TRIP REPORT: Polishing Silver – Points in the Bag

Points in the Bag
Polishing Silver

My friends, time for the wrap-up of wrap-ups as I conclude, have thoughts and make commentary. Hey. Its what you clicked for… 

In this Tier Point-laden adventure

• All I ask is for one decent airfare. Just ONE. Anyone? 
• Off to Birmingham Airport
• FR669 Birmingham to Dublin Airport with Ryanair
• Welcome to Dublin, Premier Inn – Dublin Airport
• Early Morning Dublin Airport and US Preclearance, 51st and Green Lounge
• AA723 Dublin to Philadelphia – Flagship Business Class
• A Rocky Interlude – Exploring Philadelphia
• Return to PHL and the Philadelphia American Airlines Admirals Club
• AA2663 Philadelphia to San Francisco – US Domestic First
• A new terminal and The Crowne Plaza, Burlingame
• The Intercontinental San Francisco (and trying the new BART trains)
• Asian Eats around San Francisco
• A challenge unto myself: Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge
• Ferrying around the bay with Golden Gate Ferry
• Of Dragons and Lions – Celebrations in San Francisco Chinatown
• Back to SFO, American Airlines Admirals Club
• AA164 San Francisco to New York JFK – Transcontinental Business Class
• A snow-laden pit stop at JFK and the American Airlines/British Airways Greenwich Lounge
• AA104 New York JFK to London Heathrow – Flagship Business Class
• Transiting across Heathrow Terminals and the British Airways Galleries North 
• BA836 London Heathrow to Dublin Airport – Club Europe
• A Two Hour Dublin Turnaround featuring the Dublin Airport Lounge
• BA4469 Dublin to London City Airport – Club Europe by BA CityFlyer
• To the trains… and on the cheap
• Points in the bag

Well – what was this for? Tier Points. The points for this trip are in the bag, with 640 lovely British Airways Tier Points in the account for my 2024 Silver Requalification.

Thus, Silver is polished for another year.

However, there are downsides, to me working through the Avios numbers. They make crap reading, with a mere 10,603 Avios earned.  This compares to 23,649 for something similar in the past.

Origin	Destination	Ticket Class	Pre-Change	Post Change	Revenue Value	Difference
Dublin	Philadelphia	I	6384	3,583	447.9	2,801
Philadelphia	San Fransico	I	4917	1,715	214.35	3,202
San Francisco	New York JFK	I	5043	1,619	202.36	3,424
New York JFK	London Heathrow	I	6743	3,507	438.31	3,236
London Heathrow	Dublin	I	562	179	22.40	383
				Fare Paid	1443.97
				Revenue value	864.61
				Unearnable	579.36

I might have written about this 55% slicing of points.

With the move by nearly everyone to move to revenue-based earning, this game just isn’t as fun any more. In addition, British Airways has fiddled with its Tier point year as well, with poorly timed status matches coming out to support it.

At least British Airways hasn’t gone full-Finnair and married their Avios and Tier Point scheme together. If that were the case, I’d be on the hunt for a new loyalty programme.

As for now, I’ll keep my options open.

Onto the wrap-up

Ryanair

A to B, with an on-time landing. Shame about the wait for a gate.

American Airlines Transatlantic Services

If there’s a single term that works, it’s solid. Be it on the Concept D or Collins Aerospace Super Diamond, it’s great for those who need to work, or need to sleep across the pond, with attentive service.

American Airlines Dometic first.

One Word: Disappointing. Especially when they can’t do the basics right.

American Airlines Transcontinental

The product might be ageing and getting less competitive, but again, with the right crew, it’s pretty good. Just find a bird with all the seats that work though.

British Airways Short Haul

The Mainline service was perfectly functional as normal.

With the right crew, BA Cityflyer is amazing.

Premier Inn

For a budget hotel, Solid. A shame the pricing was a little high.

Crown Plaza Burlingame.

It was ropey in the past. It’s in desperate need of a lot of love. Or a complete refit.

Intercontinental San Francisco

A great property with excellent service touches. Better than the Mark Hopkins? Hmmm. That’s a really hard question…

And did I leave my heart in San Francisco?

Nope. But if it comes up in my shopping or destinations available at the right price, I would not be saying no to it. I’ve got a soft spot for the place – even with the issues they have in the city.

As for Philly…

I’ve passed through Philadelphia more than once – but never stopped. It’s got more than a few things to keep me interested and if a pit stop comes again, I wouldn’t say no.

And that’s it for Polishing Silver. I hope some of you enjoy the long-form writing like this (compared to the snapshots and news I cover sometimes). It allows me the chance to dive deep into holes sometimes I don’t get to do, as well as round out the writing on this blog.

And helps with my sanity too.

Next:

To misquote Dorothy “I don’t think we’re in Birmingham anymore Toto”.  Well, I’m not in Kansas. More like Illinois as I’m currently in Chicago at the time of writing.

Or near enough to the airport that it makes no difference. Although, I did not authorise snow.

We’ll have a bunch of snapshots starting the week after (as you need a break from my long-form writing). But please join me in a few weeks in “Those Same Old Places, Sweet Home Chicago.” 

Until then, Toodlepip!

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