Last week, British Airways took delivery of their 1st of 12 A380 and announced that service to Los Angeles will commence on September 24 followed by Hong Kong on October 22, 2014. Both destinations are offering special fares to celebrate the new A380 with prices starting at only £621 return or £688 to Hong Kong.
The A380 is a fantastic aircraft and an excellent showpiece for British engineering. Our customers are going to love the space, light and comfort on board.
British Airways’ A380s will accommodate 469 customers across four cabins. Customers in first class will be seated at the front of the main deck. The cabin will offer 14 seats and is evolved from the current first class with 30 percent more personal space and 60 percent more personal stowage.
The A380 will replace a 747 on both routes, offering 469 seats. There are 14 suites in first class, 97 lay flat seats in business class, 55 in Economy plus, and 303 in Economy. This is a huge increase in capacity (in both economy and business) compared to the 299 or 345 seats 747-400 it’s replacing! Hopefully, they are increasing both seating capacity and the number of award tickets available. Although after a quick search, I’ll tell you, finding seats can be hard this fall/early winter! The A380 has been loaded into the system and award space is available to search via aa.com, BritishAirways.com, or expert flyer. Do remember that BA charges a hefty fuel surcharges for award redemptions, but the offset of the fare could be well worth it!
| Flight # | Route |
| BA 268 | LAX – LHR |
| BA 283 | LHR – LAX |
| BA 25 | LHR- HKG |
| BA 26 | HKG – LHR |
Total Costs LAX-LHR return
Economy 50,000 + $679
Economy Plus: 75,000 + $686
Business: 100,000 + $869
First:150,000 +$869
Total Costs LHR-HKG return
Economy: 60,000 + $565
Economy Plus: 90,000 + $748
Business: 120,000 + $874
First:180,000 +$874
Flying for free is my favorite thing and trying out new airplanes and products is what makes flying so enjoyable. If you do not have British Airways Avios miles, remember that BA is a direct transfer partner of American Express, which means your Membership Reward points convert 1:1 to Avios miles! Amex and BA have teamed up in the past to offer a 30-50% bonus on membership reward transfers. With any luck they will do it again soon so we can try out this new plane! Also remember, BA just announced new 787 routes, and award seats for those planes are also available!
