One-way Business-Class Air Suggestions

[smoothsailors]

We're booked on QV March 29, 2011 Ft. Lauderdale-Southampton (our first tran-atlantic), and airfares for the return will be bookable by the end of May. Our first choice would be to get business-class directly back to Florida, either Orlando or thru Atlanta. We're working with a T.A., but would welcome input from those who frequently cruise Cunard...does their Custom Air program have better one-way fares available? Right now, of course, the round-trip fares are much lower than the one-ways. Not sure if we need to jump on tickets 331 days out or if we should wait a couple of months. We plan to spend several days in London at the end of the cruise and are not locked in to a specific return date...however anything around the 19th-20th will be close to Easter.

 

Just wondered how you obtain decent one-way fares...business class is a necessity for us. Any suggestions would be appreciated!:)

[Valentino]

We're booked on QV March 29, 2011 Ft. Lauderdale-Southampton (our first tran-atlantic), and airfares for the return will be bookable by the end of May. Our first choice would be to get business-class directly back to Florida, either Orlando or thru Atlanta. We're working with a T.A., but would welcome input from those who frequently cruise Cunard...does their Custom Air program have better one-way fares available? Right now, of course, the round-trip fares are much lower than the one-ways. Not sure if we need to jump on tickets 331 days out or if we should wait a couple of months. We plan to spend several days in London at the end of the cruise and are not locked in to a specific return date...however anything around the 19th-20th will be close to Easter.

 

Just wondered how you obtain decent one-way fares...business class is a necessity for us. Any suggestions would be appreciated!:)

 

Hi Smoothy, as a couple that travel a lot to the UK we find that the best prices when travelling business class are those that are booked well in advance. (we travel BA). Very rarely does BA have a seat sale on business/first class. Also, I find now that most airlines will not gouge you on the single fare and that those flights that we have taken as a single fare have always been exactly half the price of the return fare.

 

Not sure what airline you would choose but personally I love BA and their flat bed business class seats (assuming of course they sort their act out).

[DaddyWarbucks]

We're booked on QV March 29, 2011 Ft. Lauderdale-Southampton (our first tran-atlantic), and airfares for the return will be bookable by the end of May. Our first choice would be to get business-class directly back to Florida, either Orlando or thru Atlanta. We're working with a T.A., but would welcome input from those who frequently cruise Cunard...does their Custom Air program have better one-way fares available? Right now, of course, the round-trip fares are much lower than the one-ways. Not sure if we need to jump on tickets 331 days out or if we should wait a couple of months. We plan to spend several days in London at the end of the cruise and are not locked in to a specific return date...however anything around the 19th-20th will be close to Easter.

 

 

 

Just wondered how you obtain decent one-way fares...business class is a necessity for us. Any suggestions would be appreciated!:)

Do a search on ITA

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ITA Software: Trip Planner

[doublebzz]

I always book my own air. In your case, however, I would check with Cunard since, I assume, they can book one way fare a lower price than the individual.

 

I have made a number of transatlantics and always purchase a round trip ticket. For your cruise, I would book a London to Miami round trip and try to upgrade the LHR-MIA leg with miles then throw away the return portion. Thats still a lot less costly than any one way business class ticket unclass Cunard can offer you some sort of deal.

[rm3]

I would definitely consider checking round trip fares and only using the first leg. While busines class fares are not often discounted and the one way fare is half the round trip, you will find that sometimes a round trip will be cheaper. Check the fares from Gatwick as well as Heathrow as the fares are sometimes better from one of those airports than the other although it is not consistent which airport offers the best fare.

 

The ITA website looks good but try the airlines directly. BA probably flies the route non-stop, Delta should fly it through JFK, DTW, or ATL. American probably does it non-stop or through JFK or MIA.

 

While business class fares are not often discounted, occasionally the airlines offer deals such as a 2 for one. Pay for one full fare business class ticket and get a second one free or something similar. Call the airlines directly and inquire about these types of fares. Unless you have a great TA who you have used before and trust you will probably find a better deal if you do the legwork yourself.

[capnpugwash]

Virgin Atlantic fly Miami to Heathrow and their Upper Class is a notch up on BA Business Class.

[PeterSt]

If you are only planning to use one half of an air return ticket make sure that it is the outward half that you use and the return half that you do not use.

 

If you do not turn up for the outward part (of a return ticket) then airlines normally assume that you will not be turning up for your return journey.

