As I shared last month, I’ve moved to Austin.
I was searching one-way fares from Dubai to Austin as part of playing around with a trip I’m considering and deciding also whether or not to burn Alaska Airlines miles now that you can use Alaska miles again for Emirates first class.
And I came across something interesting. One way, Dubai – Austin, brings up some pretty cheap first class (note: this is a search for first and not business class) fares.
Sure, on some days the cheapest fare is about $7300 one-way. But much of the time I’m seeing fares as low as $1300 – $1500… and $1198 on Saturdays.
Here’s a sense of what this normally costs.
This $1200 fares are clearly about 10% – 20% of the usual price for this ticket.
The $1198 version of the itinerary is somewhat less than desirable. It gets you British Airways business class (Iberia codeshare) for Dubai – London and then British Airways first class across the Pond.
You can fly that in British Airways first class for a bit more. Or consider flying Qantas flight QF1 onboard an A380:
The Qantas flight will get you Emirates first class lounge access in Dubai. And the British Airways segment gets you the Concorde Room in London.
In either case, much of the fare consists of fuel surcharges.
Some people, therefore, might even pay less.
I’m not sure if Dubai-Austin will be useful to anyone. It does appear to be a British Airways-filed refundable fare. That’s why it works with British Airways flights across the Atlantic. There aren’t any seasonality or day/time restrictions on fare basis F1MEOW.
Later on in the year I’m seeing it price at $1333 and under with Royal Brunei flying the Dubai – London segment in business class on a Boeing 787.
Interesting stuff!
Yup. If I was a carrier who could afford to fly half full A380s across the world to Texas, then I could afford to offer tickets for 80% off.
A flyer would have to be a fool not to take advantage of this.
This should be in every Econ 1 textbook, under the heading “see the obvious consequences of enormous government subsidies.”
What mileage is earned on this? Would it make sense to credit to AA with the new EQP promo?
I have been a loyal British Airways customer since 2002. With limited international travel each year (2 or 3 times) I have always been able to manage to retain Silver status by flying premium economy, allowing me to use BA lounges, which has been key to making my business travel (especially transiting from Africa to the USA) bearable. I work for a USA-based non-profit so I need to keep my travel costs as low as possible. This has hit a snag in two ways recently: First, premium economy tickets seem to be much more expensive in recent years, to the point where it is now double the cost of economy. Second, the way BA is about to allocate tier points will (starting May) make it impossible for me to earn elite status even when paying for premium economy. So I am in the market for a new loyalty program for the first time in 13 years. I am looking for advice.
Is United Airlines a good option for me? Seems like I can get access to all United (and star alliance) lounges by purchasing a MileagePlus Club Card for $395 a year and the fly economy on United. Does this make sense? I am less interested in accumulating maximum ff miles (though that is important too) and more interested in access to lounges when I travel.
I am wide open to advice!
Joseph, Are we now attacking British Airways for subsidies or did you just assume this was an Emirates fare because it’s ex-DXB? Don’t think this has anything to do with subsidies or half full A380s.
@Joseph N – this is a British Airways fare, not an Emirates one
@Mark the Shark – the eqp promo requires an American codeshare so this doesn’t work for that
@Lonjax not 100% sure what you value. If it’s redeemable miles, United is not good for cheapest fares. But if you’re going to be flying United and want upgrades especially domestically where they’re realistic then you may want United status. American right now is a more generous program for lower tier and lower spend members though.
@Gary — Forgive the stupid question, but even if its bookable on AA, its not considered a codeshare?
can route via LAX also for $1246
Per fare rules = unlimited stop overs*
*hip check ???
Joseph N could have been referring to the subsidies (indirect and direct) that all airlines receive. Including IB, BA & AA.
You “found” this while searching on your own, Gary? Seriously?
Not the Flyertalk thread that popped up nearly an hour before your blog post?
