As I just posted in "Canadian", I'm thinking of a week's trip to London at Christmas time.

I want to maximize my CP points, so the trans-atlantic segments really should be credited to my CPlus account. (And on a CP flight # if I'm going to have any chance of an upgrade!) But if I connect through Toronto, I could post YOW-YYZ to my AA account as a CP segment for the promo.

Then I suppose one of my YOW-LAX trips (either November or December) could be through BOS on AA (praying for an upgrade!), putting YOW-BOS on my AA account, and the rest on CP.

So there I am in England, with two carriers flown towards the promo, on two accounts (CP and AA). A return trip on another Oneworld carrier, credited to CP one way and AA the other, would presumably give me 25000 points.

I had thought I could fly into another UK airport, then a return to London on a BA # would give me the third carrier. But it looks like LHR is the only UK airport into which CP and BA fly.

Any suggestions for a quick (same-day?) RT out of or within England? I'd credit one segment to CP and the other to AA. That should give me 50000pt (25000 on each).

Then, of course, two more cheap short RT to or within Europe would be another 150000pt!

Any feedback, including shooting holes in my idea, or suggesting completely different solutions, will be much appreciated.

Thanks!
andrew

How about a quick trip up to Edinburgh on BA? It's a fascinating city. You could also consider a day trip to Paris on BA to either Orly or Charles de Gaulle or perhaps Dublin on Aer Lingus - another oneworld partner. All of these markets offer cheap fares, but book early - check the Travel sections of the British press for details; particularly The Sunday Times.

Hope this helps and good luck!!

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried London to Manchester (no reason for Manchester) and found a fare of ~U$160. Requires a Saturday-night stay but I had tried out-Saturday, back-Sunday.

I don't see Aer Lingus listed as a Oneworld partner anywhere. Are you sure?

But the point is a good one, I could fly to Spain on IB, or Finland on Finnair, and do it with a connection through an English city on BA. Or Edinburgh as you suggest, but connect through some other city on another European airline. While I'd love to visit Helsinki for a couple of nights (e.g.), I'd settle for a connection. If I spend too much time travelling, it will cut into my London time.

Guess I also have to make sure these cheap fares are all eligible for miles on CP and AA.

Thanks again!
andrew

Aer Lingus has announced its intention to join oneworld, but it hasn't happened yet. (BTW, I've heard some truly impressive horror stories about Iberia.)

Sorry I didn't realize Aer Lingus hadn't joined yet. They intend to in the future according to a press release on their web site at http://www.aerlingus.ie .

For great deals out of the London area, contact Trailfinders http://www.trailfinders.com - they're an established well-known travel agent using consolidator fares in the UK. Also, check out http://www.tiss.com

Sorry for the mix-up!!

Aer Lingus is not part of oneworld yet and most importantly, they are not participating in this promotion.

Trailfinders is good for fares however, please note that some of their fares do not qualify for frequent flyer points!

I speak for previous experiences.

Like you, I'm trying to see what inter-Europe flights out of London might work for this promo. Iberia has somewhat cheaper fares to Madrid ex-London than BA, so getting a BA credit (for other than transAtlantic leg) would require a trip between London and Manchester, Glasgow, Edinburgh or similar city, as has already been noted.

Finnair's fares are a bit more pricy than IB, and the weather will be nicer at this time of year in Madrid or Barcelona rather than in Helsinki. But that's a city which is probably best seen in the winter.

All require Saturday overnight, of course. Good luck on finding something, and keep us informed.

You might consider a LHR/MAN and then a MAN/AMS/MAN on CX. I am doing the AMS/MAN roundtrip in one morning on Y fare code ticket for $150.00. I live in the Netherlands and got my ticket through a Dutch agency named ATP. They are also on the web as www.atp.nl. Being a new transplant here, Iwas a bit leary until I visited their offices and talked with their personnel.

helsinki's great, but get there soon. i just got back and the temperature's dropping fast. also, ba and ay codeshare on the route, so you can probably do one each way(although not cheaply). they also codeshare to stockholm(ay's 2nd hub), but most are operated only by ba.

I worked the system starting in London, too. Finnaire was too expensive, even with a Saturday stay, and AA requires Iberia tickets to be nearly full fare to earn credit. But virtually all British tickets count on AA. (I can't speak for counting on CP, though).

My solution: British roundtrip LHR/MAD, 240$US with a Saturday night stay (I can recommend a good cheap hotel in Madrid!). Iberia roundtrip to Bilbao, Valencia, or Seville are all about 230$US for full-fare coach. A morning flight from London arrives ~2:00pm, leaving plenty of time for the IB turnaround.

BTW: I would avoid Barcelona/Madrid (215$US roundtrip) on Iberia, because it's a "shuttle" flight and you don't get any sort of receipt to show you took the flight (see separate thread). 15$US extra for the other destinations is well worth it, IMHO.