FirstClassFlyer

FCF readers have been snagging free upgrades left and right to Europe. Here’s an overview (for the hard-core airfare geeks among you) of what has happened to EasyUp fares this year so far.

According to Wikipedia, a cat-and-mouse game is defined as “A contrived action involving constant pursuit, near captures, and repeated escapes.” That’s exactly what happens these days when airlines offer EasyUp fares to Europe and you try to get one. You’re the cat, the fare is the mouse; fares are there one hour, gone the next (with available routes changing constantly as well).

[aside headline="Some things I’ll just never understand (this month’s edition) ..." alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]

Why would United offer a $1,472 Business Class fare and NOT a mileage upgrade to Business Class, given that it requires a $1,543 COACH fare plus a $1,100 co-pay? In other words, United won’t take $3,015 (plus 50,000 miles), but it will take $1,472. Sounds like cat-and-mouse between internal business units.

Also, why would Delta offer a $1,413 Business Class fare and NOT offer a mileage upgrade Business Class seat, given that it requires a $3,100 COACH fare? In other words, Delta won’t take $3,100 (plus 50,000 miles), but it will take $1,413. Sounds like another game of cat-and-mouse.[/aside]

Quick Backstory

I coined the term “EasyUp” when I discovered these fares back in November 2012. The name comes from the fare’s distinguishing characteristic: A deeply discounted economy fare with a built-in upgrade to Business Class at a flat rate (similar in some ways to the Y-Up fares we’ve reported on since 1996). EasyUp fares make most other upgrade and mileage strategies worthless and calls into question—big time—the value of elite status.

Today, EasyUp fares are nearly as good and almost as fleeting as they were in November 2012, with one primary difference: 18 months ago the fares were only available with two airlines, whereas now that number has jumped to ten!

Secret Fares?

None of the major airlines offering EasyUp fares ever announce them Publicly Even worse, they’ll quietly release an EasyUp fare and then turn around and promote a more expensive fare, all in the same day. For example, United was selling $1,472 round-trip Business Class tickets to Europe (at the time, coach cost at least that on many routes) when I got an email from the carrier trumpeting a $3,000+ Business Class fares. As you might expect, the latter was then picked up by some notable websites, touting the $3,000 deal.

The Cat & Mouse Game Over the Last Month

The chart below shows how prominent-yet-elusive the fares have become.

Comparing EasyUp Fares to Economy Over the Last Month

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Besides the price turbulence, also note all of the route changes. One day recently, you could travel from Los Angeles or San Diego to Dusseldorf, then that was replaced by San Francisco to Copenhagen.

Europe EasyUp Fare Evolution from 2012 to 2014

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[aside headline="Other EasyUp Fare Destinations/Continents: New Stand-out EasyUp Fares in 2014" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]Business Class fares to Buenos Aires have been as low as $1,622 (see Feb. 13 alert) and $1,645, (see April 7 alert) from Los Angeles and New York on American. We have also seen more and lower Business Class fares to Europe from Canada.[/aside]

The Outlook

Get ready for more summer EasyUp fares—check our newsroom frequently—and be ready to be the cat when they come up. Remember that all the fare restrictions count: If you miss one of them, you won’t get the fare. Remember, too, that getting an EasyUp fare means forgetting about airline loyalty oftentimes. Also, be flexible in your itinerary: It can pay to take a low fare to a city near your destination and then buy a separate ticket, rather than holding out for the exact city pair you want. Don’t worry about buyer’s remorse: If you find a lower fare, you’ll often have to pay a change fee (usually $400 to $500) and take the fare difference in the form of a travel voucher. For more details see our November 2013 issue.

FCF Member Testimonials

We love to hear from you when you’ve nabbed an EasyUp fare. It makes all the digging and hunting we do worth it. Here are some of the deals our members got last month:

Susan Kinney from Pasadena, CA: Four tickets to Paris, saving $10,000+.
Leon and Lisa Faris from Milton, GA: Two tickets to Shannon from Atlanta for $1,462 each.
Steve Benfield from Atlanta, GA: Five tickets to Europe for $1,556 each; savings of $11,000+.
Dennis Sullivan from San Diego, CA: Two tickets to Paris for $1,550 each.
Jeff Haas from Montara, CA: Two tickets from San Francisco to Copenhagen for $1,720 each.
Craig Arnold from Bloomfield Hills, MI: Two tickets from Chicago to Lisbon for $1,754 for each.
James Lyon from Santa Barbara, CA: One ticket from San Francisco to Lisbon for $1,754.

