Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Exceptional £924 British Airways business class fares to the USA from Paris

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The coronavirus is bad news for the travel industry. There is, however, one silver lining for consumers: extremely low air fares.

Last week, British Airways launched a new Luxury Sale from the UK  – you can see the details here.  We wrote about the best BA Club World and First Class sale deals here.

This week, it is offering sub-£1000 business class fares out of Paris to a variety of destinations in the US. These are pretty much as low as it ever gets.

If you’re a long time reader here you’ll know that some of the best business class deals to the United States can be had when connecting from European airports. Airlines have to try a little harder to attract connecting passengers as they are competing with carriers that can offer direct routings.

In addition, you’ll also pay lower Government taxes when departing from European airports, potentially saving you several hundred pounds.

This is good news for you, since you can get some exceptional deals. Paris is one of the easiest (and cheapest) European cities to get to – there is plenty of competition between airlines and Eurostar, and you could also double up a trip to the USA with a few days in Paris.

The following prices are typical for fares from Paris with connections in Heathrow.  These are business class return prices.  You need to travel on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday:

Atlanta – £1098
Austin – £1098
Boston – £924
Chicago – £924
Dallas – £1098
LA – £1272
Miami – £1098
Nashville – £924
New Orleans – £924
New York – £901
Philadelphia – £924
Phoenix – £1271
Pittsburgh – £924
San Jose – £1271
Washington DC – £924

There are no specific dates for travel.  I found these fares right into January 2021, although this will vary by route. You may even find other US destinations not listed – these were just from a quick search.

The flights will be operated by British Airways or American Airlines (review here)  – and if you’re lucky, you may even get BA’s new Club Suite!  For those looking for extra variety, some cities can also be flown on Iberia via Madrid or Aer Lingus via Dublin.

You can book on the British Airways website here.  Don’t forget that you can often save on hotel or car rental costs by packaging your flight via BA Holidays too.

You will be charged in Euro when making bookings for flights from Paris.  With that in mind you should use a credit card with 0% foreign exchange fees.

If you don’t have a credit card with 0% FX fees, your best bet when paying is the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card which 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.

For the benefit of new readers, you MUST take the first flight from Paris to London.  You cannot just get on in London as your ticket will have been cancelled by then.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (July 2025)

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:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

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

British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card

30,000 Avios and the famous annual Companion Voucher voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express Credit Card

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Credit Card

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn points worth 0.8 Avios per £1 on the FREE standard card and 1 Avios per £1 on the Pro card. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 0.8 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business Card

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

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.

The American Express Business Platinum Card

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

The American Express Business Gold Card

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

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

Comments (86)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • marcw says:

    Coronavirus adding some drama to the CCR panorama!

  • Ed says:

    Bravo, Sir!

  • Don says:

    Hardly exceptional. Even before Corona these have been available from time to time depending on which market BA want to dump in. Same for Star and SkyTeam.

    You never need to pay more than £1000 East Coast-£1250 West for leisure travel.

  • mr_jetlag says:

    I have potential US travel end-April; do people believe this is as good as it gets for USA fares or suggest a wait and see approach?

    • Rhys says:

      £900 fares are pretty much as good as it gets, I wouldn’t hold my breath for anything else.

      • Don says:

        They can easily go lower if the EUR plummets. It’s not going look for our friends over the channel.

        • marcw says:

          So far the GBP -> EUR has lost 5 eurocents in the las couple of days 🙂

          • Don says:

            The EUR fares have barely changed it’s just the FX that makes it seem better or worse.

    • Doug M says:

      Madness to wait. You could easily pay £2K more, versus even the most optimistic person couldn’t expect much less than this. This fare has a 50 days advance purchase requirement, so you may want to get booking.

    • Lady London says:

      Also end April is after Easter – fares tend to tick up just before Easter then stay high through Sept. Not sure Corona will vary that this year but defo not counting on it.

      • Anna says:

        It’s already happening- MAN to AGP in August now £416 in ET, up from £308 when I (smugly) booked my award seats.

  • Doug M says:

    It may not have suited but Finn fly CDG – HEL, so you could have overnighted in London if that suited better, it’s only 40TP so not an increase in that respect. But it does allow the choice of BA/AA for the Atlantic legs if preferred.

    • Lady London says:

      @Doug M do you prefer Finn or BA transatlantic? Would your answer change if Y or J?

      • Doug M says:

        Entirely a personal thing but I find Finn rather cold and impersonal. Always get the Gold thank you on Finn, but to me it feels a little robotic. I also find the food odd at times, I commented once on this, and I do mean the airline food not food in the country. The seat is fine, and as someone that spent much of their life in economy I’m happy in almost any business seat including the existing BA one, which I think many may miss when it’s gone. If you’re gold and get seat choice there is much to like about the CW seat, I like facing backwards, and with the natural upwards pitch of the plane sleep really well. AA are OK, but they def have some real charmers amongst the crew, not all by any means. To be honest my days of long Y flights are done. It’s fine for Europe but anything longer it’s J or don’t travel. Having said that I’m just back from Florida with Virgin Premium. It’s OK, but I do just really want the flat seat/bed on an overnight. I’d do to the East Coast US in premium at a push, but after this recent one would look to return in J.

      • Doug M says:

        Also, thinking about it, as BA Gold I can get the ‘chosen seats’ on the upper deck of the 747, 62A/K 64A/K which I do like. But I’d chose more on plane than airline between BA/AA/AY. the A350 and the B787 are such a noticeably nicer experience that you’d be mad as I see it to favour an A330/340 B777 over them because of direct aisle access. We all like different things, but I can’t see me enjoying the airlines that fly B767 transatlantic just because the seat is supposedly better. I’d go A350>B787>A380>B747>A330>B777. I don’t even like to think about the B767 and A340. Rob will often say that the AA or AY seat is better, as if it’s an absolute thing, but if you have status there’s much to like about CW. I used to defend it, now I just roll my eyes when I see 8 across remarks.

  • Alex W says:

    “For the benefit of new readers, you MUST take the first flight from Paris to London. You cannot just get on in London as your ticket will have been cancelled by then.”

    What if you book via iberia.com? I gather in Spain it is now illegal to cancel remaining legs, meaning hidden city ticketing is now possible.

    • Lady London says:

      Will you test it for us?

      Lufthansa won a recent-ish case about the same.

    • marc says:

      That´s not how it works… and btw, the court ruling only affects Iberia operated flights. The judge just said that the airline cannot cancel the itinerary afeter a no show. What actually happens is that if you do a no-show, IB will reprice your itinerary. If you want to continue travelling, just pay whatever is due.

  • J says:

    I want to take advantage of this offer to USA
    My startpoint is MAN.
    If i take an allowed stopover in LHR on the way back to CDG, can I just ‘dump’ the final leg without recourse?
    Input from experience appreciated.
    Regards

    • Rhys says:

      You can, but any luggage you check will be going to CDG without you!

      • J says:

        Ok, but if I book a stopover, then my luggage must be retrievable at LHR?!

    • Rob says:

      To the letter of the rules, no. In reality, yes, as a one-off offender you’ll be fine.

  • J says:

    Went to book, and the offer seems to have expired!!

    • Barbara says:

      This is true, showing tickets no longer available. Now they are £2700+

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