The 11 industry changes you need to understand.
Over the past two months, FCF has noticed that deeply discounted Business Class fares—those that are about 40% to 55% less than normal Business Class fares, and often only about $200 to $600 more than coach—have been booming. (FCF calls them Easy Up fares simply because it’s a pretty easy decision to go for them and easy to book them, instead of using more involved upgrade strategies.)
More airlines are offering these fares on more routes and with a longer booking and travel window (looser fine print) in many cases all the way into 2016 travel.
And now Easy Up fares are even priced as low as traditional holiday fares, which led us to compile this primer on what this means for holiday booking.
Waiting Game: Over
The biggest fine-print change: No need to wait until later in the year (as has long been the case) to get amazing holiday travel fares. Here are other important ways to recalibrate your booking behavior…
[table_opt style="double-blue-header" id="1788 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]
Booking through United Partners
With Lufthansa Miles: 35,000 miles (15,000 less than with United directly) plus $11 in taxes.
Starwood Points-to-Lufthansa Miles: 30,000.
With Singapore Miles: 40,000.
Starwood Points-to-Singapore Miles: 35,000
Good Partner Availability: United partner award space, meaning flying United by using Lufthansa or Singapore miles, has opened up since the route change, too.
Buy Miles to Fly in Style…
Don’t bother right now, as the route change doesn’t start until November. But keep the option in mind after that if you miss the advance-purchase window or can’t fulfill the Saturday-night-stay requirement. At 2.5¢ per mile from Amex Membership Rewards and transferred to Singapore, the net cost is $1,000, plus about $15 in taxes—a savings of up to $3,492 (78%) compared to a no-advance or Saturday-night-stay fare of $4,507.
New Route, Same Fare
United has not changed the transcon 30-day advance- purchase fare (at least for now): $1,196 round-trip. Twenty-one-day advance is $1,892; 14-day, $2,497; seven-day, $3,062; and walk-up with no-minimum stay is $4,507.
The 11 industry changes you need to understand.
Over the past two months, FCF has noticed that deeply discounted Business Class fares—those that are about 40% to 55% less than normal Business Class fares, and often only about $200 to $600 more than coach—have been booming. (FCF calls them Easy Up fares simply because it’s a pretty easy decision to go for them and easy to book them, instead of using more involved upgrade strategies.)
More airlines are offering these fares on more routes and with a longer booking and travel window (looser fine print) in many cases all the way into 2016 travel.
And now Easy Up fares are even priced as low as traditional holiday fares, which led us to compile this primer on what this means for holiday booking.
Waiting Game: Over
The biggest fine-print change: No need to wait until later in the year (as has long been the case) to get amazing holiday travel fares. Here are other important ways to recalibrate your booking behavior…
[table_opt style="double-blue-header" id="1788 " width="" alignment="center" responsive="all" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter"]
Booking through United Partners
With Lufthansa Miles: 35,000 miles (15,000 less than...