[["Date","Alliance","EasyUp Fare (Range Based On Different Routes)**","Economy Fare**","Cost to Upgrade (i.e., the Difference in the Two Fares)","Fare Duration"],["28-Mar","Star* and SkyTeam*","$1,664 to $2,285","$1,614 to $1,703","$50 to $582","Less than 24 hours"],["1-Apr","SkyTeam*","$1,413 to $2,205","$1,665 to $1,703","Zero to $502","#rowspan#"],["4-Apr","Star Alliance*","$1,472 to $1,495 ","$1,893 to $1,992","Business Class often<\/u> less than coach<\/span>","#rowspan#"],["#rowspan#","SkyTeam*","$1,808 to $1,833","$1,598 to $1,893","$60 to $210","#rowspan#"],["7-Apr","SkyTeam*","$1,711 to $1,745","$1,448 to $1,550 ","$195 to $263","7-days***"],["8-Apr","Star* and SkyTeam*","$1,711 to $2,918","Same sale as on April 7, just more destinations","#colspan#","#rowspan#"],["11-Apr","SkyTeam*","$1,708 to $1,760","Same sale as on April 7, just different routes","#colspan#","#rowspan#"],["15-Apr","SkyTeam*","$1,658 to $1,748","$1,598 to $1,893","$60 to $145","Less than 24 hours"]]

*Star Alliance = Air Canada, Austrian, Brussels, Lufthansa, SWISS, and United; SkyTeam = Air France, Alitalia, Delta, and KLM. **Fare varies from one route to the next; these are approximations, as there are hundreds of routes (see original Fare Alert in FCF’s Newsroom on the corresponding date for more on routes). ***Seattle-London fare was gone on April 11.

[["Airlines","2012 (Fare Came Out)","2013 (Evolution Year)","2014"],["#rowspan#","Delta*, American","Air Canada, Air France, Alitalia, American, Austrian, Brussels, Delta, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, SWISS, and United","Air Canada, Air France, Alitalia, Austrian, Brussels, Delta, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, SWISS, and United"],["Minimum Stay","10 days","10 days","Varies; some 10 days, others Saturday night"],["Maximum Stay","30 days DL\/ 12 months AA","12 months","3 months"],["Advance Purchase","60 days","60 days","Varies; at times 90, but mostly 60 days"],["Days of Week","Sunday to Thursday (often)","Sunday to Thursday (often)","Any day"],["Season","Year-round**","Year-round**","Summer; June 27 through August 30"],["Starting Fares","$1,222","$1,245 ","$1,413"],["Time in Market","Weeks (pulled at the end of Dec.)","Varies; at times days, at times hours","#colspan#"],["When Business Class Fare Started","Sept. 28***","Many different dates throughout the year","March 28"],["First Class","Not to Europe; but to Asia and South America****","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["Departure Cities","Many East and West Coast Cities","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["Destinations","Many; including Amsterdam, Athens, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Istanbul, London, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, and Zurich ","#colspan#","#colspan#"]]

These are high-level summaries, as FCF only has access to so much data. *Delta had the lowest fares because it charged taxes based on economy fares. **When fares first came out they had the same restrictions as economy fares, which also means the same season as economy fares, so the lowest EasyUp fares were valid for low-season travel, and high season travel cost more. Fares allowed travel year-round with a fare difference of up to $500 depending on route and days of the week; as the fares evolved in the first quarter of 2013, they then became more in line with Business Class seasonal fares, meaning that they were only offered for summer travel. ***For Delta; American’s fare came out Oct. 17. ****Asia had EasyUp First Class fares on American in 2012 and 2013; and in 2014 for travel to South America and Asia.