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Originally was planning on CW to east coast summer 24 but now seen some F available, from various cities. Just got my companion voucher.
Would like to do an east coast driving tour so Washington to Boston or NYC depending on what’s available! Can book outbound soon online but for return as is open jaw will need to call up, one question how much will taxes be in total? And will they join the two bookings so to have a return? Also any tips maybe which airport best to return from Boston or Washington?
I would say BOS or NYC for the day flights, but I’m not sure if there’s a F cabin on that service. I wouldn’t bother for such a short flight though.
Re the taxes, I would try a few dummy bookings, especially if you’re mixing cabins as it can do strange things to the surcharges. You can book both legs separately and request half the avios back – you’ll still have 2 PNRs but this isn’t an issue (and can make it easier if you decide to change one of the legs).Also think about where you are staying re parking your hire car. When we did a similar trip a few years ago most Washington hotels wanted over 40 dollars a night for car parking.
Although to be fair everything is so expensive there now that will be the least of your worries.
I’d recommend the West Coast to get the most out of First! I did SFO in F on a 241 earlier in the year and it was superb.
Washington airports are regularly voted some of the worst in the US, so fly back from BOS and really, are you masochistic enough to want to actually drive in NYC?
I’ve driven over 25k miles in the US but I’ll draw the line at trying to go in and out of Manhattan. There’a a really good train service from DC to Manhatten and on to Boston.
Well neither of the NYC airports are in Manhattan so you could start or end there without the car and use public transport to get into the city. Boston and Washington DC are also quite compact and walkable. IAD is quite a way out of the city so you need to factor in quite a hefty taxi fare, BOS is much closer.
The morning flight back from BOS is great, and if you stay in the Hilton at Logan you are a ten minute walk to check in. Drop your car off as soon as you arrive in Boston, and use the Silverline bus to get from the airport/hotel into the city.
The morning flights from BOS and JFK have First cabins, but I’ve never seen any availability in F on those flights.
On my last trip to the US we rented a car from JFK to BOS and used the subway to get from our Manhattan hotel to JFK. Rental prices picking up from JFK are much cheaper than picking up from Manhattan.
Personally, I wouldn’t bother with F on the short Eastbound day flight. The Boston lounge is very good, as is Club Suite.
Consider;
Fly to DC.
Take an Uber from DUL to your DC hotel.
Take the train to Philadelphia.
Pick up a car at the end of your stay in Philly and start your road trip. Finish in Boston.
You don’t need a car in DC, Philly, or Boston.
Forget NYC. Drive from Philly to CT and on to ME.
We’re hoping to do WAS-NYC-BOS at Easter, but all by (very easy train). Could do that,
then pick up the car in Boston and tour round there?
Also +1 for BOS being “easy” airport and for the day flight back.Thanks we did nyc last year anyway so happy not to do that. Like the idea of Washington to Phili and then Boston drive. If we did go to nyc we would stay in New Jersey like we did last year so much cheaper and lovely views across the Hudson plus the train over was really easy. Could even do AA internal flights Phili to Boston doing some dummy avios bookings not too bad and saves the car hire price plus parking at hotels.
The thread you started was ‘Booking First…’ – don’t get diverted by those who say not to bother with First on such a short flight, although some of the same people say it’s a must for DXB that’s a very similar flight time! If you have the Avios, every aspect of your journey will be that much better and more comfortable and, if it’s a Club Suite 777 aircraft, you will be in a cabin of 8 vs the CS dorm of 76 that is insufficiently staffed to manage that number of passengers. The food and wine in F are of a totally different calibre vs Club and you can have whatever you feel like whenever it suits. Business vs First on some airlines is a different equation, but on BA, it’s like day and night.
Well is also want to do the Concorde room on departures and the breakfast room on arrivals so more likely to do the late flight as 0725 flight from Boston doesn’t appeal. On that is likely me and my son will go F and hubby will travel club as has a Barclaycard voucher, can I guest him into the Concorde room?
Well is also want to do the Concorde room on departures and the breakfast room on arrivals so more likely to do the late flight as 0725 flight from Boston doesn’t appeal. On that is likely me and my son will go F and hubby will travel club as has a Barclaycard voucher, can I guest him into the Concorde room?
Oh dear, your H probably didn’t realise when he signed up for the BC that he would be getting a downgrade voucher, but yes, you can guest him into the CCR before ushering him to the cheap seats on board.
People are allowed to share suggestions and personal experience! On the outbound it’s definitely worth travelling in F as you have the CCR and 7/8 hours to enjoy the comfort and service, However, we found it a waste of avios even to travel in Club W for 5 1/2 hours coming home after both our BOS visits, especially as if you have to then drive home you’re not going to be enjoying much wine.
I’ve done both the overnight and day flights from BOS and we felt so much better returning in the day time rather than getting 3/4 hours of broken sleep on the plane.
In future the bulkhead row of PE or even Y at RFS pricing would be my choice.
