|  | British Airways First Class, Up To 7 Seats |
| British Airways may have some crazy carrier-imposed surcharges, but you can avoid most of that if you know which program to use to book. If you can include a short business class connection from another European country, you can reduce the taxes/fees on a one-way to the states as well.
Chicago Meetup
If you live in Chicago or you get to town early for the Chicago Seminars, I’ll be hosting a meetup in the city and I’d love to see you there! Feel free to bring friends!
Just make sure you RSVP so I can get an accurate headcount!
Here are the details:
Click here to RSVP
Now, let’s get into it! |
|  | Straight To The Points
Routes: ATL, BOS, DFW, EWR, IAD, IAH, JFK, LAX, ORD, SEA, SFO - LHR Operating airline: British Airways Class of service: First class Dates: October 2024 - April 2025 Seats available: 2 (up to 9) Cabin layout: 1-2-1 Book with (per person, one-way):
Taxes/fees (per person, one-way): From US: ~$950-1,030 From LHR: ~$590-795
The total taxes/fees (including surcharges varies a bit by carrier. Note that Cathay Pacific only charges ~$234 from the US and ~$590 from London.
Just over $200 of the taxes/fees from London are from the Air Passenger Duty (APD) fee. You can’t avoid this fee if you start your journey from London.
Bank transfer partners:
Alaska: Bilt, Marriott American: Marriott British Airways: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Marriott Cathay Pacific: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Marriott Finnair: Capital One Qantas: Amex, Capital One, Citi, Marriott Qatar: Amex, Citi, Marriott
Current Airline Transfer Bonuses Best Card Offers
Let me know if you book! |
|  | | ATL-LHR October: 1, 7, 13, 21-24, 26-28 November: 9, 14, 17-20, 28 December: 7, 10, 14-18, 22, 24, 25, 28, 29 January: 1, 2, 8-14, 20, 22-25, 27, 29-31 February: 1-4, 6, 7, 10-12, 14-17, 19-28 March: 1-3, 9, 15, 18, 22, 26, 31 July: 8, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25-29, 31 August: 2, 4 LHR-ATL October: 1, 15, 31 November: 13-15, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27 December: 3-9, 11, 12, 16-19, 23, 25, 28, 29, 31 January: 1, 8, 13, 14, 16, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 31 February: 1-4, 7-15, 17-25, 28 March: 1, 11 April: N/A May: 29 June: 5, 7, 11, 18 July: 23
BOS-LHR October: 5, 19, 22, 27-29 November: 8, 13, 25, 27 December: 8, 9, 12, 14, 23, 26-29 January: 3, 6-16, 18-31 February: 1-4, 6-12, 14-19, 21-28 March: 1, 4, 8, 15, 22, 24, 29 April: 1, 2, 5 July: 9, 16 LHR-BOS October: 1, 24, 29, 30 November: N/A December: 5, 6, 11, 13, 16, 17, 19, 23, 25, 31 January: 8, 10-12, 14-18, 21, 22, 25, 29-31 February: 1-6, 8, 10-12, 15, 17-19, 22, 24-28 March: 4, 5, 11, 12, 19, 25, 26 April: 9 July: 1, 16, 18, 22, 24, 30, 31 August: 6
DFW-LHR January: 2, 3, 5-9, 11-15, 17-24, 26, 30, 31 February: 1-3, 7-9, 14-18, 22-24 March: 2, 4, 9, 20 LHR-DFW December: 17 January: 1, 9-11, 13, 14, 16-20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 31 February: 5, 18, 19
EWR-LHR December: 24, 30, 31 January: 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27-29 February: 3, 4, 10, 11, 15, 24, 26 March: 3, 4, 10, 18, 24, 31 April: N/A May: 5, 31 June: N/A July: 19, 21, 26-28, 30 August: 2, 3, 4, 6 LHR-EWR January: 9, 28 February: 4, 22, 25 March: 4 July: 23, 25, 30
