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England Wedding Trip 2015: $20,000 for under $400!

• American Airlines economy LAX to SFO using Avios points
• Virigin Atlantic Clubhouse: San Francisco SFO
• Virgin Atlantic Upper Class – SFO to LHR using Delta points through an Amex transfer
• Grosvenor House JW Marriott with 45000 Marriott Rewards
• Conrad London St James with Hilton Gold benefits
• United Business Club London LHR
• United Global First Class Lounge London LHR
• United Global First LAX to SFO

 

Miles was very excited that he was invited to a traditional English wedding. But how on earth was he going to get there – times were a little tight!?! Good thing he had been planning and saving a variety of currencies. He was hoping to minimize cost as much as possible, but flying in and out of London always incurs some sort of fee. There was an option that was potentially on the table, and that was to add on a trip through Paris or another European city, thus eliminating the need to fly out of London, and avoiding the fees incurred. However, scheduling wouldn’t permit the trip add on so I was stuck flying out of London…

At the end of the day… Miles used:

4500 Avios + $5 –                   ~$200

62,500 Delta+ $5.60 –          ~ $6900

80k United + $382.60  –      ~$13000

45k Marriott + 0$-                ~$800

In total I redeemed 192,000 points over a variety of different brands and programs. I got over 10 cents per point at the end of the day, very good indeed. If I would have been able to factor in a Parisian or other european holiday, I could have taken further advantage of avoiding British airline fees and taxes by utilizing Eurostar to exit the EU by train, and then flown back to the states sans London.