- Good for many travelers, short-term: Front-cabin seats plunge to more destinations
- For many other travelers, Low-Fare Side Effects emerge at the same time
For years we were programmed to travel during specific times of the year to get the best premium cabin airfares: over the summer, and during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. This all changed two years ago with the EasyUp Business Class fare revolution introduced by Delta and SkyTeam members, then intermittently followed by oneworld and occasionally by Star Alliance airlines. While the fares are not available all the time or for every route, the almost unbelievably low Business Class fares—very often little or no more than economy—have been snagged by many who know the when, where, who, and how to land them.
[aside headline="Bad News Comes With Lower Fares?!" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]The Trend’s Emerging Side Effects…
- With lower First Class fares, there will inevitably be fewer First Class seats open for mileage-award seekers.
- With lower fares, there’s likely less revenue for airlines. Less First Class revenue for airlines impacts the volume of First Class seats they put on the market—negatively.
- Fewer seats in the market combined with fewer seats going unsold due to lower fares being picked up, compounds the problem for First Class Award Seekers.[/aside]
First Class Fare Trend Follows Business Class Fare Trend, Relatively Speaking
We see a similar revolution in First Class fares to/from Europe. The new fares are certainly not cheap, even with the required advance purchase and a Saturday-night or other minimum stay (restrictions for this cabin—and corresponding discounting—didn’t even exist long ago). Where fares have historically hovered in the $13 to $20K troposphere—and still do on some routes—over the last couple years, on many routes they have plunged 50% to 75%. We’re now seeing deep discounts offered on new routes almost by the month.
Low-Fare Destinations (LFDs) and Low-Fare Airlines (LFAs)
There are destinations frequented more often by leisure travelers than business travelers; these are usually, but not always, on the list of Low-Fare Destinations. It’s simple supply-and-demand economics.
There’s also what I call High-HubFare Airlines, such as Air France and British Airways, which often charge two or three times more for a ticket to their hub city.
Know Your ABCs: LFDs and LFAs
So, the way around this is to arrive by the side-door, meaning fly to a Low-Fare Destination (LFD) or fly on a Low-Fare Airline (LFA) to get the best deal any time of the year, not just during the holidays.
Example Low-Fare Destinations: Let’s take New York-Paris on Air France, which charges $16,462 for a First Class seat. If you instead book New York-London—a low fare route on American, Lufthansa, SWISS, and United—the fare drops to $5,579, a savings of 66% ($10,883). You can even get a free stopover—or rather, you net ten grand for stopping over. LFDs often require a connection, and work best when a connection must be made anyway, or when you’re okay about taking a free stopover, if only just to cut the cost.
Example Low-Fare/High-Fares Airline(s): Let’s take Los AngelesLondon on British Airways, which charges $16,669 for First Class. If you book American (also a oneworld member so that you can earn BA miles/elite credit), Lufthansa, SWISS, or United, the fare drops to $6,142—a savings of $10,527. American and United both offer non-stop First Class service to London. BA certainly invests more in its premium cabin experience than AA or UA—and it appears to be paying off.
[aside headline="Don’t Forget Seasonal Fares" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]They’re a great option for those who are married to a loyalty program or prefer a non-stop flight. Summer First Class fares will likely come out in February or March. Over the last several years, United has started a First Class fare war for summer travel, offering up to 45% off on published fares. American, British Airways, Lufthansa, and SWISS are among the carriers that last year joined the fare-slash, although not on all routes. Holiday fares often start to appear in June or July. All of these have been covered over the last 18 years in FCF and Daily Alerts.[/aside]
Why don’t the airlines understand the price they pay by offering high-yield customers a mediocre product?
Mining for Low First Class Fares by Airline and by Destination
From North America, six major airlines offer a bona fide First Class cabin between many U.S. and European cities and all of them offer some type of low First Class fare. Here’s an overview.
Air France: Don’t look for low First Class fares to its Paris hub unless you’re flying from a smaller U.S. airport, such as Kansas City or Indianapolis. Instead, think of the airline when heading for Barcelona, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Madrid, Oslo, or Stockholm, where flights can be up to 66% less than flights to Paris. Like some other carriers listed, Air France is trying to lock down its hub.
American: It offers low First Class fares to Barcelona, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Oslo, Paris, and Stockholm from many U.S. cities including its major hubs, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, and New York.
British Airways: Low-fare destinations include Barcelona, Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Lisbon, Madrid, Oslo, and Stockholm, even from some smaller U.S. cities to London, such as Buffalo or Charleston.
Lufthansa: Don’t look for low First Class fares to its Frankfurt hub but think of the airline when looking to fly to Barcelona, Copenhagen, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Oslo, Paris, and Stockholm.
SWISS: Don’t look for low First Class fares to its Zurich hub but think of the airline when flying to Barcelona, Copenhagen, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Oslo, Paris, and Stockholm.
