It’s a different animal than planning other overseas vacations because of how many airports, airlines, and itineraries serve Western Europe’s biggest metropolis. So before we talk about your options for booking, here are some tips on how to book award flights to London.
Check out several international entry points.
Every airline has its hubs where the most award seats are available. If your home airport does not have any award space available, enter just the transatlantic route between London and the main airports of the airline you want to travel with.
Say, for instance, that you are collecting United MileagePlus miles. If you can’t find any award seats from your Philadelphia home airport, look for flights from:
- International Airport John F. Kennedy (JFK).
- International Airport Newark Liberty (EWR).
- The O’Hare International Airport in Chicago (ORD).
- The Dulles International Airport, DC (IAD).
- Airport Authority of Greater Boston (BOS).
You may have to fly to one of these airports first, but it’s likely to be much cheaper than buying a ticket to London.
Flexible points are essential.
If you book a trip to London at the last minute or during a busy time of year, you may have a harder time finding award seats than if you booked many months in advance.
So, you might not be able to find any award seats on American or United, but you might find some on an Air France or KLM flight that connects.
So, having rewards like American Express Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards points that can be transferred is helpful. You can turn these points into miles for many different airlines. This gives you a lot more freedom than if you were collecting miles for one airline.
London flights can be booked with points and miles.
Now, let’s look at some of the best ways to get from airports in the U.S. to airports in London.
United States Airlines AAdvantage
Using American Airlines miles to get to London is easy, but there are a few things you should watch out for.
From more than 10 U.S. cities, American Airlines flies straight to London without stopping. The cheapest award seats are:
In economy, you get 22,500 miles (from January 10 to March 14 and November 1 to December 14; otherwise, you get 30,000 miles).
The business class went 57,500 miles.
If you are looking for awards, American Airlines may try to sell you seats on British Airways, one of its partners. But we don’t think you should book flights with British Airways. You’ll have to pay hundreds of dollars in extra fees for fuel.
Mileage Club of ANA
All Nippon Airways, or ANA for short, is a Star Alliance member airline based in Tokyo. It has a long list of airline partners, so you can use ANA Mileage Club miles to get to London in many different ways. Between the U.S. and London, you can fly for:
- In economy, the round trip is 55,000 miles.
- In business class, a round-trip of 88,000 miles.
Remember that ANA miles can only be used to book round-trip flights (no one-way flights are allowed). Stopovers are allowed for the same award price so that you can visit two European cities for the price of one.
Also, some airlines, like Austrian, Swiss, and Lufthansa, will add huge fuel surcharges to your ticket. Look for flights with Air Canada, TAP Air Portugal, SAS, LOT Polish Airlines, and United. These airlines don’t charge high fuel surcharges.
Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
Flying Blue is a program that both Air France and KLM use.
There are no direct flights between the U.S. and London on either of these airlines, but you can get to London via airports like Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS). You can also fly nonstop with partners like Delta and Virgin Atlantic. You can also get to London with several other SkyTeam partners.
Even though Flying Blue doesn’t have a chart of prices, you can usually get to London for:
- 25,000 miles in economy, one way.
- 55,000 miles in business class, one way.
But with Flying Blue Promo Rewards, you can sometimes find even cheaper flights trip. You can save up to 50% on regular fares during these award sales.
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MileagePlus by United Airlines
Several nonstop flights are offered by United Airlines from its eight main hubs. You can also fly to London on partner airlines like Air Canada, Aer Lingus, and TAP Air Portugal with United Airlines miles.
United’s prices to London are fair, and there aren’t many extra fuel fees. What you should expect to pay:
- 30,000 miles on standard.
- 45,000 in premium economy.
- 60,000 miles on business class.
Flying Club of Virgin Atlantic
The U.K. is home to Virgin Atlantic. It goes to 12 major cities in the U.S., so there are likely to be a lot of award options when you book.
Unfortunately, this airline and its partners, like Air France and KLM, have to pay taxes that are higher than average. Virgin Atlantic tries to make up for this by having very cheap award prices.
Here is a Virgin Atlantic flight that goes straight from Atlanta to London without stopping. You’ll only have to pay 12,500 miles (15,000 miles from the West Coast) plus taxes and fees totaling $150.30. That’s an excellent deal.