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mileage-run-discussion/1670891-british-airways-pricing-error.html
Really, Gary.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/mileage-run-discussion/1670891-british-airways-pricing-error.html#post24642616
Really?
No, I did not see the Flyertalk post. (When I do find something there, I credit Flyertalk, such as the recent United Norwegian fare.)
Does it especially surprise you that I would search fares from the Middle East to my home city?
Nothing you do surprises me any more.
Not even a hat tip.
Booked for the year-end holiday travel ~$1500. Gary this is fully refundable before the trip date? I can’t seem to find the cancellation policy after booking is done.
I call BS, Gary. C’mon…
Cannot find that fare to LAX or anything like it to LAX, DFW, SAN, DEN but plenty of dates to AUS.
@Andrew, What date was the LAX fare and what were you using to see it? (Thanks in advance)
I found this fare at about 2pm in Iraq and posted it on flyertalk about an hour later it was posted here. That’s a very specific flight One way to Austin from DXB for us both to accidentally find it within a hour of each other
I heard you’ve stolen before without giving credit. Remember CMK10’s UA/DL EQD photo?
Looks dead.
Hi gary,
my name is Carlos.
I am visually impaired totally blind using a screen reader and these travel sites ard hard for me to use.
can you tell me about the most reasonable way to book this does ba fly lhr to aus?
I’m trying to find a most inexpensive way to do this.
hopefully in in first class all the way.
and would love to use an a380.
I am very flexible but after the beginning of june is good since I get my ihg credit card free intercontinental night.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Carlos
@beachfan … keyword “VIA” not the end destination
so
DXB-LHR-LAX-AUS
is an example!
Even better example is DXB-AUH-LHR-LAX-AUS to catch a ride in an Etihad First Apartment .
These fares are full F class, fully refundable. They also say changeable without penalty but then also say if you make a change you have to reprice the ticket, so not sure there, the fare could just go up. I just booked DXB-LHR on the QF A380, then LHR-LAX on the BA A380, then LAX to AUS on AA, all in first for $1,600 (Booked on AA.com)
You can also get on the EK A380 for about the same (at least according to Google flights), though you have to call BA, I couldn’t find a way to do it online.
Wow, it is so obvious you stole this from flyertalk.
how would a person book dxb-auh-lhr-lax-aus,
do you book that by putting in multiple cities?
and what would be a good website.
Also what dxb to lhr using emerits and then ba.
Thanks
Carlos
I clearly wasn’t reading your posts very closely on March 5. A belated welcome to Austin! Looking forward to meeting you at FTU in Dallas next week.
@CDKing – I absolutely did not steal anything from CMK10.
1. I had (have) his written permission to use the graphic
2. I had originally – for a brief few hours while away from my computer – *misattributed* the graphic
3. That was immediately corrected when I saw a note on it.
http://viewfromthewing.com/2014/06/11/united-mileageplus-strategy-go/
@Clark83 it was a coincidence, since I live in Austin and am excited to be able to easily use Alaska miles on Emirates again.
For whatever reason there seems to be an orchestrated campaign against me for sharing this find, which was 100% my find. Sorry folks, go away. There’s just about no blogger in the planet who goes more out of their way than I do to credit sources. Day in, day out.
The notion of ‘stealing’ anything from the public interweb is ludicrous enough. I’m sharing information. It just so happens that I came on this myself this afternoon, and hadn’t seen that it was posted elsewhere. If I had I would have said so, there’s no reason at all not to (and it’s my practice to, and has been for years). I give credit, it’s what I do, what do I get by not?
What do you get? You get people to think you actually know what you are talking about.
You stole it, or someone you know told you about it.
Just go pimp your credit cards and take pictures in pjs. That seems to be about all you are good at these days.
Hold on let me put in terms you understand:
This ONE secret no one knows…
Gary Leff steals from Flyertalk.
Truth hurt, Gary?
@skunker
Your posts live up to your moniker. The ft thread wasn’t even in the premium deals thread. More plausible that Gary just checked Emirates options home to see what the schedule was in conjunction with wanting an award flight home than he was looking in that thread.
