New york using air miles

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JimmyConwayNW

Original Poster:

3,121 posts

131 months

Monday 6th November 2023
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Hi,

Looking to book 2 flights to New York for Jan / Feb. Flexible on this one but will be a birthday present for Mrs.

I have loads of points on Amex I can use for air miles and just stick into whichever Airline will be best.

Is it best to buy economy flights then use points to upgrade to premium economy or business, will that make them go further?

Will most likely fly from Manchester which will see a choice of either Virgin or Aer Lingus I think ( BA show exact same flight time as Aer Lingus).
Any suggestions welcome, will be without kids so to maximise the enjoyment from the airport a decent seat on the flight if its reasonable will be great.

fat80b

2,431 posts

227 months

Monday 6th November 2023
quotequote all
My experience is that using BA Avios and a companion ticket (spend more than 10k on the BA Amex) allows you to get two of you to New York in Club for £700 fairly easily.

With the new BA airmiles pricing structure, I’ve found it’s a lot easier to book seats than it used to be on this route.

As a contrast - I have plenty of virgin miles (500K) and found that I couldn’t get a deal anywhere near the BA one using the virgin miles.

Tim330

1,169 posts

218 months

Monday 6th November 2023
quotequote all
Not all cash economy fares can be upgraded with avios so be careful here. Also I think you can only upgrade one fare class with avios so economy to PE, PE to Club.
How many amex point do you have? They convert 1:1 to avios.
I checked and from MAN to LHR then to JFK is 160k avios plus £350 charges per person in club for January. PE is 85k avios and £280.

JimmyConwayNW

Original Poster:

3,121 posts

131 months

Monday 6th November 2023
quotequote all
fat80b said:
My experience is that using BA Avios and a companion ticket (spend more than 10k on the BA Amex) allows you to get two of you to New York in Club for £700 fairly easily.

With the new BA airmiles pricing structure, I’ve found it’s a lot easier to book seats than it used to be on this route.

As a contrast - I have plenty of virgin miles (500K) and found that I couldn’t get a deal anywhere near the BA one using the virgin miles.
Thats handy to know, I might sign up for this card and just make a few work purchases through it that should get the companion voucher pretty quickly.

Thank you.

Tim330

1,169 posts

218 months

Monday 6th November 2023
quotequote all
Tim330 said:
Not all cash economy fares can be upgraded with avios so be careful here. Also I think you can only upgrade one fare class with avios so economy to PE, PE to Club.
How many amex point do you have? They convert 1:1 to avios.
I checked and from MAN to LHR then to JFK is 160k avios plus £350 charges per person in club for January. PE is 85k avios and £280.
Edited to add if you go from Heathrow you may be able to get 1st class on some dates (if you have enough miles)

JimmyConwayNW

Original Poster:

3,121 posts

131 months

Monday 6th November 2023
quotequote all
Tim330 said:
Not all cash economy fares can be upgraded with avios so be careful here. Also I think you can only upgrade one fare class with avios so economy to PE, PE to Club.
How many amex point do you have? They convert 1:1 to avios.
I checked and from MAN to LHR then to JFK is 160k avios plus £350 charges per person in club for January. PE is 85k avios and £280.
I don't mind going from LHR either, that might open up options. I've got just shy of a million points. That sounds a good deal to go for.

Tim330

1,169 posts

218 months

Monday 6th November 2023
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Another benefit to Heathrow is its possible to get a day flight back if you don't like sleeping on planes (even in business).

goingonholiday

276 posts

187 months

Monday 6th November 2023
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Search from MAN and look for the flights that connect through LHR. You can often get them for similar points.

Virgin is difficult, if we fly virgin on points we book it the day they release the flights as they release so few reward seats. Sometimes they will release more nearer the time but you need to get lucky for that to happen!

hmg

600 posts

125 months

Tuesday 28th November 2023
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I’ve got loads of Avios and companion flights and only ever managed to use them once on a First class flight to NYC..

Is this still the only route that is likely to have availability on long haul or should I consider other options for a city break somewhere?

What is the best place to check availability on Avios points flights these days?.

Sport_Turismo_GTS

985 posts

35 months

Tuesday 28th November 2023
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Amex 2-for-1voucher plus Avios should allow you to get a First Class flight fairly easily if you have some flexibility on dates.