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British Airways is running a promotion where they are reporting that they’ve releasing 50,000 business class award seats available for full awards, upgrades, etc. While British Airways is known for high surcharges, some routes have higher charges than others and in some cases upgrades might make the most sense, especially since you can also earn miles.
The Deal
- Plentiful British Airways business class space on routes around the world good for full awards or upgrades in many cases
Key Terms
- Valid for bookings through December 2, 2018
- Valid for travel between December 16, 2018, and March 31, 2019
Quick Thoughts
While some won’t be excited due to high surcharges traveling from the US to Europe, others will be happy to get the whole family up front one way or another. The screen shot above shows nonstops only from New York to London for 4 passengers in January/February. As you can see, you can have your pick of dates.
And surcharges aren’t necessarily outrageous on all routes. For example, One Mile at a Time points out that you can fly from London to Los Angeles for 62,500 Avios and $392. That’s far from cheap, but it’s not quite as steep as flights in the opposite direction.
Furthermore, some routes carry lower surcharges. If you’re looking to connect from another part of the world to London, you might find some solid deals. It’s not just flights between London and the US that have good availability. Here’s two passengers from South Africa to London in March (again, nonstops only).
I’m not terribly familiar with the process of upgrading paid tickets simply because I don’t often travel on paid tickets, but I can see where it could potentially be an excellent deal in this case as you might pay a price similar to the surcharges and then add on fewer miles than you’d need for an award ticket — all while earning miles to boot. See One Mile at a Time for a sample of how to do that.
The screen shots above are from the American Airlines website, though you can obviously book directly through British Airways and take advantage of the 40% transfer bonus from Membership Rewards to Avios which ends today, 11/15/18. It’s also smart to check Iberia and other oneworld partners as some will have lower surcharges for British Airways flights.
Some dates have as many as six or eight seats in business class, so if you’re looking to fly the whole family this may be an opportunity to do so.
H/T: God Save the Points and One Mile at a Time
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Another good option is Toronto to Dublin on Air Lingus. Off-peak is now through June 15. Plenty of awards availability on business class bookable with 50K British Airways Avios with significantly less taxes and fuel surcharges than flying to LHR. Alternatively, if you just want a really cheap hop across the pond, you can fly from JFK, EWR, YYZ, PHL, BDL, BOS, IAD, or ORD to DUB in coach on Air Lingus before June 15 for 13K BA Avios and little out of pocket $. Plenty of awards availability from most of these airports.
Any suggestions on the best airports in Europe (even little known ones) that can help reduce Y-charges?