If you want to fly London Heathrow to San Francisco how many Avios do you need?

Avios overview

All of the points and surcharges referenced on this page are for a single journey (not return) and per person. Surcharges on a return flight may be less than double that of a single, depending on the element of the surcharge that relates to airport and country taxes.

Flying between London Heathrow and San Francisco will mean using 33,000 (off-peak days) or 38,500 (peak days) in Avios.

Want to upgrade to premium economy? You can do that for an extra 19,250 Avios. Premium economy pricing will cost you a minimum of 52,250

Club World (Business Class) will require either 0 (off peak) or 110,000 (peak) Avios.

First Class seats will cost you between 0 (off peak) and 110,000 (peak) Avios. One thing to note is that First Class tickets are the only ticket type with BA that allows you to select your seats for free.

British Airways flies to San Francisco only from London Heathrow.

Find out which dates are peak, or off-peak in 2026.

San Francisco Avios needed table

Cabin	Avios Needed (Off-Peak)	Avios Needed (Peak)
Economy	33,000	38,500
Premium Economy	52,250	74,250
First	93,500	110,000

San Francisco Avios & cash combinations

On most flights you can choose to reduce the number of points needed for a flight, and pay a higher cash element. This is called Reward Flight Saver. When you select a cabin during a search for a reward flight you'll see a breakdown of the points you need at the base of the page. Clicking "more pricing options" will give you five alternatives, where you use fewer points but pay more cash.

This is useful if you don't have enough Avios for a flight OR if you want to preserve more points for the future. You do not select an alternative points/cash combination on this page. Click Continue and you'll be able to make a decision on the next page. By default BA will select the combination with the highest number of Avios and lowest cash element based on the Avios you currently have in your account or household account.

Cabin Option	Off-Peak (Avios + Cash)	Peak (Avios + Cash)
Economy	33,000 + £85 25,350 + £165 17,900 + £240 12,750 + £265 9,400 + £300 6,400 + £325	38,500 + £85 32,000 + £165 27,500 + £240 21,000 + £265 15,500 + £300 9,650 + £325
Premium Economy	52,250 + £200 40,750 + £255 35,750 + £315 28,600 + £360 22,000 + £420 14,350 + £470	74,250 + £200 60,500 + £255 55,000 + £315 45,100 + £360 33,000 + £420 22,000 + £470
Business		110,000 + £249.5 92,500 + £399.5 82,500 + £529.5 63,900 + £709.5 49,500 + £909.5 34,400 + £1059.5
First	93,500 + £574.54 84,250 + £724.54 70,150 + £884.54 56,150 + £1049.54 51,150 + £1104.54 46,750 + £1164.54	110,000 + £574.54 99,000 + £719.54 82,500 + £884.54 66,000 + £1054.54 60,150 + £1104.54 55,000 + £1169.54

How to make your Avios go further

If you're based in the UK then there's a way to make your Avios go even further, and that's through a Companion Voucher. I've written extensively about these amazing vouchers. They're not free in that you have to spend at least £15,000 on an Amex Card, but they're absolutely worth it. Read my guide on is a BA companion voucher worth it? to understand how to use a 2-4-1 voucher. On top of that, you can also use a Barclays Cabin Upgrade voucher to reduce the number of points needed. You can get these by either being a Barclays Premier customer, or by hitting a spend level on a Barclaycard.

How can you search for reward seat availability?

BA offers a number of ways to search for reward seats: their "Reward Flight Finder", their in-app "Reward Flights" section and just making a dummy booking. There are also third party tools that you can use, although I've managed to find plenty of seats without having to pay for a platform. I wrote about the best (and worst) ways to search for Avios availability. If you're looking to book seats to a popular destination then planning ahead is critical: seats become available 355 days before the flight date.

Using Avios on San Francisco flights

San Francisco is a key destination for BA, and they fly direct twice daily. One of those flights is usually an A380, which means more seats in First and Business Class and a greater chance of reward seat availability. The A380 flight is typically the earlier flight of the day, taking off around mid-day. As you might expect, SFO is a popular route, so whilst there are plenty of seats, those that are bookable using Avios can go quickly. There are a limited number of First seats available at the time of writing, and most are in the next three months. Business class availability is better, but remember that the A380 has the oldest style Club world seats. That will change in 2026 as BA refurbishes that plane and upgrades them to the new Club Suite. If you're looking to holiday on the West Coast, there are other options that could work for you such as San Jose, Phoenix or Seattle. All three tend to have more availability, and they have the new Club Suite. They are also great if you plan on doing a driving holiday as they can link in to a San Francisco visit.

London Heathrow to San Francisco Avios Frequently Asked Questions