Jump to content

Question on price for Business Class London to LAX


roxievegas
 Share

Recommended Posts

We have flown from London to LAX before - we went premium economy and paid appx $900 per person one way.  This was a few years ago.  We are now planning a bucket list cruise on Princess that goes from FLL to London and then London to London (British Isles).  We plan to spend two or three days in London and then fly home.  We do not want economy and premium is not much better, so we are going to clean out the couch with all the nickles and quarters we can find and go Business class.  I have checked flights on Ezair with Princess for a cruise in Sept and it is showing $1465pp one way non stop both on AA and British Airways.

 

Does that price sound about what to expect?

 

Our cruise is not until April 2020 and I can't check prices yet.

 

What is the timing that you book your airfare and with Ezair can you get a lower price if the prices drop?

 

thank you for your responses

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Exceptionally reasonable, IMO. At a guess I'd have estimated it to be closer to double that for a oneway LAX-LHR. 

 

I would choose American Airlines on this route over BA (ensure it is OPERATED by AA and not just an AA codeshare flight number), they offer a superior seat in business class on their 777-300s than BA's equivalent aircraft on the route if you have the choice of A380 or 787. BA upper deck on the 747 would be closer to AA's 777 seating in terms of space and comfort but you'll need to pay a small supplement for seat assignments (unless you have OW Sapphire/Emerald status) and there's a chance your flight won't be ticketed until nearer the time of departure and the decent seats upstairs could be taken, so there's a potential risk there, as well as BA just changing the aircraft on you between now and departure. LAX seems to get equipment shuffles a lot on BA whereas with AA they only have one aircraft with the international first class cabin they need on LAX flights (the 777-300) so it's much more predictable.

 

American have a decent Flagship Lounge at LAX that you can use and also a nice Arrivals Lounge at Heathrow where you can get a shower and decent breakfast. (BA also have an Arrivals Lounge at LHR. It's much bigger than AA's but not as nice IMO. I've only used BA's first class lounge at LAX, which actually belongs to Qantas) 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To flesh out fbgd's reply in relation to fares, if you buy a one-way business class ticket directly from the airline, you will probably be buying a fully-flexible full-fare ticket because many airlines simply do not sell discount one-way tickets in business class. But you can get discount round-trip prices.

 

If you were to buy a discount round-trip ticket from AA or BA for travel in October (or the latter part of September), it would cost you in the region of £3,300 round-trip which is equivalent to about USD 4,200. A one-way ticket would cost about £8,600 (~ USD 10,000).

 

However, if you were to buy a discount round-trip ticket for travel in April, on some specific days of the week it would only cost about £1,800 (~ USD 2,300). But a one-way ticket would still be the same amount as in September/October.

 

That gives you some perspective on where in the scale of pricing the EZAir offer would be, compared to what you would be offered if you were to try to buy this directly from the airline. One-way long-haul trips are one situation in which cruise line air travel can make sense, even with the other potential disadvantages which it comes with.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Kwaj girl said:

Talk to your travel agent. He/she likely can access airline consolidators with discounted business class air.  We do this all the time.

 

Completely depends on the agent.  Many of the folks that book cruises do so through a "cruising specialist" type of agency.  Most all know little to nothing about air travel - and a large number are just a collection of order takers, not real "agents".

 

And don't forget....consolidator tickets can have some significant restrictions that you should be aware of.  They aren't the same tickets as what you would get elsewhere.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, roxievegas said:

I am booking in October when we are on board for our next cruise.

How far out do you plan your cruises?  Do you have something like a "master plan" or one that extends for, say, a couple of years?  From your signature it looks like you cruise a couple of times a year, maybe more.

 

If that's the case, you might want to have a look at the "round the world" thread I posted a few days ago - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2664295-about-round-the-world-air-tickets/

 

This is a means of flying business class for up to a whole year for one price.  In your case, if you started a business class RTW in Europe following your TA cruise, you could use it to get home, then fly around North America for a time (Alaska, Caribbean, Mexico, wherever) to position for other cruises (or land-based vacations.) Then within 12 months you could use it to get back to your starting place in Europe (this time via the Pacific) perhaps with another cruise or two in Australia, New Zealand or the South Pacific, and/or in Asia or the Middle East along the way.  

 

Might be worth a little brain time.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have one way business class from Detroit to Amsterdam in July for $1,300 each, flying non-stop on Delta.  Bought it from the cruise line the first day it went on sale.  I am satisfied with it, so the price you have received seems satisfactory, at least to me.🤔

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thank you for your replies.  We only do one major cruise a year, but we are trying to do cruises out of LA as we do not like flying, so this trip will probably be one of the last that we fly long distance.  One more bucket item is a cruise out of Boston for the Canada/New England and then a second cruise from Boston to Fort Lauderdale.   one way to Boston, then one way home from FLL.   thanks again for advice, info and suggestions

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
On 5/26/2019 at 8:51 AM, roxievegas said:

We have flown from London to LAX before - we went premium economy and paid appx $900 per person one way.  This was a few years ago.  We are now planning a bucket list cruise on Princess that goes from FLL to London and then London to London (British Isles).  We plan to spend two or three days in London and then fly home.  We do not want economy and premium is not much better, so we are going to clean out the couch with all the nickles and quarters we can find and go Business class.  I have checked flights on Ezair with Princess for a cruise in Sept and it is showing $1465pp one way non stop both on AA and British Airways.

 

Does that price sound about what to expect?

 

Our cruise is not until April 2020 and I can't check prices yet.

 

What is the timing that you book your airfare and with Ezair can you get a lower price if the prices drop?

 

thank you for your responses

That  Amigo  is a darn good price..... darn good !!!!  grab it

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
On 5/26/2019 at 11:51 AM, roxievegas said:

We have flown from London to LAX before - we went premium economy and paid appx $900 per person one way.  This was a few years ago.  We are now planning a bucket list cruise on Princess that goes from FLL to London and then London to London (British Isles).  We plan to spend two or three days in London and then fly home.  We do not want economy and premium is not much better, so we are going to clean out the couch with all the nickles and quarters we can find and go Business class.  I have checked flights on Ezair with Princess for a cruise in Sept and it is showing $1465pp one way non stop both on AA and British Airways.

 

Does that price sound about what to expect?

 

Our cruise is not until April 2020 and I can't check prices yet.

 

What is the timing that you book your airfare and with Ezair can you get a lower price if the prices drop?

 

thank you for your responses

 

I booked British Airways for us after our cruise this past April.  I got both of us British Airways credit cards, spent the required amount on both (paying for the cruises, hotels, etc.), and combined the points into a household account.  I then booked us one way in Business Class FCO-MIA with points, plus cash, plus seat fees.

 

Total cost for two of us was $1,079, plus seat fees.

 

I've done this before from London with points donated from my son, and transferring Chase Sapphire points to my BA account.  You don't have to look at airfare by the $$ cost if you have a year to get the credit cards, pay for things you have to pay for anyway, and use points to offset the costs.

Edited by pcur
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...