Up to 70% off on one of the best seats in the air; new discount fares from two long-time holdouts; and last-ditch Business Class fares to consider.

British Airway’s restricted, but upgradeable, Business Class fare to London ($2,800 to $3,600) is still $800 to $1,000 more than the rest of the pack’s offers. But now that the carrier has expanded discounted fares to include many European cities, it’s the way to go to the Continent — especially because the airline is one of the few that allows upgrades to First Class
. Here’s how to play it...

First, you need BA frequent flyer miles or you must belong to one of the airline’s Executive Club partners (e.g. Asia Miles, Diners Club, Starwood Preferred Guest) because this strategy depends on upgrading with miles from heavily discounted Business Class fares. Ask for BA’s “I” fare code, which currently costs $2,821 round-trip from New York to London (up to $500 more from other US gateways). Now just take 50,000 miles and — bingo! — you’re in one of the best First Class seats going. (And the guy next to you probably paid $12,600 or more.)

British Airways Executive Club: (800) 452-1201.

Two Holdouts Cave

After years of holding out for top dollar, Lufthansa and United have finally begun offering Business Class to Europe in the $1,800 to $2,400 range (reg. $6,000+). Unlike BA, these two don’t allow upgrades from their lowest Business Class fares. Here’s a list of the 17 other airlines offering low Business Class fares starting at $1,800 to $2,200 (like BA, Virgin is holding out for $2,800+): Air Canada, Air Europa, Air France, Alitalia, American, Continental, Czech Airlines, Delta, Finnair, Iberia, KLM, LOT Polish Airlines, LTU International Airways, Northwest, SWISS, TAP Air Portugal, and US Airways. Remember though, availability can be limited at times.

New Last-Ditch Business Class Alternatives

Many of the lowest Business Class fares we track to Europe (most recently chronicled in January’s First Class Flyer, page 1) sell out — especially as summer approaches. Here’s your last resort: Northwest’s new B2C21AP (fare basis code) fare. Translated that means a B class (economy fare) upgraded to C class (Business), with only a 21-day advance purchase required. It’s the international version of the Y-Up fare — an economy class fare (and booking code) that offers a free upgrade to the next class of service, while maintaining the appearance (going undetected to your travel manager/company policy) of an economy fare. It’s simply a tactic airlines use to attract highyield business travelers.

What’s best is that Northwest allocates more seats for this fare than it does for the more deeply discounted fares. Note that this is not the lowest fare — that’s a Z-class (50-day advance purchase) but there isn’t always enough inventory allocated at these levels. C class fares are $800-$1,400 more than Z class and require only a 21-day advance purchase. We’ve found the B2C21AP fares on many routes to Amsterdam, London, Frankfurt, and Paris. Another nice attribute of this fare is that it allows stays of more than the usual 30-day maximum.

Several airlines are matching NW’s new fare:

Among them Alitalia (fare code I), American (I) Continental (Z), Delta (I) and US Airways (Z). Virgin is also testing a Boston-London 14-day advance Business Class fare starting at $4,300 (reg. $6,687).