Oneworld leads the way with First Class fares 48% to 79% less than the other carriers
Not all First Class fares are created equal. While Air France, Lufthansa, and SWISS First Class fares to Europe start at $6,000 to $14,000 these days, we are seeing that oneworld’s (American and British Airways) are relatively low (unlike to Asia, as we report here. For example, San Francisco to Venice on British Airways is $2,958 while SWISS is $8,626 and Lufthansa is $8,646 at the time of writing. So we thought we’d take a look at current fares and miles availability to give you a handy stick-on-the-fridge guide for flying at the pointy end without getting the sharp end of the stick.
Recently we’ve seen nonstop First Class fares from New York to London for as low as $3,283. Though these are gone, the nonstop is now running $4,170. But there are still some great one-stop First Class fares starting at $2,948 from/to many other destinations (see chart below). Don’t see your departure/destination? More on that here.
So here are our recommendations for low First Class fares, followed by current award availability and how to get miles if your barrow is empty.
oneworld
Routes with Unusually Low First Class Fares
[table_opt id="6384" style="gray-header" header_rows="1" width="narrow" alignment="thcenter" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="no" /]
WHAT ABOUT Availability Using Miles?
American Airlines
Los Angeles-London has many days with two-seat award availability in March. Miami-London has two seats several days in November. The New York-London route has several days with four seats in January and February and two seats in March and April for several days.
British Airways (Amex & Chase Partner) Boston has the most First Class space with a handful of days with four seats in June, and several days with two seats in June. Atlanta, Houston, Philadelphia, Washington, DC-London have just a handful for one or more months.
Emirates (Amex & Chase Partner)
New York-Milan has two seats available across many days in March; Newark-Athens has two seats for many days in January, February, and March.
Lufthansa (Amex Partner via Air Canada)
Last month FCF revealed the new secret to getting the best First Class deal in town, using Air Canada miles for Lufthansa’s premium product — a major score even for all of you that have already purchased a ticket.
Routes that have fewer than a handful of days with seats or none at all are:
- American: Chicago-London
- British Airways: Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Newark, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle to London
- Singapore: New York-Frankfurt
No Miles? No Problem
As mentioned up front, if fares are looking too high, use your miles. And if you don’t have miles, buy ‘em. If you buy American miles for American or partner flights when they’re on sale, often for as low as 1.8 cents per mile, you can get a great deal on your booking. The sales come up frequently and can make a huge difference when you use award miles versus forking over the full cash price.
This chart shows how much you can save (in the last two columns) versus the regular published fare. Buying miles is one of my all time favorite upgrade strategies. I urge you to give it a try if you haven’t already.
[table_opt id="6386" style="gray-header" header_rows="1" width="default" alignment="thcenter" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="no" /]
Emirates is a point transfer partner with three credit card rewards programs — Amex, Chase, and Marriott — so you can easily get the miles you need. The typical transfer time from Amex and Chase to Emirates miles is instantaneous (not every single time, but usually), while a transfer from Marriott points can take up to three days.
You can buy up to 500,000 Amex Rewards Points per year for just 2.5¢ each. Given that the baseline First Class fare from Newark to Athens is often $7,497 to $11,000 and that you can buy 170,000 Amex Rewards Points for about $4,250, you’d end up saving up to $3,247, or 43%.
[table_opt id="6385" style="gray-header" header_rows="1" width="default" alignment="thcenter" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="no" /]
Bridge Route Connections
Keep in mind that when using the available discounted long-haul award flight as a “bridge,” the connecting flight from the U.S. and/or international hub can be booked either in Business Class or economy, based on availability. If economy is the only cabin available on the short connecting flights, it’s not the end of the world, as the most important part is getting the long-haul flight in the class you want first. More here on “If you don’t see your home airport or destination in an FCF report.”
Most airlines are currently offering a “travel fee waiver,” including for award flights. It’s great because it means it won’t cost you anything to cancel or change your ticket. You can read more about it here.
WHAT ABOUT Taxes?
Sorry, but I had to mention the T word, especially when British Airways is involved. BA and its partners have high award taxes and it’s worth pointing out because they can greatly affect your bottom line. More on that here.
FCF’s Executive Euro Reckoner Summary
- Pay cash when First Class fares are in the $2,500 to $3,500 range. With the free change policy, you have built-in “insurance,” as well as the chance to improve your deal.
- Use miles for fares in the $5,000+ range.
- If you’re somewhere in the middle, take a look at our report on when to use miles or cash.