British Airways cuts taxes on one-way economy Avios flight redemptions FROM the US

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• Andrew says:

  4 Aug4 August 10:59

  It’s still not a great deal – return economy fares on randomly selected dates at £285 (HBO), save £100 offered for 17,000, earn back 10,000 (as Gold). So spend 7,000 and £185 for a return (and have more choice in dates and seats rather than Avios availability restrictions).

  • Lumma says:

    4 Aug4 August 12:12

    I’d view it more as another tool to use in this game. I always like good value one way tickets as it lets you create interesting itineraries, either through cash tickets or using points.

    There’s an opportunity for someone to do something like Madrid to New York in Iberia business and hop back to London on BA economy for quite a low cash and points amount, even including the flight to Madrid

    • Mikeact says:

      4 Aug4 August 16:28

      And it worked well for us ..

    • marcw says:

      4 Aug4 August 22:39

      Yes. I completely agree. Having the points/miles options gives your more cards to chose from. At the end of the day, you just chose the best cards.

• Nick_C says:

  4 Aug4 August 11:31

  I’m anther fan of the day flight. I took the 07.55 flight back from JFK in May and had no jet lag. I was in CW but would consider doing it in PE next time. Its a short flight and too early to be drinking.

  The day flights are becoming very popular. First was full, and there were only 4 empty seats in CW.

  I paid about £150 to stay at JFK the night before, and it was well worth it. Would love to try the TWA Hotel next time.

  • Lumma says:

    4 Aug4 August 12:15

    I stayed in a fantastic Airbnb near JFK the last time I flew back on the day flight (10.25 American airlines flight) under £50 a night and less than $10 for an Uber.

    Was great to get home to sleep in my own bed after the flight rather than deal with the tube in the morning after no sleep on the plane

  • Lady London says:

    4 Aug4 August 12:47

    I wish there could be a Day Flight back from SFO SEA or anywhere in between.

    • marcw says:

      4 Aug4 August 12:58

      Don’t think that’s theoretically possible, unless plane leaves like 3 am from SFO.

    • Pgw says:

      4 Aug4 August 19:22

      I believe the longest day flight is AA ORD-LHR which arrives after 10 pm. The earliest arrival is BA BOS-LHR and United have a day flight from IAD. A few years ago US Airways operated PHL-LHR which allowed passengers from many other parts of the US to connect to but it was short lived.

• Ben says:

  4 Aug4 August 12:05

  This is great news for me, an expat based in the US. I have plenty of Avios but no real use for them, getting the family back to the UK for 52,000 and 300 quid is great value (just need 4 seats available now!), esp with one ways available on Norwegian for the flight home

• marcw says:

  4 Aug4 August 12:40

  Is this real or just a mistake. It looks like they forgot to add a 1 in front…

• abs says:

  4 Aug4 August 12:51

  I have tried pricing up a one way EWR-LHR-NCL in economy. I am getting 13000 avios + £181.92 whereas EWR – LHR is only £77.20 in tax and charges. How is it possible that a ‘free’ domestic connection increases the charges by over £100. It would be better value to book the domestic leg separately but then it would not be a guaranteed connection and need to collect baggage in LHR. Is there any way around this?

  • Anna says:

    4 Aug4 August 13:01

    Have you clicked through to the next page on the booking form? Sometimes there are glitches with pricing flights with domestic connections which rectify themselves further along, However, adding a domestic leg often bumps the cash element up quite a bit so I would expect to see some increase.

    • abs says:

      4 Aug4 August 13:08

      I clicked through to the next page. The initial price was £114 and then jumps up to £181 on the next page.

• Tom says:

  4 Aug4 August 14:32

  I’ve actually paid the £500 to £700 surcharges for a one-way award flight in J or F. Although it’s really annoying it can make sense in at least two situations:

  1) You have to travel at short notice and the alternative is a high cash fare

  2) One-way cash fares on BA can easily be more expensive than a round-trip ticket.

  That said, I prefer to redeem Avios on American, JAL, FinnAir or other OneWorld airlines where, you avoid the fees anyway.

• Richard says:

  4 Aug4 August 15:36

  This reduction is in a very limited set of competitive markets. Markets like ATL and AUS have not been reduced.

• lgflyer says:

  4 Aug4 August 17:42

  Those daytime flights back from the US are terrible for jetlag. I would rather take an overnight flight even in economy.

  • Luca says:

    4 Aug4 August 22:56

    Ludicrous. A day flight in economy over a nightlight in business any day of the week. Get home, have some dinner and chill. The only reason it could be better for jetlag is that completely exhausts you!

    • lgflyer says:

      5 Aug5 August 00:06

      I think the worst jet lag I ever had was after a JFK-LHR day flight. The flight itself is great and pleasant because you are quite fresh and don’t feel tired, but good luck trying to get some sleep for the following couple of nights!
      Anyway it might be a good choice for some, and having a choice is always good!

    • Andrew says:

      5 Aug5 August 09:08

      Absolutely. I’m a major convert to daytime flights back to the UK.

      Night in an airport (ideally terminal) hotel. Fresh showered, relaxing flight back to the UK. Arrive at dusk in darkness. Home, light snack then off to bed at 11pm. Wake up lag free.

      I will often split my US trips to have the final night in Toronto, Boston, New York, Chicago or DC just to get a daytime transatlantic. Yes, you are paying for an extra hotel night, yes some say it is a “wasted day” – but it works for me.

      About the only place I don’t do that is Seattle, where I get the 13:30 flight which gets me back to the UK for just after midnight their time. I just stay awake for the flight. Nap for 3 hours when I get home, then back to normal that evening.

      It would be useful (for me) if at least one airline started offering a daytime flight to Scotland.

      • Lady London says:

        5 Aug5 August 17:00

        I hadn’t thought of taking that 1330 flight from SEA Andrew. That makes it pretty much a say flight! Thank you for that Andrew.

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