Air France Group Dramatically Reduces Business Class
Air France, along with Air Europa and KLM, all part of the Flying Blue mileage program, have knocked 50,000 miles off the cost of a Business Class ticket to Europe, going from 100,000 to 50,000 miles (most airlines charge 50,000 just for economy). Air France also offers Premium Economy (Premium Voyageur) seats for only 31,500 miles.
The best way to nail a seat is by transferring 40,000 Star-wood Starpoints to Air France’s Flying Blue program. The 10,000-point transfer bonus brings the net to 50,000, which makes the upgrade “cheaper than free”, because many other carriers charge more for coach. You can also transfer 50,000 Amex Rewards points to Flying Blue or buy the Amex points for $1,250, a lot less than published fares ($4,000 to $10,000).
Departure window opens Feb. 29 from Miami on Air Europe; from Detroit, Montreal, Toronto, and Washington, DC on Air France; and from New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco on KLM. (It might be worth buying a ticket to one of these cities just to catch this amazing deal.)
Hidden Delta Fare—43% Off
Airlines that are code-share partners (meaning you buy a ticket from one but fly on the other) usually charge the same fare for the same route. But we found a whopping anomaly with Delta and Air Europa, which we’ve mentioned numerous times for its great Business Class fares.
On New York-Lisbon, Air Europa flies via Madrid. The trans-Atlantic portion of the flight is operated by Delta, and the flight to Lisbon on Air Europa. Book the flight with Air Europa and you’ll pay $1,804 round-trip including taxes. Book the flight on Delta’s website and the price is $3,169, a difference of $1,365 (43%).
Bad Buy: OpenSkies via American
On Dec. 6, American and OpenSkies signed a trans-Atlantic code-share agreement, as American did with British Airways and Iberia in October 2010. The deal gives AA the right to sell Premium Economy Class under its moniker for travel on OpenSkies. Don’t buy the Premium Economy seat from AA because you could end up paying nearly triple the price. Just compare New York-Paris for departure in February: You’ll find that OpenSkies sells the seat for $1,707 (T code; including taxes), whereas AA charges $4,066 (W code; including taxes), a difference of $2,359 (58%).
Are Flight-Distance Redemptions the Wave of the Future?
On Dec. 15, US Airways announced that as of Feb. 15 it was changing the basis of its upgrade program from “zone” to “flight distance” and imposing surcharges of $25 to $150. From then on, the miles required will be based on the length of the flight.
The new program offers a savings of 66% for shorter flight itineraries. Domestic U.S./Canada is currently 15,000 miles one-way and under the new program the highest mileage charged is 10,000. Other North American regions now cost 17,500 miles one-way, which will drop to 15,000 miles. You have until Feb. 14 to lock-in an upgrade under the current program. The new surcharge will be waived for elites or full-fare, refundable tickets (B and Y).
The surcharge, while uninviting, will keep many away—so availability should be better, theoretically. If you’re really serious about upgrading, it’s not all bad.
Click here for more more details on the US Airways mileage changes.
New Deadline for Free Trans-Atlantic Ticket via a Bonus Point Offset
American Airlines and British Airways “Multi-trip Multiplier” bonus-point promotion, which can yield sufficient miles after one trip by offsetting the cost of a trans-Atlantic Business Class ticket, has a new travel-completion date of Mar.15. See FCF Oct., 2011 for savings details.
For more information on the American and British Airways Opportunity, click here and here, respectively.