To secure otherwise fleeting EasyUp Business Class fares to Europe starting at just $1,375—and other amazing fares the world over— by extending their lifespan from as few as 4 hours to as much as 14 days—or 8,400%.
FCF’s Hot Ticket is generally reserved for a deal that nets 60 to 90% off Business or First Class travel. This month we’re bending the rules a bit to outline a mechanism to snag the hottest tickets—the best fares you can get, bar none: Flash EasyUp Fares (FEFs) which can be exciting and frustrating in equal measure.
In other words, instead of focusing on the catch, this piece will focus on the cast, how you might think and act in order to catch these otherwise elusive fares.
What follows may not be an entirely new concept, but in over two decades of putting premium travel airfares under the microscope, I have never found this approach to be more relevant than today—as the Premium Airfare Landscape is changing right before our eyes, making it time to change our approach to booking Premium Airfares also. You’ll see what I mean in a moment, and discover the finer points of really working the system, but first…
[aside headline="Free 24-Hour Refund:" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]Thanks to a U.S. Department of Transportation rule, you can cancel a purchased ticket within 24 hours of booking, if purchased more than seven days before departure. This applies not just to U.S. airlines, but any airline selling tickets in the U.S. This approach costs you nothing, short of some space on your credit card limit perhaps, but the duration of peace and potential to Upgrade is only 24 hours. Most will find it inefficient to get only 24 hours, even if it is free, as more time is often needed.[/aside]
As recently as three years ago, the rule for buying tickets was research fares, plan itinerary—which often involved spending time re-checking with spouse for dates, spending time re-checking kids vacation schedule, spending time rechecking with family members or friends to synchronize trip, making the final decision between the Mediterranean or Baltic cruise, or many other vacation planning items—and then lastly, book the ticket.
But, that was when the lowest fares actually hung around (or fare sales had an advertised and somewhat reliable end date). In other words, Premium Travel Airfares haven’t historically fluctuated that much, relatively speaking.
Then, in December 2012, FCF discovered a new fare category, which we dubbed EasyUp because it was a steeply discounted economy fare with a built-in upgrade at a flat rate—at a price that was slightly more than coach fares, or about the same as coach, or even less than coach. The fares were so amazing non-FCF members often disbelieved.
To illuminate the rationale: Back then, an EasyUp NYCDublin fare started at $1,200. The trouble was that they were meteors, and since then, they’ve become sub-atomic particles, often only sticking around for two to eight hours. Which is why we now call them Flash EasyUp Fares.
But these fares are incredibly good. Recently FCF discovered one on SkyTeam’s Air France, Alitalia, Delta, and KLM starting at $1,375 from the West Coast to Europe. Even better, the fares had no advance-purchase requirement, no minimum stay requirement, and no season restrictions—and was valid all the way into 2015. Ever seen a published fare like that from the West Coast to Europe, on a number of major carriers, nearly restriction-free? I haven’t.
But how do you handle booking the ever-fleeting fares, especially given that these Flash EasyUp Fares are usually non-refundable—and if you cancel, you can only apply the value of the ticket for future travel (plus pay a fee).
So, there’s no room to make a mistake, right?
The Look. Lock! Book? Methodology
Just remember three words. And three bits of punctuation.
The words: Look, Lock, Book. Look for the best fares you can, on your own and/or from our alerts (they are rich with intelligence about the new fleeting fares), your other favorite fare sources and/or your travel agent. Lock away the fare for time to decide (there are newly relevant Lock Options (more on that in a moment)—that allow you to do this for as low as $10). Book, maybe—your choice… because you have bought the time—at a ridiculously low price—to make your decision based on further research and reflection.
The punctuation: full stop (you must stop and look for these amazing fares); exclamation mark (lock away the fare immediately, it might only last a day or hours); and that question mark? It’s there to remind you, that you have the decision to make.
Look. Lock! Book?
Locking in EasyUp Fare Option(s)– Or Any Amazing Deal
You have to have a quick trigger finger, and you also have to know the airlines and rules for Lock Options, which give you time to decide on ticketing the lock or passing on it if the itinerary doesn’t suit in the end for some reason, for a really small fee. That’s what this article is about.
If you get a Flash EasyUp Fare with an airline that offers a Lock Option, simply lock it in and you can still book the ticket at the EasyUp Fare up to two weeks after the fare has been pulled by the airline. In the meantime, you have time to research a more preferred carrier, a better value, a better routing, or a better whatever—over (more) time. If nothing better is found, simply book the ticket at the fare you found and locked before.
As for the small fee, see this as the cost of buying time and locking-in a rock-bottom fare. Hold three tickets on British Airways and it will set you back $30. On KLM, it costs $20 per ticket.
