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If you’re looking to get a family of 4 to Europe this summer in business class, there’s great availability on Condor right now that’s bookable with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles. Some of these routes have their new A330-900neo with lie-flat seats, while others have A330-200s leased from Etihad which also have lie-flat seats. There are also dates available for up to 6 people in Premium Economy.
The Deal
- Book Business Class for up to four people or Premium Economy for up to six people on Condor between Frankfurt and the following US cities:
- Los Angeles LAX
- San Francisco SFO
- Seattle SEA
- Baltimore BWI
Key Terms
- Business Class = 55,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles
- Premium Economy = 45,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles
Quick Thoughts
Reader Bruce emailed us to give us a heads up about this award availability. He found wide open award space throughout the summer to/from the US cities listed above. Condor also flies nonstop from Frankfurt to other US cities including New York JFK, Boston, Las Vegas, Minneapolis/St Paul, Phoenix and Portland (OR), with some of those routes being seasonal.
I haven’t had a chance to check out award availability on those other routes, but have indeed found great availability from some of the west coast options that Bruce had highlighted. For example, this is what availability looks like for four people in business class in July from Seattle to Frankfurt – 18 days are bookable for that many people.
This isn’t some convoluted routing either, just a nonstop flight from Seattle to Frankfurt. Condor isn’t a part of an airline alliance, but they do partner with a number of other airlines, with the most pertinent for most of our readers being Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan. You can book Business Class for 55,000 miles, Premium Economy for 45,000 miles and Economy for 40,000 miles, with only $48 in taxes and fees when heading to Frankfurt.
Availability for four people heading back from Frankfurt to Seattle isn’t quite as great, although there are a handful of dates in late July and early-August.
Condor has a number of different planes operating its flights to the US, so you’ll want to click the ‘Details’ button to see what you’ll get because it could be the difference between full lie-flat seats and angled. In 2022, Condor started taking delivery of A330-900neos which have fully lie-flat seats and are in a 1-2-1 configuration.
It’s this type of aircraft that appears to be used on the Seattle to Frankfurt route, but double-check that in case that’s not the case for every date.
Great award availability is showing up from Los Angeles too. There isn’t as much for four people in July, but the first half of August is looking a lot more healthy.
Note that on at least some of the dates Condor is flying A330-200s which are apparently being leased from Etihad. These are in a 1-2-1 configuration and also feature fully lie-flat beds.
What you want to keep an eye out for is if the flight is due to be operated on a Boeing 767 as that’s Condor’s old business class product which only features angled business class seating.
If you have a healthy stash of Mileage Plan miles, redeeming 55,000 per person for up to four people in business class on Condor could be a great way to get to Europe from the west coast this summer.
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Hey Stephen. Condor just announced a new route route for SAT – FRA. Will that be bookable with Alaska Airlines miles?
Yes, it should be
Very helpful tip! I booked a round trip out of SFO during the last week of July and first week of August on their new plane.
Looked at these, but can’t seem to populate a multi-city on Alaska’s site, even with known Condor destinations. Any thoughts here? (Even trying to do a FRA stopover on the way to MUN doesn’t seem to work.)
I had some trouble with this using multi-city too, because I found flights to and from separately (different origin and return cities), but when I tried to book in all together, it failed. What worked for me was in the multi-city form, at first, you have 4 lines, the first 2 is the departing (lines 1 and 2) and the last 2 are for the return (lines 3 and 4). I was putting my outbound and return on lines 1 and 2 getting an error. When I put the outbound on line 1 and the return on line 3 (leaving 2 and 4 blank), everything worked and found the flights I had previously found. I think lines 2 and 4 are more if you were planning a stopover.
Thanks for the note. I was going for the famed Alaska stopover to another Condor destination, but doesn’t look like they’ll do it. Even trying to get an FRA-(anywhere not US) simply triggers other partner airlines, but no Condor. Becoming less excited about the famed AS mileage plan as I explore more.
lie flat on condor…nice upgrade. that might work someday….need to get more alaska miles though! bofa 70k?
Are Alaska awards fully refundable for free ? Or is there a fee that isn’t refundable? I’ve seen conflicting reports. Thanks
Alaska’s website states “$12.50 nonrefundable partner award fee — applies to all awards using one of our airline partners per person, each way.” https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mileage-plan/frequently-asked-questions/faq-redeeming
You can make changes for free, but if you cancel you lose the $12.50 per person each way
Thanks Greg! Appreciate all the great work you guys do!
Just a random data point–I was able to get that “nonrefundable” partner award fee refunded. There was a significant schedule change, but I had booked the outbound and return flights separately, and they refunded the $12.50 on all tickets. So YMMV.
BWI seems to be 767 only. Not worth it.