 

Peter

[Ship's Wake]

We're booked on QV March 29, 2011 Ft. Lauderdale-Southampton (our first tran-atlantic), and airfares for the return will be bookable by the end of May. Our first choice would be to get business-class directly back to Florida, either Orlando or thru Atlanta. We're working with a T.A., but would welcome input from those who frequently cruise Cunard...does their Custom Air program have better one-way fares available? Right now, of course, the round-trip fares are much lower than the one-ways. Not sure if we need to jump on tickets 331 days out or if we should wait a couple of months. We plan to spend several days in London at the end of the cruise and are not locked in to a specific return date...however anything around the 19th-20th will be close to Easter.

 

Just wondered how you obtain decent one-way fares...business class is a necessity for us. Any suggestions would be appreciated!:)

 

One option to consider is using frequent flyer miles. AA recently changed their FF booking engine on their site, allowing you to book one-way tickets using miles. A quick check shows one-way business class seats on many dates in April 2011 LHR to MIA at 50K miles per seat.

 

If you don't have FF miles with AA, perhaps your preferred carrier has a similar arrangement.

[fbgd]

Very rarely does BA have a seat sale on business/first class.

 

Not so. The last year to 18 mos have been ripe for first/business deals on BA. 2 for 1 offers, even on the cheapest, most discounted fares, sub £1000 rtns across the pond...haven't seen anything superb in the last few months though. There was a stage when F/J was on near perpetual sale.

 

Virgin Atlantic fly Miami to Heathrow and their Upper Class is a notch up on BA Business Class.

 

That is certainly up for debate. I hear quite a few former VS diehards making their way over to BA for all the cut backs in UC, that's quite an achievement considering the Club World soft product isn't what it was a couple of years back, let alone 10yrs ago...

[PennyAgain]

Depending on your class of service/booking on Cunard, they may offer you either a free or significantly reduced air fare option. Your travel agent should be working this out for you.

 

Cunard offered me a deal that I could not refuse. Yes, that good.

 

Before you buy tickets on your own, make sure you understand what Cunard is willing to do for you.

[smoothsailors]

:) Thank you...our TA did just arrange wonderful non-stop return business-class air on BA thru Cunard. Have been researching fares and Cunard's offer was better than anything else available by far...well worth the "deviation" fee for customizing.

[PennyAgain]

Thank you so much for letting us know. I've had a couple of screaming good deals from Cunard and feel it is always worth checking.

[Ashland]

Do a search on ITA

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ITA Software: Trip Planner

Just a quick question about this website please.....I have found the exact flight/times/aircraft/price I want but the price it quotes is not available when I call DL directly (they say it's sold out when in fact all seats are showing available on their DL website this is for Mar'11 but the price is a lot higher )..so how does using this website usually work....

[6rugrats]

Just a quick question about this website please.....I have found the exact flight/times/aircraft/price I want but the price it quotes is not available when I call DL directly (they say it's sold out when in fact all seats are showing available on their DL website this is for Mar'11 but the price is a lot higher )..so how does using this website usually work....

 

It works by showing you routing and prices. Airfare prices change constantly, so what you see on ITA on minute, may not be available through the airline the next.

 

Think of it this way; say a UA flight has 150 seats to sell in economy. These seats are not all the same price; there are a certain number of seats to be allocated to each fare bucket. Seat buckets are coded by letter, and UA has economy fare buckets of Y, B, E, M, U, H, Q, V, W, S, T, K, and L in economy. Each fare has certain restrictions and prices. The cheapest fare buckets usually sell out the most quickly.

 

When ITA pulls up a fare you like, you can see the fare details when you click on "booking details". However, this fare bucket may no longer be available when you call DL to book.

[Sargent_Schultz]

One option to consider is using frequent flyer miles. AA recently changed their FF booking engine on their site, allowing you to book one-way tickets using miles. A quick check shows one-way business class seats on many dates in April 2011 LHR to MIA at 50K miles per seat.

 

If you don't have FF miles with AA, perhaps your preferred carrier has a similar arrangement.

 

American does offer and also United (and Alaska and S(outh)W(est))

[Ashland]

It works by showing you routing and prices. Airfare prices change constantly, so what you see on ITA on minute, may not be available through the airline the next.

 

Think of it this way; say a UA flight has 150 seats to sell in economy. These seats are not all the same price; there are a certain number of seats to be allocated to each fare bucket. Seat buckets are coded by letter, and UA has economy fare buckets of Y, B, E, M, U, H, Q, V, W, S, T, K, and L in economy. Each fare has certain restrictions and prices. The cheapest fare buckets usually sell out the most quickly.

 

When ITA pulls up a fare you like, you can see the fare details when you click on "booking details". However, this fare bucket may no longer be available when you call DL to book.

So how accurate and fast are changes to the ITA website..if I call DL as I'm looking at the website..It can have already changed. Any time of the day or night better to look and call ?.Do I give DL the fare codes I'm seeing ..sorry for all the questions and lack of understanding..I appreciate the time you are taking to answer me..

