjustment, and me forgetting that my reward flights to JFK won’t count, I’m 700 points short… I’ve probably got only two European trips with work by end of March for 160TPs, so probably 540TPs short.

    Never done a tier point run as such, occasionally breakup an LAX flight with a stop in Boston for an extra 140TPs if not in a rush, is 540TPs ish achievable without a hotel overnight? Wife obviously thinks I’m mental for considering this.

    If you are based in London, you can do a nice run with AY

    LHR – ARN
    ARN – AGP
    600 TP around £1200-1300 depending on the dates. If you depart on a Friday, can work in one go without a stopover otherwise you will need to book a hotel in ARN or HEL

    davedent 55 posts

    The point run that works best for me is as follows – OSLO-ABU DHABI return 400tps can be had for £1000 followed by 2 /3 x ABU-CGK 560tp you will need to overnight in Jakarta and pay for a visa on arrival as you can’t reliably connect in Jakarta. B2B works just fine in ABU however srilankan will and do cancel flights all the time so you will have to have a plan B and C and D.

    BA Flyer IHG Stayer 3,059 posts

    If you are based in London, you can do a nice run with AY

    LHR – ARN
    ARN – AGP
    600 TP around £1200-1300 depending on the dates. If you depart on a Friday, can work in one go without a stopover otherwise you will need to book a hotel in ARN or HEL

    If you are going to suggest routes then please show ALL the flights not just the start and end points.

    Leonidasc 17 posts

    I suggest the rout

    If you are based in London, you can do a nice run with AY

    LHR – ARN
    ARN – AGP
    600 TP around £1200-1300 depending on the dates. If you depart on a Friday, can work in one go without a stopover otherwise you will need to book a hotel in ARN or HEL

    If you are going to suggest routes then please show ALL the flights not just the start and end points.

    Seriously?

    I suggest the route LHR – ARN and ARN – AGP with AY, the sum of TPs and even the best day to travel in one go to avoid stopover and hotel costs and you just jump and respond with a comment like that?

    Nothing else to say…..

    BA Flyer IHG Stayer 3,059 posts

    Yes seriously

    Not everone is as au fait with the AY route network as you are. Nor are they familiar with the TPs on individual legs

    That routing isn’t as simple as your bald LHR-ARN makes out. It doesn’t mention the need to change plane at HEL and clear passport control. Nor that on the trip to AGP you’re again changing plane at HEL.

    So that’s why you give chapter and verse on sugegsted routes (as other have done up thread) to HELP people rather than merely appear clever.

    The former is helpful and what this site is known for. The latter less so.

    C2K77 23 posts

    @andrewT I was fairly sure that I remembered reading that for the BAH DTPs you hand to book direct with them. I went and checked and it warns against doing so. Whilst you’d hope propeller have their books in order anyone using a 3rd party needs to get assurance ( preferably proof) that they have the ability to enter a FFs BAEC number(s) at time of booking and for those to actually register at BA/ BAH’s end.

    @MrAC If you are looking to add hotel or car hire to double up then STOP & DO NOT BOOK THAT ITINERARY! It would fail two conditions.
    1. The booking MUST start in the UK.
    2. The booking can only contain one UK departure. Any additional departures from the UK will not qualify.

    https://www.britishairways.com/content/executive-club/offers/holidays-double-tier-points

    BA Flyer IHG Stayer 3,059 posts

    @C2K77

    Something to check with Propellor would be if they can book a BA holiday and still get the double TPs

    They clearly have a relationship with BA as they can apply GUF vouchers to a booking you make via them so that may (and I repeat may) extend to BA Hols. What’s clear is booking via the likes of Expedia don’t qualify.

    Earning avios and TPs isn’t an issue as you give them (and then they add) your BAEC number to the booking and you can review and then manage the booking in MMB – just like if you book via an OTA.

    There was a comment up thread about BA wanting the GUF revenue for itself. Propeller charges a fee to the passenger for the booking so BA revenue is safe.

    And a general reminder that BA regards JER as being part of the UK so it’s a safe place to start a holiday using the double TP offer.

    Mr. AC 74 posts

    @MrAC If you are looking to add hotel or car hire to double up then STOP & DO NOT BOOK THAT ITINERARY! It would fail two conditions.
    1. The booking MUST start in the UK.
    2. The booking can only contain one UK departure. Any additional departures from the UK will not qualify.

    To clarify what I want to do is a SEPARATE itinerary for the positioning flights for my TP run, which goes Dublin -> … -> Malaga
    I’d book LON -> DUB; LAX car; Malaga -> LON. As far as I can tell reading the criteria this by itself should satisfy the double TP offer.

    Something to check with Propellor would be if they can book a BA holiday and still get the double TPs

    I asked Propeller this exact question – they can’t.

    Lux 15 posts

    Another recommendation for Propeller Travel / ISTFlyer for planning and ticketing a tier point run. I’ve reasonable experience in planning and booking such things myself, did a couple of amazing DONE4 round the world tickets many years ago, but life has changed and it made sense to have an expert do the thinking at a very reasonable cost. Alp focused on maximising the points, which I dialled down to a manageable itinerary. It’s still around £1.5 / TP, but at least I’ll enjoy it.