My personal experience was that F to BOS and JFK/EWR were both fabulous and worth it. It was a totally different experience to J. The highlights were CCR on the outward and boarding direct from the lounge at BOS.
We boarded from the BOS lounge on our 2nd visit but the first time there was something wrong with the airbridge (?) and we had to make our way to one of the other gates.
The lounge itself is great, though.We’ve done this type of route a few times, but never with a hire car.
Typically:
– CW to Boston / train to DC or Philly / CW retune
– CW to DC / train to nyc and stop over / train to Boston / CW homeTrain into New England is great.
My personal experience was that F to BOS and JFK/EWR were both fabulous and worth it. It was a totally different experience to J. The highlights were CCR on the outward and boarding direct from the lounge at BOS.
There is only one BA lounge at BOS. Doesn’t matter whether you are flying F or J, that is is the one you use. Boarding directly from the Lounge, when available, is nice.
There is also no fast track security line at Logan, so the experience on the ground is the same regardless of which cabin you will be flying in.
The thread you started was ‘Booking First…’ – don’t get diverted by those who say not to bother with First on such a short flight, although some of the same people say it’s a must for DXB that’s a very similar flight time! If you have the Avios, every aspect of your journey will be that much better and more comfortable and, if it’s a Club Suite 777 aircraft, you will be in a cabin of 8 vs the CS dorm of 76 that is insufficiently staffed to manage that number of passengers. The food and wine in F are of a totally different calibre vs Club and you can have whatever you feel like whenever it suits. Business vs First on some airlines is a different equation, but on BA, it’s like day and night.
The BA777-300ER that you will find on the JFK route has 76 Club Suites. 12 of these are in a mini cabinat the front. There are 42 suites in the main cabin between doors 2 and 3, and a further 22 between door 3 and PE. I had no complaints about service on my most recent flight in J on this aircraft.
The early morning flight home from BOS is on a much smaller 777-200 with 49 Club Suites. 13 in the mini cabin at the fronyt behind F, 26 in the main cabin.
The mini cabin at the front is the one to go for IMO, but the main cabin no longer feels like a dorm. It used to, in CW of course.
Thanks we did nyc last year anyway so happy not to do that. Like the idea of Washington to Phili and then Boston drive. If we did go to nyc we would stay in New Jersey like we did last year so much cheaper and lovely views across the Hudson plus the train over was really easy. Could even do AA internal flights Phili to Boston doing some dummy avios bookings not too bad and saves the car hire price plus parking at hotels.
If you are going to throw in an internal flight, you could also consider PHL to either Portland ME (PWM) or Hartfort CT (BL) on AA.
The drive from Philly up into Connecticut isn’t great. A boring 3/3,5 hours on the I95.
Main limitation of this is that I think AA charge for hold luggage on domestic flights.
We use mid level hotels that have free parking. Hilton at Mystic CT, Hampton at Bath ME, and the Harbor Inn at Belfast ME are all good bases for touring New England.
You can’t really explore New England properly without a car.
Looking at it is better for avios points to do F both ways, so off peak is 136,000 plus £854 in tax. CW on return is 148,000 and you still have to pay the same amount of tax. Of course doing CW both ways is probably cheaper.
Looking at it is better for avios points to do F both ways, so off peak is 136,000 plus £854 in tax. CW on return is 148,000 and you still have to pay the same amount of tax. Of course doing CW both ways is probably cheaper.
Yes, the joys of the new RFS pricing, you either do F/F with higher taxes and lower Avios or J/J; J/F or F/J results in higher taxes and higher avios.
You will have to book the outbound and return at the same time, if you book seperately you’ll get stung for the very high taxes ex US and these won’t be adjusted if you merge the bookings.
Looking at it is better for avios points to do F both ways, so off peak is 136,000 plus £854 in tax. CW on return is 148,000 and you still have to pay the same amount of tax. Of course doing CW both ways is probably cheaper.
Off peak, Club return is either 100000 Avios plus £854, or 160000 Avios plus £350. If you are Avios rich, the RFS is great value. Especially if you are using a 241 voucher.
Looking at it is better for avios points to do F both ways, so off peak is 136,000 plus £854 in tax. CW on return is 148,000 and you still have to pay the same amount of tax. Of course doing CW both ways is probably cheaper.
Yes, the joys of the new RFS pricing, you either do F/F with higher taxes and lower Avios or J/J; J/F or F/J results in higher taxes and higher avios.
You will have to book the outbound and return at the same time, if you book seperately you’ll get stung for the very high taxes ex US and these won’t be adjusted if you merge the bookings.
I thought that if you called up when the return leg was released as this will be an open jaw return then the tax would be merged? I wouldn’t book them separately online but could book the outward journey and wait for the return then call up.
BA haven’t recalculated taxes for years, hence the previous caveats against booking US return legs separately. This doesn’t now apply on RFS flights as the surcharges are a flat rate.
So if you book separate legs and then requests 50% avios back for the return, you will only pay the RFS rate.
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