So after posting all about the BA 4 day sale on Business Class tickets from London, I decided to press the button and book one. Other airlines matched within 24 hours and so I had a look at what American Airlines could offer. Surrendering the BA shareholder discount and cashback that I would have received, I did find some very nice twists in using AmericanAirlines.co.uk web site.

• On the BA web site the BA flight from London City to JFK was £500 more expensive than the flights from Heathrow. It was the same price when booked as an AA codeshare on their UK Site.
• Although the fare books in to an I fare, AA allowed tickets to be issued in First on their three class JFK-LAX/SFO flights
• The domestic US sections book in to First Class – earning more tier points than when booked on BA when they only booked in to Business Class. So I have a segment in First Class from JFK to LAX on a three class aircraft, and a segment in First Class from San Francisco back to JFK on a two class 767-300.

This means that my travel (out just after Christmas/ back 1 January 2012) from  London City to San Francisco (and back to Heathrow), earns 830 BA Tier Points (enough for Silver status – just requires the 4 BA flights per-requisite). Now on to book the hotels.

 These offers only exist for one more day.