FirstClassFlyer

Get up to 42% off Business and First Class fares, bookable online or by phone

Learning how to cut fares down to size should be taught at schools. We do our part here at FCF, particularly by extolling the virtues of being flexible. But there is another way that often works to shrink your fare like a silk shirt in a tumble dryer and usually works regardless of your flexibility: Amex’s International Airline Program, or IAP.

And with the drop in Asian fares at the moment, now’s the perfect time for a refresher on the power of this program, wherever you’re planning to fly overseas.

Thanks to the IAP, American Express Platinum and Centurion cardholders can knock off a couple hundred dollars (sometimes even thousands) on tons of premium fares across a range of airlines (25 in fact — see below).

Through the program, you can book tickets online or over the phone. More details to come, but let’s check out some of the best deals first.

Up to 42% Off to Asia

This month’s focus is on routes between the U.S. and Canada to Asia. (Keep in mind positioning flights from the U.S. to Canada as the fares can be low enough that they’re worth going out of your way for). We’re seeing IAP program discounts of 3% to 42% on many published First and Business Class fares to many destinations in Asia, on All Nippon, Cathay Pacific, Delta, Japan Airlines, and Singapore Airlines.

Business Class Savings with Amex IAP:
Up to $961 (or 29%) Less

Asiana, Delta, Japan Airlines, and Singapore Airlines offer the biggest discounts through IAP to Asia in Business Class, for $2,335 to $2,897 from Canada and $2,856 to $3,787 from the U.S. as you can see below.

For context, Premium Economy seats on American, Delta and United can easily run to $1,900 to $3,037 to Asia.

At the moment, we’re seeing the biggest IAP discounts on Japan Airlines in Business Class from Vancouver with as much as 29% savings. Then there’s Los Angeles and San Diego with as much as 20% savings, and New York with savings from 4% to 12% and Seattle with just 3% to 8% savings over normal fares.

Japan Airlines Business Class from Vancouver

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Business Class from Los Angeles

Delta Airlines offers a 12% discount, which brings the fare down to $3,130 for travel from Los Angeles to Tokyo.

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Business Class from San Diego

Japan offers a 20% discount on routes we checked, bringing the fare down to under $2,856 for travel from San Diego to Tokyo and $3,094 to Nagoya. For San Diego to Tokyo on Delta, the airline’s discount was 13%.

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Singapore Airlines Business Class from New York

Singapore Airlines offers a 4%-12% discount on routes we checked, bringing the fare down to under $3,600 for travel from New York to Cebu, Denpasar, Kuala Lumpur, and Manila and around $3,700 to Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh.

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Business Class from Seattle

From Seattle to Seoul on Delta the regular published fare is $4,301 and the IAP fare we found was $3,775 for a 12% discount. The Amex IAP offers nominal discounts on Asiana from Seattle, from 3% to 8% to Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh, and Seoul.

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IAP for Business Travelers

Sample Fare Savings Up to 1,615 (or 23%) Less

Business travelers often have particular requirements: They often fly at the last minute and/or without a Saturday-night stay. Here’s what we found for sample savings with the Amex International Airline Program using these parameters.

Seven-day advance on the Los Angeles-Osaka route is currently $7,162 round-trip on Japan Airlines nonstop in Business Class. Via Amex IAP it’s $5,547 for a $1,615, or 23%, savings.

Seven-day advance from Los Angeles-Tokyo is currently $7,047 round-trip on All Nippon non-stop in Business Class. Via Amex IAP it’s $5,526 for a $1,521, or 22%, savings.

Other routes found to have a seven-day advance purchase IAP discount:

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First Class Savings with Amex: Up to $9,383 (or 42%) Less

Japan Airlines from San Francisco to Tokyo is currently $22,372 round-trip in First Class. Via Amex IAP it’s $12,989, a savings of $9,383, or 42%.

Now it might take an extra 10 minutes to find the lowest fare, but if you save $9,383, that’s $930 for each minute you spent researching. It’s like you’re playing in the NBA.

Japan AIrlines First Class with IAP Discount

All Nippon Airways from Chicago to Tokyo is currently $22,141 round-trip in First Class. Via Amex IAP, it’s $18,912, a savings of $3,229, or 15%.

Singapore Airlines from Los Angeles to Tokyo is currently running $13,986 round-trip in First Class. Via Amex IAP it’s $12,613, a savings of $1,373, or 10%.

First Class Published Fares Versus Amex IAP Fares

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How to Book

Go online to Amex travel and log in to your American Express Platinum or Centurion Card account, or if you prefer to call: 1-800-525-3355 for Platinum Travel Service or 1-800-553-9497 for Business Platinum Travel Service. (Note that there’s a $39 booking fee per ticket if you call and no fees when you book online.)

The next time you’re browsing through FCF’s special fare alerts and spot a nice low $1,800 Business Class long-haul fare — or even a flash deal for $1,400, book it online with Amex and you might save even more.

When Amex IAP Did Not Work

During our research, we found that not every route or airline offered the IAP discount, even if the airline itself had service. For example, there were no discounts available when flying Toronto to Seoul; Tucson to Osaka and Tokyo; San Diego to Osaka and Sapporo; Vancouver to Seoul and Tokyo.

That said, our research was obviously finite – checking every airline, class, and route is impossible so results will vary.

