Originally Posted by
pinniped
Can you fly out the 17th instead of the 18th? If so, you might be able to book a United R/T award with a stopover in FRA. Looks like the 17th is the last day with award seats prior to Christmas.
I probably could fly out on the 17th, but the problem is that I don't see a direct route available - 1-stoppers only. Did you see a direct flight? If I'm one-stopping (and then catching a flight to MAN anyways, so effectively 2-stopping), I may as well go DTW-PHL-MAN (or a similar 1-stopper to LON) for 30K miles and consider my options on the way back. Actually, that doesn't look too terrible... Just have to figure out a place to stay for a couple of extra days, then.
Buying with cash is an option, but Delta direct is over $1K for just DTW-LHR-DTW...