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There are tons of great ways to fly to Europe with miles and points, and any number of redemptions can help you get from the U.S. to London. However, many of these options require you to connect in another country in continental Europe.
There’s nothing wrong with a connection, and they can even be fun when you visit an amazing first class lounge — like the Lufthansa First Class Terminal (FCT) at Frankfurt Airport (FRA) when flying Lufthansa first class.
That being said, sometimes vacation time is limited, and cutting down on transit time to pack in more fun at our destination is the number 1 priority. With that in mind, we’re going to take a look at some of the best ways you can fly directly to London from the U.S.
Let’s dig into some great economy, business, and first class options so you can decide how you want to book your next trip across the Atlantic.
When looking for ways to book award flights to London, you will want to keep an eye on carrier-imposed surcharges, as well as the miles required by the frequent flyer program you are using.
If you do that, you can get some great value out of your miles and points and visit an amazing city.
The American Airlines AAdvantage program will probably be the easiest option for booking flights operated by American Airlines or its Oneworld partner British Airways. You can search for award space on American Airlines’ website and complete the entire booking process online.
Since American AAdvantage uses dynamic award pricing for its own flights, the miles required to book an award ticket may depend on your city of origin in the U.S. If you’re booking on British Airways, you’ll pay a fixed price regardless of your city of origin.
Award space on both American Airlines and British Airways will show in an award search on American’s website. The search results will indicate which airline operates a given flight, so make sure you confirm you have selected flights on your desired airline.
Additionally, if you are booking a business or first class award, make sure the long-haul segment is in your desired cabin. If you have a connecting flight, American’s search results will often show a domestic first class segment paired with an economy class long-haul segment, which would be a nasty surprise.
To search for award flight space, follow these steps:
Hot Tip: Need help booking? Check out our step-by-step guide to booking American Airlines first class and business class.
Here are the one-way mileage rates for flights on American Airlines and its partners. The taxes and fees on a one-way award will be determined by whether you are departing from the U.S. or the U.K.
| Class of Service | American Flights | American Taxes & Fees | British Airways Flights | British Airways Taxes & Fees |
| Economy (off-peak) | Variable | From $6 | 22,500 AAdvantage miles | ~$230 |
| Economy | Variable | From $6 | 30,000 AAdvantage miles | ~$230 |
| Business | Variable | From $6 | 57,500 AAdvantage miles | ~$730 |
| First | Variable | From $6 | 85,000 AAdvantage miles | ~$730 |
However, if you book an award ticket on British Airways with your American AAdvantage miles, you will incur significant carrier-imposed surcharges. While a round-trip economy class award on a flight operated by American Airlines will include about $184 in taxes and fees, an economy award on British Airways will require about $628 thanks to carrier-imposed surcharges.
This disparity is even worse when you book business or first class tickets. On an American Airlines flight, business class and first class award bookings will include about $301 in taxes and fees for a round-trip ticket. However, on British Airways, you will be responsible for roughly $1,745 when the carrier-imposed surcharges are added to the taxes and fees.
For context, consider the fact that you can find cash fares of around $560 for a nonstop economy ticket from New York (JFK) to London. This is barely more than the taxes, fees, and carrier-imposed surcharges that you would pay for an award ticket on British Airways.
When using American AAdvantage miles, you’ll want to make sure you are only booking flights operated by American Airlines. Business class and first class are where you’ll get the most value for your miles, but economy class bookings can be very useful when cash ticket prices are high.
If you don’t have the necessary American AAdvantage miles in your account, you can put your award ticket on hold for 5 days so you’ll have time to transfer points to your account. This process can also be taken care of online.
Ever since American Airlines AAdvantage moved to a variable award pricing scheme for AA flights, you’ll find terrible premium cabin prices, for the most part. However, there are a few dates where you can actually find cheaper prices than before this change was in effect.
American Airlines operates flights to London from several airports in the U.S.:
AAdvantage also uses a region-based award chart, so you can add a connecting flight from smaller airports to any of these gateway airports without increasing the number of miles required.
American Airlines has partnered with both Citi and Barclays to offer co-branded cards that earn American AAdvantage miles directly. These cards often come with a very good sign-up bonus if you meet the minimum spending requirement in the requisite time frame.
Also, American Airlines’ 2 transfer partners are Bilt Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy. Bilt transfers at a 1:1 ratio in around 24 hours. You can transfer from Marriott Bonvoy to American Airlines at a 3:1 ratio. Generally, it’ll take around 2 business days for these transfers to process.
