Splitting the ticket
 

I'm not sure what to call my "situation", but here's the rub. In the fall or early winter of this year I want to go from LAX to OSL (Oslo, Norway) on a business class ticket using United. The price quoted by UAL is outrageous to me, over $8K. I'm a bit miffed since I just flew BC from LAX to London on $3K. I know London is often the cheapest destination but a $5K difference? Ouch!! The only option that seems to work is purchasing an LAX-LHR business class ticket for $3K and then catching a separate Brit Airways flight from LHR-OSL for around $500 USD (Club Class). Just wondering how common this is or am I just not doing something right? By the way, I want United for the miles and BC because of the extra room (I'm plus-sized and feel the BC seats are a perfect fit for me). Any thoughts?

Be very wary if you are going to do any intra-Euro flying in what the Euro carriers call First/Business/Club etc. They are not normal longhaul premium cabins and often are just the normal 3 seats of Y seating with the middle seat blocked out. Simply not worth the $ for the relatively short flying time IMHO.

I'd suggest checking with local consolidator type agencies for their wholesale/consolidator type tickets. If you are after miles with UA then you have the Star Alliance partner carriers to also choose from - bound to be a good consolidator deal somewhere in there using solely, or a combination of, UA LH SK BD LO OS NZ SQ US and AC flights to and within Europe.

Yikes, I punch in some random dates in late October, and the Skyteam Airlines have much better price. KL/NW (via AMS), CO (via EWR), and AF (CDG) all have business fares <$2,900 to Oslo.

May want to wait a little to see if UA, LH or SAS will lower their price.

If you do fly on BA to OSL, they run A320s on that route, and you want to be in the 2-seat (A/B) side in Club Europe for a more comfortable ride. The other side has 3 seats, which they regularly sell. Sitting in a middle seat in business is a sucky idea.

Also note that BA use LHR Terminal 4 for OSL flights. Good if you're riding BA over the water, bad if you're connecting (especially with bags if you can't through-check) from an airline that uses another Heathrow terminal.

$3K LAX-LHR sounds like a discounted, restricted business fare (at United, known as a Z fare); $8K sounds like full-fare business. United's Z fares are not always available, and when they are, they don't necessarily cover every market. I have seen some United-marketed Z fares on Lufthansa on occasion (bought one, myself, last year to Italy), so you might keep an eye out for those. I recall seeing some Z fares available on LH and UA for June when I was shopping for tickets about three months ago.

Appreciate all the suggestions. I can't believe the difference between what UA is charging and what's available from other carriers like Continental and Air France. Maybe those miles aren't that important after all!

MS- I did have a "Z" ticket last time I flew to LHR. I have a lot of time, so I'll keep an eye out for one.