Business class - price watch

Business class - price watch

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Pvapour

Original Poster:

8,981 posts

252 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
any helpful sites or apps to obtain business class flights to places?

we're very flexible dates wise and immediacy and looking to get to South Africa in particular but completely open to any other far reach places, just as long as its comfortable enough to sleep, we do premium economy for anything unto 7 hrs which is ok but S.A is 11hr.

be great to have an alert to snap up some cheaper business class...

StevieBee

12,795 posts

254 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
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I believe Kyak have a price alert function.

Fas1975

1,777 posts

163 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
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British Airways have a sale on at the moment

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/offers/sale


Jag_NE

2,949 posts

99 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
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emirates tends to be great value to SA however its a longer trip due to the dubai stopover which stops you getting a proper sleep. ideally klm or ba via amsterdam or heathrow is better.

GCH

3,984 posts

201 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
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Learn the ways of ex-EU, save a boat load of cash, and travel in comfort.

abzmike

8,242 posts

105 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
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GCH said:
Learn the ways of ex-EU, save a boat load of cash, and travel in comfort.
I understand the appeal of a comfy seat and a slightly nicer lunch, but it usually involves spending another half a day or more travelling to and from somewhere you didn't really need to go.

Dr Jekyll

23,820 posts

260 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
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abzmike said:
I understand the appeal of a comfy seat and a slightly nicer lunch, but it usually involves spending another half a day or more travelling to and from somewhere you didn't really need to go.
If you can spare the time it's no hardship.

Cheap flight out to AMS on Friday morning, do a bit of sightseeing, fly back to London in the afternoon and then spend the night in your own bed before heading back to the airport. If you don't mind paying a bit extra for a stopover you can do the EU trip the weekend before.


GCH

3,984 posts

201 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
abzmike said:
I understand the appeal of a comfy seat and a slightly nicer lunch, but it usually involves spending another half a day or more travelling to and from somewhere you didn't really need to go.
A direct turnaround is one way of doing it , and can be done in a couple of hours depending on where.
Or, open jaw it with different cities at either end, giving a weekend/night/day away somewhere before your longer trip. Build in a stopover a week before.
Can always ditch the last leg too on the way back.


The main point is, that even after the positioning flights and expenses, it can and does genuinely save thousands.

tvrolet

4,251 posts

281 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
Ok, from Edinburgh and probably not where you're flying from, but I had to do a number of trips to Johannesburg earlier in the year. Qatar was half the price of anything else allneit you have to change at Doha. 787 from the UK which was superb, the. 777. Amazing service with 'dine on demand' and proper 'wine cellar'. Plus BA points if that's your thing.

Sorry about any spolling mistook or grammar errors, but stick in another airline lounge waiting in a delayed flight abe imbibed of too much of the free drinkies....

But if you are up for a flight change than have a look at Qatar.

Pvapour

Original Poster:

8,981 posts

252 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
GCH said:
Learn the ways of ex-EU, save a boat load of cash, and travel in comfort.
ok, educate me or direct me to somewhere as i have zero clue what you're on about biggrin or any of the subsequent posts tbh paperbag

BA sale was a good shout, still 2k a piece though, emirates no cheaper and KLM more!

BA sale has me looking at lots though hehe cheers!

djc206

12,245 posts

124 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
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Just booked from Amsterdam to SA for April. Into Cape Town and back from J'burg was just over £1500, we're actually heading back from Livingstone which added about £200 each.

Ex EU means start outside the UK. So go on google flights, choose multi city then enter

1st flight Amsterdam (AMS) to Heathrow (LHR)
2nd flight LHR to either Cape Town (CPT) or Johannesburg (JNB) depending on where you want to go
3rd flight JNB/CPT to LHR
4th flight you're never going to get on so pick another London airport like Gatwick (LGW) or City (LCY) to AMS so your bags don't get checked through, collect your luggage and head home from Heathrow. Of course if you fancy another night in Amsterdam just book a connection from Heathrow instead and head back there.

