British Airways First Class, Up To 6 Seats

British Airways will hit you with hefty carrier-imposed surcharges, but you can dodge most of them by booking with the right airline program. With up to 6 seats available, this could be a great opportunity to book first class for the whole family!

If you're able to add a short business class connection from another European country, you can also lower the taxes and fees on a one-way flight to the U.S.

Now, let’s get into it!

Straight To The Points

Routes to London (LHR):

• Atlanta (ATL), Boston (BOS), Newark (EWR), Washington (IAD), Houston (IAH), New York (JFK), Los Angeles (LAX), Chicago (ORD), San Francisco (SFO)

  
  

Operating airline: British Airways

Class of service: First class

Dates: March 2025 - February 2026

Seats available: 2 (up to 6)

Cabin layout: 1-2-1

Book with (per person, one-way):

• Alaska Mileage Plan:

  • BOS, EWR, JFK: 67,500 miles

  • ATL, IAD, IAH, ORD: 82,500 miles

  • LAX. SFO: 105,00 miles

• British Airways Executive Club:

  • BOS, EWR, JFK, IAD, ORD:

    • Off-peak: 68,000 Avios

    • Peak: 80,000 Avios

  • ATL, LAX, SFO:

    • Off-peak: 85,000 Avios

    • Peak: 100,000 Avios

• Cathay Pacific Asia Miles:

  • ATL, BOS, IAD, IAH, JFK, ORD: 100,000 miles

  • LAX, SFO: 135,000 miles

• Qantas Frequent Flyer:

  • BOS, EWR, JFK: 89,800 points

  • ATL, IAD, ORD: 107,700 points

  • IAH, LAX, SFO: 129,300 points

Taxes/fees (per person, one-way):

• British Airways:

  • From US: ~$1,183

  • From LHR: ~$730

• Alaska:

  • From US: ~$996

  • From LHR: ~$806

• Cathay Pacific

  • From US: ~$235

    From LHR: ~$584

• Qantas

  • From US: ~$1179

    From LHR: ~$774

    
    

Itineraries originating in the UK will be on the hook for the Air Passenger Duty Fee (APD) which is ~$260. Note: On April 1, the APD fee will increase to ~$289.

Bank transfer partners:

• Alaska: Bilt, Marriott

• American: Marriott

• British Airways: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Marriott

  • 20% Chase transfer bonus

• Cathay Pacific: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Marriott

• Finnair: Capital One

• Qantas: Amex, Capital One, Citi, Marriott

• Qatar: Amex, Citi, Marriott

  • 20% Amex transfer bonus

  • 20% Citi transfer bonus

    
    

Current Airline Transfer Bonuses

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Available Dates

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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 or connecting at Heathrow, you can enjoy the Concorde Room.

Best Ways To Book

Cathay: Reduced Surcharges, Easy To Earn

In most cases, Cathay is your best option simply because you won’t get tagged with all of the carrier-imposed surcharges. This is especially important when flying out of the U.S. Flying from the east coast or midwest, you’ll need 100,000 miles.

Connecting from an EU country on the way to the U.S. can reduce the taxes/fees.

Avios: Might Be Useful From EU + Transfer Bonuses

While the total taxes/fees are still steep, you can avoid the UK’s APD fee by flying out of an EU airport and with a connection at Heathrow.

Chase’s 20% transfer bonus to British Airways plus Amex and Citi’s 20% transfer bonuses to Qatar Airways are the only reason to even consider this option. You can book with BA, but you can combine Avios between BA and Qatar.

With a 20% transfer bonus, here’s how many points you’d need to transfer:

• BOS, EWR, JFK, IAD, ORD:

  • Off-peak: 57,000 points

  • Peak: 67,000 points

• ATL, LAX, SFO:

  • Off-peak: 71,000 Avios

  • Peak: 84,000 Avios

Important: BA has had trouble showing intra-EU business class connections with a first class segment to the U,S. If you don’t see space when you search the EU origin and U.S. destination pair, search each segment separately. If you see space on both segments, call BA to book.

You can link your British Airways and Qatar accounts and then move Avios between them by selecting Combine Avios.

How To Search

Search with Alaska:

1. If you want to book a one-way, check "One-way"

2. Check "Use miles"

3. Enter your origin & destination

4. Select your dates

5. Select number of passengers

6. Run the search

7. 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!