Pay just £480 for British Airways World Traveller Plus from Scandinavia to the US

In an attempt to stem the flow of business to Norwegian, British Airways is offering some very aggressive World Traveller Plus fares from Scandinavia to the USA.

These deals are laughably cheap, especially the US West Coast destinations.  The tickets book into Euro Traveller (Economy) between Scandinavia and Heathrow but you will be in World Traveller Plus for the long-haul leg.

To put the value in context …. a BA Blue member would pay £480 to go to Los Angeles but would earn over 11,000 Avios back.  A Gold would pick up over 22,000!  You can even use Avios to partially reduce the ticket cost when booking if you want.

Here are some sample fares from ba.com:

Oslo to Los Angeles – £486 (NOK 5365)

Stockholm to Los Angeles – £487 (SEK 5507)

Copenhagen to Los Angeles – £519 (DKK 4387)

Oslo to San Francisco – £494 (NOK 5444)

Oslo to Miami – £498 (NOK 5494)

Oslo to New York – £499 (NOK 5503)

Travel between mid June and mid August is blocked, but apart from that – as long as you stay a Saturday night – availability is good.

Note that my examples above use Premium Economy on American Airlines instead of BA World Traveller Plus, but you can usually find an ‘all BA’ option.

If you book on British Airways and not American, these tickets are upgradeable to Club World with Avios if there are Avios seats available for a straight Club World redemption.  Heathrow to the East Coast would be 24,000 Avios each-way off-peak and 20,000 each-way peak.  West Coast and Miami would be 30,000 Avios each-way off-peak and 25,000 each-way peak.  The BA peak and off-peak calendars for 2018 are here.

Remember that you MUST fly to Scandinavia to take the first flight.  You MUST leave London within 24 hours of arriving or you will incur UK Air Passenger Duty.

On the way back, you should assume that you will have to take the last leg back to Scandinavia unless you are travelling on hand baggage only, in which case hopping out in London may be acceptable as a one-off.  Do NOT book through a travel agent if you think you may not take the last leg as the agent may be billed by BA for the fare difference, whilst individuals are usually let off for a first offence.

If you don’t have a credit card with 0% foreign exchange fees, your best bet to maximise your miles when paying is with the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card.  This earns double Avios (3 per £1) when you book at ba.com or via BA Holidays.  You do not get double Avios if you book with the free British Airways American Express card. 

Another option is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers triple points – 3 per £1 – when you book flight tickets in a foreign currency, because it triggers both the ‘double points for airline spend’ and the ‘double points for foreign spend’ bonuses.

You can learn more about World Traveller Plus on this page of ba.com if you want to see what you are getting for your money.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.