How to Score Savings Of Up to 73%
As announced in our April 19 newsroom alert, summer promotional First Class fares to Europe have finally landed.
The good news: The base fares are about the same as last year on many routes.
For example, on New York-Brussels, the lowest published First Class published fare on British Airways starts at $10,562 (plus taxes), while United’s promotional fare is $2,884— about the same as Business Class usually is—a savings of $7,678 (73%). See chart below for more savings.
Don’t Even Think of Using Your Miles to Upgrade.
Do not, I repeat, do not buy a Business Class fare with United and use your miles to upgrade to First—because it is a lose-lose strategy when First Class fares are this low.
On New York-Brussels, the Business Class fare starts at $1,442 plus taxes (about $900) and United’s “co-pay” is $1,100. Factor in the cost to replace the 40,000 miles used for the upgrade ($1,505 including fees) and you come up with a base fare of $4,047. That’s $1,163 more than the cost of a First Class ticket, plus the difference in miles earned: 100%. (Business Class only earns 150%, whereas First Class earns 250%.)
Sample Summer Special First Class Fares
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[aside headline="Reminder" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]Promotional Business Class fares to Europe expire May 31, meaning that’s the purchase deadline. For more details on summer Business Class fares, see our Hot Ticket in the February issue. Also remember to check FCF’s newsroom for the latest updates on promotional premium fares[/aside]
Mileage Earning Bonus Reduces the Cost on Future Travel
Booking published First Class fares (using the F and A fare code on three-cabin “Global First” aircraft) on United earns you 250% award miles and a 150% EQMs, which comes to 29,475 miles on Los Angeles-Brussels (with a connection in Chicago). That’s almost enough for a round-trip upgrade on many published fares with United to any destination in North America: 30,000 miles for the Continental U.S. and Canada; 35,000 miles for Hawaii; and 35,000 miles for the Caribbean and Central America.
Routes with the Best First Class Seat
With Lufthansa, it’s the new First Class suite (seat and separate Flatbed) on B747-400s from Los Angeles and New York to Frankfurt. On United, it’s the new First Class suite (Global First) now installed on all B747 and B767 aircraft and about half of the B777 fleet. On SWISS, the new First Class seat is on A330-300s from all U.S. gateways - Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York to Zurich.
Save Up to 55% on Lufthansa’s A380 First Class Seat
If flying First Class on an A380 is on your bucket list, this is the time to do it. Lufthansa is discounting First Class fares to Frankfurt by up to 55%, which includes First Class service on the A380 from New York and San Francisco.
Sample saving: San Francisco-Frankfurt is $7,000 round-trip plus taxes (about $970). After the promotion ends the fare returns to $15,500, a savings of $8,500 or 55%.
Earning United miles: MileagePlus members earn the same number of bonus award miles and EQMs flying First Class on Lufthansa as they do when flying United: 150% bonus on award miles, and a 50% EQM bonus.