FCF discovered the Leg Stretch Strategy (LSS) to Europe and South America and unveiled it last July, when fares started at $2,460 in Business Class. Since then, the fares have expired, come back at even lower rates, and then expired again.
Bingo! Now they’re back on some routes, starting at $2,555. But you need to move fast because these fares can turn on a dime.
How does Leg Stretch Strategy work?
For FCF upgrade-mindset newbies and for the rest of you, a quick recap: FCF’s Leg Stretch Strategy (LSS) works best for the person who will travel (or would like to travel) to Europe at least twice in one year, and South America once. If this isn’t you, look at the amazing fares and ask yourself, “Might I consider such a trip if the cost is really this ridiculously low?”
The strategy makes use of round-trip itineraries between two continents (in this case Europe and South America) with stopovers each way in a third continent (in this installment, North America, specifically the U.S.). This last one is the "connecting continent."
The one kicker is that you have to get yourself to Europe because that's where the itinerary originates. We suggest getting a one-way ticket using miles. We've made that part easy with a special report, go here: Cheap & Easy Business and First Class One-Way Mileage Awards and How They Can Unlock a Big Deal.
This itinerary has four discreet legs on one ticket (equivalent to two round-trips): So, let's make this concrete:
Here’s how it goes, starting with the U.S. departure:
- Book a one-way ticket to Europe (details here).
- Purchase a round-trip ticket on Delta from Europe to South America via the U.S. (the stopovers are free) and you can stop over for as long as you like. That is, as long as all travel on the ticket is completed within one year from your departure date.
- Then it's off to South America.
- Back to the U.S. (the second stopover).
- Back to Europe, the final leg of the ticket.
- Decision Time: You can return home on another one-way ticket OR you can start the process again, returning to the U.S. as leg one of your next Leg Stretch Strategy ticket.
A New York to Zurich return ticket on Delta in economy ranges from ~$600 to $900, and a New York to Rio de Janeiro return ticket in economy ranges from ~$1,200 to $1,800. That’s $1,800 at a minimum to fly economy—and the total can easily rise to $2,700 during peak season. The LSS nets the same itinerary for $2,555. See below.
CHF = Swiss Franc; Delta’s currency conversion to U.S. dollars:
The Leg Stretch Strategy Extrapolated
We’ve crunched the numbers on a number of Europe/South America trips and found many options. Here are 12 examples that come in under $2,985, each with a link to the Google Flights page showing the deal.
[table_opt id="5974" style="black-header" width="default" alignment="thcenter" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="no" /]