Holiday Specials Make This the Best Time to Travel to Europe in Comfort
As announced in an email alert to members on Aug. 9, holiday Business Class fares have landed, and in some cases, are even lower than last year.
Continental is offering New York-London Business Class for $640 round-trip (plus about $835 in taxes!), the cheapest fare we’ve found. Last year, the lowest fare on this route was $950, and in 2009, it was $1,008.
The odd thing is that many airlines are not even advertising these fares. Still, the deal is perfect for a mileage run, a boost to elite status, or to net enough miles for a free domestic upgrade
Participating Airlines: Business Class
The fare war was started by Star Alliance carriers to Europe, among them Continental, Lufthansa, SWISS and United. Even Air New Zealand, which has only one route to Europe from the U.S. (Los Angeles-London), opted in. A few days later (Aug. 11) SkyTeam carriers, including Air France, Alitalia, Delta and KLM, and oneworld members American and Iberia, determined not to be undersold, escalating the all-out war. (However, AA only offers the fares during Christmas, not Thanksgiving, as do most others.)
The fare war was started by Star Alliance carriers to Europe, among them Continental, Lufthansa, SWISS and United. Even Air New Zealand, which has only one route to Europe from the U.S. (Los Angeles-London), opted in. A few days later (Aug. 11) SkyTeam carriers, including Air France, Alitalia, Delta and KLM, and oneworld members American and Iberia, determined not to be undersold, escalating the all-out war. (However, AA only offers the fares during Christmas, not Thanksgiving, as do most others.)
First Class: An Unbelievable Deal
United and Lufthansa are also offering holiday promo First Class fares to Europe, (see Aug. 23 alert), which start at $1,280 round-trip (plus about $935 in taxes) for New York-London during Thanksgiving. That’s about $9,000 less than British Airways charges on this route.
During Christmas, the Lufthansa and United First Class fare on this route increases to $2,700 (plus taxes), which is still about $7,500 less than BA.
Find Prints:For Thanksgiving Cristmas Party
Ticketing deadline Sept. 26; 60-day advance purchase; 3-day minimum, 10-day maximum stay; booking code A. (Applies for both airlines.)
First Class: The Big Question
Do you buy now or wait for others to join? We say, buy now because these fares are probably not going any lower, mainly because there are so few airlines that still offer First Class to Europe. Chances are slim that Air France or British Airways will join in—given their premium cabin protectionist personality; American might acquiesce.
The Ultimate Ticketing: Going First Class on an A380
Lufthansa’s new First Class seat on its A380, which flies Miami-Frankfurt during the winter, starts at $2,200 (plus taxes) during Thanksgiving and $3,400 at Christmas. The carrier’s normal First Class fare on this route is $17,431, a savings of up to $15,000 (87%).
Lowest First Class Fares at Thanksgiving to Europe On Lufthansa and United
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Business Class: Promo Hold-outs
The two major carriers at press-time were British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. FCF expects these airlines to join in with slightly higher Business Class Holiday fares.
U.S. Departure Cities
FCF checked hundreds of routes and found that these fares are offered from most major airports, as well as some smaller airports, among them Baltimore, Colorado Springs, Monterey, Norfolk Virginia Beach and Reno.
Destinations Included in this Promotion
These fares are being offered to major western European cities—including Florence, Malaga, and Nice—but also to some outliers, among them Athens, Istanbul and Moscow.
Business Class: Holiday Fares & Best Seats
Go for carriers that have a lie flat Business Class seat: Air Canada, Air France, Air New Zealand, Continental (B777-200ER and B757-200), Delta(B767-400 and B777), Iberia, Jet Airways, SWISS (A340-300), United (B747 and B767) and US Airways (A330-200).
Business Class: On an A380
That’s Air France from New York and Washington, DC to Paris, and Lufthansa from Miami to Frankfurt.
Lowest Business Class Fares at Thanksgiving to Europe
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Lowest Business Class Fares in December to Europe
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Booking Instructions
Many airlines offering these fares do not promote them as such on their websites. To get the fares, you must book travel within the restrictions listed below and they should appear in the search results, assuming the inventory is available. Or, hand the task to your travel agent.
Detailed Holiday Business Class Fare Restrictions
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Airline “Booking Codes” to Ask for
“I” class for American, Iberia, and Alitalia; “J” class for Air New Zealand; “P” class for Jet Airways, “S” class for Delta; “Z” class for Air Canada, Air France, Austrian Airlines, Continental, KLM, Lufthansa, SWISS, United, and US Airways.
To Use or Not to Use Award or Upgrade Miles
Don’t use either because the return on miles, in most cases, is less than one cent per mile. (You should seek a return on miles of at least 4¢ when redeeming them, since in most cases the cost to replace miles is about 2.75¢ to 3.5¢.)
Gain Elite Status with Just One Round-trip Flight
Combine one of these fares with a Fast Track Challenge (see High & Inside on page 2).
Destinations with Lowest Taxes
When fares are this low, the taxes and fees on a Business Class ticket can surpass the base fare of the ticket. Taxes and fees on tickets to London are really high (about $835), whereas they come to $655 on fares to Dublin, and $640 on tickets to Madrid for example, a difference of up to 23%.
Advanced Mileage Tip: How One Holiday Flight Earns a Free Round-trip Upgrade, Too
The example: A Gold Delta elite flying Los Angeles-London with a connection in Atlanta during Thanksgiving. Ticket cost (including taxes) is $2,214.
This itinerary comes to 12,312 flight miles round-trip, which on Delta also earns a fare class bonus of 50% (6,156 miles), and a Gold elite mileage bonus of 100% (12,312 miles), for a total of 30,780 miles.
How to use the miles: Los Angeles-New York is currently $3,163 round-trip. The lowest upgradable economy fare on Delta is $601 and requires 25,000 miles round-trip, yielding a savings of $2,562, which is less than the cost of the international ticket ($2,214).