Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is almost done! The last two weeks Greg, Nick, and Stephen competed to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines. But who completed the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
There have been some fantastic airfare sales this week — with chances to get away to different regions in both business class and economy class. Here’s a summary of some of the better sales still alive:
Business Class
Europe to the USA from $408 one-way (September-2018)
I can’t believe this one is still alive! And it’s wide open. Some dates are as low as $405 one-way and I’m seeing round trip as low as $770. Here’s the map from October to November — December and January have even more availability (click the image to go to Google Flights):
Now, here’s the thing: It’s not all lie-flat (the picture at the top of this post is one of their lie-flats). Google flights is showing most (if not all) of the cheap flights in September and October to be lie flat beds, with most (if not all) of the flights from November onward showing up as angled seats. I’m not sure if this has something to do with TAP’s plans to retrofit their own planes with lie-flat seats — perhaps they plan to put their own planes back into service after the retrofit (they currently lease the flat-bed planes from AZUL). If that’s the case, perhaps Google Flights is still showing the old configuration. Or maybe the cheap seats are all in angled seats. Of course, the major play with these is using the Amex Business Platinum pay-with-points. Really, if you’re paying 18,980 Membership Rewards points one way and earning 10,000 redeemable miles in a program like Aeroplan or Life Miles, I’m not sure it matters whether the seat is flat or not — that certainly beats the pants off an economy class award (which is more expensive and doesn’t earn miles) and the seat will be at least as comfortable as premium economy. What’s more, I’ve read that TAP can be unreliable and switch out equipment without notice — so even if you book the lie-flats, it’s hard to know for sure. If you want to check your plane, go to the TAP Portugal website and create a dummy booking to see the seat map for your flight. You’re looking for the one on the left:
Vancouver to Asia (Mostly September onward, but some availability in coming months)
One Mile at a Time reports Air Canada flights on sale from Vancouver to Asia as low as $1954 round trip with Air Canada. Discounted flights are available into Taipei and Seoul — more cities may be possible. On some dates, ANA is available for less than $50 more and can be booked with a long (up to 23hr 20min) layover in Tokyo – plenty of time for Ichiran ramen:
Air Canada’s got a nice looking business class cabin on their 787’s:
ANA’s seats don’t look bad, either:
Here are prices from Vancouver to Taipei from October 22nd to November 2nd. Click the image to go to Google Flights:
Economy Class
From Toronto to Reykjavik from about $208 US Dollars round trip ($279 Canadian round trip)
This one is on discount carrier WOW, so be aware that they will add on charges for everything from seat selection to a full-size carry-on bag. Still, for about $208 round-trip, it’s hard to go wrong. November 10-17th shown — click the image to go to WOW Airlines:
New York to Barcelona from only $291 round trip on Aer Lingus
Via Secret Flying, Aer Lingus has a terrific sale for New York to Barcelona from just $291 in April and May. I’m still seeing quite a few dates and seats at this price. This is an excellent price and these seats do not show up on Google Flights (where I’m seeing the lowest price available on the dates below for $417 on American). Click the image to go to Aer Lingus and book:
Washington, DC to Reykjavik AND Copenhagen and back – $390
Via The Flight Deal, Iceland Air has a great sale going from Washington, DC that allows a stopover in Iceland for up to 7 days. This fare looks to be available in the fall — click the link to go to Google Flights and play with dates.
There are many other sales available — these are just a few that are still alive and look quite good. Enjoy your weekend planning a trip!
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[…] those based in New York, the Aer Lingus sale to Barcelona from $291 that we reported in this post is still working for dates in April and May. Those flights are not showing up in Google flights or […]
[…] Buy today and fly away: Airfares still alive in Business Class and Economy: I still see all of these fares available. The $291 round trip fare from New York to Barcelona on Aer Lingus is excellent. The fact that the TAP Portugal business class fare sale is both still available and quite widely available is also surprising. […]
Booked the OSL to BOS with stop in LIS for early September. Just an FYI if you book the flight through TAP USA you will not be entitled to a free hotel for your long layover. Book through TAP Ireland and make sure you are billed in Euros.. I learned this the hard way.