For business class deals South Africa isn't the best destination. The US and Far East often have much better deals. It's not uncommon to be able to get to the states for a little over £1000 in business. Dublin tends to be a good starting place for the US although we got a good deal starting in Paris and ending in London earlier this year with American Airlines.



Edited by djc206 on Tuesday 5th September 21:41

abzmike

8,242 posts

105 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
OK, each to their own.
I do enough flying that I don't see the appeal of an extra two sectors to get a club seat, it just seems to be taking a lot of time and passing through security, or hanging round airports, albeit in business lounges. Still no cheaper than a decent economy or premium economy ticket though, to I'd generally take the spare cash and put it into a nicer hotel or better dinners when I get to my actual destination. I might consider it for an Oz or NZ trip, but a hop to SA it just seems like a lot of faffing about to me. However, my personal preference, so if you like it, then enjoy the flight (s).

GCH

3,984 posts

201 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
Pvapour said:
ok, educate me or direct me to somewhere as i have zero clue what you're on about biggrin or any of the subsequent posts tbh paperbag
Start here:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-exe...



abzmike said:
OK, each to their own.
I do enough flying that I don't see the appeal of an extra two sectors to get a club seat, it just seems to be taking a lot of time and passing through security, or hanging round airports, albeit in business lounges. Still no cheaper than a decent economy or premium economy ticket though, to I'd generally take the spare cash and put it into a nicer hotel or better dinners when I get to my actual destination. I might consider it for an Oz or NZ trip, but a hop to SA it just seems like a lot of faffing about to me. However, my personal preference, so if you like it, then enjoy the flight (s).
My favourite is a quick B2B flight to SVG, back on the same aircraft - immediate turnaround which takes minimal time (35minutes on the ground at SVG) wth no passport or security, and at max a 20 second walk. The only hassle is having to reclear security at LHR.

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 5th September 2017
quotequote all
djc206 said:
Just booked from Amsterdam to SA for April. Into Cape Town and back from J'burg was just over £1500, we're actually heading back from Livingstone which added about £200 each.

Ex EU means start outside the UK. So go on google flights, choose multi city then enter

1st flight Amsterdam (AMS) to Heathrow (LHR)
2nd flight LHR to either Cape Town (CPT) or Johannesburg (JNB) depending on where you want to go
3rd flight JNB/CPT to LHR
4th flight you're never going to get on so pick another London airport like Gatwick (LGW) or City (LCY) to AMS so your bags don't get checked through, collect your luggage and head home from Heathrow. Of course if you fancy another night in Amsterdam just book a connection from Heathrow instead and head back there.

For business class deals South Africa isn't the best destination. The US and Far East often have much better deals. It's not uncommon to be able to get to the states for a little over £1000 in business. Dublin tends to be a good starting place for the US although we got a good deal starting in Paris and ending in London earlier this year with American Airlines.



Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 5th September 21:41
There's a further variant on steps 3 and 4 which I have just used.

3rd flight into Heathrow arriving on day X
4th flight out of Heathrow the following day, with a departure time within 24h of the arrival time of the third flight.

As long as the 4th flight is within 24h, the price won't be affected. An overnight stopover in Heathrow means your bags won't be through-checked to your ex-EU starting point.

djc206

12,245 posts

124 months

Wednesday 6th September 2017
quotequote all
abzmike said:
OK, each to their own.
I do enough flying that I don't see the appeal of an extra two sectors to get a club seat, it just seems to be taking a lot of time and passing through security, or hanging round airports, albeit in business lounges. Still no cheaper than a decent economy or premium economy ticket though, to I'd generally take the spare cash and put it into a nicer hotel or better dinners when I get to my actual destination. I might consider it for an Oz or NZ trip, but a hop to SA it just seems like a lot of faffing about to me. However, my personal preference, so if you like it, then enjoy the flight (s).
If you're provincial there's actually not much extra flying as you'll be connecting anyway. In my case there's a little bit as I'm only 70 miles from Heathrow. But for my trip in April I'm going to use my local airport 10 miles away to get to Amsterdam, wander round the city and stay a night as I've never been then the following day start my trip South. It was the same with Paris, we flew from Southampton, had a night in Paris then started our trip so effectively it only felt like one extra flight of less than an hour. If you're considering changing in the ME there's very little difference really and the savings can be enormous.

