Flights to London from USA, i.e., cheapest airports

Where are you starting out - Seattle? Miami? Makes a big difference.

Use Google Flights to check fares from various cities on various dates. It's too early to check fares for September 2019, but you can check fares for next June. I wouldn't buy international tickets this far out myself, though.

Use the airline's website to check mileage award fares. But I think you'll find it's the same number of miles to fly to London from Seattle as from NYC or Miami. But $$$ will be different.

What 'west coast city' do you fly from? ( per another of your posts)

Using FF miles to get to east coast and then buying a ticket from there seems the hard way to do it. Why not just use the FF miles for the entire trip?

Most likely he does not have enough miles for the trip to Europe.

New York City (JFK) tends to have the lowest fares on the east coast as they have the most competition if you are looking for direct flights. If you want a low cost airline (WOW Aerlingus, etc) requiring connections you will have to do some looking.

Norwegian flies direct to London Gatwick from Oakland. They may not have flights listed for dates that late in the year as of yet. But go on their website and you can see the going fares. I think their version of economy plus is a pretty good deal. You’ll probably want to fly in the day before wherever you leave from as your flights will not be linked and you don’t want to miss your overseas one. So, add that hotel into your overall cost.

You might go to the Air Travel forum on Trip Advisor and post your question there. Lots of experienced travelers usually have lots of answers and helpful tips using FF miles and flights to Europe.

Thanks for all the good feedback.

We are in the PNW, so could use any major West Coast airport.

Regarding Bob's statement. Yes, we do not have enough miles for all our fares, but might at some point. However, we do have companion fares with Alaska which we could use to bring cost down to get to a major city cheaply and then get cheap/direct tickets from LAX, SEA, or JFK.

This might be a false economy as you will need to stay overnight to avoid any mishaps. i.e. you will book on two different tickets and have to pay for a hotel overnight in between the flights. You lose a whole day and have to pay for the hotel. That said, cheapest flights will be the ones with the most competition, New York / Newark, LAX, Chicago, SFO, Seattle, Atlanta, maybe even DC.

Probably not Atlanta. But yes to Boston. I agree, though, that if you have to spend the night at your change-point, it is often not worth it. At th every least, consider the cost of local hotels. Also remember that in such cases you are losing a day of vacation time in Europe, too.

I think you should focus on flights from either Seattle or Vancouver, BC. I’ve saved a few hundred dollars before by flying out of Vancouver due to the exchange rates. It is worth pricing out. Iceland Air and Norwegian routinely have sales or specials from Seattle to London. If you watch for sales you can go round trip for $400 in shoulder seasons. You can earn Frequent Flyer miles on the Alaska Airlines mileage plan from Iceland Air. Other airlines fly this route and will also have sales.

There are too many potential problems and stresses involved in using a separate ticket to reposition in the US on one ticket and transatlantic on another ticket. Any mechanical, weather, air traffic control problems with the first flight means you could miss the second flight and lose the full amount of money you paid for it. Then, to add insult to injury, you would end up paying for a new, expensive last minute ticket in order not to lose your vacation and all prepaid reservations.

I’m all for saving money. However, the lowest possible cost for something doesn’t always make it the best value.

British Airways currently have a sale on so it may be worth checking their site out.

I agree with the recommendations (if you haven't already been doing it) to spend some time checking out flights on Google flights, and also at the Trip Advisor air travel forum.

I live in Denver and have been envious of those low fares to the UK from East Coast airports, especially New York. I burned quite a bit of time researching how to take advantage of them. Besides the low fares, those flights have, for me, the advantage of being shorter by 2 or 3 hours than nonstops from DEN. After my research was done, I'm in agreement with what's already been said:

This might be a false economy as you will need to stay overnight to
avoid any mishaps. i.e. you will book on two different tickets and
have to pay for a hotel overnight in between the flights. You lose a
whole day and have to pay for the hotel. That said, cheapest flights
will be the ones with the most competition ...

and this:

There are too many potential problems and stresses involved in using a
separate ticket to reposition in the US on one ticket and
transatlantic on another ticket. Any mechanical, weather, air traffic
control problems with the first flight means you could miss the second
flight and lose the full amount of money you paid for it.

You minimize those issues if you don't travel all that far from home to get your transatlantic flight. For instance, my favorite two options from DEN to the UK are (1) the BA nonstop DEN-LHR, and (2) the Icelandair flights - they all connect through Reykjavik and you have choices besides London of your UK arrival/departure city (I've flown into Glasgow and home from London which was great for that trip). But last year a local friend got a deal for her family (I think on BA) via Salt Lake City, single ticketed and not a long connecting flight from here. So you just never know what's available until you do specific research.

Obviously it's hard to generalize about airfares, but I think you've gotten some great advice. Honestly, this city is getting more crowded and expensive all the time so I've considered moving. But I'm spoiled by having a major airport right here. Maybe someday when I'm no longer able to travel . . .

Another thing to consider when researching fares is that the cheapest fare to show up will often be some version of Basic Economy. (No advance seat assignment, no carry on bag included just a personal item, not eligible for upgrades.) Typically the upgrade to regular Economy isn’t that expensive, but just be aware of the fare class you are looking at and what it includes. Google Flights in particular will always show the cheapest fare, so you may need to then go to the airlines’ websites to see the cost to upgrade.

As mentioned above, it's a false economy. First of all, don't book a separate flight from the west coast to the east coast and then a European flight leaving on the same day. So, you'd have to stay overnight in an east coast city. So, you can either stay at a chain hotel by the airport or else give yourself added stress by going into the east coast for less than 24 hours. Meanwhile, you've given yourself double the security lines and all the other airport hassles.

Save the the airmiles for a domestic USA trip or build them up for another European trip down the road.

I do appreciate all the comments and thoughtful helps! You've given us something to ponder. I do see the sense in just booking a ticket that goes all the way through to the desired destination, but we are also open to booking the european ticket a day or two later, thus seeing the city we sit in for a day or so. Hotel fees fine, especially if get a day or two in NYC or DC. This would likely be part of a gap year for one student, so we would not be time constrained for the whole experience.

we are also open to booking the European ticket a day or two later,
thus seeing the city we sit in for a day or so. Hotel fees fine,
especially if get a day or two in NYC or DC. This would likely be part
of a gap year for one student, so we would not be time constrained for
the whole experience.

In that case, the bargain fares from the East Coast just make for a better trip. You'd need to decide how to handle the return journey, but if you have the time and resources to enjoy a "layover" city, more power to you!

You haven't mentioned what airline your miles are on or your home airport - but if you have Delta miles and live in Portland area, there is a nonstop LHR flight from Portland (seasonal, May-October). I've priced miles tickets and they have been low as 50,000 miles round trip, but not in June (currently it is 65,000 miles + $186 taxes for a mid-June 2019 ticket)