Northwest SEA-LHR, less than $700 June total

[WillTravel]

OK, this is a deal I will not be using, unless a miracle occurs. But for June (and possibly going into July) travel, this is really excellent. I got the fare alert with FareCompare, and then I checked, and found the fare is available on Orbitz. It is likely also available on the Northwest web site.

This is a nonstop flight, probably to celebrate Northwest's entry into the London Heathrow market. Taxes and fees with Heathrow are so high, that this total price is incredible.

I hope someone in the Pacific Northwest can use it.

[pointofnoreturn]

I've been picking up pointers from you and looking into flights departing from Albany, NYC, Boston, Syracuse, Buffalo and Detroit. Fares are much cheaper although I'll still have to factor in transportation to these cities. I think I saw a fare around 350 from Albany, taxes included on LH/UA going to Germany or something for winter-spring travel.

I think 700 bucks for high season is a great fare, especially when it's coming from the west coast.

I might be going back to England this summer with my grandparents but we have no plans as they are in Florida at the moment. I guess everything will be last minute as usual LOL! Next year I'm looking into a trip to Scotland for sure. So if oil prices don't keep going up, I'm seriously considering trekking to JFK or DTW for a flight if the price is right

[WillTravel]

I hope you get a chance to get away, PONR. If you go to Scotland next year, I hope you get to Edinburgh during the festival.

For Canadians, here is another tip: I knew Martinair had good fares, but I didn't realize you could book them directly, through here - www.martinair.ca .

[pointofnoreturn]

I've definitely heard of Martinair but they're still relatively unknown to some people. I did a sample itinerary and here's what I got:

Depart May 1, 2008 and Return May 21, 2008 (Toronto to Amsterdam and vice versa)

All in Price (including taxes): 494.82 CAD

Not bad... the cheapest I've seen in a long time!

The only downside: There's no miles to be earned, unless you're paying with a credit card that has Air Miles on it.

I have about 25,000 miles on Delta and roughly 4000 on United. I'd much rather stick to Delta but with all the cheap fares being on United/LH, I'm thinking about switching.

[WillTravel]

How about Aeroplan? I have some United flights coming up, but I think I will credit them to Aeroplan.

[pointofnoreturn]

I do have Aeroplan but they've gotten so stingy with the miles that it's not worth it plus the taxes are ridiculous. It'll take me forever to get the miles I want. If I had to rank the program in order from highest priority to lowest, it'll be:

Delta (obviously)
United
Air Miles
American
Aeroplan

I'm just not sure how to credit the miles to another program if they belong to the same alliance.

[me]

AAdvantage (American) makes it easy to accumulate miles (credit card, etc.) and AA has lots of flights from DFW international airport - where they're based. unfortunately AA has a terrible rep for dealing with people - customers AND employees. <lots of AA employees in the metro area> But, the news yesterday sez "American Airlines has been named Best International Airline for 2007 by readers of Travel Weekly" <?!?>

i've flown AA a few times, yet have paid the fare only once as an adult, to Canada a few years ago. and that was a deeply discounted sale fare. every other time my flights have been paid with miles.

also, via it's oneworld alliance with other airlines, (BA is the main one) AA offers the great connection options from here. in spite of the alliance, AA & BA do compete on US/UK transatlantic flights.

- d

[pointofnoreturn]

I know that TD Bank (a Canadian bank) has a credit card that has AA miles on it but there's quite a bit of a yearly fee associated with it. I'm still a student at the moment so investing in an expensive card is not in the books for now. I've been quite pleased with AA's services and I know that the FF tickets are easier to get through them than Delta which is apparently more difficult.

[WillTravel]

So far as I can tell, when I do my United flights, I'll get full credit mileage if I choose Aeroplan when checking in. It seems crazy, as one of the flights is an Air Canada codeshare, and I don't think that would happen if I booked it directly. I'll let you know if I find out differently. I have just about enough points for a domestic ticket on Aeroplan - which I may use if my daughter goes on a Quebec exchange program.

I wouldn't invest in a fee-paid credit card either, as I like the no-fee cashback cards better (of course paying the full balance each month or it would be no bargain). I have a President's Choice MasterCard (actually I guess it's not cashback, as I just get free groceries, but it works out the same). In the US, you seem to get better deals with these airline mileage cards than we can get here in Canada.

[pointofnoreturn]

Yup, unless I'm planning on spending a lot of money on an annual basis, I'm going to stick to my no-fee credit cards for now. However, if I do accumulate plenty of AA miles and I need 15,000 more, I can always sign up for the TD card. It's only 120 bucks for one year.... But that's not for the time being.

Finally, you are absolutely correct. Americans have the benefit of the doubt for having access to lots of great mileage cards and programs.

Perhaps we should move down there hahaha!