How New Fine Print in Premium-Airfare Anomalies Influences When to Search for the Easiest-to-Book and Lowest-Cost Upgrades to Europe

[["Old Rule","New Opportunity"],["<span style=\"color: #6699cc;\"><strong>Travel Season<\/strong><\/span>\nLowest Business Class fares were only offered during Thanksgiving and Christmas. That slanted travel decisions toward those periods.","You\u0092're out of jail. Many EasyUp Business Class fares are now valid for\ntravel from now into June 2016, <strong>not just during specific periods.<\/strong>"],["<span style=\"color: #6699cc;\"><strong>Booking Window<\/strong><\/span>\nYou could usually only book about four months out. You waited, biting your nails, unless pressure from travel mates to havetickets in hand forced you into booking prematurely (a common experience).","<strong>Four months is now 11 months.<\/strong> Huge, especially for nail biters and those with travel mates who don\u0092t understand the system. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">It\u0092s a lot easier to plan a trip around everyone\u0092s schedule now.<\/span>"],["<span style=\"color: #6699cc;\"><strong>Cheapest Routes<\/strong><\/span>\nSeasonal Business Class fares were often offered from almost every U.S. city to almost every European destination.","Many European routes\u0097 but not all\u0097 can now be booked year-round.\nIf you have to go to a certain destination or have a certain route in\nmind, then you still might have to wait for seasonal fares. For example,\nof routes such as Los Angeles-Frankfurt, Dallas-Rome, and Houston-\nZurich (just to name a few) you\u0092ll still have to wait for the seasonal fare\nto get the best deal."],["<span style=\"color: #6699cc;\"><strong>Lowest Cost U.S. Departure City<\/strong><\/span>\nNew York.","No longer the case. Many other U.S. cities are now as cheap or cheaper. <strong><em>FCF <\/em>finds the best and most recent deals for:<\/strong> <span style=\"color: #800000;\">Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.<\/span>"],["<span style=\"color: #6699cc;\"><strong>Lowest Cost Destination<\/strong><\/span>\nHistorically, seasonal fares rarely varied much by destination.","<strong>Fare differences between destinations can amount to thousands.<\/strong> Now, it can often make sense to make a connection in Europe if there isn\u0092t a special fare to your first-choice destination, especially if you want to <span style=\"color: #800000;\">fly Business Class at a deep discount<\/span>."],["<span style=\"color: #6699cc;\"><strong>Using Miles to Upgrade<\/strong><\/span>\nThis was a consideration if you had to book far in advance, and a bad option if you waited because holiday fares were so cheap.","<strong>Still a bad idea.<\/strong> Best to find a routing you can live with that offers low-cost upgrades. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">Otherwise with co-pays or high upgradable fares, you\u0092re in the range of Business Class outright<\/span> - \u0097without having to burn 40,000 to 50,000 miles."],["<span style=\"color: #6699cc;\"><strong>Using Miles for a Free Ticket<\/strong><\/span>\nSame as above.","<strong>Just pay up for a low Business Class fare\u0097<\/strong> - <span style=\"color: #800000;\">unless you can use miles for a First Class seat.<\/span>"],["<span style=\"color: #6699cc;\"><strong>Ticketing Deadline<\/strong><\/span>\nYou could count on the ticketing deadlines in the fine print of fare rules. If a fare was valid for a given period, it was usually on sale that long.","<strong>Ticketing deadlines published in fare-rule fine print now mean nothing.<\/strong> Fares are pulled or changed without notice. Get \u0091em while you can. Also see our special report Look. Lock! Book? in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstclassflyer.com\/issues\/firstclassflyer\/10_10\/new_issue\/1980-1.html\" target=\"_blank\">October issue<\/a> on how to deal with this anarchy."],["<span style=\"color: #6699cc;\"><strong>Airline Pricing Parity<\/strong><\/span>\nUsually, airlines had the same price, the same seasonal fares, and the same restrictions.","<strong>Now, prices depend on the route and when you book. <\/strong>Over the last two months, we'\u0092ve seen Air France, Delta, and KLM offer some of the best EasyUp fares, while United and Lufthansa did not jump in until a few weeks ago. <span style=\"color: #800000;\">Being married to one airline comes with a price.<\/span>"],["<span style=\"color: #6699cc;\"><strong>International Airline MO<\/strong><\/span>\nMajor European airlines often charged more and\/or started offering seasonal fares at a later date than U.S. partners did.","<strong>No longer true.<\/strong> Air France and KLM have the same fare as Delta; British Airways matches American\u0092s fares; and Lufthansa and SWISS offer the same fare at the same time as does United."],["<span style=\"color: #6699cc;\"><strong>Premium Economy (PE)<\/strong><\/span>\nIn years past, outside of seasonal Business Class deals, PE was the best fallback option. Especially when Business Class fares were high and you were on a day flight (no need for a flatbed seat).","<strong>Not anymore,<\/strong> given more year-round EasyUp Business Class fares. Now PE is a last resort for comfort. So, if a route has an EasyUp Business Class fare, forget about buying a Premium Economy ticket. Because a Premium Economy fare can often only save you about $200 to $400 when compared to an EasyUp Business Class fare."]]