IAD-LHR October: 8, 13 November: N/A December: 23-25, 28-30 March: 29-31 April: 1-3, 5-7, 13, 22, 27 May: 3 June: N/A July: 5-7, 13-17, 22-24, 26, 28-31 August: 2 LHR-IAD December: 26 April: 19, 20 May: 11, 20, 28, 30 June: 11-13, 17, 27 July: 1, 11, 15-17, 19, 25 August: 5 |
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| IAH-LHR October: 12 November: N/A December: 28 January: 6, 13 February: 3-6, 8, 17-20, 22, 24-27 March: N/A April: 1, 2, 6, 7, 20 May: N/A June: 1, 9, 15, 23 July: 7, 13, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, 30 August: 1, 6 LHR-IAH October: 10 February: 2, 3, 15, 18-21, 23-25, 27, 28 March: 27, 31 April: 2, 4, 8, 11, 13, 14, 20-22 May: 2, 8, 9, 23 June: 12, 23, 27 July: 3, 4, 9, 11, 20, 23, 30
JFK-LHR December: 31 January: N/A February: 15, 22 March: 3, 10, 31 April: 5, July: 7, 14 LHR-JFK January: 23, 31 April: 4
ORD-LHR October: 19, 22 November: N/A December: 24-26, 30, 31 January: 1-29, 31 February: 1-5, 10, 12-28 March: 10, 12, 15, 16, 19, 26 April: 22 July: 6 LHR-ORD December: 2, 5, 6, 8-12, 14, 16, 23-26, 31 January: 1, 7-13, 15-31 February: 1, 2, 7-14, 16-26 March: 4, 5, 19, 25-27 July: 11, 18, 20, 25, 27 August: 1
SEA-LHR October: 24 November: N/A December: 16, 24, 31 January: 7, 14, 21 February: 4, 11, 17, 18, 24, 25 March: 4, 11 LHR-SEA December: 6, 17, 24
LAX-LHR January: 21 February: 19 July: 29 August: 5 LHR-LAX July: 31
SFO-LHR December: 23, 24, 29, 30 January: 6-8, 11-14, 19-22, 24, 27, 28 February: 2-5, 8-11, 14, 23-25 March: 4 LHR-SFO October: 29 November: 22, 24 December: 3-5, 7, 10-14, 18, 19, 24 January: 14, 18, 21-23, 25-31 February: 4, 6, 8-12, 18-20, 25-27 |
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| Book Your Stay With VIP Perks |
| 3rd/4th Night Free Promos |
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| |  | Flight Experience
To get the best experience, you’ll want to fly the Boeing 777-300. It has a 1-2-1 cabin layout and each seat has a privacy door. The next best option is the Boeing 787-10 which has the same 1-2-1 layout, but without the door.
Let’s be frank, service and inflight catering is inconsistent. I’ve had great service and meals and I’ve had disinterested service and subpar meals. If you’re flying out of Heathrow, you might prefer to make time for a meal at the Concorde Room. |
| Best Ways To Book
Cathay: Reduced Surcharges, Easy To Earn
In most cases, Cathay is your best options simply because you won’t get tagged with all of the carrier-imposed surcharges. This is especially important when flying out of the US.
British Airways: Might Be Useful From EU, Amex Transfer Bonus
While the total taxes/fees still won’t be low, you can avoid the APD fee by flying out of an EU airport and just connecting at Heathrow. The 30% Amex transfer bonus could give BA Avios the advantage over Cathay Asia Miles.
IMPORTANT: BA has had trouble showing intra-EU business class connections with a first class segment to the US. If you don’t see space when you search the EU origin and US destination pair, search each segment separately. If you see space on both segments, call BA to book. |
|  | How To Search
Here's how to run the search with Alaska: If you want to book a one-way, check "One-way" Check "Use miles" Enter your origin & destination Select your dates Select number of passengers Run the search Complete the booking
Before you transfer points, search with the airline program you’ll use to book.
British Airways contact center: +1-800-452-1201
Happy booking! |
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