Early Christmas Presents: New Low Tactical Premium Fares ~$2,000
As FCF’s team emerges from a harsh winter, we found some great springtime bookings blooming in the form of very low Business Class fares to Europe for travel this November and December 2020.
These special winter fares have arrived much earlier than last year, and all the major carriers are on board. They seem to be determined to fill their typically unsold seats at that time of year and get the revenue posted on their books now.
If you were bummed by missing the great summer Business Class deals that we found (as reported here) because you are unable to travel this summer, this is your chance to still get to Europe for a deep discount in 2020.
Show Me What You Mean by “Great Fare”
Check out these tactical fares to get a feel for what’s possible… Amsterdam for $2,096 round-trip; Barcelona for $2,003; Dublin for $2,079; Munich for $2,067; Milan for $2,109; and Warsaw for $1,936 round-trip.
Airlines That Have These Nov. / Dec. Tactical Fares
While the fares vary by route, most of the major airlines are on this bandwagon. We’ve found good options on Air France, American Airlines, British Airways, Delta, Iberia, KLM, Lufthansa, and United, to name a few.
Parlay These Tactical Fares to Another European Destination with BA for a Low Cost
Our Stopover Loophole Strategy (SLS) makes these tactical fares even more beneficial for you. For a small fee, some airlines allow a stopover in their hub city on published Business Class fares, and British Airways is one.
This means you can book a “stopover” in London for a small fee before traveling on to your primary destination. For example, San Francisco to Dublin is $2,145 with British Airways, however with this loophole you can add in a wonderful London stopover for just $40 more.
Sample Winter Fares with a Stopover in London with BA
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Lower Your Fare Even Further
- Get 10% off on British Airways when using the BA Chase Visa card.
To give you an example of the extra savings possible with BA’s Visa: Los Angeles to Milan goes for $2,160 round-trip. Deduct the 10% discount for the British Airways Visa Card (current promo code CHASEBA10) and the fare drops to $1,944.
- Save 5% to 20% through Amex IAP on already-low tactical Business Class fares on Air France, Delta, and Virgin Atlantic to Europe.
What About First Class?
No happy tactical surprises have appeared yet for First Class, but keep your eyes on these pages. As soon as we find those First Class deals, you’ll be the first to know about them. That said, you can always…
Use Miles for an Upgrade to First Class
On British Airways to London: The cost of upgrading from Business to First Class is 36,000 to 45,000 miles during off-peak and 40,000 to 50,000 miles during peak season round-trip, plus about $100 more to pay in taxes for First Class. For more information, go here.
Upgrading on American to London: Business to First Class costs 50,000 miles round-trip plus $1,100 co-pay. For more information, go here.
Our Tactical Crystal Ball
Where will these low end-of-year fares go from here? We think there’s room for them to drop a little more, but it’s a risk you’d be taking versus jumping on them now.
Getting Tactical
Tactical fares are significantly discounted fares that airlines occasionally offer for a variety of reasons. Some include season tactical fares, destination-specific tactical fares, departure-specific tactical fares, advance-purchase tactical fares and, as with the example our special report on holiday tactical fares at Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s. As the airlines’ computers get bigger, so is their capacity to compete at an ever increasing level of minutiae. All the way to seat 3A to Dublin.