Recommended American Airlines Cards (Personal)
Status lovers will enjoy the variety of benefits that come with this card. From free bags to reduced-price inflight beverages, AA still flies in style.
Blue skies and fair winds make for a good day to fly! Choosing your airline can be difficult, since factors like location, time, and destination all go into whether or not you can fly somewhere.
An easy choice for many people is American Airlines, because they’re the largest airline in the world. If you’re an American, you’ve probably flown American Airlines at least once.
Frequent fliers tend to enjoy the treatment they can get, from boarding privileges to free bags to lounge access. There’s many reasons to fly with AA, and if so then getting a Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard® could be for you.
Access to Admirals Clubs, tons of added benefits, and a way to spend towards elite status make this a great option for American Airlines loyalists.
The Citi®/AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® is a go-to card thanks to its exclusive perks and benefits for people who love to fly American Airlines. With a complimentary Admirals Club membership, free checked bags, inflight discounts, and the ability to earn Loyalty Points for every $1 you spend, there is plenty to love about the card.
Earn 2x miles per dollar spent on American Airlines flights and at grocery stores, all without needing to pay an annual fee.
The American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® is perfectly suited for those looking for a way to earn more American Airlines miles and earn Loyalty Points, all without needing to pay an annual fee.
If you’re a business owner, see our article on Amex business credit cards that earn Membership Rewards points.
Hot Tip: Check out our picks for the best London hotels to book with points for maximum value!
Moving over to the SkyTeam alliance, we have the Air France-KLM Flying Blue program. With tons of Virgin Atlantic flights from the U.S. to London, this is a fantastic program to book award tickets.
You might think of using Virgin Atlantic’s program initially, but give Flying Blue a look before you decide as it may have better redemption rates to London.
Air France-KLM Flying Blue has a dynamically-priced award chart. The chart below shows the one-way mileage costs plus the taxes and fees that are required when booking awards with Flying Blue miles.
The taxes and fees required will be different based on your origin. If your origin is London, the taxes and fees will be much higher, as we’ll explain later.
| Class of Service | One-way Cost on Delta Flights | Virgin Atlantic Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | From 21,500 Flying Blue miles | From ~$60 |
| Business | From 66,000 Flying Blue miles | From ~$187 |
Virgin Atlantic continues to grow its fleet of planes offering its flagship business class product with its new Upper Class product. It’s also a great way to redeem Flying Blue miles.
You will be able to search for award space on either Air France or KLM’s website and book right from there. If you need to transfer points to your Flying Blue account before booking, some friendly phone agents have been known to put award tickets on hold for a couple of days which leaves plenty of time for transfers to process.
Booking with Flying Blue is easy! Just follow these directions to get started:
You can use Flying Blue miles to book nonstop flights on Delta from several airports in the U.S:
With its region-based award chart, you won’t need any additional miles if you are connecting from another airport.
Hot Tip: Air France-KLM runs regular award sales for specific routes called Promo Rewards and has some other great award booking options, so make sure you check out the best way to use Flying Blue miles.
A major advantage of the Flying Blue program is just how easy it is to earn miles with the program. While there aren’t any American credit cards that earn Flying Blue miles directly, Air France-KLM has partnered with all of the transferable points programs.
Flying Blue is an American Express transfer partner, Bilt Rewards transfer partner, Brex Rewards transfer partner, Capital One transfer partner, Chase transfer partner, Citi transfer partner, and Marriott transfer partner. Amex, Bilt, Brex, Capital One, Chase, and Citi transfer to the Flying Blue program at a solid 1:1 ratio. Marriott Bonvoy transfers at a 3:1 ratio with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.
Amex, Chase, Bilt, Brex, Citi, and Capital One all transfer almost instantly. Marriott Bonvoy transfers take around 1 business day.
Our favorite ways to earn Flying Blue miles are through credit cards that earn Ultimate Rewards and Membership Rewards since both Chase and American Express provide cards with great bonus categories.
Recommended Chase Cards (Personal)
A fantastic travel card with a huge welcome offer, good benefits, and perks for a moderate annual fee.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® card is one of the best travel rewards cards on the market. Its bonus categories include travel, dining, online grocery purchases, and streaming services, which gives you the opportunity to earn lots of bonus points on these purchases.
Additionally, it offers flexible point redemption options, no foreign transaction fees, and excellent travel insurance coverage including primary car rental insurance. With benefits like these, it’s easy to see why this card is an excellent choice for any traveler.
