Air Fare Consolidators - cheap business class

[Dark Avenger]

First time on this board.  Planning airfare for a cruise next August - Starts in Stockholm ends in Oslo.  Berlin (on our own) is first stay.  

Start (leave) from Denver.  Like Lusitania/United and the Denver Frankfurt route is a good one for us.  I'd like to avoid the east coast and Heathrow.  Cheap business class tickets(2) on the 787 Dreamliner for the long leg of the trip would be the dream. 

 

Some time in my life I would like to fly business class before I die, but don't want to take out a second mortgage to do it.   I am tempted by the business class fares advertised the the "consolidators" for lack of a better definition.  Can I name names?  Can anyone recommend specific companies, or T/A's and stay within CC rules?   Our preferences might make it hard for these types of ticket / re-sellers to offer us the most attractive monetary terms. 

 

Any sage advice, recommendations, or shared experiences (positive, or negative) for us?  

[Zach1213]

Would recommend against Lusitania, they sunk. Lufthansa, however, is a solid airline 🙂

 

Generally, these "cheap business class" websites are scams. Often, they operate by purchasing miles from people and then using them to book business class tickets. This is against most (all?) airline rules, and if they find out, you can be cancelled on with no ramifications, and possibly no notice or options...basically, stuck, and out of money. 

 

Business class is a major money maker for airlines, so they don't tend to give it away for cheap. If you find a business class ticket too good to be true, but a website or "agent" you've never heard of, err on the side of extreme caution...and preferably just avoid it. 10 hours in economy is better than zero hours in a business class seat that was taken away from you due to your "agent" providing the ticket on false pretenses. 

 

EDIT: Also, one thing to consider is limiting your search to Frankfurt and then taking a train. It's about four hours with no change of trains between Frankfurt Airport and Berlin. Lovely ride, gets you ride from airport to city center, and is just generally more relaxing in exchange for not much added time.

Edited December 17, 2019 by Zach1213

[dabear]

I've tried a few times to book with a consolidator but did not like the itineraries they provided when we had a multi city type trip. Also be careful with their terms & conditions as it could create unsatisfactory issues. Try looking at choice air which on occasion, is cheaper than the airline website prices. 

[Twickenham]

21 minutes ago, Dark Avenger said:

Like Lusitania

 

Cruise Critic typo 🙂 

 

We are allowed to discuss booking sites when pertaining to flights and hotels.

 

Saw a thread on Flyertalk recently about a deal avaible on Business if you bought it as part of a package; for instance, BOS-WAW was pricing out at around $1500/person. Seems to have gone up now, but just an example of how thinking outside of the box can sometimes yield a great deal.

 

Speaking of which...

 

22 minutes ago, Dark Avenger said:

Our preferences might make it hard for these types of ticket / re-sellers to offer us the most attractive monetary terms.

 

And here's the catch. The one constant WRT trying to get a deal on airfare is that the more restrictive your preferences/conditions are, the less likely you'll get a deal. The more flexible you can be, the more chance you can score a good price.

 

Now, I have personally travelled to Europe in Business class 3 1/2 times (the half being a return after a QM2 crossing) in the last 5 years, with another booked for next month. All of these flights have been using frequent-flyer miles. And the vast majority of the miles have been earned through credit card bonuses. You still have time to look at something like that (it's amazing how fast they can accumulate - I once went from 0 to 125,000 miles in 3 months).

 

But there again, when redeeming miles, you need to be flexible. I have no problems flying to Barcelona via Istanbul - when my ultimate destination is London. Some might be horrified by such an itinerary, and that's fine. Just be aware that everything is a choice in life, and while we all have the right to make our own choices, we also have to realize that they often have a cost consequence. The key is to weight the pros and cons of each scenario and deciding what works best for you.

[Zach1213]

8 minutes ago, Twickenham said:

But there again, when redeeming miles, you need to be flexible. I have no problems flying to Barcelona via Istanbul - when my ultimate destination is London. 

 

Oh man...even in J or F class, kill me now! 

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, Zach1213 said:

Would recommend against Lusitania, they sunk.

 

I was going to torpedo that idea myself.

[FlyerTalker]

37 minutes ago, Zach1213 said:

Oh man...even in J or F class, kill me now! 

 

If Cathay did that routing, the Blue Label they serve in F would ease my pain.

[fbgd]

6 hours ago, Dark Avenger said:

First time on this board.  Planning airfare for a cruise next August - Starts in Stockholm ends in Oslo.  Berlin (on our own) is first stay.  

Start (leave) from Denver.  Like Lusitania/United and the Denver Frankfurt route is a good one for us.  I'd like to avoid the east coast and Heathrow.  Cheap business class tickets(2) on the 787 Dreamliner for the long leg of the trip would be the dream. 

 

Some time in my life I would like to fly business class before I die, but don't want to take out a second mortgage to do it.   I am tempted by the business class fares advertised the the "consolidators" for lack of a better definition.  Can I name names?  Can anyone recommend specific companies, or T/A's and stay within CC rules?   Our preferences might make it hard for these types of ticket / re-sellers to offer us the most attractive monetary terms. 

 

Any sage advice, recommendations, or shared experiences (positive, or negative) for us?  

 

So a few thoughts...

 

1) Why avoid Heathrow or the US East Coast?

2) Why Dreamliners?

