GREAT DEAL: Business Class From Europe To U.S. For Less Than $500 Roundtrip

by Gary Leff

Right now there’s an amazing transatlantic business class deal originating in Europe. You can book business class roundtrip itineraries for less than $500. And this is amazing for people in the U.S., too – just book an award ticket or cheap coach fare to Europe, then book a series of roundtrips that start in Europe. At this price, why not go more than once?

You can fly across the British Airways network to places like New York; Washington DC; Austin; Las Vegas; Philadelphia and Seattle. And you can start in cities like Dublin; Paris; Nice; Bucharest; Dusseldorf; and more. Try your favorite European cities and British Airways destinations in the U.S.

Some city pairs will cost a bit more, perhaps $900 roundtrip for February – March trips, which is still a fraction of regular price.

Here’s a sample itinerary from Dublin to New York for $550 roundtrip in business class on British Airways.

Key details of cheapest fare basis INX1C1S4:

  • Travel from Europe is permitted Tuesday – Thursday (for transatlantic segment) and travel from the U.S. is permitted Monday – Wednesday (for transatlantic segment).
  • 180 advance reservation required
  • Minimum Saturday night stay and 24 hour stay required
  • Stopovers permitted in Europe for 150 euros each
  • Non-refundable but no fee for changes, however any difference in fare would apply

You can actually find these fares for a bit less, around $487 roundtrip, searching SkyScanner and booking through smaller online travel agencies. However many will prefer to book direct.

I would not make any firm plans based on these fares at this point. They’re such a great deal I wouldn’t be surprised if the airline decides it has seller’s remorse. It seems to me this is just a deep discount offer – after all, they require 6 month advance purchase for the cheapest deals which is almost unprecedented! However if they implausibly claim later that this sale was a mistake, the Department of Transportation does require airlines to cover costs consumers incurred in reliance on the fare. However it’s far simpler and easier just to wait to ensure that they are going to honor the sale.

(HT: Rich)

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. @ Gary — Please review these TAP flights for those of us who won’t be trying this. My only prior TAP experience gets an F.

  2. $500 fares routed through LHR?? The fuel surcharges alone are more than that on most transatlantic BA flights. This doesn’t pass the smell test. I’m curious, but doubtful.

  3. I got as far as entering the security code on my AMEX card, 2x Business Dublin/JFK/Dublin when it crapped out on me, twice. The first time it died, I was able to get the same fares again €984 for 2, I’d even selected my seats, entered CC and security code again, then it crapped out abd when it reset one way had increased to €694, a 3X increase. I’m gutted.

  4. @Gene – I am not Gary, and this article isn’t about TAP, but I’ll throw in my two cents anyhow lol. My experience has been that, while everyone loves to hate in them here, TAP J is a perfectly fine place to get from A to B with some legroom when the alternatives are expensive or unavailable. The inflight product is fine – US Airways type A330 seats or A321 seats somewhere between AA A321T J and F. Fine in my book for flights of 6-7 hours. Service and food were – idk, forgettable? Nothing extreme either way. LIS as a hub is not amazing, with lots of bus gates, but gets the job done. I’ve never been forced into an overnight in LIS but I see it as a feature rather than a bug and have taken them up on it. I’ve heard very bad things about IRROPS but I also have trouble imagining that it can be any worse than when one of the US majors has one of their regular meltdowns.

    At the end of the day for me, it’s about the value – getting across the Atlantic for $1000-1500 one-way (or less, if you’re lucky) in a seat that is not economy. I’ve found this useful for trips where I can find an award in one direction but not reasonably the other direction. Would I fly TP for business or if someone else is paying? Not likely. Would I compare it to an F product or a top-tier J product? No. Do I find it to be a useful means of transportation compared to the alternatives? Yes, so far. If it is TP versus flying in Y, paying a multiple in cash to another major carrier, or using an exorbitant amount of points, then TP works for me.

  5. I couldn’t get it to work on BA nor could I find it on Skyscanner. If it was there maybe I couldn’t find it but it was a wash for me!

  6. It was a misfiled error fare, and it’s gone. Great deal if you were awake to get one — and they honor it.

  8. I’m seeing a lot around a thousand euros, just picked Venice-Dallas, looks like the cheapest flights are all BA/AA. I haven’t tried booking one though, might end up with the same problem.

  9. If it ain’t Boeing, I ain’t going, and if it ain’t Star, I won’t go far

Comments are closed.