A top player in the high-end premium travel credit card space that earns 3x points on travel and dining while offering top luxury perks.
If you’re looking for an all-around excellent travel rewards card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is one of the best options out there.
The card combines elite travel benefits and perks like airport lounge access, with excellent point earning and redemption options. Plus it offers top-notch travel insurance protections to keep you covered whether you’re at home or on the road.
Don’t forget the $300 annual travel credit which really helps to reduce the annual fee!
Business owner? See our list of the best Chase business credit cards.
We generally suggest people start with Chase Ultimate Rewards because of the Chase 5/24 rule, but after that Amex Membership Rewards are a top priority.
Bottom Line: One clear benefit that booking through Flying Blue offers is significantly lower taxes and fees than Virgin Atlantic Flying Club for Virgin Atlantic-operated flights originating in the U.S. Expect to pay less than $200 per person compared to Virgin Atlantic’s ~$875 per person total taxes and fees!
Next, we have our first option in the Star Alliance. All Nippon Airways (ANA) Mileage Club is a great frequent flyer program from one of the best airlines in the world. Sure, a Japanese carrier’s loyalty program probably isn’t what you’re used to for booking award tickets, but don’t overlook this one!
Your Star Alliance options for flights directly to London from the U.S. are Air New Zealand (fifth freedom route) and United Airlines. While United doesn’t have a glowing reputation for its inflight product or service, you won’t get hit with carrier-imposed surcharges even when booking through a partner airline such as ANA.
The mileage rates and taxes and fees in the chart below apply to round-trip award tickets as ANA Mileage Club does not allow one-way awards.
| Class of Service | United Flights | United Taxes and Fees |
| Economy | 55,000 ANA Mileage Club miles | ~$220 |
| Business | 88,000 ANA Mileage Club miles | ~$220 |
The miles required by ANA Mileage Club for economy class bookings are competitive but nothing special. However, the miles required for business class awards are very good at 88,000 miles for a round-trip ticket.
ANA provides an easy-to-use online search function. Just make sure you choose flights operated by United Airlines or Air New Zealand. Otherwise, you will have connections in Europe. With some of these other Star Alliance carriers, ANA will pass on carrier-imposed surcharges, which can be steep if you are flying on Austrian Airlines or Lufthansa.
The surcharges are particularly bad on these 2 Star Alliance partners when you book premium cabin awards. So, not only will your journey take longer, you’ll have to pay significantly more to take the trip.
As ANA only allows round-trip bookings, you’ll need to find availability on the outbound and inbound segments at the same time. If you’re ready to search, follow these steps:
Hot Tip: Don’t forget to check out some of the other amazing ways you can redeem ANA Mileage Club miles!
ANA Mileage Club can help you book nonstop flights to London on United Airlines from 6 airports across the U.S.
If you don’t live in one of United’s hub airports, you can connect from your home airport to one of these hubs and continue to London for no extra ANA Mileage Club miles.
While not as easy to earn as Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles, ANA Mileage Club miles are relatively easy to earn. You can transfer American Express Membership Rewards to ANA Mileage Club at a 1:1 ratio and Marriott Bonvoy at a 3:1 ratio with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.
Amex transfers to ANA take around 3 business days, while Marriott Bonvoy transfers to ANA take around 7 business days to process.
We recommend looking into Amex Membership Rewards cards as there are many bonus categories you can take advantage of.
Recommended Amex Cards (Personal)
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThis card is undoubtedly the #1 card for luxury travel benefits. From the best lounge access (of any card) to statement credits, to complimentary elite status, you can’t go wrong.
When it comes to cards that offer top-notch benefits, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better card out there than The Platinum Card® from American Express.
Make no mistake — the Amex Platinum card is a premium card with a premium price tag. With amazing benefits like best-in-class airport lounge access, hotel elite status, and tremendous value in annual statement credits, it can easily prove to be one of the most lucrative cards in your wallet year after year.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThis is the go-to card for food lovers who dine out at restaurants and those who want big rewards at U.S. supermarkets!
The American Express® Gold Card is definitely a game-changer.
With this card, you can earn 4x Membership Rewards points at restaurants and you’ll also earn 4x Membership Rewards points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per calendar year in purchases, then 1x.
There isn’t another card on the market that offers a 1-2 punch like this. Of course, there are a number of other benefits of the Gold Card as well, including extra monthly dining rewards and more.
