Judging from the raft of stories in the mass media, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the airlines are giving away Business Class this summer. Discounts of 50, 60, and 70% are strewn through the copy. What isn’t mentioned is that these discounts are off list-price fares, often $10,000. And who pays that anymore?
So in the contrarian spirit of First Class Flyer, here’s the real story.
Business Class fares are at roughly the same level they’ve been for the last few years, despite the bad economy. In May of last year Continental, an airline known for igniting Business Class fare wars, offered Business Class fares from NYC to London for $1,356 plus taxes and fees. Last month Continental offered the fare starting at $1,398.
Instead of running after fare promotions, we advise you to go where the bona fide summer promotions are: Free Upgrades.
A DozenWays toWork the Alliances to Get One or More Flavors of Free:
oneworld
Free Upgraded Seat: American completed its new Business Class seat roll-out last year, so now there’s no remembering which aircraft to book to get the new seat. The bigger upgrade here is to book with Iberia, which offers a fully-flat seat, not a 171-degree recline like American.Mileage Promotions Yield Free Upgrades: American has been offering unusually good mileage promotions this year. Take the London promotion: Fly round-trip in Business or First Class (booking codes: F, J, A, D, I, R; promo code UK50K) and earn 50,000 bonus miles, enough to upgrade your next trip to Europe, Asia, or South America. In the past, we never paid much attention to mileage bonuses, in Business or First Class.Why? They seemed to be valid only with “high” fares. Now that’s changed, another result of this new economy. For more information: American Special Offer Link
First Class Upgrade: Use Cathay Pacific’s Asia Miles to upgrade on American from heavily discounted Business Class fares to First Class—as little as 60,000 for a round-trip upgrade. (See FCF April 09 for more details.)
SkyTeam
Free Upgraded Seat: Book Continental’s B777s to get a seat with 170-degree recline, far superior to those on the carrier’s B767s and 757s (only 156-degree recline). Continental uses B777s from Houston toAmsterdam and London, and from Newark to Brussels and London. On Northwest, book a B747 or A330, both of which offer a seat reclining 176 degrees. Avoid Northwest’s B757s (150-degree recline). This summer, Delta starts offering lie-flat beds on its B767-400 service to London from NewYork. Remember: flying on a SkyTeam partner yields miles in your primary account (Continental until October). Air France, Alitalia (B767), KLM, and Virgin Atlantic (for Continental mileage members) are other SkyTeam members that offer a better upgraded Business Class seat to Europe over some U.S.carriers.[aside headline="FREE UPGRADES" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]By “free upgrades” we don’t just mean an upgrade that costs nothing. We’re using the word in a broader sense to mean knowing which routes and aircraft have an airline’s newest seats and which mileage promotions will yield the miles to get a free (no cost) upgrade on your next flight.[/aside]
Mileage Promotions Yield Free Upgrades: Continental offers a deal similar to American: Fly round-trip in Business Class (booking codes: J, D, Z) and earn 50,000 bonus miles, enough to get a round-trip upgrade (40,000 miles) on your next flight to Europe. (Offer includes Manchester and Edinburgh.) Delta and Northwest offer new routes promotions, some of which includes European routes. Earn 15,000 bonus miles and, when using Delta’s Amex card, an additional 35,000. For more information: Continental Special Offer link Delta Special Offer link.
Fares: Continental occasionally offers better promotional Business Class fares than its partners, Delta and Northwest. Until October, when Continental departs SkyTeam, you can fly it and earn miles and elite credit on Delta and Northwest.
Star Alliance
Free Upgraded Seat: For the better Business Class seat, fly United instead of US Airways—you’ll still earn miles and elite credit on US Airways. United’s new lie-flat Business Class seat is on all B767s as of last month, and more than 50% of its B747s have the new seat, too. Sample routes: Chicago to London, San Francisco to Frankfurt, and Washington to Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, and Zurich. As Business Class fares are about the same across the board, think of these carriers for a better Business Class seat to Europe: Air New Zealand (Los Angeles to London), Swiss, Virgin Atlantic (for US Airways mileage members). With all of them, you still earn miles on your preferred carrier.Mileage Promotions Yield Free Upgrade: United is offering 50,000 bonus miles on Business and First Class tickets to London: (booking classes: F, A, P, C, D, Z). The new United upgrade chart (as of Jul. 1) allows upgrades to Europe for 40,000: Asia and South American for 50,000. For more information: United Special Offer link.
Die-Hard US Airways Flyers: Keep in mind its lie-flat seat (GoEnvoySleeper) on the A330 for an airport upgrade. (Platinum and Chairman’s Preferred members can upgrade any time before departure.) It’s available to customers booked in Business Class for $300 one-way.
Occasional Upgrade offers
Mileage Redemption Promotions: Over the last few months some international airlines have been offering premium award redemptions at a discount, sometimes as low as coach.Airlines to check:Air France, SAS (Premium Economy),Virgin Premium Economy (superior to some U.S. airlines’ old international Business Class seats), and Lufthansa for discounts on trans-Atlantic upgrades.Bonus Miles Purchases: These promotions can yield unbelievable savings, as was the case with Delta’s 100% bonus (FCF March 09).
Award Chart Loopholes: Take advantage of discrepancies in regional vs. flight distance charts. See FCF April 09 issue on how to do so.
[aside headline="If Comfor t is Your Driver, Fly Virgin Atlantic or British Airways." alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]Those two airlines offer the most comfortable trans-Atlantic Business Class experience. Moreover, this duo, famous for never matching fares, are doing so now: A three-week advance from NYC to London is $1,800.[/aside]