Horses for courses though

anonymous-user

53 months

Wednesday 6th September 2017
quotequote all
abzmike said:
OK, each to their own.
I do enough flying that I don't see the appeal of an extra two sectors to get a club seat, it just seems to be taking a lot of time and passing through security, or hanging round airports, albeit in business lounges. Still no cheaper than a decent economy or premium economy ticket though, to I'd generally take the spare cash and put it into a nicer hotel or better dinners when I get to my actual destination. I might consider it for an Oz or NZ trip, but a hop to SA it just seems like a lot of faffing about to me. However, my personal preference, so if you like it, then enjoy the flight (s).
For 2 or 4 people the "savings" (I use the term in the same way that one does buying something expensive in the January sales) multiply.

The best way we've found to do it is to take the "locator" flight and our first leg on the same day, then start the long haul trip on the following day. This way we fly to say Dublin or Amsterdam for lunch carrying nothing more than passports, phone and a wallet, return home that evening, then turn up the next day with hold luggage.

I prefer (strongly) the additional space and bed flying to the West Coast, and business class allows us to dodge queues at check in, security and boarding (I hate queueing. A lot), and also gives us a lounge when the flights are (inevitably) delayed.

Each to their own.

Perik Omo

1,883 posts

147 months

Wednesday 6th September 2017
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If you fancy NZ then there's a fare on Qatar from ARN to AKL for around €1900 in business class, wish I'd known about it before I booked my Cathay Pacific flight from CDG to AKL which was £2900.

Jamesgt

848 posts

232 months

Wednesday 6th September 2017
quotequote all
Dr Jekyll said:
If you can spare the time it's no hardship.

Cheap flight out to AMS on Friday morning, do a bit of sightseeing, fly back to London in the afternoon and then spend the night in your own bed before heading back to the airport. If you don't mind paying a bit extra for a stopover you can do the EU trip the weekend before.
I never thought of doing it that way. I was thinking fly to the EU airport then take the business fare from there. Your way you can get your bags offloaded on the RTN in London then bin the short flight back to EU? I did see flights a while ago where the return is into LHR then you fly out of LGW to AMS for example meaning bags willl have to be offloaded.

Am I understanding this?

Dr Jekyll

23,820 posts

260 months

Wednesday 6th September 2017
quotequote all
Jamesgt said:
I never thought of doing it that way. I was thinking fly to the EU airport then take the business fare from there. Your way you can get your bags offloaded on the RTN in London then bin the short flight back to EU? I did see flights a while ago where the return is into LHR then you fly out of LGW to AMS for example meaning bags willl have to be offloaded.

Am I understanding this?
That's right. Some people have managed to get their bags checked through to London even when the last leg is out of the same airport but no guarantees. Technically you are breaching the terms of the booking by not taking the last flight, but if you only do it once or twice a year BA seem not to worry.

Of course you can always have a stop over before the last leg and use it to position for your next trip!

Puggit

48,355 posts

247 months

Wednesday 6th September 2017
quotequote all
London-SA direct is a very popular route, and business class is full a lot of the time. So that means you will struggle to get a good deal unless you look elsewhere.

There are many airlines that offer flights to JNB, so look for Iberia, Air France, Swiss, KLM, Lufthansa, Turkish and Emirates. Egypt, Ethopian and Kenyan are probably even cheaper, but as mentioned before, the sleep is limited on that route as you're stopping mid-way.