If you’re a business owner, see our article on Amex business credit cards that earn Membership Rewards points.
Virgin Atlantic’s frequent flyer program is called Flying Club. One of the best ways to fly to London is to book Virgin Atlantic Upper Class. Specifically, its new Upper Class seats are flown regularly between New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX). You can also book Delta One with Virgin Points, but you can access better award availability on Virgin Atlantic’s own flights.
Hot Tip: The difference between redeeming Flying Blue miles and Virgin Points is that Flying Blue’s fuel surcharges on flights departing from the U.S. to London are much less than Virgin Atlantic’s fuel surcharges!
Virgin Atlantic uses a region-based award chart for its own flights. Also, it employs peak and standard pricing. Here’s the standard award chart for one-way flights:
| Route to/from U.K. | Economy (Standard) | Premium (Standard) | Upper Class (Standard) |
| USA – Northeast (Boston, New York-JFK, Washington, D.C.) | 10,000 | 17,500 | 47,500 |
| USA – Midwest and South (Atlanta, Miami, Orlando) | 12,500 | 22,500 | 47,500 |
| USA – West (Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle) | 15,000 | 27,500 | 67,500 |
| Africa, China, and Hong Kong | 12,500 | 22,500 | 57,500 |
| Caribbean | 10,000 | 17,500 | 57,500 |
| India | 10,000 | 17,500 | 37,500 |
| Tel Aviv | 9,000 | 16,000 | 28,000 |
Here’s the peak award chart:
| Route to/from U.K. | Economy (Peak) | Premium (Peak) | Upper Class (Peak) |
| USA – Northeast (Boston, New York-JFK, Washington, D.C.) | 20,000 | 27,500 | 57,500 |
| USA – Midwest and South (Atlanta, Miami, Orlando) | 22,500 | 32,500 | 57,500 |
| USA – West (Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle) | 25,000 | 35,000 | 77,500 |
| Africa, China, and Hong Kong | 22,500 | 32,500 | 67,500 |
| Caribbean | 20,000 | 27,500 | 67,500 |
| India | 20,000 | 27,500 | 47,500 |
| Tel Aviv | 11,000 | 20,000 | 33,000 |
Here are the peak dates:
Just remember that you’ll be responsible for fuel surcharges in all cases.
Virgin Atlantic offers flights to several U.S. hubs and gateways. Some of them include:
Virgin Atlantic is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy.
Amex, Bilt, Chase, and Citi and transfer at a 1:1 ratio, while Marriott Bonvoy transfers at a 3:1 ratio with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.
Amex, Bilt, Chase, and Citi transfer almost instantly. Marriott Bonvoy will take around 1 business day to transfer points to Flying Club.
You can also earn Virgin Points directly from the Virgin Atlantic World Elite Mastercard®.
Recommended Citi Cards
Frequent flyers will enjoy 3x ThankYou Points at restaurants, gas stations, supermarkets, air travel, and hotels.
The Citi Premier® Card is an excellent option for anyone looking for an all-around travel rewards credit card. The card helps you earn points fast with great 3x bonus categories such as restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, airfare, and hotels. Plus, it offers access to airline and hotel transfer partners, doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees, and has a reasonable annual fee!
This no annual fee card rewards cardholders for everyday purchases. Earn bonus points at supermarkets and gas stations, plus your points are rounded up on every purchase.
Great card for the average spender with no specific focus category; worry-free cash-back earning on everything!
The Citi® Double Cash Card has long been one of the top cash-back credit cards on the market, and the card now has the ability to earn Citi ThankYou Points!
This means that cardholders of the Double Cash card will now earn 2% on every purchase with unlimited 1% cash back when you buy, plus an additional 1% as you pay for those purchases. Cash back is earned in the form of ThankYou Points. This means each billing cycle, you will earn 1 ThankYou point per $1 spent on purchases and an additional ThankYou point for every $1 paid on your purchase balance as long as there is a corresponding balance in your Purchase Tracker.
Citi has turned the Double Cash card into a top choice for those who are looking for an everyday, no-fuss credit card.
Earn big on purchases in your top eligible spend category, up to the first $500 each billing cycle, with no annual fee!
The Citi Custom Cash® Card is inventive when it comes to cash-back credit cards. Instead of earning a set amount of cash-back on predetermined bonus categories, the Citi Custom Cash card earns 5% cash-back on your highest eligible spend category each billing cycle, without an annual fee.
