Nice business class sale to Europe through summer ’18

Last week, we posted about some great business class fares from New York to Europe (See: Business Class to Europe from $1735. Use w/ Delta Amex offer to save more). Many of those fares are still available (and continue to be available though July 2018 on most Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. If you have the Delta Amex Offer (long since gone if not already added) loaded to one of your cards, the price drops to just $1575 (with $160 back on $800 or more).  Now, Gilbert Ott at God Save the Points is reporting that British Airways is offering similar pricing, which may drop down into the $1400’s if you can stack discounts on flights in 2017. That may be even more enticing thanks to the large bonuses currently being offered by Alaska Airlines for paid premium-cabin fares on British Airways.

Delta from $1735 (or $1575 with Amex Offer)

As we covered last week, there are very competitive fares on Delta between New York and Frankfurt or Zurich, with the Frankfurt fares coming in as low as $1735 round trip.

If you were targeted for the $160 back on $800 Amex Offer, you could bring that down to a net $1575.

Don’t trust the Google Flights calendar view — this fare is available on almost any Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday through July 2018. Once you choose dates, you’ll see the $1735 price.

British Airways

On the other hand, calendar view is working accurately with British Airways prices. Here are June and July 2018:

If you’re planning for next summer, I believe that no further discounting is possible at the moment.

However, if you’re looking to fly this fall, you can do even better. One of the nice things about those prices is the fact that there are some great discounts to be had when booking with British Airways (See: Extreme Stacking British Airways, AA, and Iberia flights). While Gilbert Ott suggests that the AARP $200 discount will stack with these fares (and I believe it should), I have tried many combinations of dates and have been unable to see the correct AARP discount. The system says it is showing AARP pricing, but the flights come up at $1790 (not reflecting the $200 discount that should be there). However, coupon code CARDOFFERRU will apply to flights this fall (though not next summer). That brings the price down to $1611 round trip. If you can stack the $200 discount (which would theoretically apply to the $1790 price before CARDOFFERU), the price would come down to $1431.

Note that the coupon code is for holders of the Chase British Airways Visa card. In the past, paying with any Chase Visa has worked with the code. However, at least one member of the Frequent Miler Insiders Facebook group recently reported being unable to pay with a Chase Ink card after applying the code. I haven’t purchased a fare, so YMMV on which payment methods are available to you.

Earning with Alaska

Remember that crediting British Airways paid business class can to Alaska’s Mileage Plan yield a lot of miles. Even the cheapest business class fare classes earn 250% redeemable miles, and that’s before any elite bonuses.

Can you pay with points?

Cheap business class fares like these sometimes can sometimes be a good use of the ability to pay with points (especially compared with transferring to partners for the same flights). While I don’t see the same prices for the British Airways flights through the Chase portal, I do see American and Delta available for about 116,000 Ultimate Rewards points:

I also see similar pricing available via Amex Travel, which may be attractive to those who still have access to the 50% pay-with-points rebate.

Bottom line

Even without discounts, transatlantic business class in the $1700’s is quite good — especially for peak summer travel. If you are able to stack an additional discount and earn some miles, all the better. These fares would also be a good use of points — for example, using Chase Sapphire Reserve points at 1.5cpp, a round trip would cost you around 116,000 points. That’s not much more than even the best price for an award ticket (and less than many programs charge for round trip business class to Europe) — and you should earn miles and status credit, further reducing your net cost.

Other cities may be possible. See our previous post for some example fares from Houston and Seattle and use Google Flights to hunt for other great deals (See: How to find great business class fares with Google Flights).

H/T: God Save the Points

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.