More analysis of IAP deals to other destinations coming soon. With the drop in Asian fares at the moment, grab these while they’re hot!

More FCF Asia-Centric Goodies

Read why Cathay Pacific is worth considering for First and Business Class (just make sure you click the right button)

Japan’s post-lockdown reopening brought with it some sumo-sized fares. So we got to work, nimbly using their weight against them and finding some Fuji-sized savings.

Fly to Asia via…Canada? You bet. It’s a great way to ice high fares.

Scoring a $25,100 First Class ticket to Tokyo for $2,880 is the kind of thing you’ll be talking about for the rest of your life. That starts here.

Still looking for clever ways to slice up Asia fares like a master sushi chef? Here are our Ninja-Nine!

[["To:","Sample Dates of Travel","Regular Published Fare","IAP Fare","Savings","#colspan#"],["Osaka","August 18 to August 27","$3,296","$2,335","$961","29%"],["Jakarta","August 25 to September 3","$3,648","$2,830","$818","22%"],["Nagoya","July 18 to July 27","$3,768","$2,994","$774","\n21%"],["Tokyo","September 12 to September 20","$3,646","$2,897","$749","#rowspan#"]]

[["Airline","To:","Sample Dates of Travel","Regular Published Fare","IAP Fare","Savings","#colspan#"],["\n\n\n\nJapan","Osaka","\n\n\n\nJuly 12 to July 20","$3,577","$2,860","$717","20%"],["#rowspan#","Sapporo","#rowspan#","$3,887","$3,223","$664","17%"],["#rowspan#","Okinawa","#rowspan#","$3,881","$3,242","$639","16%"],["Delta","Tokyo","June 20 to July 8","$3,570","$3,130","$440","12%"],["\n\nAsiana","Hanoi","\n\nAugust 14 to August 22","$3,980","$3,777","$203","5%"],["#rowspan#","Ho Chi Minh","#rowspan#","$3,944","$3,772","$172","4%"]]

[["Airline","To:","Sample Dates of Travel","Regular Published Fare","IAP Fare","Savings","#colspan#"],["\n\nJapan","Nagoya","July 3 to July 10","$3,861","$3,094","$767","\n\n20%"],["#rowspan#","\n\nTokyo","July 9 to July 17","$3,568","$2,856","$712","#rowspan#"],["Delta","#rowspan#","July 1 to July 9","$3,958","$3,458","$500","13%"]]

[["To:","Sample Dates of Travel","Regular Published Fare","IAP Fare","Savings","#colspan#"],["Manila","November 20 to November 28","$3,888","$3,410","$478","\n\n12%"],["Denpasar","November 28 to December 7","$3,899","$3,443","$456","#rowspan#"],["Kuala Lumpur","\n\nNovember 20 to November 28","$3,940","$3,516","$424","\n\n11%"],["Cebu","#rowspan#","$3,964","$3,540","$424","#rowspan#"],["Bangkok","October 30 to November 8","$3,931","$3,698","$233","6%"],["Ho Chi Minh","November 20 to November 28","$3,876","$3,709","$167","4%"]]

[["Airline","To:","Sample Dates of Travel","Regular Published Fare","IAP Fare","Savings","#colspan#"],["Delta","Seoul","July 4 to July 11","$4,301","$3,775","$526","12%"],["\n\n\n\nAsiana","Bangkok","\n\n\n\nJuly 25 to August 2","$3,817","$3,512","$305","8%"],["#rowspan#","Ho Chi Minh","#rowspan#","$3,789","$3,565","$224","6%"],["#rowspan#","Seoul","#rowspan#","$3,890","$3,787","$103","3%"]]

[["Airline","Route","7-Day Advanced Purchase Fare","IAP Fare","Savings","#colspan#"],["Japan","Los Angeles - Osaka","$7,162","$5,547","$1,615","23%"],["All Nippon","Los Angeles - Tokyo","$7,047","$5,526","$1,521","22%"],["Japan","San Diego - Tokyo","$6,915","$5,544","$1,371","20%"],["Japan","New York - Tokyo","$13,445","$10,936","$2,509","19%"],["Asiana","Seattle - Tokyo","$8,859","$7,304","$1,555","18%"],["Delta","Minneapolis - Tokyo","$18,087","$15,467","$2,620","14%"],["Qatar","Atlanta - Tokyo","$12,641","$10,975","$1,666","13%"]]

[["Airline","Route","Sample Dates of Travel","Regular Published Fare","IAP Fare","Savings","#colspan#"],["\n\nAll Nippon","Chicago - Tokyo","\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAugust 9 - August 16","$22,141","$18,912","$3,229","15%"],["#rowspan#","New York - Tokyo","#rowspan#","$22,764","$19,472","$3,292","14%"],["\n\n\n\n\nJapan","San Francisco - Tokyo","#rowspan#","$22,372","$12,989","$9,383","42%"],["#rowspan#","Los Angeles - Tokyo","#rowspan#","$20,038","$12,303","$7,735","39%"],["#rowspan#","Dallas - Tokyo","#rowspan#","$23,163","$14,258","$8,905","38%"],["#rowspan#","New York - Tokyo","#rowspan#","$22,913","$14,108","$8,805","38%"],["Singapore","Los Angeles - Tokyo","#rowspan#","$13,986","$12,613","$1,373","10%"]]

The Latest Amex IAP Discounts to Asia