Thanks to that unique perk, you’ll never need to worry about whether you’re using the right card for the right purchase, as your Citi Custom Cash card will always pay you 5% back on whichever category you end up spending the most on each month.
Hot Tip: From walking and bus tours to shows, check out the best tours and activities in London.
Delta’s SkyMiles program is often derided for the unannounced devaluations that tend to happen quite regularly, but there is still some value to be found in its award chart — which it doesn’t publish.
Booking your award flights to London with Delta SkyMiles actually gives you an additional airline option as Delta has an individual partnership with Virgin Atlantic outside of the SkyTeam alliance. While Delta does have plenty of issues as a frequent flyer program, you can search for and book award flights on its website.
Once you’re ready to redeem your SkyMiles, you’ll want to follow these steps to make a booking:
We’ve detailed the redemption rates you should look for when booking one-way awards to London (or anywhere in Europe, for that matter) on either Delta or Virgin Atlantic with SkyMiles. The round-trip mileage requirements are double what is listed below. As with all other award flights to London, the taxes and fees required on the return segment will be significantly more.
| Class of Service | Delta Flights | Delta Taxes & Fees | Virgin Atlantic Flights | Virgin Atlantic Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | 35,000 to 160,000 | ~$6 | 35,000 | ~$6 |
| Business | 170,000 to 375,000 | ~$6 | 120,000 | ~$6 |
While the taxes and fees are the same between Delta and Virgin Atlantic award tickets, Delta One is significantly more expensive than a Virgin Atlantic Upper Class ticket with Delta SkyMiles. Unfortunately, it gets even worse if you want to book Virgin Atlantic Upper Class within 21 days of departure. Once within this window, a one-way award booking will cost 195,000 SkyMiles.
The way Delta has set up its SkyMiles program leaves you with a couple of decisions to make if you want to fly in business class. You can spend the extra miles to try the fun environment of Virgin Atlantic Upper Class and its popular Clubhouse lounges, or save a big chunk of miles and fly Delta One.
To give you some context, the round-trip difference of 50,000 miles between booking Delta One and Upper Class is enough for a one-way economy class award to London or anywhere in Europe.
Hot Tip: For some other award booking options, check out our best ways to redeem Delta SkyMiles.
While it’s tough to trust that Delta won’t devalue its unpublished award chart without warning, if you have a nice chunk of SkyMiles, you can easily book a nonstop flight to London. For those not living in one of Delta’s hub cities, you might even be able to connect for no extra miles.
These are the U.S. airports with nonstop Delta flights to London:
Virgin Atlantic also operates several nonstop routes from the U.S., mentioned previously, that can be booked with Delta SkyMiles.
Like ANA Mileage Club, Delta has also partnered with American Express Membership Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy. Amex transfers at a 1:1 ratio almost instantly, and Marriott Bonvoy transfers in 1 to 2 business days at a 3:1 ratio.
In addition to these options, you can earn SkyMiles directly with one of the co-branded Delta credit cards provided by American Express.
Recommended Delta Cards
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThis card provides bonus SkyMiles on all purchases, along with a free bag, priority boarding, and discounted award flights.
Frequent Delta flyers will love the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card. The card offers great benefits that will help save you money, effectively mimics low-level elite status with Delta SkyMiles, and helps you earn miles even faster, all for a low annual fee. Let’s dive into the benefits to see if the Delta Gold card is a good fit for your needs.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesFrequent Delta travelers will enjoy this card's bonus categories, benefits, and ability to reach higher levels of elite status.
The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card can be a great option for those seeking additional ways to obtain a higher level of status — or to maintain their current status — with the airline.
A key feature of this card is the ability to earn bonus Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) that are essential for earning Delta status. This could help you get closer to earning free flights and other valuable rewards.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesDelta loyalists will love the fast track to Delta elite status, lounge access, baggage benefits, and upgrade priority with the Delta Reserve card.
The Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card is a stellar option for frequent travelers who always fly with Delta thanks to its lounge access, status boost, annual companion certificate, and many other great benefits.
Here is a full look at everything the Delta Reserve card can offer to you to help you decide whether the card deserves a place in your wallet.
Because Delta tends to devalue its program without informing SkyMiles members first, you should only earn SkyMiles if you know what you want to do with them. This shouldn’t be an issue as you can earn Amex Membership Rewards faster thanks to numerous bonus categories, and they transfer to Delta SkyMiles almost instantly.
Hot Tip: Check out our favorite ways to earn tons of Delta SkyMiles for more ideas.
If you’re looking for the cheapest mileage requirements, look no further than our second Oneworld alliance option, Japan Airlines. There’s only 1 exception to this: when American Airlines has off-peak economy award prices. Other than that, Japan Airlines is the best option if you want to use as few miles as possible.
Unfortunately, Japan Airlines miles are some of the hardest miles to earn, which is why they’re more valuable.
As with the American Airlines AAdvantage program, you can use Japan Airlines Mileage Bank to book flights on either American Airlines or British Airways. However, you should stick to flights operated by American Airlines so you can avoid the egregious carrier-imposed surcharges passed on by British Airways.
Japan Airlines doesn’t allow you to book or search all partner awards online. Still, you’ll be able to search for most airlines, and fortunately, you will be able to both search and book awards online when booking flights on American Airlines or British Airways.
Japan Airlines’ online website is a bit clunky, so you’ll want to follow these directions very carefully to search for award availability:
Unlike the other programs we have looked at so far, Japan Airlines uses a distance-based award chart that is broken into tiers. The number of miles you fly (you have to add each segment of your journey) will determine the number of Mileage Bank miles that will be required for an award ticket.
Below are the round-trip requirements for both Mileage Bank miles and taxes and fees on flights from New York (JFK) to London:
| Class of Service | American Flights | American Taxes & Fees | British Airways Flights | British Airways Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | 45,000 Mileage Bank miles | ~$11 | 45,000 Mileage Bank miles | ~$520 |
| Business | 80,000 Mileage Bank miles | ~$11 | 80,000 Mileage Bank miles | ~$520 |
| First | 120,000 Mileage Bank miles | ~$11 | 120,000 Mileage Bank miles | ~$1,375 |
You can refer to this chart for the one-way requirements on this flight:
| Class of Service | American Flights | American Taxes & Fees | British Airways Flights | British Airways Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | 23,000 Mileage Bank miles | ~$6 | 23,000 Mileage Bank miles | ~$260 |
| Business | 42,000 Mileage Bank miles | ~$6 | 42,000 Mileage Bank miles | ~$260 |
| First | 65,000 Mileage Bank miles | ~$6 | 65,000 Mileage Bank miles | ~$637 |
If you are traveling from the West Coast, Japan Airlines Mileage Bank will still have the best redemption rates, though they aren’t quite as good compared to award tickets from New York.
Additionally, because Japan Airlines Mileage Bank uses a distance-based award chart for partners, one-way redemption rates from the West Coast won’t be as good as booking with American AAdvantage miles.
With a distance-based award chart, you also need to remember that any connecting flights will add to the total flight distance used to calculate the number of miles required for your award ticket.
Hot Tip: Check out other awesome ways to redeem Japan Airlines Mileage Bank miles for some inspiration!
Booking one of the numerous nonstop flights from the U.S. to London on British Airways with Mileage Bank miles is a great way to get to London. The 1 caveat to keep in mind is that Japan Airlines uses a distance-based award chart for partner bookings.
As a result, if you need to connect to one of American Airlines’ hub airports, your award ticket might require more mileage. Make sure you consider the impact of a connection on the total number of miles required for your award booking.
| Airports With Nonstop British Airways Flights to London | |||
| Atlanta (ATL) | Denver (DEN) | Newark (EWR) | Pittsburgh (PIT) |
| Austin (AUS) | Houston (IAH) | New Orleans (MSY) | San Diego (SAN) |
| Baltimore (BWI) | Las Vegas (LAS) | New York (JFK) | San Jose (SJC) |
| Boston (BOS) | Los Angeles (LAX) | Orlando (MCO) | Seattle (SEA) |
| Chicago (ORD) | Miami (MIA) | Philadelphia (PHL) | Washington, D.C. (IAD) |
| Dallas Fort Worth (DFW) | Nashville (BNA) | Phoenix (PHX) | |
While the redemption rates with Japan Airlines Mileage Bank are often quite good, these miles are some of the hardest to earn.
You can earn Marriott Bonvoy points and transfer those to Japan Airlines at a transfer rate of 3:1. Plus, for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points that you transfer, you’ll receive a bonus of 5,000 Japan Airlines miles.
Recommended Marriott Bonvoy Cards
A great option for Marriott hotel fans who want a no annual fee card and automatic Marriott Bonvoy elite status.
Casual travelers who like to frequent properties that are part of the Marriott Bonvoy collection of brands may want to consider the Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card.
