My wife has a ton of Amex points and would like to use them to buy an upper class round trip from LAX to LHR so she can visit me here in London.

Trip will be first week of September and for one week or 10 days.

I think she would prefer Virgin.

How easy is it going to be for her to make the arrangements and how many points would it take for her to cover the full cost?

Any additional tips greatly appreciated!

We have never done this before and it is a bit daunting.

TYIA

You'll get a better answer asking the folks in the Virgin forum. I'd say Virgin's website would tell you how many points are needed. If it's for this September (next month), not sure how much luck you'll have with award seat availability. Some airlines open up some seats close-in but I've no idea about Virgin.

Welcome to FT though!

You can also transfer your AMEX MR points to Continental and redeem those for travel on Virgin. Check Continental's website for availability.

I'm not sure if it is a better deal to redeem through Continental or Virgin Atlantic; you will have to check both websites and let us know.

Dude, you have to up your game in bed.

If transferring Amex MR to CO is the best option, remember that the last day to do so is September 30, 2011. I know you said you were looking for early September, but just in case plans change.

OK, progress - 100k Amex points/100k Virgin Miles gets you from LAX to LHR return in Upper Class with the limo etc. You have to pay the tax tho, $800.

Problem is we have left it too late for a September 1st departure.

Either delay the trip or try another airline I guess.

Someone mentioned Air Canada as an option, my question - is there a way to search points redemption availability online or do I have to call each airline and check manually?

2nd question - which other airlines offer a favourable transfer rate from Amex points to miles for 1st class travel LAX - LHR?

Thanks!

All Star Alliance availability is checkable online on the ANA tool.

Continental.com is pretty good at showing *A award availability.

1 Sep is probably going to be tough so close-in, plus it doesn't help being close to Labor Day weekend in the US.

Looking at CO.com with some random dates, I'm seeing some limited availability at what it considers Business on 3-class planes, or First on 2-cabin (what that equates to on Virgin I don't know offhand) at the SaverPass level of 50K each-way:

- The 4th shows a couple of options with UA LAX-JFK and connecting to Virgin for JFK-LAX.
- NZ 002 LAX to LHR available on the 6th.
- Virgin flight returning on the 16th with availability.
- CO's calendar shows a smattering of other dates with possible availability in Sep.

You're probably going to have to be more flexible on the dates for it to work at this point. There's a bit more availability in Y if a specific date is more important than being in a premium cabin. You can or mix and match cabins on the out/in-bounds with the 1-way awards on CO.

Thanks to all who posted, much appreciated and valuable info. I have learned a lot already! Will post the final outcome once known. Next time we will plan further ahead for sure.

I doubt that there is a way to effectively convert AA points to use on Air Canada. But more to the point you will find that fuel charges and surtaxes will be much higher than US carriers. Furthermore AC is not likely to add seats to the inventory close to the departure date.

Any opinions on Air New Zealand LAX - LHR 1st Class?

NZ has J/P/Y only, no F.