West Coast Tour - VS or BA?

Hi

Will be taking a family holiday to the west coast of America in May 2011. Itinerary is Vancouver-San Francisco-Las Vegas. Problem I have is deciding which airline to take although I would prefer VS.

It makes geographical sense to visit Vancouver first and then fly south to San Francisco and then east to Vegas but this would mean booking with BA, LON-YVR, LAS-LON with SFO in between

If I were to book with VS then I could do LON-SFO, LAS-LON or LON-LAS, SFO-LON with YVR in between. However, this makes less geographical sense.

So far I have found that BA CW will cost £2,864 each whereas VS UC would cost £3,165 each. Based on the above prices it would seem like BA is the way to go. However, I’m not in a rush to book so I can wait for a sale around September-November time. So I guess what I am asking is, how would a VS sale to SFO/LAS compare to a BA sale to YVR? Which would ultimately be cheaper based on past experience?

That's a lot of variables to throw into the pot.. :w

I'd think - but ISTBC by those with more knowledge - that LAS and SFO UCS fares will always attract a premium (and hence, in any sale, would probably be discounted less than the average) due to (a) LAS being an LGW config and (b) there being only one flight a day to SFO.

Paul

[Decker]

I'd do an ex-EU BA flight. Preferably with shareholder's discount.

[honey lamb]

I did this trip this summer using SFO on VS as my point of entry and departure. Admittedly I threw in an additional destination to northern California and thence to Seattle and on to Vancouver. From there I went back to Seattle and on to Las Vegas but it would have been perfectly possible to fly directly to Las Vegas from Vancouver. An alternative for you could be SFO-YVR-LAS-SFO. You could take an open jaw flight from SFO to YVR returning from there to LAS, followed by a one way ticket on an airline like Virgin America to San Francisco and thence home.

While it is likely you will get fare sales on SFO flights with Virgin, it is less likely you will get them on the LAS flights as these are always popular

How does an ex-EU BA flight work Decker?

[Nottingham Nick]

I'd do an ex-EU BA flight. Preferably with shareholder's discount.

BA board on FT says no shareholder discount on ex-EUs xx(


Nick

[Decker]

Seems someone put them right Nick http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british- ... kings.html :w

Clarkey to summarise - you will find that CW flights out of say Amsterdam are a LOT cheaper then from the UK. As local carriers fly direct BA have to undercut to encourage people to use them via London. This can result in significantly cheaper fares. With shareholder's discount I've had a CW for the price of a WT+ plus a cheap flight to AMS.

For the bible on this see http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/13303030-post4.html as I am only standing on the shoulders of giants.

The difference used to be even more stunning for RTW tickets, you could at one time buy a RTW CW from Italy, say, for the price of a RTW Y from the UK!!! When you also pile up the extra 80 Tier points you get, flexibility with one way purchases with BA these days, and so on and so forth, ex-EU fares are an amazing deal.

whilst not having flown to the west coast, I have flown Ba CW to New York and recently VS upper class to Cuba. IMHO, virgin knock the socks off BA, the service on VS is sooo much better then BA's offering. Obviously, if price is a key factor and BA is the choice, then as suggested by fellow posters, try flying ex EU rather then london.

[Scrooge]

One thing to remember, when flying to SFO you leave from LHR, going back from LAS you fly into LGW, I don't know how you are getting to LHR, but it could be an issue.

Anyways, I would look harder at BA due to more cities in the west having BA service.