 

Heathrow, being London's main airport, is one of Europe's major gateways. All the world's major airlines fly to Heathrow and as such it's one of the best airports to get cheaper premium cabin fares. Depending upon which airline you pick then connecting through Heathrow can be very easy. Connecting on BA for example is extremely easy if you stay within the same terminal, and even connecting across terminals can be far preferable to some of Europe's other gateways...If you flew Lufthansa connecting through FRA is far more of a drag than LHR, IMO.

 

Dreamliners aren't all they're cracked up to be...besides it is how the airline configures the aircraft more than the aircraft itself. United have a lot of Dreamliners in a might-have-been-competitive-in-2003 2-2-2 configuration, for example. American Airlines have a load of 787s in all aisle access 1-2-1 configuration that is much better. 

 

The good news for you is the summer is traditionally a period of weak premium cabin demand across the Atlantic and airlines are almost guaranteed to have a decent sale on business and first class tickets. The downside is these sales are often only announced shortly before the summer season starts so if you're risk averse it's probably not the best strategy.

 

Also +1 on those who have said to avoid consolidator, you're just asking for trouble. That cheap business class ticket could be the most expensive thing you've paid for and got nothing in return.

 

Edited December 18, 2019 by fbgd

[the mice]

Have you searched your possible routes on Google Flights or momondo?    I ask because we recently booked a cruise Monaco to Rome in June which is high season and it was already the end of November as I started looking for flights.  My husband won't fly red-eyes in economy but will fly them for daytime returns from Europe.  So I needed business going and could settle for economy return.   While we have lots of miles with American and United, and enough Chase points to transfer to other airlines, I could not find business class seats using miles within a few days before and after the cruise.   So I searched these sites and set up some fare trackers.

 

A search on momondo turned up a decent paid fare - nonstop business to Nice on United (Polaris seats) and Air Canada from Rome to Montreal in economy, connecting to LaGuardia.   I was able to book this on the United website.   An added bonus was a promo from United offering 5x points on the purchase and we'll earn more miles for flying.  That made it not worth using our miles (not that I could find award seats.....).      So my point is, you need to explore various routes and options to see where you might potentially find a good deal that fits.    Delta can be tough for redeeming miles for business class to Europe - sometimes outrageous redemption rates. 

[waterbug123]

7 hours ago, fbgd said:

 

Also +1 on those who have said to avoid consolidator, you're just asking for trouble. That cheap business class ticket could be the most expensive thing you've paid for and got nothing in return.

 

 

Add me to the "be very wary" pack.  If you get an ultra cheap fare through a consolidator, do you really know what the fine print says?  If you have a major delay or canceled flight, and need to be rebooked and/or rerouted, can you reach the consolidator?  Can your ticket be rerouted?  Can it be endorsed to another airline?  Is the consolidator really going to go to bat for you?  Or will you end up stuck at the airport, pleading your case to an airline that considers you low man on the totem pole for getting accommodated?

[terry&mike]

You may also want to check with the cruise line on their international Business class air. Oftentimes they have very good fares. 

[Gardyloo]

Just looking for arbitrary dates in August, I can see fares in the $2100 range going from Denver to Copenhagen, using Lufthansa (who, by the way, use Airbus A350s over the water, the Airbus equivalent to the 787.)  That's a pretty good price, and while you'd have to pay for separate tickets within Europe (CPH-TXL, TXL-ARN, OSL-CPH) these are quite cheap and quick.  

 

Avoid the consolidators; many are mileage brokers and you can find yourself stranded and out of pocket thousands of dollars.

 

I'll also reiterate a point made earlier.  Look for fly/hotel packages using the likes of AA Vacations or United Vacations.  They'll allow you to limit your hotel stays to just a couple of nights, even if the flights are two or three weeks apart, and the savings can be spectacular.

 

Two websites to look at in searching for prices.  ITA Matrix is the gold standard in searching airfares; use their month-long search and/or their multi-city function for open jaw itineraries.  It links to Google Flights if you want to proceed to ticketing.

 

Second, patrol this board on Flyertalk - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/premium-fare-deals-740/ - where the wonks post cheap pointy-end fares, often before anybody else has found them.  Remember summer is when business class to Europe is at its cheapest, while coach is at its most expensive.  Sometimes the difference can be pretty minor.

 

Lastly, while it's not flat-bed stuff, look at Icelandair, which can get you in their business class product to northern Europe a lot cheaper than the other majors.  They also allow a free stopover in Iceland coming and going.   They fly out of Denver to Keflavik, connecting there pretty much everywhere in Europe.

[3rdCoastFan]

Something else to consider is business on the way over and then premium economy on the way back. Granted, when taking a daytime flight in business, you get more time to enjoy the perks rather than on a red-eye when you're ostensibly enjoying that flat bed. Not every business product is worthy of the 'once in a lifetime' feeling, though. 

 

Last spring, we did Polaris from Chicago to Amsterdam and business in Lufthansa from Munich to Chicago. Sadly, it wasn't real Polaris on United and I really wasn't thrilled with the Lufthansa flight. I would have been just as happy in PE for the return flight. Flying out of Denver, it looks like Star Alliance gives you the most choices - which means you're likely going to be on Lufthansa and/or United. Your experience may vary, of course. My LH flight was an older A346. Maybe an A350 would have been better? Not sure that would have helped much with the infrequent service and uncomfortable seat. Similarly, maybe the new Polaris seat would have allowed me to get a few more hours of decent sleep on the way over with United. The Polaris lounge also really helped get the experience off to a great start - but you don't have that in Denver. 

[hiccups]

I second checking with the cruise line for business class seats--we've gotten good prices on all classes of tickets on international flights through the cruise lines.