AA / Oneworld flights from Europe to St Louis (STL)
 

Hi Everyone - first time poster here so no doubt i've misunderstood where to post!

Looking for some guidance in booking a good deal to the US please.

I live in London, UK and need to get to St Louis (STL) Missouri on 4th or 5th October 2019 and return on 8th or 9th October 2019 (flexible). I'm aware that there are no European based flights that go direct to STL with any airline (the main carriers axed these in early 2000's, and then WOW! stopped their's from Iceland a few years back for obvious reasons). The only main airline carriers that appear to fly in to STL are American Airlines and Delta but with American having the bigger share and a bigger presence in Europe than Delta. I think South West are the biggest operator out of STL but that is not an option for me here. So given the situation and that I can't see many people in the UK ever needing to make the journey to STL I thought could I take advantage of having to do multiple stopovers to get a good deal and in Business or Premium Economy. But i am unsure of the best way to look at the best priced routes with all the connections that are available.

Flights with AA (and BA given they share routes) out of London seem to be astronomical but I thought that what if i made my own way to mainland Europe and then fly on from there to a connecting airport in the US or Canada then fly on to STL? Will this make it cheaper? My question therefore is does anyone know of a particular European hub for American Airlines that tends to be lower cost when travelling to the US. Or does anyone / has anyone made a similar journey and could kindly help me out? It doesn't matter which airport in the US i fly in to in order to connect on to a flight to STL.

Thanks in advance, and sincere apologies if I have misunderstood this forum and that my question is unreasonable or pitched incorrect.

Tom

AA's only European "hub" -- if you can call it that -- is LHR.

Have you tried checking fares from various European cities at matrix.itasoftware.com? It's a very powerful search tool.

In some cases, if you can find MileSAAver award seats on AA metal, it might make sense just to buy AA miles directly from AA when AA has a good sale, and redeem for an award ticket.

Have you checked AA flights from Manchester to STL?

tommyd101 Welcome to FT

For AA Eu/UK flights look here ---> Where exactly does AA fly to Europe? Which routes have good business seats?
Click to open the wiki
FT does not have similar thread for BA flights

In the BA forum many threads about (cheaper) ex Eu flights. People pay separately for a UK Eu positioning flight. AMS seems popular. Or even Dublin. In part ex Eu avoids paying the UK APD. That is a noticeable amount of money with business class fare. APD is not payable on UK transits. So for example AMS-LHR-PHL-STL does not have APD.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Passenger_Duty

BA forum threads
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...tinations.html

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...ing-guide.html [closed]

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brit...ic-thread.html

Other than AA (Oneworld) & DL (Skyteam) there will be other airlines/alliances that could get you to STL.
Is freq flyer mile earning a consideration?

Lots of people in London seem to buy tickets through Dublin.

Also, consider buying a ticket from London to Chicago. There are numerous flights daily from Chicago to STL and they are sometimes reasonably priced.

Can you define astronomical? Seeing AA through-ticketed itineraries in the same vicinity as everyone else: $900. Seeing London-Chicago roundtrips for $380 on your dates, and Chicago-Saint Louis for $280 ($660 total). Book them as separate tickets, and AA will still take care of you should something go wrong.

Tommy is looking for PE or Bus class
But agree a separate USA domestic ticket XXX to STL may be way to go

Reading is hard.

From a quick glance, looks like there might be attractive one-stop fares out of AMS in business for ~$2200: https://flights.app.goo.gl/Sjj55. CPH also a possibility, and you might even be able to route through LHR on the way home and hop off there: https://flights.app.goo.gl/nECS4

Should mention AA will not check your bags through the connection if you book separate tickets.

I wish they had a direct UK to STL flight, I fly there every month but in the back! Tend to fly MAN-PHL-STL out and lately been doing STL-ORD-LHR back as the timing is better for me (can leave STL later in the day).

Which might be irrelevant as a practical matter since if the OP books a ticket through Chicago, he will have to collect his bags when clearing customs in Chicago.

For LON-US travel, you're probably just as better off with DL too fyi. VS and DL both fly to a number of destinations between the two destintions.

American has 3 round trip flights a day between LHR and DFW.

American has 8 flights a day between DFW and STL

This offers the smoothest travel from LHR to STL

4x daily DFW-LHR on AA metal, actually.

Plus a 1x daily BA.

Why is it the smoothest? LHR-DFW literally overflies STL to the tune of 550 miles. ORD is a much more reasonable stop, and has 6 AA/BA flights a day to LHR, plus 5 ORD-STL. PHL is only 150 miles out of the way and has some well-timed itineraries as well.