Including Russia and Southern Europe
As announced in an FCF Alert in our newsroom on Jan. 5, summer promotional Business Class fares are here and they are worth looking at right now. They can offer savings of up to 64% for Business Class travel.
The lowest Business Class fare we found is New York-Manchester starting at a base fare of $1,307 round-trip, plus taxes of $600 to $800. (See chart on page 4 for more savings samples.) Note that sum-mer Business Class fares are also offered from smaller airports such as Fort Myers, Monterey, San Antonio, San Diego, and Savannah, to many destinations in Europe and beyond, including Greece, Romania, Russia, and Turkey.
[aside headline="Best Upgrade to First Class" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]American, British Airways, and United allow you to upgrade with miles to First Class on Summer Business Class fares - whereas Lufthansa and SWISS don't But only one airline, BA does not impose a "copy" ( American charges $700 and United $1,100 round-trip) making BA the airline for a mileage upgrade to First Class. On New York-Rome, British Air-ways First Class fare is about $ 19,597; the lowest upgradable summer Business Class fare is $2,719 including taxes. You Only need 50,000 miles for the round-trip upgrade,which can be transferred from Amex Rewards or Starwood (or purchased directly from them) for a little as $1,250 on Amex Rewards. This fare opportunity and upgrade strategy can save you up to 86% ($16,878)![/aside]
The Players and the Backstory
Summer Business Class fare promotions reflect the changes in the airline industry last year, which I’ll get to in a minute. Star Alliance carrier Tap Portugal started the ball rolling, offering fares at $1,400 round-trip (plus taxes). Soon after, most major airlines announced competitive fares to Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, and Stockholm.
On Jan. 23, Delta, along with other Sky-Team members such as Air France and KLM, and Star Alliance member US Airways, offered the first summer Business Class fares on a large number of European routes. In the past, Continental would have fired the first fare-war shot. We suspect that the merger with United kept it in the background this year. Not a good thing because Continental started many of the best fare wars over the years!
When Continental/United and other Star Alliance airlines (Air Canada, Lufthansa, and SWISS) joined in three days later, they offered lower fares than SkyTeam on some routes and matched on others.
Last, but actually fast, American and the oneworld fraternity joined in the day after Star Alliance, matching both SkyTeam and Star Alliance fares. During the last few Business Class promotions, American and British Airways waited before joining in. Being in Chapter 11, AA could not afford to wait, and because of the trans-Atlantic joint venture between AA and BA, BA had to go along. This all is the new paradigm.
Sample Discounted Summer Business Class Fares to Europe
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A window into the future: US Airways, the big surprise. US Airways is spreading its wings and is the airline to watch for 2012 promotional Business Class fares. It doesn’t follow the lead of the major airlines in the Star Alliance; in fact, it flies ahead of them, this year coming out with promotional Business Class fares three days before Continental, Lufthansa, United, and SWISS.
Special Summer First Class Published Fares
Are they coming? We think so—in February or March. They are usually only offered by Star Alliance airline United, but every so often Lufthansa and SWISS join in.
The Big Question: Use Miles or Cash?
Just remember this rhyme: When fares are this low, the return on miles is no go. Meaning, pay cash and save your miles for a greater return.
Free Award Example: Continental’s summer Business Class Newark-Amsterdam fare is $2,231 including taxes. A Busi-ness Class ticket on this route is 100,000 miles plus about $58 in taxes, yielding a return on miles of only 2.2¢. If your return on miles is less than the cost to replace them—Continental sells miles for 3.5¢ each—FCF says buy the ticket.
Upgrade Cost-Comparison Example: An upgrade offers an even worse exchange rate in most cases with these special summer fares. Currently, the lowest economy class ticket on Newark-Amsterdam costs $1,265 including taxes (book-ing code S). But on top of that, there’s $1,100 co-pay, which brings the total outlay to $2,365, plus the 40,000 miles. That’s $134 more than the Business Class fare promo. Plus there is the value of the miles for the upgrade ($1,400, the cost to replace them at 3.5c each), putting you $1,534 in the red!
Important Travel Window
One day’s difference in departure as well as the length of stay can make a big difference in booking a promotional fare, so be flexible and travel within the “validity window”.
Oneworld: Valid for travel outbound June 29 through Sept. 3; minimum stay, Saturday night; maximum stay, six or 12 months depending on airline and route.
SkyTeam: Valid for travel outbound June 29 through Sept. 3; minimum stay, Saturday night; maximum stay, three months.
Star Alliance: Valid for travel outbound June 29 through Sept. 3. Minimum stay, one Saturday night; maximum stay varies slightly by airline, ranging from three months. Canada, Continental/United, Lufthansa, and SWISS) to 12 months (Scandinavian Airlines).
US Airways: Valid for travel outbound June 29 through Sept. 3; minimum stay, seven days; no maximum stay.