Plus a Little-Known Upgrade Strategy to First Class
As announced in a newsroom post on Aug. 21, holiday Business Class fares to Europe have arrived—and are as amazingly low as ever!
The Players
This year the Star Alliance cast—Air Canada, Continental, Lufthansa, SAS, United, and US Airways—announced the fares first (rather than only Continental), on Aug. 18, starting at $950 (prices do not include taxes and fees). Two days later, SkyTeam members (Air France, Delta, and KLM) wouldn’t be outdone, and then a day later, American conceded its premium seats to the fare-chopping block.
The Hold-Outs
Since then, Virgin Atlantic has cut its holiday Business Class fares, but they are much higher than those of the other airlines, with NY-London starting at $2,581 for travel at Thanksgiving. The only current major holdout is British Airways.
The Opportunity Window For Thanksgiving, the lowest fares generally require departures from Nov. 21 to 27 and return from Nov. 25 to Dec. 1, depending on airline and destination. At Christmas, the departure window is Dec. 20 to Jan. 7 and the return falls between Dec. 24 to Jan. 13, again depending on airline and destination.
New Departure City Availability
We checked hundreds of routes and found that these fares are even being offered from smaller U.S. airports—which is not normally the case, historically speaking—such as Aspen, CO; Monterey, CA; and Shreveport, LA.
[aside headline="Airline “Codes” to Ask For" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]I: Alitalia, American, Delta, and Iberia J: Austrian Z: Air Canada, Air France, Brussels Airlines, Continental, KLM, Lufthansa, SAS, United, and US Airways[/aside]
Not Flying to Western Europe?
The fares can also take you beyond Western Europe to places such as Athens, Cairo, Istanbul, Moscow, and Sofia starting at $1,200 or more.
Little-Used First Class Upgrade Opportunity United:
Allows upgrades from its lowest Business Class fares to First Class using 40,000 round-trip, plus a $1,000 surcharge, something it only started last year.
American: The only other U.S. carrier offering a First Class cabin across the Atlantic, charges 50,000 miles round trip, plus a $1,000 surcharge.
Least Expensive Business Class Routes to Europe at Thanksgiving
[table_opt style="gray-header" id="707 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]
At Christmas and New Years
[table_opt style="gray-header" id="708 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]
Don’t Have Enough Miles for the Opportunity? With United:
The advantage is that you can buy all the miles required for about $1,300, so anyone can upgrade. For example, on the Chicago-Frankfurt route, United’s holiday Business Class fare is $1,350. With the $1,000 surcharge and the $1,325 to buy the miles, the total comes to $3,675.
[aside headline="One Great Deal" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]United charges $17,000+ round-trip for First Class on its Chicago-Frankfurt route, but if you play this game right, the price can drop as low as $3,700 (78% savings).[/aside]
With American:
Getting a rock-bottom price for First Class is a bit more involved, because it only allows you to buy 40,000 miles annually ($1,000). However, you can purchase the other 10,000 miles from Starwood (annual limit 19,000 points) for about $350. With the $1,100 surcharge, the ticket comes to about $3,800.
An even better deal:
If you have a lot of Starwood points, use them to book American via Cathay’s Asia Miles program. The mileage cost is higher—60,000 for itineraries of up to 10,000 miles, and 85,000 miles for longer one—but you avoid the $1,000 surcharge which American imposes!
Not Interested in Europe?
Discounted holiday Business Class fares to Africa, Asia, the Middle East, South America, and the South Pacific also exist, but are not nearly as low as those for Europe, as excess capacity is not as excessive.
Warm Weather Winter Deals
Holiday Business Class fares are not usually available to tropical destinations such as Belize, Costa Rica, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and Mexico. However, we discovered that fares have been slashed to many destinations, ranging from $650 (New York to San Jose, CR) to $1,000 (Los Angeles to Nassau). Hawaii is another story, as fares are among the highest of any region during the winter holiday season, which makes it a destination to get a very high return on your miles.
Canadians: Be Patient
From Canada, no holiday fares have been found, yet. However, based on the past two years, they could be announced soon. Last year they were offered from Dec. 24 to 31, starting at about $2,100 (USD) from Montreal to London on Air Canada. That’s about $2,000 less than the carrier’s lowest 30-day advance purchase fare, offered in Oct. 2009. So, wait if you can, or buy a ticket to a U.S. gateway and book a holiday fare to Europe from there.