How airlines actually price flights from London to
San Francisco

Most final approaches into SFO take you in from the north, with great views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the city on the left hand side from about 12,000ft.

Extended sunsets are visible on the left side window seats, particularly on early afternoon winter flights like BA287 and UA949. Covering 122 degrees of longitude, you can enjoy up to 10 hours of gorgeous sunset.

Most flights to San Francisco route up and over Greenland. If the cloud base is clear, you can see amazing views of fjords, glaciers, and icebergs about 3 hours after take-off — reasonably timed after a first meal and film.

If you're awake on the overnight return flights, some of these flights could offer views of the Northern Lights in the higher latitudes about midway through.

On the return flights, choose window seats on the right hand side. You get good (although not quite as good as the approach) views of the city on departure. If you're taking off in daylight, sunset will be on the right. Sunrise will be on the right too, although that can disturb the cabin more. You typically get better views of London on approach into Heathrow too.

All airlines have the same 31" seat pitch in Economy. United's 777s all have 3-4-3 and less recline (only 3" unlike BA & Virgin's 5"). United also offer leather seats — nice on shorter flights, but less breathable and comfortable on long-haul overnight.

That said, United Economy Plus is widely available. This is an extra legroom Economy, not a separate Premium Economy cabin. 34" pitch and more recline makes it the best Economy cabin for space.

The current British Airways A380 layout has Economy split over the main and upper deck. Unlike the main deck 3-4-3 layout, the upper deck is 2-4-2 and has large side bins for storing your personal belongings (as opposed to just the overhead lockers).

Smaller cabins and easier aisle access feels far less crowded than the dense Economy cabins on other aircraft.

Three major airports serve the San Francisco Bay Area. Even if you're travelling into the city, they are all competitive on door-to-door times. Search all of them to find a better deal.

There used to be direct flights to all three airports from London, but now they are all consolidated into SFO. That said, you can connect through to any of them from other gateway hubs in the USA. If direct LHR-SFO prices are high and you're considering one-stop flights anyway, see if you can save more by searching to all the Bay Area airports.

The Bay Area's afternoon traffic is notorious, and several London flights land or depart right in the middle of it.

Arriving into SFO: VS19 and UA949 both land mid-afternoon. By the time you've cleared immigration and collected baggage, you'll be heading into peak traffic. The earlier morning arrivals (BA285 and UA900) get you out of the airport well before it builds up. BA287 and the later flights arrive after it eases.

Departing from SFO: VS20, UA930, and BA286 all depart in the late afternoon and evening. If you're heading to SFO from the city or the Peninsula, allow extra time or consider taking BART instead of driving. These are otherwise well-timed flights for sleep and jetlag — so the trade-off is worth it.

Alternatively, head to the airport earlier and work from the lounge. SFO has solid options in the international terminal.

On these longer flights, airlines typically have a larger meal offering. These flights stretch over 11 hours (longer if you count boarding time through till after immigration), so even so — plan on snacks.

British Airways serve a second hot meal on longer flights to the USA, like to California, Arizona & Nevada (typically over 5,000 miles). This is similar to the first meal service without a starter or separate drinks service.

United have 3 services each way, with a hot meal before arrival and a warm mid-flight snack (like a sandwich), even on their overnights. This is more similar to their long transpacific flights from Heathrow.

Virgin Atlantic's service is more similar to their East Coast flights. A smaller, cold "afternoon tea" before arrival, or warm breakfast sandwich on return. Mid-flight on the outbound daylights, you also get a warm sandwich.

Remember, US customs won't let you bring fresh food items in. That includes things like fruit or sandwiches provided onboard. Save the hassle and eat onboard.

Flights to San Francisco are long enough to avoid sleep deprivation. If you can rest, that makes "day 1 jetlag" easier. But the 8-hour timezone difference makes the next day much harder to adjust.

The faster return flights to London are still airborne for at least 9 hours 30 minutes. With drinks, dinner, and a breakfast service, you're likely to have at least 6 hours undisturbed to sleep.

Even if you're just resting, you're less likely to suffer true sleep deprivation on these longer overnight flights than, say, New York to London (typically less than 4 hours undisturbed).

But a more restful flight doesn't reset your body clock. That's why people often struggle with their second full day and night, after they've had a chance to sleep through in a proper bed.

Most flights take off from London when you would be asleep (or just waking up) in San Francisco, and most arrival times are when you would be asleep (or going to sleep) in London.

The earliest flights like BA285 and UA900 take off from London by 11am, or 3am in San Francisco. They land by 2pm into SFO with the full afternoon ahead. But that is 10pm in London — and you should aim to stay awake.

Stretching your body's circadian rhythms far beyond a 24-hour cycle will trigger awful day 1 jetlag. You can counter this with a gentle nap on the flight out. You'll easily have time on the 11-hour outbound flights.

United have a lunchtime flight from San Francisco that lands around 7am. Although this gives a full day in London, 7am London time is still 11pm the previous day in California.

Your body's circadian rhythms will have had no reason to adjust, but the UK timezone means you'll need to stay awake for the full day.

If you do sleep after arrival, you'll likely be sleeping in a proper bed, much more deeply than on a plane. This is much harder to wake yourself from.

The exception is if you're on a very short trip from the UK and if you stay on (or near enough to) UK timezones. But even then, the breakfast service on this flight will be around 5:30am UK time.

Do your body clock a favour and avoid this crazy flight.

Virgin's VS41 from Heathrow and VS42 back from San Francisco are typically the last nonstop flights that day. You can use a full day before flying and skip heavy traffic, but there's a real risk to day 2 jetlag.

Taking off around 6pm from London and flying for 11 hours, the flight will effectively feel overnight. You'll land around 5am UK time. The risk is you rest too much on the flight, and then can't sleep through when you arrive. This creates a very long day after arrival.

Try and stay awake for most of VS41, and limit a nap to 2–3 hours at most. Aim to "land tired" and then enjoy a long lie-in in a proper bed on arrival.

On the return, VS42 leaves SFO around 11pm and arrives into London around 6pm. You may have had a full night's sleep onboard, but then only have a few hours awake before you need to go to sleep again.

You can't do this flight without sleeping, but plan to wake up with plenty of time to go. Consider dinner before you fly, sleep for the first half of the flight, then treat the second half like a dayflight "on London time". Plan to "land tired" on London time.