Pay just £480 for British Airways World Traveller Plus from Scandinavia to the US

In an attempt to stem the flow of business to Norwegian, British Airways is offering some very aggressive World Traveller Plus fares from Scandinavia to the USA.

These deals are laughably cheap, especially the US West Coast destinations.  The tickets book into Euro Traveller (Economy) between Scandinavia and Heathrow but you will be in World Traveller Plus for the long-haul leg.

To put the value in context …. a BA Blue member would pay £480 to go to Los Angeles but would earn over 11,000 Avios back.  A Gold would pick up over 22,000!  You can even use Avios to partially reduce the ticket cost when booking if you want.

Here are some sample fares from ba.com:

Oslo to Los Angeles – £486 (NOK 5365)

Stockholm to Los Angeles – £487 (SEK 5507)

Copenhagen to Los Angeles – £519 (DKK 4387)

Oslo to San Francisco – £494 (NOK 5444)

Oslo to Miami – £498 (NOK 5494)

Oslo to New York – £499 (NOK 5503)

Travel between mid June and mid August is blocked, but apart from that – as long as you stay a Saturday night – availability is good.

Note that my examples above use Premium Economy on American Airlines instead of BA World Traveller Plus, but you can usually find an ‘all BA’ option.

If you book on British Airways and not American, these tickets are upgradeable to Club World with Avios if there are Avios seats available for a straight Club World redemption.  Heathrow to the East Coast would be 24,000 Avios each-way off-peak and 20,000 each-way peak.  West Coast and Miami would be 30,000 Avios each-way off-peak and 25,000 each-way peak.  The BA peak and off-peak calendars for 2018 are here.

Remember that you MUST fly to Scandinavia to take the first flight.  You MUST leave London within 24 hours of arriving or you will incur UK Air Passenger Duty.

On the way back, you should assume that you will have to take the last leg back to Scandinavia unless you are travelling on hand baggage only, in which case hopping out in London may be acceptable as a one-off.  Do NOT book through a travel agent if you think you may not take the last leg as the agent may be billed by BA for the fare difference, whilst individuals are usually let off for a first offence.

If you don’t have a credit card with 0% foreign exchange fees, your best bet to maximise your miles when paying is with the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card.  This 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.

You can learn more about World Traveller Plus on this page of ba.com if you want to see what you are getting for your money.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

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

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

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

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios 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.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)