Mileage Run Deals - BD: IAD-MAN $523 a/i r/t

Not the greatest fare, but pretty good for Star flyers needing to get to the UK.

Fare Compare says the price is as low as $470 a/i and there is a $220 YQ surcharge that I could not dump. Base fare is only $50 each way. Maybe Raffles can assist...

Transatlantic portions on UA or VS and it seems, according to ITA, UA's IAD-LHR books into W. I don't know if you can use a SWU for BD's W-class, but it wouldn't hurt to check.

It books into N (NLSALE10) so 100% RDM/EQM on UA.

Return routing available on Virgin Atlantic if you wish.

Sample dates: Feb 5-8

$523.20 in US Dollars
1 adult @ $523.20
Hide booking details
This ticket is non-refundable.
Changes to this ticket will incur a penalty fee.

Airport legend:

IAD: Washington Dulles
LHR: London Heathrow
MAN: Manchester Int'l
Washington, DC to Manchester, United Kingdom: 3815 miles 9 hrs 27 min
British Midland Airway Ltd Flight BD4468 on a Boeing 777 (jet) in coach class
(operated by United Airlines as Flight UA918)
(breakfast, dinner, movie)
Departs Washington, DC (IAD) Fri, Feb 5 5:48p 7 hrs 7 min
Arrives London, United Kingdom (LHR) Sat, Feb 6 5:55a
1 adult in booking code W, covered by fare (A1) below
Layover in London 1 hr 15 min
British Midland Airway Ltd Flight BD582 on an Airbus A319 (jet) in coach class
(food for purchase)
Departs London, United Kingdom (LHR) Sat, Feb 6 7:10a 1 hr 5 min
Arrives Manchester, United Kingdom (MAN) 8:15a
1 adult in booking code N, covered by fare (A1) below
Note: The flight from Washington (IAD) to London (LHR) is overnight.
Note: The layover in London (LHR) has relatively little room for delays.

Manchester, United Kingdom to Washington, DC: 3815 miles 13 hrs 30 min
British Midland Airway Ltd Flight BD581 on an Airbus A319 (jet) in coach class
(food for purchase)
Departs Manchester, United Kingdom (MAN) Mon, Feb 8 6:40a 1 hr 10 min
Arrives London, United Kingdom (LHR) 7:50a
1 adult in booking code N, covered by fare (A2) below
Layover in London 3 hrs 40 min
British Midland Airway Ltd Flight BD5081 on an Airbus A340 (jet) in coach class
(operated by Virgin Atlantic as Flight VS21)
(meal, snack)
Departs London, United Kingdom (LHR) Mon, Feb 8 11:30a 8 hrs 40 min
Arrives Washington, DC (IAD) 3:10p
1 adult in booking code N, covered by fare (A2) below
Note: You must change terminals in London (LHR).

I apologize for the newbie nature of this question, but can you book this flight and then drop the MAN leg on each end. (In other words, effectively make this into IAD-LHR.) My guess is not but if there is a way to make it work, that would be really great.

Hello dc_traveler:

The answer is no, the rest of your ticket will be cancelled if you skip the LHR-MAN leg. But there's always RyanAir if you want to spend time in London.

Welcome to (posting on) FT!

if you really want to go to London, just fly to MAN and buy a nested trip back to MAN or buy a round trip on Virgin trains - sometimes 11 GBP o/w if you buy ahead of time!

I didn't realize that BD was code-sharing with Virgin these days. Interesting! I'm guessing, though, that one could not earn UA EQMs on a Virgin flight with a BD code.

Isn't it kind of sad that we've reached the day when a $500+ fare to Europe from the east coast is a "mileaege run"?

Hello dc_traveler:

The answer is no, the rest of your ticket will be cancelled if you skip the LHR-MAN leg. But there's always RyanAir if you want to spend time in London.

Welcome to (posting on) FT!
FR don't fly MAN to LON.
The train is probably the best option.

Isn't it kind of sad that we've reached the day when a $500+ fare to Europe from the east coast is a "mileaege run"?
IAWTC

FR don't fly MAN to LON.
The train is probably the best option.

Or you could always fly BD from MAN-LHR and earn a few more miles. ;)

Spent 30mins trying to trick this, but the usual culprits weren't working. Please PM me if anyone is able to get this to work!!

Fare Compare says the price is as low as $470 a/i and there is a $220 YQ surcharge that I could not dump. Base fare is only $50 each way. Maybe Raffles can assist...


Another newbie question here..

What is "fuel dump"? I have seen it on several threads here and searched, but, counld not find the answer? Does it relate to removing the fuel surcharge? Can that really be done???

Spent 30mins trying to trick this, but the usual culprits weren't working. Please PM me if anyone is able to get this to work!!
You almost certainly won't. BD doesn't seem to be dumpable.

Another newbie question here..

What is "fuel dump"? I have seen it on several threads here and searched, but, counld not find the answer? Does it relate to removing the fuel surcharge? Can that really be done???

With the three-day weekend coming up, may I suggest a good read? Take a look at the "Trick it..." thread in the Mileage Run Discussion forum.

[QUOTE=MatthewLAX;13183171]Not the greatest fare, but pretty good for Star flyers needing to get to the UK.
Fare Compare says the price is as low as $470 a/i and there is a $220 YQ surcharge that I could not dump. Base fare is only $50 each way. Maybe Raffles can assist...


What is so special about Manchester ? As a true MR'er, the destination does not matter. Not too many people NEED to be in Manchester for 48 hours. Since you are appear to be Philadelphia based, why don't you drive up to Newark EWR instead of down to IAD and fly to
Madrid R/T and spend only $ 413.00 for your sample dates

[QUOTE=MatthewLAX;13183171]Not the greatest fare, but pretty good for Star flyers needing to get to the UK.

Fare Compare says the price is as low as $470 a/i and there is a $220 YQ surcharge that I could not dump. Base fare is only $50 each way. Maybe Raffles can assist...
What is so special about Manchester ? As a true MR'er, the destination does not matter. Since you are appear to be Philadelphia based, why don't you drive up to Newark EWR instead of down to IAD and fly to
Madrid R/T and spend only $ 428.00 for the same dates.
Sounds good. I had not found that.

I decided to do EWR-IAD-GVA and back instead. $538 r/t in W with a fuel dump. Availability on the next few weekends, though NC space is zero right now.

not trickable with a standard FD

from the fare rules:
ADD-ONS NOT PERMITTED.

and worse, it has to be on BD-coded flights, so there is no way to sneak in a UA segment

MAN-IAD-EWR-IAD, with the last segment on UA, does dump the fuel, but the price is high.

Isn't it kind of sad that we've reached the day when a $500+ fare to Europe from the east coast is a "mileaege run"?

It's not good by itself, but reasonable if you can use SWUs on the transatlantic flights.

Isn't it kind of sad that we've reached the day when a $500+ fare to Europe from the east coast is a "mileaege run"?

Bad for us, yes, but I think that super-low fares are unsustainable. At some point, the airlines *have* to make money to survive.

It's all the fees and extras that piss me off. Just make it clear already! :mad: :mad: :mad: