USA: £1,911 / €2,200 British Airways FIRST CLASS From Five UK Cities

british airways first

Oneworld stalwart British Airways is offering very generous fares for First Class flights to the United States. Four destinations are available from Glasgow for fares starting at £1,911 (~€2,238). Flying from other UK airports via London, or to other destinations in the USA that don’t have a direct connection with London is also possible for similar prices.

Info

British Airways allows you to cancel all flights starting before August 31, 2022, in exchange for a voucher. You can use that voucher for booking made up until September 30, 2023. It cannot be exchanged for a monetary refund, though.

Worldwide travel restrictions are in place to slow the spread of Covid-19. We strongly recommend gathering detailed information about the travel and quarantine restrictions that apply to your desired origin and destination.

A good start is the International Air Transport Association (IATA) website. It provides current updates on a country’s immigration policies. Even better, the Covid-19 Travel Regulations Map is one of the most useful tools you can find.

Sadly, there are no discounted nonstop connections from London. You can fly from November 2021 until May 2022. You won’t find good availability on weekends, though.

These prices are for flights from Glasgow:

BA GLA JFK F 2200
Good fare for a first class roundtrip.

British Airways’ first class product is not known to be the industry-leading one. The description that probably fits best is “the world’s best business class”. If you’re interested in learning more, check out this review:

Warning

We expect further shakeups in the airline industry over the following months. Some services might be cancelled, aircraft changed or downgraded. The schedule we describe may very well change.

By the way, we also have some other deals for the UK:

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The fare has no expiration date and can thus be withdrawn anytime.

This fare can be booked for departures between

  • October 25, 2021 – December 5, 2021
  • December 27, 2021 – March 31, 2022
  • May 9, 2022 – May 26, 2022
  • October 31, 2022 – December 4, 2022

Your inbound flights have to be between:

  • November 1, 2021 – December 25, 2021
  • January 10, 2022 – April 7, 2022
  • May 9, 2022 – May 26, 2022
  • October 31, 2022 – December 24, 2022

You can find available dates via Google Flights (instructions). We recommend booking the tickets directly via ba.com.

Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?

More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:

Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.

If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.

This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.

Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.

This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.

Mileage

These tickets are issued in booking class A. This is a full-fare first class ticket – most Oneworld programs grant at least 150%, but most likely 200% of your travel distance in award mileage. This is the expected output for roundtrip from Glasgow to New York:

  • 33,478 Award Miles + 18,710 Elite Qualifying Miles on Alaska Mileage Plan
  • 18,710 Avios + 1,300 Elite Points on Iberia Plus
  • 18,246 Avios + 500 Tier Points on British Airways Executive Club
  • 18,246 Miles on American AAdvantage
  • 18,246 Points on Finnair Plus
  • 18,246 Avios on Aer Lingus AerClub
  • 11,188 Avios + 104 Qpoints on Qatar Privilege Club
  • 11,188 AsiaMiles + 130 Club Points on Asia Miles
  • 11,188 Miles on Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
  • 11,188 Award Miles on LATAM Pass
  • 11,188 Miles on Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer
  • 11,188 Miles on Royal Jordanian Royal Club
  • 11,188 Miles on SriLankan FlySmiLes
  • 11,016 Points + 20 Elite Points on Malaysia Airlines Enrich
Data provided by miles.travel-dealz.com. Without guarantee on correctness.

A roundtrip to America is worth 500 tier points in the British Airways Executive Club, going more than two-thirds of the way to Oneworld Sapphire (600 tier points) or even the full way if you’re entitled to British Airways reduced status requirements due to Corona. You can turn this offer into a viable mileage run by adding an American domestic flight. Each American Airlines Domestic First leg will get you another 40 tier points on the ticket above.

Information & Tips for USA

The USA offers many sights, natural wonders and cultural significance. Thanks to numerous airlines offering flights across the Atlantic, it is always pretty inexpensive to get there. Alternatively, you can also cross the Atlantic by boat.

Immigration, ESTA & Visa Requirements

The USA has one of the strictest entry regulations in the world. Most EU citizens, among others, are lucky to be able to participate in the so-called Visa Waiver Program. If you get an electronic entry permit (ESTA)  for approximately €20, you don’t need a visa for entry.

The Best Time to Visit

Due to its sheer size, the perfect time to visit the USA varies greatly from region to region. In winter, Florida is very popular due to the mild temperatures. In the summer the West and East Coasts are flooded by tourists which drives up the prices for hotels and flights and during the Indian Summer in late autumn New England is a very popular destination. The hurricane season between July and September can be dangerous in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Florida and the southern states are regularly struck by these tropical storms. Blizzards occur from the East Coast to the Midwest during the winter months and regularly put air traffic and public life on hold.

Climate diagram for New York City, New York (Source: WMO World Weather Information Service)
Climate diagram for Los Angeles, California (Source: WMO World Weather Information Service)
Climate diagram for Miami, Florida (Source: WMO World Weather Information Service)

Currency

The US dollar is widely used throughout the world and accepted as a currency in most tourist hotspots worldwide. That being said, carrying cash isn’t necessary in the US, all you need is a credit card! These are very common in the USA and are accepted pretty much everywhere without any issues. If you already have a credit card in your wallet, you should make sure that it does not charge a foreign currency fee if possible. Carrying a few dollars in cash doesn’t hurt though. You might need cash e.g. for the bus ticket if you want to buy it directly from the driver. Most of the time you even have to give exact change.

Finding the Best eSIM Plan

We’ve compared various eSIM providers, such as Knowroaming and Ubigi. To see which plan is best for your travel needs, and which network offers the best coverage, feel free to read our detailed guide:

The Best eSIM Plans for the USA 🇺🇸 Compared

→ All Dealz for USA

Source: Luxury Flight Club

Cover Picture: © British Airways

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Comments (2)

  1. phillipe says:

    Crazy deal but DO NOT buy with Travel Up (OTA) at all cost!

    From my experience one of the worst OTA ever considering honesty, professionalism, etc.

    Customer service in reality does not exist.

    I have booked 4 tickets to South America and it was clearly stated at that checked luggage was included in both directions.

    But when I received my confirmation from OTA Travel Up, my checked luggage was only in one direction !!!

    Unfortunately I didn’t do screenshots or recording procedure of the reservation, so it’s very difficult to prove it.

    Worst of all, I sent at least 5 complaint emails with all the information I had, but OTA Travel Up were not answered me not even in a word.

    Complete ignorance on its worst way!

    • Felix says:

      Thanks for your feedback, Phillipe!
      Because of incidents like that, we always state that OTAs may offer the cheapest tickets, but booking with directly with the airline is the safest choice.

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