What’s good? What’s changed with published First Class fares? Mileage award tickets? And what are the workarounds?
We don’t call ourselves First Class Flyer for nothing. So, it’s time for FCF’s semi-regular roundup of trends up front.Sure, lockdown took its toll on First Class with a lot of airlines closing those cabins. But now that travel’s back on the menu First Class cabins are making a comeback. While published fares and miles pricing are in flux, low-tier mileage award space is available to a number of regions at various times. For two people, look to American, Cathay Pacific, and Lufthansa. If you’re a solo traveler, add Emirates, Japan Airlines, and Singapore Airlines, to your list.
We took a First Class deep dive, along with other opportunities by region, airline, and miles and points that you can redeem for big savings. Head through the air bridge and TURN LEFT!
A Couple First Class Service Updates First
Asia
- All Nippon is pulling First Class from its Los Angeles-Tokyo service starting at the end of March, as it moves from operating B777s with First Class to B787s that don’t offer the cabin. This leaves only Chicago, New York, and San Francisco with First Class on All Nippon’s B777s, which currently do not show any award space at the moment.
- Japan Airlines is pulling First Class from its Chicago-Tokyo service starting at the end of March, as it moves from operating B777s with First Class to B787s that don’t offer the cabin. This leaves only Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco with First Class on Japan’s B777s. More on where the availability is in a moment.
Latest First Class Availability & Trends With Miles & Points
ASIA
All Nippon Award Travel
All Nippon has resumed First Class on three of five routes since pre-lockdown, specifically Chicago, New York, and San Francisco to Tokyo. We are keeping an eye out for First Class returning to Houston and Washington, DC.Best of luck finding free First Class award seats on those three routes. Other than a handful of single seats on Chicago-Tokyo’s return flight back in January, we haven’t seen seats available on these routes since December 2021, so don’t plan on this approach.
Cathay Pacific Award Travel
Two-seat availability has been pretty easy to find lately, but it’s now decreasing as you can see below in blue. The bulk of availability is for single seats as you can see in black.Workaround: Don’t have any Cathay Pacific miles? Buy the miles to save big or transfer Amex, Citi, or Capitol One points to Cathay miles.
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Japan Airlines Award Travel
Japan consistently offers single-seat First Class award space close in — within 30 days of departure — and for far-out availability, 11 to 12 months in advance of departure. We have occasionally seen two-seat availability close in for spontaneous travelers and last-minute upgraders.Workaround: Don’t have any Japan Airline miles? Buy American miles redeemable for Japan Air to save big.
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Singapore Airlines Award Travel
Singapore’s Los Angeles-Tokyo route — the only route the airline flies from the U.S. to Asia with a First Class cabin — is showing a handful of days with one seat close in on the return only. Keep your eyes peeled because you can sometimes see two seats close-in too.Europe Mileage Awards Trends
We left British Airways out because of their high taxes. Here’s a bit of a workaround for BA’s First Class and British Airways Business-to-First Class Mileage Upgrades to London.American Award Travel
Otherwise, as you see below, American Airlines to London from Dallas and New York, which ranges from 168,000 to 224,000 miles round-trip, is the cheapest First Class option available. American’s Los Angeles and Miami routes do not show any free award seats at this time.- Dallas-London has semi close in availability for two or more travelers, in both directions in April.
- New York-London October to January has seats for four or more travelers in both directions, making this route better to find space far out.
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Emirates Award Travel to Europe
New York-Milan offers single-seat availability in January 2024 in both directions on its A380. October and December 2023 have a handful of dates with single seats on the return. We haven't seen two seats available since January, 2023, so this could change and is worth checking periodically.Newark-Athens offers single-seat availability October to January 2024 in both directions on its B777. Single-seat availability can sometimes be found close in, but we haven't seen two seats available since July, 2021.
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Lufthansa Award Travel
- Boston-Munich availability has decreased from plentiful to a handful most months. You can find up to four seats, on a few dates outbound if you search close in. There are a few months with a handful of days with one- and two-seat availability for travel through the fall. So it's best to book now if this route is on your radar.
- Chicago-Frankfurt has a handful of days with one- and two-seat availability outbound only in December and January. Single-seat availability is looking pretty slim, so it’s best close in for spontaneous travelers and last-minute upgraders.
- Chicago-Munich availability has decreased from a lot to a few most months. One to two seats can be found on a handful of dates in April, July, and August, in both directions. The opportunity of booking two seats is less now, so it’s best to book now while the getting is good.
- New York-Munich shows decent availability for one to two travelers in both directions in August.