It’s also an opportunity cost, as Flash EasyUp Fares don’t come along every day. In fact, recently there’s been a drought of them—we hadn’t seen a fare like the U.S.-Europe deal for a couple of months.
Lock-Option-Friendly Airlines
There are six airlines that will lock a reservation—and guarantee the fare—for up to 14 days (depending on route and airline), even on Flash EasyUp Fares: Air France, British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, SWISS, and United. The Lock Option goes by different names, depending on the airline, but they all come up during the booking process when available on eligible flights.
Airline’s—at any second—pull the rug on Flash EasyUp deals—which is often the case with FCF’s special fare alerts, especially when we see transoceanic fares starting at $1,375 round-trip (all in). We have learned the hard way, they do not last, they change by the hour, yes, not by the day, but by the hour. View the Lock Option as a “hedge against hesitating” that could cause you to lose a great fare.
Inside the System
Code-Share Workarounds:
Lock Options are often only offered on the operating airline, not code-share flights. But there are three big exceptions very few are aware of:
- SWISS, which offers a Lock Option on any code-share flight with the LX flight designation that comes up on its website.
- British Airways also offers a Lock Option for Iberia fares.
- Air France and KLM have a side-door to lock Delta (which doesn’t offer a Lock Option) flights, as they’re alliance partners. Use KLM’s website, it’s better at locking flights operated by Delta.
Best SkyTeam Booking Engine:
As mentioned, KLM has the better booking engine for the Lock Option. On my last reservation, I received a seven-day lock on a Business Class ticket to Europe on a Delta flight for $20! The Lock Option comes up when you confirm your flights and fare with the cost and the option date offered. Air France, which started its “Time to Book” option back in 2010, can also be useful.
Lock-Option-Friendly Airlines
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Star Alliance Options: Lufthansa, SWISS, and United:
The three airlines have an easy-to-use Lock Option, but lately have not joined in Flash EasyUp Fare promotions. It’s only a matter of time before that changes. The SWISS website stands out over the other Star Alliance carriers because it offers a Lock Option, for up to 72-hours, if the flight is designated LX. That means access to other partner flights, including Austrian, Brussels, Lufthansa, and United.
United has a worldwide network and is the only U.S. airline to offer a Lock Option. It usually offers two: 72-hours or 7-days, both for a nominal fee that varies by route.
Oneworld Options:
British Airways will lock a fare for 72-hours for $10 per ticket. This also applies to Iberia flights. Unlike BA’s historical DNA, the airline has begun to be very aggressive at releasing Flash EasyUp Business Class Fares, and booking one on BA (or American) offers the chance of upgrading to First Class—for as few as 20,000 miles each way on BA and no co-pay!)
[aside headline="For Travel Beyond U.S.-Europe: To/From: Africa, Asia, South America, and the South Pacific" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]While this report was inspired by $1,400 fares from the U.S. to Europe, the Lock Option can be leveraged the world over.
Air France, British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, SWISS, and United offer a Lock Option on their worldwide network.
As you can see with this piece, as well as half of our reports, there’s clearly no mistaking FCFto be “for Americans only”—or only for travel to this place or that place, or only on this airline or that one—which is the most costly assumption many make when it comes to premium air travel opportunities.[/aside]
Why Lock Only One Option?
It’s been said that “If one is good two is better,” yet while it’s FCF’s policy not to break airline rules—or advocate anything that could jeopardize your booking—I do not have any qualms about pushing the rules.
While airlines do not allow duplicate bookings, meaning holding multiple seats in the same name for different flights on or about the same day, there are ways to work with and around this.
Locking Similar Schedules
If it’s a matter of which day to snag, I recommend making separate reservations on as many different airlines that offer a Lock Option as you like. If you’re not sure if you want to depart on Friday or Saturday, say, and you need time to think about it, book one day on one airline and the other day on another airline.
Locking Dissimilar Schedules
If it’s a matter of, “Honey, should we go in March or in June?” I don’t see why the airlines would consider this a duplicate booking, because you could easily take both trips. Who knows, given how good these deals are, maybe, in the end, you’ll want to keep both.
Upgrading Your Lock
In life, it’s not about being dealt a great hand, but playing the hand you’ve been dealt as best you can. In that spirit, let’s say that a Flash EasyUp Fare to Madrid comes out, but you really want London; or one that is only valid from Los Angeles, but you prefer flying out of San Francisco.
Hold it—right there—for as long as possible, and keep an eye out for a better Lock Option. If a better fare or routing becomes available, lock that one and cancel the first. Call this the Upgrading Your Lock Hand. It costs peanuts, remember. Repeat as often as it takes to get you where you want to go with the best value.