Getting to London is probably one of the easier feats to accomplish using points and miles because there are so many options! London is a relatively easy redemption for first-time points flyers! Here are a few of my favorite ways to use points to get to the wonderful city of London!
UNITED MILEAGEPLUS
United Polaris Suite on a Boeing 767-300 from EWR-LHR
On our most recent trip we booked United’s Polaris Business class from Newark Airport (EWR) to London’s Heathrow Airport. The flight was great and thankfully we booked before United’s mid 2023 devaluation, so unfortunately the rate has gone up a bit. The good news is you can transfer points from both Chase UR and BILT Rewards to United to book these flights. United has 8 nonstop flights to London (LHR) from the US:
Nonstop service to LHR is from:
Boston (BOS)
Los Angeles (LAX)
Houston (IAH)
Chicago (ORD)
Denver (DEN)
Newark (EWR)
San Francisco (SFO)
Washington, D.C. (IAD)
Here are the rates you can expect to find:
Economy: 40K miles one-way
Business: 80K miles one-way
CHECK OUT THESE CARDS IF YOU NEED MORE UNITED MILES
And Remember you can transfer Chase points to united for even more value!
AIR FRANCE / KLM - FLYING BLUE
image courtesy of Virgin Atlantic.
Another option is to use Flying Blue, the rewards program of Air France and KLM. Air France is part of the Skyteam alliance along with Delta and Virgin Atlantic. While you might think to look directly with Delta or Virgin, you can often find better rates by booking those same flights with Flying Blue miles.
Some nonstop routes bookable on virgin using Flying Blue miles:
Atlanta (ATL)
Austin (AUS)
Boston (BOS)
Las Vegas (LAS)
Los Angeles (LAX)
Miami (MIA)
New York (JFK)
Orlando (MCO)
San Francisco (SFO)
Tampa (TPA)
Washington, D.C. (IAD)
One-way rates:
Economy: 21,500 miles
Business: 66,000 miles
Don’t forget to check Flying Blue’s monthly “Promo Rewards” where you can get up to 50% off of award tickets to various cities!
CHECK OUT THESE CARDS IF YOU NEED TO EARN MORE FLYING BLUE MILES:
VIRGIN ATLANTIC
Another option you definitely need to check if you want to fly to London on points and miles is Virgin Atlantic’s own Flying Club Program.
The great thing about Virgin’s Flying Club is that it is a transfer partner of all 5 major transferable points currencies: Chase, Amex, Capital One, Citi ThankYou, & Marriot Bonvoy. So they’re super easy to accumulate
The only real downside to booking with Flying Club is that you will end up paying more in taxes and fees, but you will potentially save a ton of points, especially if you’re flying Virgin’s own upper-class product (their term for business class).
Here are the published award rates straight from Virgin between the US and London:
And here are the nonstop routes to can find in / out of London:
Atlanta (ATL)
Boston (BOS)
Las Vegas (LAS)
Los Angeles (LAX)
Miami (MIA)
New York (JFK)
Orlando (MCO)
San Francisco (SFO)
Washington, D.C. (IAD)
HERE’S SOME CARDS THAT CAN HELP YOU TOP OFF YOUR FLYING CLUB BALANCE:
All Nippon Airways
United Polaris Boeing 767-300 ready for bed.
One of the more unique ways that you might not think of to get to London is using the Japanese Carrier’s rewards program ANA Mileage Club.
Because ANA is a member of the Star Alliance network, you’ll actually be looking specifically for United and Air New Zealand operated flights on the ANA website. The reason for this is that these two carriers will not pass on the fuel surcharges to you. While there may be other Star Alliance airlines you can book, you will end up paying more in taxes & fees.
One of the quirks of the ANA mileage club program however is that it does not allow one-way award bookings. This means you would need to book a roundtrip ticket in order to use ANA points. However, the rates for a roundtrip business class ticket are VERY attractive.
United / Air New Zealand-operated flights:
Economy: 55,000 miles
Business: 88,000 miles
Here are the cities offering nonstop routes to LHR:
Boston (BOS)
Chicago (ORD)
Denver (DEN)
Los Angeles (LAX)
Newark (EWR)
San Francisco (SFO)
Washington, D.C. (IAD)
CHECK OUT THESE CARDS TO ADD TO YOUR ANA MILEAGE CLUB BALANCE:
American Airlines
Last but not least is American Airlines. The reason I have this at the end of the list is that American Airlines Miles are among some of the more difficult miles to earn as they are not partnered with any of the major transferable points currencies. However if you do happen to have a stash of American Airlines Miles, these can be a great way to get to London.
One note is that while you are able to search and book both British Airways Flights and American Airlines flights on American’s website, the surcharges, taxes, and fees will be MUCH higher on any British Airways-operated flights.
I would recommend that you use your AAdvantage miles only with American Airlines flights where you can expect to pay less than $200 in fees for a roundtrip ticket.
Depending on your departure city you can find as low as 18K points each way in economy and 67K in business.
EARN MORE AADVANTAGE MILES WITH THESE CARDS
CLOSING THOUGHTS
London is a fantastic city with SO many options from the US. Be sure to check at least a few of these options when you’re ready to book! And if you need a hand or don’t feel like doing it yourself, you can always take advantage of our Points booking service. Learn more about it here.