London’s calling…
Listed at 10.5 hours, a flight from Los Angeles to London is perhaps more time in economy than you’d like. However, we bet you’d like a premium economy seat at economy prices! Fortunately for you, there’s just such a deal on British Airways to several cities in Europe right now. These flights even provide a great chance to use Avios for an upgrade to business class.
Shout out to Notiflyr for finding this one!
The Premium Economy Deal To Europe
British Airways is offering premium economy flights to several cities in Europe for less than $900. You can travel from mid-October 2019 through March 2020 which means there’s plenty of options to find a date that works for you. You’ll find the best prices departing from LAX on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday but you can return Monday through Friday and still get the best price.
How To Book
While OTAs sometimes have better deals, you can get these deals by booking directly with British Airways. Here are some of the best options:
- LAX to Dublin for $638
- LAX to Billund for $642
- LAX to Copenhagen for $650
- LAX to Athens for $817
- LAX to Olso for $894
We checked the AARP rates but, unfortunately, they were no cheaper than going straight to British Airways. However, you can use the promo code CHASEBA10 to get 10% off your booking. That would bring the LAX-DUB cost down from $638 to $574. Now, we’re talking!
Don’t Forget The Chase Travel Portal
If you have Chase Ultimate Rewards points and the Chase Sapphire Reserve, you can use 42,511 points to book the Dublin trip via the Chase Travel Portal. This is yet another reminder as to why the Sapphire Reserve is the go-to card for those who like to book flight deals. That 1.5 cents per point via the portal is just so so good. If you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, you can book this deal for 51,013 Chase points. Either way, that’s fewer miles than many airlines require for an economy award ticket to Europe!
Fancy An Upgrade?
We often hear complaints about not being able to use Avios for anything but short-haul flights because of big surcharges on award tickets. While we totally get the frustration, people often forget that upgrading cheap premium economy fares with Avios is a great way to fly business class. You hang out with us, though, so you probably already knew that!
To upgrade the long-haul segment between LAX and London, you’ll need 30,000 Avios on off-peak dates or 25,000 Avios on peak dates. This cost is per direction, so double it if you want to upgrade both directions. All you have to do is find award space on the flights you’re booking and you’ll be able to upgrade.
Make sure you check out our complete guide to upgrading British Airways flights.
Ideally, you’ll be able to find award space on the flight you want before you book. That way you can simply call in right after you book and have a phone agent process the upgrade. The additional cash cost shouldn’t be more than about $100 per direction, though you might have to ask the agent to manually calculate the cost.
Final Thoughts
Considering that business class award tickets on British Airways can include over $1,000 in taxes and fees — thanks to the surcharges, you’ll be much better off spending $574 on a premium economy ticket and upgrading. You might have to use some Avios, but you’ll earn some Avios, Alaska or American miles on the premium economy booking and you’ll get a lie-flat seat for so much cheaper than an award ticket. It just makes sense.
Hopefully, you can find a date that works for you!
Anything less than one (1) week?
LAX doesn’t fit nonstop to DUB: it’s not 10.5 hours, it’s 14 with a change, and no business class on the connection FYI
A. It’s BA so uncomfortable unreliable and poor quality
B. It’s BA so supplements, and surcharges, and seat choice push the price above a non redemption flight with the competition
C. Don’t forget to add the new charge for premium handling of your personal data Recently introduced as an option to keep your personal information private and secure when doing business with BeyondAbysmal.