United Business Class for 2+ to London (Early 2022)
Hello from Lithuania!
Now that the UK is open to Americans, I've been getting a bunch of requests for flights to London. With that in mind, I pulled up a bunch of United Polaris space.
Since United doesn't have any surcharges, you have some fun ways to leverage partner programs to book for minimal points and miles without steep taxes/fees. Turkish is my favorite option as you'll see below.
Now, let's get into the details!
|
|
|
Straight To The Points:
Routes: EWR/IAD/ORD/IAH/SFO-LHR
Operating airline: United
Class of service: Business class
Dates: January - April 2022
Seats available: 4+
Cabin layout: 1-2-1 (777); 1-1-1 (767)
Book with (per person, one-way):
- *Air Canada Aeroplan: 60,000-70,000 miles
- *ANA Mileage Club: 88,000 miles (round-trip only)
- *Asiana Club: 40,000 miles
- *Avianca LifeMiles: 63,000 miles
- *EVA Infinity MileageLands: 65,000 miles
- *Miles & More: 56,000 miles
- *Singapore KrisFlyer: 72,000 miles
- *Turkish Miles&Smiles: 45,000 miles
- *United MileagePlus: 60,000 miles
*No surcharges
Taxes/fees (per person):
- One-way: $5.60
- Round-trip: ~$326
- Surcharges: None
Unfortunately, the UK tacks on a massive Air Passenger Duty (APD) fee on premium cabin tickets from UK airports (with few exceptions). If you plan on visiting other countries in Europe, I suggest flying to the London first then starting your journey home from another country to avoid this fee.
Bank transfer partners:
- Air Canada Aeroplan: Amex, Cap One, Marriott
- ANA Mileage Club: Amex, Marriott
- Asiana Club: Marriott
- Avianca LifeMiles: Amex, Brex, Citi, Cap One, Marriott
- EVA Infinity MileageLands: Citi, Cap One
- Singapore KrisFlyer: Amex, Brex, Chase, Citi, Cap One, Marriott
- Turkish Miles&Smiles: Citi, Cap One, Marriott
- United MileagePlus: Chase, Marriott
Don't forget to let me know if you book and how you did it!
|
|
DISCLAIMER: Please be aware that the COVID-19 situation and the resulting travel restrictions could prevent you from traveling. Additionally, please make sure you understand the cancellation/redeposit and change fees required before booking with a particular program.
Details
United's business class was greatly improved with the launch of the new Polaris cabins several years ago. These cabins can be found on each of the route below. On the 777, you'll find 1-2-1 layout while the 767 has 1-1-1 layout.
On these aircraft, every seat is lie-flat and has direct aisle access. While the inflight catering might not amaze you, the Polaris Lounges are quite good so you can have a nice meal and a cocktail before departing.
Please note that one of the flights from IAD is operated by a 757. It has a 2-2- a layout. If can avoid this particular flight (currently departs at 8:20am), I think you'll be happier on the 777 (two evening flights).
|
|
Need a new card? Support STTP!
It doesn't get enough attention, but this card's 80k-point bonus is worth a look ( Learn More). It's a great option to transfer points to American (through Nov. 13), Turkish, etc. Doesn't hurt that you can earn 3x on groceries, dining, gas, flights, and hotels.
Everyone's favorite beginner card continues to have a 100k sign-up bonus and will soon get revamped bonus categories. You can find more info here or apply in-branch to get the annual fee waived.
You can find other cards here. Thanks for your support! |
|
|
Available Dates
You can find award space for 4+ people on each of these route. You'll find the most space from/to IAD, ORD, and EWR. There's a decent amount of space from IAH but space from SFO is limited.
IAD-LHR
January: 1, 3, 4, 11, 17-19, 22, 24-31
February: 1-9, 11-28
March: 1-8, 14, 15, 19, 21, 22 28
LHR-IAD
January: 11, 13-15, 17, 18, 20-31
February: 1-28
March: 1-5, 7-18, 20-26, 28, 29
April: 1, 5, 11, 15, 21-23, 25, 28, 29
May: 2, 5, 6, 13, 17, 24, 27
EWR-LHR
January: 4-6, 26, 27
February: 2, 3, 8, 9, 15, 16, 20-23, 25-27
March: 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 15, 29
LHR-EWR
January: 11, 13-15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25-29, 31
February: 1-5, 8-12, 14-19, 20-28
March: 1-12, 14-17, 22-24, 28, 29
April: 5, 12, 14-16, 18-23, 25-30
ORD-LHR
January: 1, 4, 22, 24, 25, 27, 29, 31
February: 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14-28
March: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6-8, 14, 19, 22, 28
April: 4, 16, 23
LHR-ORD
January: 10, 11, 15, 17-20, 22-31
February: 1-10, 12-28
March: 1-12, 14-18, 21-25, 28, 29
April: 1, 4, 5, 11, 15, 18-23, 25-30
May: 2-6, 9-13, 27
IAH-LHR
February: 5, 12, 13-17, 19-28
March: 3, 5, 6, 7
LHR-IAH
February: 1, 2, 4, 7-12, 14-26, 28
March: 1-5, 7-12, 17, 18, 24, 25
SFO-LHR
February: 8, 15, 16, 20-28
LHR-SFO
February: 1, 15-18, 22-24
March: 3
|
|
Best Ways To Book
While 88,000 ANA miles round-trip is a great option, the transfer time from Amex is often 2-3 days. If you think award space will stick around, that might be worth the risk but just remember space could get snapped up while you wait.
Personally, I'd prefer to transfer Citi points to Turkish since you can put an award on hold. You'd need 90,000 Turkish miles for a round-trip award but you can also book one-way for 45,000 miles.
If you only have Amex points and/or want to book a one-way ticket, Aeroplan can book business class one-way to London from EWR, IAD, or ORD for 60,000 miles. Otherwise, LifeMiles wins out at 63,000 miles while Aeroplan requires 70,000 miles from IAH, SFO.
You can use GCmap to calculate your total flight distance and double-check Aeroplan's zone-based chart. You can also include a stopover for 5,000 additional miles.
If you have Chase points, you can use 60,000 United miles to book one-way. I consider this one of the better uses of United miles since partner award rates are so steep these days. If you include a connection on a partner airline to somewhere in Europe, the rate get bumped up to 66,000 miles one-way.
For those sitting on Asiana miles (or a bunch of Marriott points), 40,000 miles one-way with no surcharges is a great way to book.
|
|
How To Book
If you don't know the exact dates you want to fly, keep things simple and use United's calendar search option.
- From United's homepage, select Advanced search
- Choose to show price in miles
- Enter the origin & destination
- Select your dates or choose Flexible dates and choose a month
- Under Connections, uncheck 1 and 2+ if searching nonstop
- Select the number of passengers
- Select Business
- Run the search
- If booking with another Star Alliance partner, confirm space by searching with that program
- Transfer points (if necessary)
- Log into your account
- Run the search again
- Complete the booking
Once you know the exact dates you want, you can run the search with the program you'll be using to book. As always, I recommend confirming the program you're using sees the award space before you transfer points.
Transfers to Turkish aren't instant so you can call to put the award on hold if you prefer (800-874-8875) before transferring Citi points.
|
|
Bottom Line
I've been hearing from more and more people who are looking for places to visit this summer. If you feel comfortable traveling, these are great options to visit Europe. Personally, I'd love to visit Croatia... and Iceland... and Greece.
Fine, I'd love to visit them all
Happy Booking!
|
|
|
|
