New fare category and big discounts for leisure travelers booking 150 days in advance.
In the August issue, FCF announced two new EasyUp fares—one in Business and one in First—that marked an evolutionary step in the category for travel to Europe.
Then, in the October issue, FCF reported on similar changes at American, which now offers upgrades to First from Business for as little as $250 round-trip on select non-stop routes to Europe.
British Airways New First Class Fare
Now, British Airways is stepping up the game. It has taken two huge steps in lowering First Class fares on most U.S.-London routes. It is now offering upgrades to First from Business starting at $850 round-trip (in August the upgrade ranged from $1,000 to $1,500) on its lowest 150-day advance Business Class fare (in August the upgrade was only offered on higher Business Class fares).
The result of offering a lower upgrade surcharge—step one—and having the upgrade on its lowest Business Class fare—step two—is a $1,215+ fare drop in First Class. For example, on the Philadelphia-London route, First Class now goes for $3,972 round-trip, while the lowest Business Class costs $3,122—only a $850 fare British Airways First Class difference.
In August, the First Class fare on BA was $5,187, a fare drop of $1,215 in just three months (in November 2014 that same ticket was $6,402).
For perspective, that’s up to $250 less than the cash surcharge American and United require to upgrade from Business to First Class with miles. You’re also saving 40,000 to 50,000 miles if you snag one of these new fares.
Sample British Airways Routes to London with a $850 Fare Difference Between First and Business Class
[table_opt style="blue-header" id="2426 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]
Not Flying to London?
Consider a Two-Ticket Strategy
Use the new First Class fares to get to London, and a second ticket to reach your destination. You lower the cost and get a second city in the bargain (a stopover).
Two-Ticket Strategy Example
New York-London in First Class is now $4,115 (only two years ago it was as high as $12,418). The London-Frankfurt connection costs $470 round-trip in Business Class, for a total of $4,585 on British Airways. Buy the same ticket on Lufthansa and it costs $9,174, a difference of $4,589 / 50%—the cost of a second First Class ticket.
Other points to keep in mind with these new lower First Class fares
- Discounted First Class earns 100% more miles than discounted Business Class, so you earn miles faster for free award travel; read details on earning BA miles.
- No reason to use miles to upgrade on BA either because upgrades to London cost 40,000 to 50,000 miles, giving you a return of only 1.7¢ to 2.1¢.
- AARP offers a $400 discount on BA premium seats, and it can also be applied to the new First Class fares, reducing the cost to as low as $3,592.
- BA’s new First Class fares still earn a 50% mileage bonus if you credit your BA flights to the American AAdvantage miles program.
- The flat $850 upgrade fee from Business Class to First Class on the U.S.-London routes also applies to 90- and 50-day advance fares.