Tallinn Tier Point Run - Finnair, NoRRA and an A350

Tallinn Tier Point Run – Finnair, NoRRA and an A350

In this trip report:

400TP to go.

A lot of you know I fly cheaply on long haul flights – mainly because my budget doesn’t extend to business class flights everywhere unless someone has made a fat fingered fare error. And I’m mostly happy with that.

However, for my British Airways Tier Points, it paints an unhappy picture, to say the least.

I’m currently sitting on just over 200 Tier points for the year – and considering my membership year is coming in a few months – I need to do something about that pretty stat.

With Silver being a relatively easy 600TP, I’m still within stretch to get some flying done over weekends and bank my Silver for another year.

Considering the luggage I shift as well as the lounge accesses I use – this is no bad thing.

I’ve been keeping an eye on cheap Tier Point runs – and in all honesty, I was looking towards trips to Asia or the Americas again… when I spotted cheap fares to Tallinn via Helsinki.

These fares would fare in full business class tier points between London and Helsinki (a reasonable 80 points) and for the short hop between Helsinki and Tallinn – the full economy 20 points – a grand total of 200 points for just over £230.

SIDE NOTE: These fares are still around.

That’s as close to £1.30/Tier Point it makes no odds (in fact it was lower as I was using the last of my Diamond Club discounts, which chopped another £15 off)

Now there is another interesting thing with this fare depending how you booked it – you could wind up aboard a wide-body A350 on some flights depending which days you booked it.

I fiddled around with the fare and found a weekend in December – and put the hammer down on a ticket.

The next issues were hotel. And I slept on this too long, finding most of the hotel stock had been sold out. I, therefore, plumped for an airport hotel – the Hotel Ulemiste.

With that done, I booked a National Express coach for the airport. I had originally planned to drive and park… but the parking rates for a night and a bit at Heathrow in their cheap parking was £36. Considering a coach was £44… and I wouldn’t have to drive – this was an easy thing to choose

So here’s the map for this trip.

So a simple route for me:

Heathrow to Helsinki
Helsinki to Tallinn
… and all the way back.

Lots of time to explore new countries and new cities. My sort of trip.

Let’s go to Tallinn!

Next: Off to Heathrow Airport

Welcome to Economy Class and Beyond – Your no-nonsense guide to network news, honest reviews, with in-depth coverage, unique research as well as the humour and madness as I only know how to deliver.

Follow me on Twitter at @EconomyBeyond for the latest updates! You can also follow me on Instagram too!

Also remember that as well as being part of BoardingArea, we’re also part of BoardingArea.eu, delivering frequent flyer news, miles and points to European readers.

Comments

Ric Garrido says

14/12/2016 at 5:23 am

What a deal Kevin.

I had planned on using an itinerary for Stockholm to San Francisco in Premium Economy for $606 round trip to get my Tier Points growing. This route for London – Helsinki – Tallinn fits in perfectly as a way to get a big boost in Tier Points on a low cost ticket.

Surprised to see that London – Helsinki in Business Class earns 80 Tier Points each way compared to 40 Tier Points each way London – Stockholm.

After checking the BA Flight Calculator I learned some of the changeover boundaries for Europe and Tier Points.

Other Europe airport destinations from London where Business Class earns 80 Tier Points instead of 40 Tier Points are:

Athens
Sofia
Bucharest
Malta
Tenerife