Finding Low, No-Advance International Business Class Fares

January 2009
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A Business Class round-trip from the U.S. to many popular international gateways can cost more than $8,000 when booked last-minute (or without a Saturday-night stay). One way to rein in those runaway fares is to take a more global approach to your rate search.

Going to Frankfurt from Chicago? Fly Air India’s non-stop. That counter-intuitive booking undercuts Lufthansa’s fare by more than $6,000.

Who checks with Kuwait Airways before a last-minute New York-London flight in Business Class? You, if you’d like to pay $5,000 less than you would for a Delta ticket.

The chart at right shows how much you can save using some lesser-known airlines to common, costly, destinations. Granted, not all are non-stops, but do you mind stretching your legs in Papeete to save nearly $3,000 on your next trip to Auckland?

[table_opt style="gray-header" id="1461 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]

[["<strong>Routing<\/strong>","<strong>Airline<\/strong>","<strong>Connect Via<\/strong>","<strong>Fare<\/strong>","<strong>Non-stop Fare\/Airline<\/strong>","<strong>Savings<\/strong>"],["Chicago - Buenos Aires","Mexicana","Mexico City","$2,540 ","$6,671 \/ United * ","$4,131 "],["Chicago - Frankfurt","Air India","Non-stop","$2,412 ","$8,756 \/ Lufthansa ","$6,344 "],["Chicago - London (& Paris)","Iberia","Madrid","$2,392 ","$5,398 \/ American ","$3,006 "],["Los Angeles - Auckland","Air Tahiti Nui","Papeete","$4,800 ","$7,779 \/ Air New Zealand ","$2,979 "],["Los Angeles - Hong Kong","All Nippon","Tokyo"," $3,780*** ","$8,074 \/ Cathay Pacific ","$4,294 "],["Los Angeles - Singapore","Philippine Airlines","Guam \/ Manila","$3,218 ","$6,130 \/ Singapore Airlines ","$2,912 "],["Los Angeles - Sydney","Air Pacific","Nadi","$5,587 ","$15,000 \/ United ","$9,413 "],["New York - London","Kuwait Airways","Non-stop"," $1,750** ","$6,796 \/ Delta ","$5,046 "],["New York - Paris","Icelandair","Reykjavik","$1,890 ","$4,500 \/ OpenSkies ","$2,610 "],["New York - Rio de Janeiro","Copa Airlines","Panama City","$2,922 ","$8,309 \/ American ","$5,387 "],["New York - S\u00e3o Paulo","Mexicana","Mexico City","$2,650 ","$8,308 \/ American ","$5,658 "]]
<small><em>*Connecting flight. **First Class, $2,500. ***Seven-day advance.</em></small>