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Last year a flight from JFK - LHR made a record crossing of 5 hours and 16 minutes by taking advantage of the jetstream:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1...

I'd assume it's not worth it from SFO though, as the polar route is so much shorter.

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I was on a BOS-LHR flight once that picked up a good tailwind and we arrived well ahead of schedule, only to sit in a holding pattern for 30-ish minutes so we could land after the airport noise restrictions were loosened at 6am.

Super frustrating to fly over your house repeatedly when all you want to do is get home!

I fly SFO-LHR often. Sometimes the flights do actually take a southerly route (overflying New York) to take advantage of the wind. It's all a tradeoff of increased distance vs increased speed, depending on wind patterns on that day.

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