United: It offers low First Class fares to Barcelona, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Lisbon, London, Madrid, Oslo, Paris, and Stockholm from many U.S. cities, including these hubs: Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC.
Sample Year-Round Special-Fare Routes to Europe*
[table_opt id="974" style="blue-header" width="wide" alignment="center" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="all"]
First Class EasyUp Fares
Many of the fares cited are identical to the Business Class version in that they have a built-in upgrade to First for a set surcharge. On Washington, DC-London for example, currently United’s lowest every-day advance purchase Business Class fare is $3,785 (fare basis code PNC51S). The First Class fare has the same fare basis code with the suffix “UP” (PNC51S/UPDI) and is only $800 more round trip ($4,585).
While the fare is great, relatively speaking, doesn’t something seem odd to you here? If you were a loyal United customer and accumulated miles for the sake of upgrading, and bought a Business Class fare (if only because you didn’t think to search for First Class as well!), and wanted to use your miles to upgrade this flight (knowing you’d be charged an $1,100 co-pay), your pocket would be $300 and 40,000 miles lighter than the person sitting next to you.
Just two morals here:
- Don’t forget to compare fares in more than one class of service as you never know when an EasyUp fare may be lurking, and
- Always think about what loyalty costs (at least whenever you are thinking about what it pays).
More on the Impact of EasyUp Fares on Mileage Upgrades
Mileage upgrades aren’t always the best option. It depends on the route and the published Business and First Class fares. Sometimes they are very effective; other times not. Here’s a quick guide as to when upgrades are a good card to play.
American’s First Class Upgrades
When an EasyUp First Class fare IS available: Bad Idea
Why? Take New York-London, where the airline allows mileage upgrades on discounted Business Class (I) fares, starting at $4,129, plus a co-pay of $1,100, plus 50,000 miles. Considering the mileage replacement cost, even when on sale, this brings the relative cost to $6,360—$781 more than the First Class fare. By the way, availability is often the same for First Class EasyUp fares as it is for free mileage awards.
When an EasyUp Business Class fare IS NOT available: Good Idea
Why? Take Los Angeles-Milan, where the airline allows mileage upgrades on EasyUp Business Class (I) fares, starting at $2,123 (see Oct. 17 alert), plus a co-pay of $1,100, plus 50,000 miles. The miles have a replacement value of about $1,131 when on sale. This brings the cost to $4,354, while a First Class fare is $9,055—a savings of $4,701.
British Airways’ First Class Upgrades
When an EasyUp First Class fare IS available: Coin Toss
Why? Take Miami-Stockholm, where the airline allows mileage upgrades on discounted Business Class (I) fares, starting at $3,868 plus 40,000 miles. The miles have a replacement value of about $1,000 (via Amex). This brings the relative cost to $4,868. A First Class ticket is $5,284, a savings of only $416—and there is less availability for the mileage upgrade.
When an EasyUp First Class fare IS NOT available: Good Idea
Why? Take New York-London, where the airline allows mileage upgrades on discounted Business Class (I) fares, starting at $4,129 plus 40,000 miles. The miles have a replacement value of $1,000. This brings the cost to $5,129, whereas a First Class ticket is $12,482—a savings of $7,353
[aside headline="For FCF Members Who Live in Canada and Abroad (or in U.S. Cities Not in Examples)" alignment="alignright" width="default" headline_size="default"]Every month FCF posts fare and mileage alerts for members outside the U.S. For recent First Class fare promotions from Europe to the U.S., see the Oct. 22 alert, for example. We also cover many U.S. departure cities that are not mentioned, among them Atlanta, Boston, and Houston to name a few.[/aside]
United’s First Class Upgrades
When an EasyUp First Class fare IS available: Bad Idea
Why? Take Philadelphia-London, where the airline allows mileage upgrades on discounted Business Class (P) fares, starting at $4,002, plus the co-pay of $1,100 plus 40,000 miles. Considering the mileage replacement cost when on sale, this brings the cost to $5,862—$915 more than using the First Class fare—and there is less availability.
When an EasyUp First Class fare IS NOT available: Good Idea
Why? Take Chicago-Frankfurt, where the airline allows mileage upgrades on discounted Business Class (P) fares, starting at $5,270, plus the co-pay of $1,100, plus 40,000 miles. The miles have a replacement value of $760 when on sale, bringing the cost to $7,130, a savings of $3,289.
Air France, Lufthansa, and SWISS First Class Upgrades
When an EasyUp First Class fare IS available: Bad Idea
Why? Because SWISS allows an upgrade from Business to First on discounted Business Class fares, but charges 140,000 miles round-trip for the upgrade, which is nonsense because you can get a free First Class award at a similar cost with other airlines. Lufthansa does not allow upgrades from discounted Business Class fares (P, Z), and Air France does not allow the upgrade for non-elites.