techvette

I fly DFW to LHR a few times a year, and the 10-11 hour return flight is killing me. I'm starting to get knee and neck cramps every trip. I'm heading back over mid-May and it occurred to me that it might be possible to make a pit stop somewhere on the coast, or even on an aircraft carrier, so I could at least get up and stretch my legs for a few hours. I don't really care if it increases the total travel time by several hours. Also, taking a longer route and picking up the extra miles and points certainly doesn't hurt.

Any suggestions on the best way to accomplish this?

Also, since the DFW/LHR flights are nearly always booked, is there a better airport to fly out of that might increase my odds of getting a mileage upgrade to business class? I'm Platinum at the moment.

bostonoski

Welcome to FT!

LOL about the aircraft carrier!!!

I suggest BOS as your stopover. Less hassle and crowd than JFK. Great AC staff (if you use it). And a short flight that is often half-empty (in off-season at least). Not the expert, but I think it's your best shot at upgrades as well.

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

On AA, the LHR- USA routes are ;

JFK
MIA
BOS
ORD

RDU ( not sure about Raleigh/Durham)
If you want to try British Airways ( I think you now get the same miles on BA as on AA but upgrading might be more difficult on BA) you can add

IAH
MCO
ATL
IAD
EWR
DEN
YYZ ( Toronto)
YUL ( Montreal)
( I have excluded those airports further west than DFW ie PHX/LAS as the flight time non stop to LHR is greater)

Regards

TBS

PS Bostoski's suggestion of BOS is a very good one ( you can also get a daytime flight BOS-LHR if you want to)

gemac

My suggestion eastbound would be to get a flight to JFK the evening before, stay in a hotel, then take the morning flight to LHR. It isn't a long flight, and you arrive in the evening and can get a good night's sleep. For the return, BOS or JFK.

bbkenney

I agree with BOS except if you're looking for F on a 777 and that leaves JFK and ORD. I assume since the flight is too long for you now MIA is out. For what it's worth, in 40 years of travel, I've never had an 11 hour LHR-DFW.

I've done TATL and TPAC about every way you can think of out of DFW. For me, you can't beat the non-stops. Walking out of Term D across the street to your car, priceless!! Makes the pain of the long flight go away. A connection may or may not take you to the right DFW terminal. JFK and ORD are hassels. RDU used to be pretty easy. Haven't done that in a while, could've changed.

Best shot at upgrades is JFK for the simple reason they have the most flights. JFK also has the fewest flights to DFW. Often have trek cross-town to LGA.

Top of my wish list for a post Ch 11 world is a DAYtime NS DFW-LHR 777, OR a super early morning DFW-JFK to catch that daytime.

JDiver

TBS may have overlooked LAX-DFW, but I am sure you do not want that.

Don't forget - BA has Premium Economy - World Traveller Plus, with two fare variations. If you use Avios, which you can get with converting AMEX or Diners, for example, you can upgrade with points only to Club World. A "world" of better travelling, and you can earn AA points and miles.

WT+ may not be brilliant, but it is better than Coach, and an upgrade with iirc 15,000 Avios is a very good deal.

QueenOfCoach

I know it well (LAX-LHR). 10 hours in Coach, every year.

To the OP: A couple of years ago, I broke up my LAX-LHR flight by stopping in Fort Worth to see my niece and her baby. Flying DFW-LHR was GREAT compared to the usual 10 hours.

I like the idea of flying to New York or Boston, spending the night in an airport hotel, then flying on to London. That should break the trip into shorter, pleasant hops instead of the long, leg-cramping marathon.

rwoman

With BOS being on the 757 (and limited #'s of J seats), is it generally good for the u/g from LHR?

mvoight

The numbers, LAx-LHR 5456 mil, DFW-LHR 4750, or 706 miles further, maybe 80-90 extra minutes. LAX-DFW is 1255, so in that case, you fly an extra 549 miles. Now, looking at the OP. stopping in BOS would only ad 77 extra miles.
It would also break the trip into a 1/3 segment, followed by a 2/3 segment, which sounds great, if NOT doing a redeye. If you fly overnight for 2/3 of the distance, you lose more sleep than if you had a longer flight.

AAerSTL

The 757 on AA should be avoided at all costs. Route through another gateway to get the 777 or take BA metal. You'll have a much better experience.

AA-Platinum

Unless you want to take the daytime JFK-LHR flight (AA-142), DFW-LHR is the best option around. All others (LAX excepted) are too short to get a good night's sleep. I actually go out of my way to fly to LHR via DFW for the simple fact that it gives me the opportunity to get a better sleep on the plane

bostonoski

Yup.

Why avoid? I don't like 757s myself but in F they have lay-flats... or something close to that. Much better than it used to be. Much MUCH better!

BOS has a daytime flight, and is less crowded... fwiw. And actually it has red-eyes that are decent, i.e. depart 10pm+ arrive 10am+ (5am EDT), that's about 7 hrs... not bad.

nomaadic

it sounds like the OP is in coach.... and 757 TATL in coach is horrible. fine if you get the upgrade, but i'd much prefer the 777, in case of no upgrade. much better Y experience than any other birds in AA fleet.

techvette

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I think I'll give BOS a shot and see what happens.

I haven't had to make a trans-Atlantic trip on a 757. I know the 767 smells funny (!). The 777 at least has TV in coach. (Yes, I'm typically in coach. Yay, corporate travel.)

I'm about willing to spend 125k miles on a round-trip F ticket just to avoid future knee surgery. I'm 35 - it's too early to need joint replacement.

Tumbleweed666

Another vote for flying the same route but with BA either in WT+ or business.
Business by using Avios to upgrade from WT+

I do London-Toronto 2 or 3x a year and either fly WT+ as bought or upgrade to Business, depending on availability. As you get miles (aka Avios in BA's case) for flying WT+ its partly "self funding" as well plus if you buy miles / Avios it works out at about £200-300 to upgrade, a steal compared to the several thousand pound cash price.