slsdi

I hope this isn't something I should have found quickly via search (I searched but didn't find the answer)...

I'm looking to book award tickets in business class (or first) to the UK from SAN. Almost everything that shows up in British Air has the huge fuel surcharge (<$500/ticket), but occasionally there is a AA flight for a very low additional cash price ($19/24). DL also has options but for double the miles (125k vs 60k), so I'm not very interested in that. I might consider first class for one way and biz for the other; it seems the cash requirement is much less in one direction. The BA fuel surcharge is insane and makes me almost want to fly to Amsterdam or Ireland to avoid it (I need 2 tix, so maybe >2k fuel surcharge!!!).

My home airport is SAN, so I realize that this is somewhat of a limitation, but still, what shows up online is very limited. I'm looking for flights next fall (Sept-Oct 2017, even Nov if necessary), so I can take advantage of flights as soon as they open up, and I will pick days based on availability.

I'm looking to spend 120-140k miles roundtrip per ticket and limit the cash requirement. I know there are experts here, so I am hoping you guys can help me make the most of my miles! If I call, will better rewards show up, or is what is online all there is?

Thanks in advance for helping an UK awards redemption newbie.

PDXPremier

I've noticed that even the BA awards have less of a fuel charge if you book to an alternate European city (even Iceland) and make the stopover less than 24 hours....if you just want to go to LHR, just get off the plane there (of course checking bags might be an issue but if it's a few hundred dollars less per ticket, it might be worth the hassle).

eponymous_coward

BA is 60k one-way, 120k round-trip on AS. DL doesn't do one-ways on AS, so a one-way or round-trip is 125k. Are you looking for a one-way only, or for a round-trip?

AS does not have a partner with availability that does not show up online. KE, LA and CX (the AS non-online partners) do not serve USA-LHR.

I would suggest looking out of LAX in addition to SAN. You might also be able to connect in AS coach SAN-BOS/MCO to BA to LHR.

If OP wants a round trip, when OP gets off in LHR on a BA round trip that doesn't end in LHR on your outbound, the return will be cancelled. This is sort of important to mention to the newbie in order to prevent making a rather disastrous mistake.

Also, I don't know how often BA does things like send debit memos to AS if people on AS awards try hidden-city ticketing stunts on them, but it does happen. I would be reluctant to make a habit of this myself because I wouldn't like my AS account closed (and I do know AS closes accounts for people who try to get too cute with abusing ticketing rules).

slsdi

I can do roundtrip or multicity; multicity (Edinburgh/London) is more convenient, but I'm obviously trying to make the most of my miles so will be flexible in this regard. I've been searching one-way, so that explains why I've been eliminating DL in my searches (thanks for explaining that it's only one way). I don't won't do hidden city; I don't want my AS account closed, plus I'll probably check a bag.

My ideal trip might be to fork over the bucks for first in one direction on BA (we've only done biz so would be fun to splurge) and then biz in AA the other direction, but we might be too limited in our searches (since very few AA show up) unless we go to another city to avoid >$2k BA fuel surcharges. I'll have to check LAX to see if that opens up a lot more opportunities, although I absolutely hate LA traffic, and the LAX airport is an armpit to me! I'm almost rather fly to SJC/SEA out of pocket!

eponymous_coward

You can do DL as multi-city as well as round-trip. Positioning flights out of SAN might be wise.

My feeling on hidden-city is you might get away with it once in a blue moon. It's just wise not to make a habit of it using frequent flyer accounts you care about (and BA is quite aware of European hidden city ticketing).

3Cforme

You can save the UK Air Passenger Duty by not departing from a U.K. airport. (A connection is OK.) It is GBP 146/person in Business or First UK-USA. If you were thinking about seeing BRU, AMS, or DUB, anyway, that makes it all the more compelling.

CZBB

Remember you can still transfer through LHR and avoid the UK passenger duty

DUB-LHR-SEA will have a lot less UK passenger duty than
LHR-SEA on the same aircraft.

I've used that in the past, and will again in the future. It more than pays for a repositioning flight to another European city.

Waitlisted

If you don't mind going SAN/PDX/LHR Delta starts a new nonstop from PDX in May and there is lots of award space available with no fuel charges, including F available (or technically Delta One) is pretty good.

TravelBrighter

My husband and I go to Europe from SAN almost every summer, and we have tried several of your possible scenarios. In 2015, we flew BA in business class, connecting in LHR, continuing on to Paris. We stayed a couple nights in Paris, then took the Eurostar to London. At the end of the trip, we did the exact same thing in reverse, staying in a different part of Paris. It was a lot of legwork, but a nice way to see both cities, and the price of two train tickets was still less than the difference in surcharges. Very nice trip, but a little tiring.

This past summer, we decided to go direct on BA for the outbound, splurging on F, and we returned in business class on AA. Keep in mind that the surcharges for London flights are higher for your return trip regardless of the carrier you choose. However, when you choose AA or DL you still save around $500 per person compared to BA. We felt it was worth the surcharge to try BA first class as a one-time novelty. The nose of the 747 was really cozy, quiet, and the service was outstanding. Seats were similar to what you get in Delta One for a lower price, but I have never had service on Delta even approaching the attentiveness of the first class flight attendants on BA.

As you continue searching for flights, you will probably find that availability in September/October is much better than during the peak summer months. Do search for round trip itineraries, and this will show Delta One, if available, at the 62.5K price point.

I think I would rather eat glass than fly from LAX. To me, it's almost always worth the extra money to fly from SAN and avoid that mess.