[YXU AC*SE]

Actually, pretty much instantly.

 

ITA is everywhere in the system. In addition to being the technology provider supporting the major GDSs; meta-search services (like kayak.com) ; major internet booking sites (farecompare.com, hotwire.com, bing.com, orbitz.com), OAG, and major domestic and international airlines, they also are the technology provider behind ATPCO -- the rather sexily named Airline Tariff Publishing Company. ATPCO is a company owned by a consortium of airlines that is the initial point of distribution for airline fare and rule data. Over 700 participating airlines worldwide submit their data through ATPCO for distribution to the computer reservation systems/global distribution systems multiple times a day. So in essence, ITA gets it first.

 

So now that the blah blah is done, how does this work? Let's say you want to come and visit me on the 4th of July (Ashland, KY - get it? teehee - to London, ON). ITA shows that the best price is on DL -- and has routing of HTS CVG DTW YXU. Now to book, the easiest way is to go to DL's website, and see if you can find the flight. In my case it popped up, so, all you have to do is buy it. Sometimes, especially on multi-segment itineraries though, you might need to use the airline's "multi-city" function to recreate the routing of the ticket (so you would price three legs -- HTS CVG + CVG DTW + DTW YXU). And, if all else fails, call in to their call centre with the routing and fare rule -- the part that looks like this ...

 

Fare 1: Carrier DL KA14A0NQ HTS to CVG (rules)

Passenger type ADT, one-way fare, booking code K

Covers HTS-CVG (Coach)

$249.30

Fare 2: Carrier DL UA14A0SV CVG to YXU (rules)

Passenger type ADT, one-way fare, booking code U

Covers CVG-DTW (Coach), DTW-YXU (Coach)

$140.50

 

If you can't get the agent to be able to price the ticket you want, hang up and try again. It is not that pricing doesn't exist, it might just be the agent lacks the expertise to find it. That said, as has been noted, airline pricing is highly dynamic and competitive - there are fares continually being loaded in the system; and with better online tools, pax are continually buying up seats. Interesting factoid -- 66% of Canadians with internet access at home use it to obtain travel information or make travel arrangements (it is the number one e-commerce activity on the internet right now -- twice as popular as job search in fact)

 

Hope this helps,

 

Scott.

[FlyerTalker]

If you can't get the agent to be able to price the ticket you want, hang up and try again. It is not that pricing doesn't exist, it might just be the agent lacks the expertise to find it.

Ding, Ding, Ding....we have a winner.

 

Many airline systems are relatively "dumb" when it comes to constructing itineraries and pricing flights. The computer wants to apply one or two "easy" sets of fare construction, while a savvy agent can force the more "creative" pricing that ITA finds. This is especially true when the number of connections goes up, or if the connect is not through one of the standard hubs for the airline. (For example, I have done MRs where the connections are at out stations - the Deltamatic system burps, but a good agent works it out.)

 

Airline booking systems also tend to force you into the shortest connects, even if other legal connections are available. This is especially true for international itineraries where the legal connect time is longer than the domestic 4 hour allowance.

 

Yes - creating an online itinerary leg by leg is more work than just putting in origin and destination. Is the effort worth the reward? Only the individual can answer that question.

[Ashland]

THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!!!

 

6rugrats...always great info !!!

 

YXU AC *SE....love your routing !!! TeeHee !!!

 

FlyerTalker...can always count on you !!!

 

You all must have been big fans of "Sky King" that was one of my favorite shows....;)

[FlyerTalker]

YXU AC *SE....love your routing !!! TeeHee !!!

Not so bad....instead of the 500 FF miles for a non-stop, you would now get 500 to Cincy, 500 to Detroit and 500 to London. Makes sense to me.;)

You all must have been big fans of "Sky King" that was one of my favorite shows....;)

From out of the clear blue of the western sky comes Sky King! Don't forget Penny, too.

[YXU AC*SE]

Not so bad....instead of the 500 FF miles for a non-stop, you would now get 500 to Cincy, 500 to Detroit and 500 to London. Makes sense to me.;)

 

For a mere 20$ more, and a day's worth of flying on DL: HTS CVG MKE MSP ORD DTW YXU ... and another 1500 miles. Or if I were really price sensitive, I could drop the price down on DL to $247, by taking four segments and routing through LGA (HTS CVG LGA DTW YXU). All to say, ITA is a very powerful tool.

 

As for Sky King, it, uh, how do I say this gracefully, pre-dated me by 16 years. :-) But there are days that I do wonder what it would be like to sit on the other side of that cockpit door.

 

Scott.