The Genius Ticketing Ploy That Gets You International Business Class Flights for Less Than Coach

Use FCF’s two-trips-on-one-ticket to win any contest at your next BBQ boast competition

One of FCF’s favorite ticketing maneuvers is the Leg Stretch Strategy (LSS), because it can often get you Business Class 3-for-1s. We discovered it many years ago and have covered it a number of times to all parts of the globe. But it’s been 11 months since we’ve put it under the microscope, so it’s time to pull on those leg warmers and get physical with a healthy Leg Stretch.

Say Fetch for the Leg Stretch

It’s the most counterintuitive travel strategy I can think of. Probably for two reasons:

#1: The fare isn’t aimed at Americans, yet Americans can really make hay with huge savings. I’m talking about long-haul flights (a bunch of them) in Business Class, sometimes for the price of coach and sometimes even less.

#2: It’s booking two different trips on one ticket – which is just not on anyone’s radar.

Let’s recap what the Leg Stretch Strategy is. In the example below, it will take you from Europe to South America, via stops in the U.S. (both directions), and back to Europe. We’ve also done Leg Stretch strategies involving Asia and the Middle East.

But here’s the thing, if you were to break up those segments into separate trips, namely Europe to the U.S; and the U.S. to South America, you’d pay WAY more than if you combine them into one ticket.

Didn’t know you could? Well, you can.

This Month’s Leg Stretch

Europe-USA-South America-USA-Europe – all on one ticket

So you might be pondering: When would I do such a trip? These destinations are so different (and pretty far apart).

The genius of the strategy is that you can stretch the ticket over a year. You might have business in Europe in January and July, and a vacation in Brazil in March. That’s fine. The U.S. “stopover” between Europe and South America is simply when you’re hanging out at home.

Since this fare is aimed ostensibly at non-Americans, the LSS starts in Europe, so you’ll have to get yourself there and back home at the beginning and end of the strategy (unless you let the good times roll and book another LSS again). But believe me, with the amount you save, it’s worth it to just find a round-trip, or two one-way flights for those legs (paying in miles is often best for one-ways.) You’re still going to end up way ahead.

FCF’s Continental Divide and Conquer Strategy
*Sample* Itinerary…

A quick summary of the sample itinerary:

LSS Ticket Segment #1: Amsterdam to New York. Stay at home as long as you’d like before your trip to South America — as long as you complete the entire itinerary within 12 months.

LSS Ticket Segment #2: New York to São Paulo. Stay and have an awesome time in Brazil (or hop around from there to other South American hot spots).

LSS Ticket Segment #3: São Paulo to New York. Go home and relax.

LSS Ticket Segment #4: New York to Amsterdam, London, Paris, or any other European destination (the final leg of the Leg Stretch) that has a low LSS fare and is on your bucket list… The world is your oyster. Then at the end you find another one-way fare back to the U.S. OR you start another LSS and just keep living the dream.

This strategy works best for travelers with a homebase in or near Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, and Washington, DC.—or travelers willing to buy separate tickets to those cities.

So what does this cost and what do you save?

If you were to divide this Leg Stretch into separate trips in coach, it would cost around $2,943 for nonstops on Delta, at time of publication. But if you were to combine them all into one LSS Business Class ticket, it would cost (drumroll, please) $2,380. That’s Business for $500+ less than the price of coach.

Amsterdam – New York – São Paulo – New York – Amsterdam
The Equivalent of Two Round-Trips
on Delta in Business Class for $2,380 USD
Normally $2,943+ in coach or $6,620 in Business

Comparing the Leg Stretch
with Round-Trip Tickets in Business Class

Now let’s compare it to a Business Class trip where those destinations are broken down into separate trips. In Business Class, it would cost around $6,620 at time of publication. Again, combining them into one LSS Business Class ticket costs $2,380. That’s a savings of $4,240, or 64%.

Get Creative, Switch It Up

For just a bit more, instead of traveling back to Amsterdam, travel to London, Paris, etc. Here’s an example to London:

Amsterdam – New York – São Paulo – New York – London
The Equivalent of Two Round-Trips
on Delta in Business Class for $2,510 USD

End Game:
Keep the LSS Party Pumping, or Sleep It Off at Home?

At the end of your Leg Stretch adventure, you have two options. You can embark on ANOTHER Leg Stretch ticket, or just get a ticket that ends at home. Let’s break this down.

Option #1: Book Another LSS Ticket: Remember, in Europe you’re already at the starting point of another LSS. Since you can control the timing of that final flight from the U.S. to complete an LSS, you can make it work with your next multi-continent ticket. The savings you’d net over more trips like this are astronomical.

Option #2: Head Home: If you’re a one-and-done LSSer, you can buy a round-trip ticket to/from the starting point and return destinations, or even two one-way tickets.

Sample Delta LSS Fares

While they change all the time, when we played with the dates we found the following at time of publication:

How to Book

You have several options but booking through a travel agent is best because an agent has easy access to inventory information. You can also use Delta’s website or your favorite online booking engines such as Google Flights, Expedia, Orbitz, or Kayak, and use the multi-city search feature.

N.B. One thing to note is that these fares change all the time. We find these fares to be unusually volatile, so play with the dates a day or two (or twenty) before and after each of the segments, and more than likely you’ll find fares in the same range as we did.

google.com/flights multi-city screenshot below:

More LSS Insights

In FCF’s extensive research, we’ve discovered the following LSS trends recently:

Lowest Cost European Destination Cities: Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Milan, Munich, Paris, Rome, Vienna, and Zurich.

Lowest Cost South American Destination Cities: Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, and São Paulo.

Lowest Cost U.S. Stopover (your home): Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, and Washington, DC.

Airlines LSS works best with right now: Delta, as you can see above. While American was great in the past for combining Asia and South America, its fares for Europe and South America are considerably more at time of this publication. But even in the $3,800 to $4,200 range, they still can represent solid savings. We have not seen any low prices using this strategy on United recently, but have found them in the past. So once again, don’t give up because these fares change constantly.

Flip the Trip

If you start your Leg Stretch Strategy trip In South America, (making it South America>U.S.>Europe>U.S.>South America), you can still typically save 40% or more versus buying those same trips separately. In this case, you’d be beginning and ending the LSS in South America instead of Europe. It costs a little more than starting and ending in Europe, at the moment, but if you have things to do in South America, it’s still hugely beneficial, pricewise. Here’s an example:

Sample Leg Stretch Strategy Starting in South America

South America – U.S. – Europe – U.S. – South America