@skunker This level of maturity and argument hardly deserves a response, and hardly suggests one would be understood in any case.
However, when I find a fare on Flyertalk my practice is to credit there.
For instance:
http://viewfromthewing.com/2015/02/11/85-business-first-class-sale-fare-europe-us-several-airlines/
http://viewfromthewing.com/2014/06/07/wow-deal-1700-3-cabin-first-class-fare-boston-seoul-roundtrip/
http://viewfromthewing.com/2014/10/26/hot-business-class-fare-bangkok-beijing-400-roundtrip/
And when I find something there that isn’t a fare, just useful content, I give credit there. For instance,
http://viewfromthewing.com/2014/04/25/1000-free-club-carlson-points/
http://viewfromthewing.com/2015/03/24/united-introducing-new-premium-cabin-partnership-and-improved-design/
http://viewfromthewing.com/2015/02/13/alaska-airlines-flight-delayed-drunk-flight-attendant/
http://viewfromthewing.com/2015/01/03/can-ask-united-give-top-tier-revenue-based-global-services-status/
That’s because my practice, unlike most sites on the internet, is to credit things where I find them and I see no benefit in doing otherwise. This is how I write, day after day and have for years.
Here I stumbled on something and it turns out someone else did around the same time. That’s all, and there’s really nothing to that. So what if I wrote about something I found elsewhere without crediting someone else? It’s not how I write. It would just make me like everyone else (I’m not). Get a life.
It’s been pointed out to me that @skunker is even writing on Flyertalk that I’m deleting comments which are critical of me — so s/he isn’t even just rude and dense but also a liar.
Thanks Gary. It baffles me why you engage the haters! If they see no value in reading your posts they should go away!
The Flyertalk thread also accurately labels it “Pricing Error”.
Obvious error fare is obvious.
sheesh, what a tough crowd.
Gary,
My comment at 6:35pm was deleted, which prompted my next post. Shortly after I posted on FT that you were deleting posts, my post reappeared. It’s a miracle!
@beachfan, So gary only takes posts from the premium fare forum?
Gary tons of respect for posting this! Just booked the fare for me and three family members. Also please ignore the flyertalk haters, I’ve been reading your blog for ages and know for a fact that you have no issue giving someone credit when due. Your truly awesome and please continue to post these.
So you just happen to check first class paid travel DXB-AUS? I knew pimping credit cards and click bait was lucrative, but wow – that’s impressive that you were looking at paid F…and frankly, unbelievable.
What’s disturbing is not Gary found the same deal but rather it’s the timing. Sure, Gary lives in Austin and he checks ITA Matrix very often given that he has a award booking service. But the fact that the two posts are an hour apart? Maybe I need to retake my statistics/probability class in college but I’m sorry that’s not pure coincidence.
@skunker your post was never deleted.
@Scotty I was looking at premium cabin fares because I wanted to know the value of what I was looking to book and because sometimes from the region there can be good deals that could influence whether I’d be getting much value for my miles. I was just prepping a trip report on my Emirates first class experience, Alaska brought back online booking of Emirates first, and so it’s been front of mind.
@CLP the “why now” for me is because I was just writing up my flights from the region and because they’re again bookable with miles. What is the statistical probability of Alaska bringing back online Emirates first class booking? Stick that in your formula.
OMG. The people who are obsessed (or even CARE) “who found it first” just need to go away, or they seriously need to get a LIFE. What is this, 8th grade? I’m surprised Gary doesn’t just kick them off his blog. (and I wish he would, it’s clogging up the Comments section!!! Seriously)
And @Gary, you should not even lower yourself to defend against the internet Trolls. (OK, maybe once, but not 10 times)
@Skunker GTFO and troll somewhere else- perhaps you can find some intellectual peers at your local elementary school.
It is a shame Gary has too much integrity to delete your posts out of hand.
