There is currently good availability to fly in business class from North America to Europe from a little over $1,100 one-way on TAP Air Portugal, with flights back to the US starting as low as the $600’s on TAP. Prices from less than $440 from London to New York on Royal Air Maroc are showing up on Skyscanner, but I haven’t found any dates that are bookable at that price. These are terrific prices for lie-flat business class — and keep in mind that TAP allows a stopover in Lisbon, so you can spend a few days there if you like.
The Deal
- Cheap business class flights both to and from Europe
- To Europe: Link to Google Flights to search New York to Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm (adjust dates and cities as there are plenty of other possibilities)
- From Europe: Link to Google Flights to search Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm to New York (adjust dates and cities as there are plenty of other possibilities)
Alternatively, you’ll see Skyscanner showing flights on Royal Air Maroc in business class from London to New York from $435, but the price is increasing when I click through. Maybe you’ll have better luck — here’s an example.
Quick Thoughts
Availability on this one is quite good, with flights from New York to Oslo, Copenhagen, and Stockholm from around $1106-$1120 pretty widely available, especially during summer.
Flights back from Europe on TAP start at $648 one way and have similar availability:
Keep in mind that you’ll also earn miles on these paid fares, even if booking with points via something like the Chase portal (which should cost you around 44,000 points if you have the CSR). The last time I flew one of these cheap paid fares from Oslo to Boston on TAP Air Portugal (in late 2017), the fare class I booked earned me just over 11,000 Aeroplan miles. You’ll want to check the earnings for your fare class at wheretocredit.com.
While it’s common to find these great TAP fares from Europe to the US, it is much less common to find this type of pricing originating in the US. View from the Wing points out that the trick is to book as separate one-ways to Europe and then from Europe (round trip pricing is coming up higher than booking separately). Alternatively, book an award ticket one way and a paid ticket the other; there are a lot of possibilities.
I flew TAP Air Portugal’s business class from Oslo to Lisbon (normal regional European style) and then from Lisbon to Boston (in the lie-flat seats pictured above) in late 2017. I thought the new seats were very good. Food, while not outstanding, was surprisingly pretty decent. Service wasn’t amazing, but if you don’t go in with Singapore Airlines expectations, you probably won’t be disappointed. My stopover in Lisbon was great — I’d be happy to go back again for a few days as the food was good and prices in general seemed very reasonable (i.e. cheaper) compared to most Western European cities.
Overall, this is a good opportunity for those looking to fly business class to and from Europe and earn miles for doing so.
H/T: Premium Flights via View from the Wing
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