Getting First Class on the A380 for Up to 77% Off

February 2011
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Part one in a survey of A380 opportunities, with this month’s focus on the top 15 discounted ways to fly the big plane in Business and First Class from the U.S.

The A380 is the Concorde of our era. Granted, it’s not as sexy, but, like the Concorde it is a technological marvel. It’s just about mass rather than speed. Flying it puts you in the aviation vanguard.

And it is revolutionizing air travel. It’s already spurred a rethinking of the First Class cabin by a half dozen carriers— we’d even say it’s reinvigorated the idea of First Class.

As carriers introduce the A380 to the U.S. market, there are opportunities to fly it in Business and First at a discount.

Air France / Flying Blue: SkyTeam Offers the A380 from New York to Paris, and begins Washington, DC to Paris service on June 6 (AF39 and AF28). Points can be transferred from Amex Rewards and Starwood to Flying Blue.

Emirates / Skywards: Flies the A380 from NYC to Dubai and holds the “I can’t believe it” award for having a shower (more on this soon) in First Class. Business and First come with a high price tag; Starwood is the only credit card transfer partner; offers a 5% discount for booking line on.

Korean Air / Skypass: SkyTeam Begins A380 service from NYC to Seoul on Aug. 2 and from Los Angeles on Oct. 1. Diners Club is a transfer credit card point partner.

Lufthansa / Miles & More: Star Alliance Begins A380 service from NYC to Frankfurt on Feb. 28 and from San Francisco on May 10. It is one of the few airlines that periodically discounts First Class published fares. Get the miles via Starwood.

Qantas / Frequent Flyer: Oneworld Flies the A380 from LAX to Sydney, and will reinstate service from LAX to Melbourne in February.

Singapore / KrisFlyer: Star Alliance Starts A380 service from LAX to Tokyo on Mar. 27 (SQ11 and SQ12).

Top 6 Special Airfare Strategies on the A380

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Top 9 Mileage Redemption Strategies on the A380

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[["","<strong>Special Cost<\/strong>","<strong>Regular Cost<\/strong>","<strong>Savings<\/strong>","<strong>Class<\/strong>","<strong>Route<\/strong>","<strong>Airline<\/strong>"],["1","$1,538 \u00b9","$2,740 ","$1,202 \/ 44%","Business","New York - Frankfurt","Lufthansa"],["2","$1,638 \u00b9","$3,010 ","$1,372 \/ 46%","Business","Washington, DC - Paris","Air France"],["3","$1,740 \u00b2","$3,367 ","$1,627 \/ 48%","Business","New York - Paris","Air France"],["4","$2,278 \u00b9","$3,211 ","$933 \/ 29%","Business","SFO - Frankfurt","Lufthansa"],["5","$3,400 \u00b2","$15,018 ","$11,618 \/ 77% ","First","New York - Frankfurt","Lufthansa"],["6","$20,378 for two people \u00b3","$35,002 for two people","$14,624 \/ 42%","First","New York - Dubai","Emirates"]]
<small><i>¹ Promotional summer fare; ² Promotional Easter fare; ³ 2-for-1 with the Amex IAP program.</i></small>
[["","<strong>Special Cost<\/strong>","<strong>Regular Cost<\/strong>","<strong>Savings<\/strong>","<strong>Operating Airline<\/strong>","<strong>Redemption Airline<\/strong>","<strong>Class<\/strong>","<strong>Route<\/strong>","<strong>Transfer Point Partners<\/strong>"],["1","90,000","230,000","140,000 \/ 61%","Singapore","US Airways","Business","Los Angeles - Tokyo","Starwood"],["2","100,000","105,000","5,000 \/ .5%","Lufthansa","US Airways","Business","NYC, SFO - Frankfurt","Starwood"],["3","100,000","100,000","n\/a","Air France","Delta","Business","NYC, Washington, DC - Paris","Amex Rewards, Starwood, Diners Club"],["4","120,000","185,000","65,000 \/ 35%","Korean Air","Delta","Business","NYC, LAX - Seoul","#rowspan#"],["5","125,000","170,000","45,000 \/ 26%","Lufthansa","US Airways","First","NYC, SFO - Frankfurt","Starwood"],["6","125,000","192,000","67,000 \/ 35%","Qantas","American","Business","LAX - Sydney, Melbourne","Diners or Starwood"],["7","145,000","288,000","143,000 \/ 50%","Qantas","American","First","LAX - Sydney, Melbourne","Diners or Starwood"],["8","145,000","n\/a","n\/a","Emirates","Emirates","Business","NYC - Dubai","Starwood"],["9","217,500","n\/a","n\/a","Emirates","Emirates","First","NYC - Dubai","Starwood"]]