The Marriott Bold card rewards cardholders for Marriott stays and gives them a boost towards Marriott Bonvoy elite status.
Marriott loyalists will love this card's annual free night award, automatic elite status, and up to 17x points per $1 on Marriott hotel stays.
If you’re a frequent traveler and a Marriott loyalist, there’s a lot to love about the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card. The card comes packed with several great benefits like a free hotel night once a year, automatic Silver Elite status (with a fast-track to Gold Elite status), and multiple options for redeeming points.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesThe Marriott Bonvoy Bevy card gives you automatic Marriott elite status and helps you earn more Marriott Bonvoy points on your everyday purchases.
The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card, the latest mid-tier offering in the Marriott Bonvoy lineup of cards, offers cardholders automatic elite status and ways to earn more Marriott Bonvoy points on each of their stays and daily purchases.
Terms Apply / Rates & FeesA premium card for Marriott fans who want perks like an annual statement credit and Free Night Award, plus a fast track to Marriott elite status.
The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card is a premium card designed with road warriors and Marriott Bonvoy loyalists in mind.
So is the card a worthwhile addition to your wallet?
Hot Tip: Take a look at our favorite ways to earn more Japan Airlines Mileage Bank miles.
Our second Star Alliance option is United Airlines MileagePlus. While it doesn’t have as competitive redemption rates as ANA Mileage Club, particularly for business class award tickets, it does open up different points-earning options.
Although you’ll generally pay a premium with United MileagePlus on business class seats, you’ll get the added benefit of accessing enhanced award availability on United Polaris class.
As we mentioned earlier, United Airlines is the only Star Alliance option to fly directly from the U.S. to London. While not necessarily the best product on the market, the lack of carrier-imposed surcharges makes United a solid choice when booking to London, so you can save some serious cash. United also makes it easy to search for and book award tickets online so you won’t have to worry about making any phone calls.
United Airlines’ online search and booking portal is one of the easiest to use. Follow these simple directions to redeem United miles:
You can see the one-way redemption rates plus the taxes and fees in the chart below:
| Class of Service | United Flights | United Taxes & Fees |
| Economy | From 30,000 MileagePlus miles | ~$6 |
| Business | From 60,000 MileagePlus miles | ~$6 |
The 60,000 MileagePlus miles required for a round-trip economy class award are not far from the 55,000 Mileage Club miles required by ANA, but ANA (at 88,000 points for round-trip business class) is a much better choice for business class if you have the necessary points.
Hot Tip: Check out some other great ways to book award flights with United MileagePlus miles.
United Airlines’ MileagePlus program is a great way to use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book award flights to London. It doesn’t have the best redemption rates, but the program is easy to use and won’t require more miles if you need a connecting flight. As we mentioned earlier, many of United’s nonstop routes feature the newest Polaris class product.
Airports with nonstop United flights to London:
United MileagePlus has a big advantage when it comes to earning miles for awards, though. You can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards at a 1:1 ratio, and transfers process almost instantly. Additionally, United miles are easier to earn, thanks to co-branded cards provided by Chase.
These 2 methods provide you with easy ways to earn United miles directly in addition to the Ultimate Rewards points you earn and transfer.
You can also transfer Bilt Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio to United MileagePlus almost instantly.
Lastly, you can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1.1 ratio. Also, for every 60,000 points you transfer from Marriott to United, you’ll earn a bonus of 5,000 United miles! Transfers take around 3 business days.
Recommended United Cards (Personal)
With priority boarding privileges, no foreign transaction fees and more, MileagePlus members will definitely enjoy their partnered card.
You travel United all the time, but you have heard that there could be ways to make your travel experiences even better, including priority boarding, free bags, and more miles.
You should consider the United℠ Explorer Card, because this card does all that and more!
Perfect for frequent United flyers who want premium perks like United Club access and free baggage benefits.
The United Club℠ Infinite Card is a premium card designed for the most dedicated of United frequent flyers who are looking for a card that provides the opportunity to earn extra United MileagePlus miles and receive lounge access via a yearly United Club membership.
United frequent flyers will find that the United Club Infinite card provides an enhanced experience on their United flights thanks to the money saved on each flight and the conveniences it provides.
The United Quest card is a fantastic option for United flyers looking to earn more miles and enhance their flights.
The newest addition to United’s lineup of cards is the United Quest℠ Card. With it, you can bolster your United MileagePlus miles, thanks to the bonus categories, while enjoying the card’s many perks designed to help save you money on each United flight.