    Very simple: I detailed my requirements, we had a half hour call, did further tweaks by email and then issued through Propeller Travel. I will use him again if I need to re-up my points in a couple of years.

    flyingbanker 6 posts

    Was Propeller for flight only or booked as BAH?

    Am looking for an ex-JER to west coast US via east coast US in F to bag another 2 years of Gold next April/May but stuck as to how to find a half decent deal.

    e14 417 posts

    Was Propeller for flight only or booked as BAH?

    Am looking for an ex-JER to west coast US via east coast US in F to bag another 2 years of Gold next April/May but stuck as to how to find a half decent deal.

    Propellor can’t book a BAH.

    flyingbanker 6 posts

    Well it’s been nice to have a few days off over Christmas to do some research but I’m not having much luck.

    I’ve found some acceptable F fares to west coast for end of April/start of May. SJC and SAN seem best options.

    Both allow for a stopover in the US but I don’t seem to be able to force on the east coast – they seem to want me to connect in ORD or DFW for example, which is no good. I’ve played around with ITA matrix but no joy.

    LAX allows for connection in JFK but is more expensive.

    What am I missing please? I thought BA code share on a lot of AA and JetBlue flights from the east coast?

    Or any other ideas? My criteria is:

    Flight and car hire (not hotel)
    April or May 2025
    1400+ tier points in one trip via BAH
    Start/End in JER (I live here)
    Budget c£3.5k

    Am very grateful for any assistance.

    BA Flyer IHG Stayer 3,059 posts

    If you want to force east coast options then you need to specify it as separate flights

    So as LHR-JFK then next flight (even if the same day) as JFK- XXX

    The AA link up with Jet Blue ended last year following a court order.

    I don’t think the likes of matrix is helpful when it comes to BA Holidays as they may not have all flight options available to them.

    Also BA holidays aren’t able to sell stand alone domestic US flights.

    If you want to price it up as as a BA holiday then you need to use the BA Holiday multi city option and play with that.

    flyingbanker 6 posts

    Thank you will do that 🙂

    Richie 1,266 posts

    @flyingbanker BTW AA has a subfleet of A321s that are called ‘transcon’ as https://www.aerolopa.com/aa-a321t my guess is demand may be very good and great fares may just not be available.

    flyingbanker 6 posts

    OK so playing around with the BA holiday multi-city option is yielding much better results:

    JER-LHR-JFK-PHX overnight PHX-SAN holiday/car hire 6 nights SAN-ORD-JFK-LHR-JER

    All BA flight numbers
    F for LHR-JFK and JFK-LHR

    760 TPs x2 = 1520?

    Costs c£3500 in May

    flyingbanker 6 posts

    OK so playing around with the BA holiday multi-city option is yielding much better results:

    JER-LHR-JFK-PHX overnight PHX-SAN holiday/car hire 6 nights SAN-ORD-JFK-LHR-JER

    All BA flight numbers
    F for LHR-JFK and JFK-LHR

    760 TPs x2 = 1520?

    Costs c£3500 in May

    Ended up booking:
    JER-LHR-JFK-PHX overnight PHX-SAN holiday/car hire SAN-DFW-IAH-LHR-JER as timings were better for same price

    Throughout the process it’s never clear that you are booking via BAH and not just BA. Nor does it say about double tier points anywhere (hope I’ve done it right?!)

    Nice that you can pay a deposit and the rest later – makes a usually non-refundable ticket semi refundable…

    As my card expires end May I’m banking on this to give me Gold for next 2 years and silver for a year after that if I don’t renew 🙂

    memesweeper 1,542 posts

    Throughout the process it’s never clear that you are booking via BAH and not just BA. Nor does it say about double tier points anywhere (hope I’ve done it right?!)

    Nice that you can pay a deposit and the rest later – makes a usually non-refundable ticket semi refundable…

    If you can pay a deposit, it’s a BA holiday. Where people get caught out is buying a ticket for a flight, and subsequently buying a hotel or car hire.

    Alan T 59 posts

    OK so playing around with the BA holiday multi-city option is yielding much better results:

    JER-LHR-JFK-PHX overnight PHX-SAN holiday/car hire 6 nights SAN-ORD-JFK-LHR-JER

    All BA flight numbers
    F for LHR-JFK and JFK-LHR

    760 TPs x2 = 1520?

    Costs c£3500 in May

    Ended up booking:
    JER-LHR-JFK-PHX overnight PHX-SAN holiday/car hire SAN-DFW-IAH-LHR-JER as timings were better for same price

    Throughout the process it’s never clear that you are booking via BAH and not just BA. Nor does it say about double tier points anywhere (hope I’ve done it right?!)

    Nice that you can pay a deposit and the rest later – makes a usually non-refundable ticket semi refundable…

    As my card expires end May I’m banking on this to give me Gold for next 2 years and silver for a year after that if I don’t renew 🙂

    Bet you’re glad you booked that when you did!

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