Business Class Flights to the United Kingdom

British Airways is the UK's flag carrier and the one with the most business class flights to the UK: more than twenty American cities into London Heathrow, from New York, Boston and Washington to Dallas, Denver, Seattle and San Diego. Its business cabin is Club World, and on its newest aircraft the Club Suite, a lie-flat seat with a sliding door and direct aisle access. A Club World ticket includes lounge access at Terminal 5, a two-bag allowance and a proper meal service on the long-haul flight. BA is also the main carrier with first class flights to London from the USA, on its busiest routes.

Virgin Atlantic is the other British airline on the route, with Upper Class from New York, Boston, Washington, Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas into London. Upper Class is lie-flat too, with the onboard bar Virgin is known for and the Clubhouse lounges on both sides of the Atlantic, a travel experience many travelers pick for its own sake. It is also the only one flying business class to Manchester from the US.

Delta, United, American Airlines and JetBlue all fly lie-flat business class to London, and all four serve Scotland as well, mostly in summer. JetBlue Mint from JFK and Boston is often the lowest business class fare to London on those routes. Norse Atlantic flies New York to Gatwick with a premium cabin that reclines but isn't lie-flat, and we mention it when it's the better deal. Which one is cheapest on a given date changes constantly, which is why we quote all of them rather than one.

London is where most business class flights to the UK land, and where prices are lowest, because seven carriers fight over the same travelers. From New York alone there are more than twenty nonstop flights a day. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, Boston, Washington, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Seattle, Denver, Philadelphia and a dozen smaller cities all have their own nonstop business class flight to London, most of them overnight and landing mid-morning.

Heathrow takes almost all of it. Gatwick has Norse and a few BA flights, and it's the better airport if you're heading to Brighton or the south coast. For routes, prices and the busiest departure cities in detail, see our page on business class flights to London.

Manchester is the gateway for the north of England: Manchester itself, Liverpool, Leeds, the Lake District, and a two-hour train to London if you'd rather arrive from the north. Virgin Atlantic flies Upper Class nonstop from New York JFK, Atlanta and Orlando year-round, and from Las Vegas in season. No US airline flies to Manchester nonstop, so if your departure city isn't one of those, or you're flying from LAX or SFO, the usual routing is a connection through London or a European hub, and we price both against the nonstop.

Edinburgh has more US nonstops than most people expect. United flies from Newark year-round, from Washington Dulles for most of the year and from Chicago in summer. Delta flies from New York JFK year-round, with Atlanta and Boston in summer. American flies from JFK and Philadelphia in summer, and JetBlue adds Mint from JFK and Boston in summer too. From roughly May to October you can fly business class to Scotland nonstop from seven US cities. In midwinter it comes down to Newark and JFK.

Glasgow has one US nonstop, United from Newark in summer. The rest of the year, Glasgow is a short connection from London or Dublin, or a one-hour train from the capital.

Into one city, out of another. A common UK itinerary is to fly into London and home from Edinburgh, or into Manchester and out of London. That's called an open-jaw ticket, it costs no more than a normal round trip on most tickets, and it saves a day of backtracking. Ask your agent to quote it.

Whichever airline you pick, business class to the UK includes lounge access, priority boarding and two checked bags, and the lie-flat seat with gourmet dining and bedding on the overnight flight. The flight from the East Coast is only about seven hours, so the seat matters less for comfort than for sleep: you land at breakfast time able to work or sightsee instead of losing the first day. None of it changes with the price you pay, and a discounted ticket booked through us gets the same seat, lounge and bags as a full-fare one.

Looking for the cheapest business class flights to the UK? Three things move the price more than anything else.

Season: best time to visit and to book

June through August and the two weeks around Christmas are the most expensive months to fly business class to England or Scotland. Late January to March and November are when you'll find the cheapest business class flights to England, often by a third or more, and London in those months is a better city for theatre, museums and restaurants than London in August. Scotland is different: the Edinburgh nonstops are seasonal, so summer is both the most expensive time and the only time most of them operate.

London or a regional airport

London airfare is usually the lowest because of the competition, but not always. When a Manchester or Edinburgh nonstop has seats to fill, it can come in below London's, and you land where you're actually going. We check both.

Nonstop or connecting flights

From the East Coast, connecting rarely saves money on this route. From the West Coast, Texas or the Mountain states, a one-stop through Dublin on Aer Lingus, Reykjavik on Icelandair or a European hub can come in well under the nonstop, especially last-minute. We quote both.

Published or unpublished fares

British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and the US carriers all sell part of their business class cabins through contract fares that never appear on their own websites or on flight search engines. Those unpublished fares are what we book, and they're how our clients save up to 70%* on published prices. Fare rules on these tickets can differ from the airline's own, mostly around changes and refunds, and your agent explains them before you book.