coleslaw

I have an unplanned trip to London that I need to make this week. I’m going to be traveling on AA/BA and will need to connect at least once to make it from my starting point (western US). Ideally I’d leave from anywhere east of LAS.

since I need to connect either way, I’m wondering which BA route from the US current tends to have the lowest loads / demand? I’m going to be traveling in CW and am indifferent about traveling in Club World vs Club Suite, but I’d much prefer an empty cabin vs a full one.

Any suggestions?

ISTFlyer

Your options are LAX, DFW, ORD, MIA, PHL

If I were you I would have gone with LAX as you should be mainly concentrating on the AA domestic flight emptiness rather than the emptiness of the BA TATL flight if your main goal is to stay away from people, because of upgrades on longer AA flights, the First Class cabin would be full and you would not be able to maintain social distance.

Plus, LA has a stay-at-home order and a 14-day-quarantine advisory for arriving pax so LHR-LAX would have fewer passengers compared to other routes. Plus, LAX-LAS would most likely be empty as many people prefer to drive that route rather than take a plane.

jonas123

MIA is the emptiest tomorrow, probably because there appear to be 2 flights. Next best would be ORD, although the business cabins in general don't appear to be super full

corporate-wage-slave

There are really too many options unless we can have specific dates. But indeed focusing on 16 December, I go along with the following:

If it is today, then you probably want the second MIA-LHR service, BA208, which seems not too full.

If you want to search for yourself, you could try doing dummy searches for BAEC redemption space. What you are looking for - in terms of your question - is availability in WTP as well as CW, and that availability set at 9 plus. So the box is doesn't say how many are left, rather than saying 4 Left or whatever. It's not a perfect guide, but if you wanted slightly more clues you better pay for ExpertFlyer or KVS.

This sounds like a revenue booking, but if it was redemption on BA metal, today is the last off peak day.

rather_be_on_a_griffin

We’re getting a winter storm out east on Wednesday. However it lands this is not the season to go via ORD if you have a choice

CKBA

Re. Weather - ORD will just be cloudy (and with reduced traffic anyway, shouldn't be a problem). IAD northeastwards would be an problem though.
Re. # - Somewhat surprised (again) that the IAD-LHR is pretty full at the moment, particularly in CW. Last time it seemed to be diplomatic or corporate staff families travelling.
So, probably best to avoid IAD both for weather and pax density.

coleslaw

Thanks. LAX would be my preference in non-pandemic times, but it doesn’t have great connectivity from my departure point (and it’s further and more $$ to position to) which is why I was mostly looking east of ORD.

I’m going to be traveling Friday or Saturday 12/18 or 12/19 and it’ll be a revenue booking (since the paid rates are only marginally more expensive than the taxes and carrier charges on an award ticket).

I may just buy an expert flyer Subscription as was suggested... I was trying to avoid that mainly because I try not to fund TPG affiliated businesses, but in this situation it seems like it may have the most detailed information.

ISTFlyer

By the way, AA does not operate PHX-IAD at the moment so the OP should purchase 2 separate tickets if he would like to travel via IAD, either a UA flight to IAD or a AA flight to DCA and land-transfer; a double connection through IAD is also possible but I assume that the OP is not doing a Tier Point run.

Also, OP, are you going to purchase a one-way ticket or a return?

Geordie405

I'm not sure I'd agree with this, COVID or no COVID. Flights between LAS and LAX tend to be heavily loaded at the best of times. I do agree that a lot of people like to drive but the I-15 is not the best of roads, and delays can be horrendous. My now wife used to drive to Las Vegas pretty much every weekend back in the day to come visit me. It would usually take her 5 1/2 - 6 hours each way. The worst trip back home took 12 hours give or take, with horrendous delays coming out of Las Vegas, past Primm and the state line etc. A lot of the drive is through the middle of nowhere and all it takes is a minor accident or someone to break down and it becomes a hot mess.

I would definitely agree with avoiding ORD in terms of weather, and I am not a big fan of the inter-terminal transfer bus there either if you're arriving on AA and then departing BA. DFW would give more opportunity for sleep than the east coast departure points, especially PHL.

coleslaw

Can you help explain (or give an example of) a double connection? I’m not doing this as a tier point run (although I do have status with BA and got their GUF offer so I’m open to some extra TP).

I’ve also been looking mainly at one way fares. The return date is uncertain and one way J pricing is very reasonable right now.

coleslaw

Thanks - all good points.

DFW would actually be ideal, but it prices our much higher than other origins / transatlantic gateways for some reason.

Furby

The further West you depart the longer time you get to sleep on the airplane. I hate East Coast departures because of the limited time to sleep. But maybe I am fortunate in being able to sleep onboard.

ISTFlyer

Just to clarify, are you aware that one-way fares out of LAS to LHR this weekend is about $6k-7k. Or, you were planning to purchase separate tickets to your connecting point to make the journey cheaper?

For the additional TP part, an extra US domestic segment under 2000 miles in Domestic First would give extra 40TP's and a US domestic segment over 2000 miles in Domestic First or Flagship Business would give 140TP's.

ISTFlyer

I'll be doing something else for about the next hour or so, that's why I'll wrap up some suggestions for you.

If you are OK purchasing separate tickets:
These deals are for you:

Option 1 - If you would like to maximize sleep: ( 180 TP )

Ticket 1: Book through AA -> $110 in Domestic First ( one-way )

AA 2641 I LAS LAX 16:30 17:48 321 18 DEC ( 40 TP )

Ticket 2: Book through BA -> $943 in Club World ( one-way )

BA 268 I LAX LHR 21:05 15:25+1 787 18 DEC ( 140 TP )

Option 2: If you would like to meet 250TP's on BA segments for an additional GUF ( 320 TP in total, 280 TP in BA marketed flights )

Ticket 1: Book through AA -> $110 in Domestic First ( one-way )

AA 2530 I LAS LAX 07:05 08:25 321 18 DEC ( 40 TP )
* Note * - A domestic 1h35min transfer on separate tickets would be fine and AA2530 tends to land 15-20 minutes early every day. If you don't want to risk, you could leave the day before and spend the night in an LAX airport hotel

Ticket 2: Book through BA -> $948 in Club World ( one-way )

BA 5594 I LAX MIA 10:00 17:50 777 18 DEC ( 140 TP )
BA 208 I MIA LHR 21:25 10:45+1 787 18 DEC ( 140 TP )

* You could technically get more TP's by a more complicated itinerary but I would suggest that you stick with lie-flat seats with decent service if you are planning to do 4h+ AA domestic flights.

Forever in Seattle

It was dead quiet when I flew from DFW 2 weeks ago, F cabin was almost full, but only 6 of us in J, so they had shut the rear cabin. The crew said there was 55 passengers onboard.