Originally Posted by
macdebbie1
Thank you so much! Sorry, I am flying from CHS (Charleston, SC) which is horrible for flights. So would connect somewhere - ATL, CLT, JFK, BOS...
I just looked at Virgin and the flights (for two) would be $1030 out of pocket (taxes, fees, and surcharges) AFTER using 82K of my miles (so much for thinking I could get "free" airfare!), and then the hotel would be another 2K after the 1K statement credit. So 3K out of pocket. The BA Holiday for the same dates comes to 3K out of pocket after a 1K statement credit as the total is 4K for the same dates.
Since it's a wash, would I have more flexibility if I booked directly with the airline and hotel rather than through a tour company like BA Holidays? I've only used a tour company once - went through Expedia and it was a nightmare.
You mentioned VS - what is this?
AMEX airline partners list Virgin Atlantic as a travel partner, and Cap One lists Virgin Red. I assume these are not the same? Do you know if Virgin offers holiday packages? The only thing I could find is flights from the UK to the US, but not the other way around. I've heard better things about Virgin than BA.
Thanks again for your help!
Virtually every airline which sells air travel between CHS and LON offers air+hotel packages. Google phrases like "JetBlue Vacations," "AA vacations," etc. But be sure to check the change and cancellation policies before booking a package.
But your best play here might be for you and/or your husband to sign up for a credit card which offer a big sign-up bonus of American Airlines AAdvantage miles,
if you can get a decent rate on a hotel booked separately. Currently, roundtrip redemptions in Coach for May travel on AA are pretty cheap:
(The cash component is a result of UK taxes and fees; they must be paid regardless of airline you fly.)
Here are the current offers for credit cards which earn AAdvantage miles:
applyaviator.com
https://creditcards.aa.com/
All flight awards booked with AAdvantage miles are fully refundable with no fee up until scheduled departure time.
If you can charge $3,500 pretty quickly to the Citi/AA card, you would end up with more than the 76,000 AA miles (currently) needed to book the roundtrip tickets for two.
Good luck!
Edited to add: If you did not want to deal with connecting flights and were willing to drive to/from CLT, you should be able to find similar redemption rates on at least some of AA's CLT-LHR nonstops.