- Washington, DC-Munich has the best availability of all routes for one to two travelers from May to October.
Workarounds: Get free connecting flights to hubs with availability, check out our bridge route report here.
And speaking of Lufthansa, the German carrier has a new buy-miles sale opportunity you should check out if you don’t have any of its miles.
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Singapore Airlines Award Travel
Singapore Airlines’ New York-Frankfurt route isn’t very consistent as back in January we only saw a couple random days across all months outbound only in First Class. Then in February, we saw quite a few days with single seats, for a few months, on the return only. Currently, you can find single-seat availability in January and February 2024 outbound and October to February on the return. We have not seen two seats on this route since lockdown in November, 2021.[table_opt id="6751" style="gray-header" header_rows="2" width="default" alignment="thcenter" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="no" /]
Middle East Mileage Awards
Emirates Award Travel
To Dubai, there is plenty of single-seat availability in both directions on the following routes in the following months. (If you want the shower flight, book the A380 routes).Boston (B777) in October
Chicago (B787) in October and November
Houston (A380) in April and September to November
Los Angeles (A380) in September and October
Orlando (B777) in September to November and January
San Francisco (A380) in October and November
Washington, DC (A380) in November
On all routes, other months have scattered availability, as you can see below.
We haven't seen decent two-seat availability since the end of 2021 on Emirates. Your best chance of finding two seats is close in, on their Houston, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, routes, but it’ll likely only be for a handful of days.
Workaround: Compare the cost of buying the miles needed through Amex for these Emirates flights in First Class versus forking out the cash for the typical published airfare, to save nothing less than five figures.
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South America Mileage Awards
American Award Travel
Although First Class award seat availability is sparse on most routes, there are seats for up to four travelers on American’s Miami-São Paulo route. Keep an eye out as we’ve seen one to two days a month with as many as four seats outbound in March, May, and September through November, which don’t make it on the chart but it’s a trend worth checking if South America is on your radar. On the return, March, May, and January have one to two days a month with one seat. Don’t book backwards and you can score.Workaround: Don’t have any American miles? Buy them to save big, or transfer them. More on that here. Don’t live in Miami? Remember you can get free connections, when available.
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Published Fare Scene
Asia Fares
High & Largely Unchanged: As we said in our January Crystal Ball report, fares are about the same as they were in 2019 pre-lockdown when First Class was in full swing, ranging from $19,000 to 23,000 to Asia for All Nippon and Japan Airlines. On Singapore Airlines, Los Angeles-Tokyo costs between $13,600 and $15,700.Europe Fares
Decent & Holding Steady: American and British Airways from the East Coast starts at $4,400 to London and beyond. From the West Coast, fares start in the high $6,000 range to London and up.Fares Double: On Emirates, New York-Milan round-trip goes for $15,500 to $19,500 at the moment, whereas back in January 2022, they were just $6,192. Newark-Athens typically ranges from $16,300 to $20,300 now, whereas back in January 2022, they were just $7,478.
Trending Lower: On Lufthansa, if you fly from the East Coast to their Frankfurt hub you’ll pay $7,281+, and to Munich, $9,514+ at time of publication. It’s much less to fly beyond their hubs to other European cities, such as Belfast, London, Madrid, Palma, and Valencia, Barcelona, Florence, Malta, Milan, Naples, Rome, and Seville, prices are in the low $6K range — not bad for First Class.
If you fly from the West Coast to Frankfurt, you’ll pay $10,700+, and to Munich, $9,514+. Other cities start in the low $8,200s.
Middle East Fares
Fares Slashed: Etihad’s Washington, DC-Abu Dhabi route, which was going for $23,100 in August of 2019, now ranges from $9,799 to $10,700 through mid-June then jumps to $15,900 to $21,800.Trending Higher: Emirates fares are up 27% to 36% when compared to May 2020, New York-Dubai was $28,100 and now is $21,572 for example.
South America Fares
Trending High: American’s only First Class route to South America from Miami to São Paulo ranges from $12,820 to $14,800, compared to $10,800 back in November 2020.Last Thoughts
Mileage availability is dynamic and always changing, so use this as a guide. And remember, First Class award availability shown in the charts above reflects publication time or just prior. But don’t let that prevent you from dreaming — and dreaming big. While the pickings may be slim at times, there are plenty of First Class seats to snap up if you’re flexible with your destination and booking dates.Now that you’ve got a clear picture of the First Class landscape with miles and cash, get your bags packed and ready to go. That inviting First Class seat is just waiting for you in 2023 and beyond.