Help determining total travel time vs experience using award miles
 

Mods, please feel free to merge this thread if appropriate. Been digging and nothing that new or related, thanks.

Looking for some SME advice (Subject Matter Expert) on a Euro trip I have planned this summer on award points, all saver at this time.

Family of four flying to Europe from LAX. I have 2 award reservations made at this time.

Option 1
LAX > LHR non-stop, all 4 seated in E+ and all looks good, 120k miles for all four plus $22.40. 10.5 hours, overnight flight land mid-day LHR. Go to hotel, get acquainted with area and go to bed early.

or
Option 2
LAX > EWR > LHR. LAX > EWR, E+ all four, EWR > LHR 787 BisFirst. Total out of pocket is 230K miles plus $22.40. Hotel a little earlier and about 3 more hours on ground before hitting the bed at hotel.

While the LAX > EWR is E+ and easily tolerable, aware of the real value vs nominal value for these tickets, I am trying to figure out if the 7hr flight, overnight from EWR > LHR is worth the miles and layover. The second trip has a total of travel time of 20 hours vs 11 hours for non stop but actually arrives in LHR 2 hours earlier.

While I have my own value system, I am trying to see what the FT 'community' would do?

Both are booked and can cancel either at any time but I am really torn just because it's an overnight flight, EWR > LHR and I wonder how 'much' we will really enjoy the BisFirst service vs. the cost of the miles and layover. Is this redeye from EWR > LHR on 787 worth it? I mean the kids will basically sleep the night through, more comfortable in lie-flat and the wife and I will basically doze on and off mostly. What can we expect on this flight and what do most of you do in these situations? I am worried about the long travel day from west coast to LHR with 7 hour layover in EWR vs stay at home all day, drive to LAX get on plane and wake up in LHR.

A few more things that make harder decision for me.
Kids and wife would love lie flat and BisFirst seats and may never have option again. Getting harder and harder to find saver these days. The very long travel day mixed cabin vs. the straight shot E+ trip?

Thoughts:

1. Can you not waitlist for LAX-LHR in BF? Perhaps splitting the tickets to get a better waitlist chance?*

2. It is not worth the extra flight LAX-EWR in E+ to enjoy a relatively short BF flight EWR-LHR. Maybe if you got the 752s in BF, that's another thing.

3. E+, if you are stuck there, can be mitigated by aisle/window, aisle/window seating.

4. Nothing prevents you from sitting in E+, and if #1 clears, letting your kids/wife enjoy BF.




*Yes, the fact that the status no longer transfers is something to consider.

Depends on your family how they handle 20 hrs travel, extra 3 hrs on ground has no meaning after 20 hrs of travel.

How old are the kids?

I find, even when flying alone, east coast-LHR is too short a flight to really "enjoy" BF. The time in the air is short, and even if I express dine (where you're not getting the best of service), I don't have long enough to sleep/metabolize an ambien. By the time I get to LHR, I'm not more rested than if I'd slept in coach, especially on a longer flight.

Personally, I'd do the nonstop and save the miles for a future trip with the wife, perhaps to book on a *A carrier with a really good J on a longer segment. The kids can go earn their own miles; our job as parents is to make sure they're citizens of the world, and maybe pass on a love of travel for travel's sake, not to make them too comfortable while we're doing it.

15 and 11, good travelers and great sleepers and not spoiled, lol.

Connecting in EWR greatly increases your risk of delays. EWR-LHR is 6-7 hours flight, not long enough to fully experience BF and not worth taking a real risk of IRROPS connecting in EWR.

To me, this is the key decision point. Is a few hours in BF worth 110k to you?

If you can get LAX-LHR in BF, I'd do it in an instant, and not look back. Otherwise I think I'd stick with what you have.

BF is really all about the seat and the entertainment available. If I were to guess, the kids will say "wow" for the first 20 minutes, then settle in and sleep through most of the flight. They may even prefer some fast food at EWR over the BF meal. And, by next year, are they going to remember anything about that flight, or are they going to remember the great time they had in London?

+1 - all excellent points. Adding EWR to any itinerary as a connection point really increases your risk for issues - and this doesn't sound like a trip worth the hassle of that - especially for that trip - on that plane....

A seven hour layover in EWR!!!! Augh.:p

Take the non-stop. Wait list for Business First out of LAX: it may clear for two.

Well UA made it easy for me to cancel the LAX>EWR>LHR Option 2 flight. Dreamliner was pulled on my day and changed to a 767-300. No thanks UA.
Thanks for your input FT. The miles saved will go to good use next year to OGG.

7 hours in EWR...grab a cab and hit the 911 Museum for 2-3 hours.

After that , Coach vs BF will be in proper perspective.


My teens like BF but forget it in about 136 microseconds.