With an annual fee that falls between the United℠ Explorer Card and United Club℠ Infinite Card, the United Quest card makes for a fantastic card option for United frequent flyers.
The United Gateway card is a great option for those looking to earn more United miles without paying an annual fee.
The United Gateway℠ Card is a great option for those looking to earn more United miles without wanting to pay a credit card annual fee. Plus, the card offers other solid benefits like a 25% back on United inflight purchases, purchase protection, and rental car insurance.
The United Club Business card is a great option for frequent United flyers looking for United Club access.
The United Club℠ Business Card is a premium card option for dedicated United loyalists seeking a card that offers complimentary United Club access, helps them earn and retain status, and doesn’t skip on the benefits.
From free checked bags to upgrades on award tickets and the ability to earn Premier qualifying points, there is plenty to the United Club Business card that United flyers are sure to love.
Hot Tip: We’ve written about many great ways to earn United MileagePlus miles!
The above carriers will generally be the go-to options when booking awards from the U.S. to London. However, there are a couple of other interesting ways to book business class awards.
If you were wondering when we would discuss using British Airways Executive Club Avios, we’re about to dive in. Additionally, we’ll show you another SkyTeam alternative with the Korean Air SKYPASS program.
As we discussed above, booking round-trip British Airways awards to London from the U.S. will cost you a ton of cash. Unfortunately, that is also the case when booking with British Airways Avios, even if your flight is operated by American Airlines.
However, there is a special circumstance in which these high carrier-imposed surcharges might be worth it. To really make using Avios worth it for your trip to London, you’ll want to use the British Airways Travel Together Ticket.
This awesome perk is available to cardholders of the British Airways Visa Signature® Card who spend $30,000 on the card within a calendar year. Once you have earned the Travel Together Ticket, you have up to 2 years to use it for a round-trip award booking originating in the U.S.
With the Travel Together Ticket, you can book an award ticket and bring a companion along for the price of the taxes and fees. This means if you book a round-trip first class award ticket on British Airways from Los Angeles (LAX) for 200,000 Avios and just over $1,800 in taxes and fees, your companion can sit in first class with you for no extra miles — just the taxes and fees. That’s 2 first class tickets that would normally cost at least $14,000 for only about $3,600 in taxes and fees.
Hot Tip: For some more great ways to book, check out our best ways to redeem British Airways Avios for award travel.
From Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Newark (EWR), New York (JFK), or Washington D.C. (IAD), you will need 136,000 Avios to book round-trip first class awards on British Airways; from many other U.S. cities, you’ll need 170,000 Avios.
If you prefer, you can book a business class award ticket for 100,000 Avios round-trip from Boston (BOS), Chicago (ORD), Newark (EWR), New York (JFK), or Washington D.C. (IAD). That price goes up to 125,000 Avios round-trip from anywhere else in the U.S., but the taxes and fees for each person will be the same as those on a first class award.
You can book your Travel Together ticket online unless you want to add a stopover or open-jaw to your itinerary. In that case, you will need to call British Airways to complete the booking.
With numerous nonstop British Airways flights from the U.S. to London, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a departure airport. Just remember that British Airways Avios utilize a distance-based award chart, so connecting flights could increase the number of Avios needed to book your award ticket.
| Airports With Nonstop British Airways Flights to London | |||
| Atlanta (ATL) | Denver (DEN) | Newark (EWR) | Pittsburgh (PIT) |
| Austin (AUS) | Houston (IAH) | New Orleans (MSY) | San Diego (SAN) |
| Baltimore (BWI) | Las Vegas (LAS) | New York (JFK) | San Jose (SJC) |
| Boston (BOS) | Los Angeles (LAX) | Orlando (MCO) | Seattle (SEA) |
| Chicago (ORD) | Miami (MIA) | Philadelphia (PHL) | Washington, D.C. (IAD) |
| Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) | Nashville (BNA) | Phoenix (PHX) | |
Here’s how you can search for availability using British Airways’ search engine:
Don’t forget that British Airways is a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards and American Express Membership Rewards — so you’ll have plenty of ways to earn the necessary Avios to ensure you have enough for an awesome award booking.
Hot Tip: Check out some of the best ways to earn tons of British Airways Avios so you’re ready to book your Travel Together Ticket!
Earning British Airways Avios is easy, especially when you consider that it is transfer partners with Amex Membership Reward
