And US Residents Who Don’t See Their Departure City or Destination Specifically Named in FCF Concept Examples
It’s always sad to hear from readers who perceive that FCF isn’t relevant to them. FCF readers often think that the strategies we outline only apply to the routes used to illustrate the idea. But that’s not true. The strategies and tactics you see in FCF usually work no matter what your itinerary—even if you’re flying to the U.S. from abroad. See a short video here. So here are some examples using routes originating in Canada, Europe, Australia, and smaller U.S. cities.
More From Our Special Report On Premium Economy Class (Page 7)
The examples demonstrated the difference in price between Premium Economy Elite and Business Class. In each case, the lesson is the same: PE is the better value, which is why so many corporate travel policies mandate it.
From Europe Frankfurt to Tokyo: The difference between PE Elite and Business Class can be about €2,060 (53%).
From Australia Sydney to London: The difference can be about AU$3,495 (49%).
From Canada Montreal to Paris: The difference can be about CA$1,544 (40%).
From Smaller U.S. Cities Las Vegas to London: The difference between PE Elite and Business Class can be about $3,326 (60%)..
Example Fare Difference between PE Elite and Business
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More From Our Special Report On One-Way Awards (Page 2)
When You Only Need A One-way Ticket (i.e. cruises or tours)
European residents: One example where you can exploit this strategy could be for a cruise that arrives at a city so near you, so that you don’t have to fly both directions. For instance, fly in Business Class, say on British Airways, for only 59,000 miles to Cape Town, South Africa for a cruise that ends in Italy.
When a Round-trip Saver Award is Not Available
European residents: Fly a different class of service on each leg, say First Class out and Business Class back. This can net you First Class for less than Business when First Class is available at the saver rate and Business Class is only available at the standard (unrestricted award) rate, a frequent occurrence, on routes like London-Tokyo.
When a Round-trip Saver Award is Not Available in the Same Class of Service
Australian residents: Let’s say you’re flying Perth to Singapore in Business Class, and you’ve found that only Singapore Airlines has a “saver” Business Class award (55,000 miles) on the departure. If you stick with Singapore Airlines all the way you’ll have to buy an unrestricted “anytime” award for the return (213,000 miles), bringing the cost to 268,000 miles.
But you may find that using Cathay Pacific Asia Miles for travel on Qantas can get you a 30,000-mile saver award for the return. Grab the one-ways and save the 183,000 Singapore miles for another day.
When You Want the Best Routing and Best Premium Seats
Canadian residents: Let’s say you have points in Starwood Preferred Guest, Amex Membership Rewards, or multiple airline accounts (which FCF highly recommends), and you will be traveling Toronto to London, but returning from Paris. You want to fly non-stop and get the best seat each direction. That means First Class going out, given that you’ll be flying overnight, and Business Class coming back (good enough for a long day flight). The candidates are pretty easy to identify: British Airways to London aboard BA’s B747 and Air Canada from Paris. Each belongs to a different alliance (oneworld and Star, respectively), so you can’t book a round-trip award. One-way awards are tailor made for this situation.
When a Round-trip Saver Award is Not Available
From Smaller U.S. cities: Let’s say you’re flying Albuquerque to Buenos Aires in Business Class, and you’ve found that only United has a “saver” Business Class award (50,000 miles) on the departure. If you stick with United all the way you’ll have to buy an unrestricted “anytime” award for the return (125,000 miles), bringing the cost to 175,000 miles. If you look around at other airlines, you may find that American has a 50,000-mile Business Class saver award for the return. Grab the one-ways and save the 75,000 United miles for another day.