I don’t know Gary, or skunker. However, it is very suspicious that Gary would “find” such a specific price error at almost exactly the same time as a poster on FlyerTalk. I’m not saying it didn’t happen, but I am saying it is very suspect.
Thanks Gary. This deal doesn’t interest me, but more power to those if it does. To those who have nothing better to do than to bag on him for what he writes or shares: GET OVER IT. Nobody wants to waste their time reading comments from trolls.
Gary, you are far too patient with these trolls. You SHOULD delete their ridiculous comments. They fill up your blog comments section with stupid stuff that everyone, including themselves, know is not true. For some reason, some people’s maturity level is still stuck in 6th grade, not much you can do about it.
Thanks Gary. Keep up the good work on these fare deals!
10 years ago Flyertalk was great, then a bunch of trolls like Skunker showed up and buried the valuable information with their Avalanche of constant bragging, insults and belittling – and that’s why it’s great that Garry posts these deals here. Skunker should go back to Flyertalk and hassle people who post in the wrong forum or have the gall to ask a question that’s in the FAQ.
Thanks Gary, informative post as always. Looking for an excuse to take advantage of it.
Was it “mistake fare” that was fixed. I’m not finding it.
Gary, you have my full support on this matter. Don’t let those people upset you.
@gary, if you say you didn’t delete my comment then I will believe you. The rest of comments stand.
@everyone else: You should probably check my posts on FT before bashing me.
Good night and good luck to those that got in on the deal.
Sadly, this deal is dead – $6800+ is best 1-way fare on BA and ITA Matrix. Great concept for another timing.
Your fare calendar example shows June-July with the “27th” as a Saturday. Neither June nor July have a Saturday that is the 27th for either month???
In my world June has a 27th on a Saturday Alison. =)
I’ve been blogging for a couple of years now and I have a pretty good feel for who’s good at giving proper attribution and who’s not. Gary’s great at giving credit where credit is due and I support him 100%.
Maybe… I don’t know or really care that much. It is a pretty specific route to just “find” I’ve always lived in Austin and work in Iraq so fly home through Dubai. I happened to stumble across this at about 6am est time 1pm local time. I was looking for a flight for my wife to meet me in Dubai and fly home with me.
After I booked I asked if anyone else saw this sale. 1hr later it was posted here. Glad people bought the sale.
I honestly don’t know how bloggers such as Gary and MMS deal with the trolls, day-in and day-out. The trolls are invariably people who contribute absolutely nothing except accusations and such. Let’s not feed them.
Gary, you know I like you, and actually I was deeply indebted to you for the RGN R3 fare, but this one was found by yourself? C’mon, you can’t be serious…
Folks, I am genuinely not looking for any credit in this, I really do not care. I am only responding to those who suggest I am somehow ‘stealing’ the information from someone else I did not even know had written about it until posted here.
If I credit these to OneWorld partners will the EQM promo apply?
@Joediver – no because that requires AA codeshares
Per someone commenting on OMAT, this fare typo had been around for months and people have flown it without issue. The large number of people booking it at once has led to the correction last night (apparently the base far was typoed as 1/10th of the correct fare).
Wow – just WOW! You losers that are complaining that Gary didn’t find this, or stole that – seriously? Don’t you have anything better to worry or complain about? Who gives a F who found it? And how can you steal something that is freely available online? LOL! Bunch of idiots! Carry on Gary! 🙂
Thanks Gary for notifying us about this deal and your excellent blog.
I was able to get DXB-LHR-LAX in BA F for $1200 thanks to you. (The fare is actually DXB-LHR-LAX-AUS.)
And there was Etihad F LAX-DXB for 90K available for the positioning!
Gary, I ended up booking two trips, but want to cancel one later on. Is this deal fully refundable? TIA
@Fan these tickets are cancellable
The additional irony strikes me seeing a few threads on Flyertalk where the intel was clearly ripped from this blog without attribution.