boomerang-boy

I'm ready to book 2 business (or maybe first class tickets [if the difference between busines and first is worth the extra miles]) class tickets from MSP to ATH for next August. Which *Alliance partners are your favorites in business/first-class to/within Europe? We will fly UA MSP-ORD then we can take UA/BM/OS/SK/LH to Europe and beyond. I'd LOVE any comments on these carriers in business and first. Thanks so much.

Starman

I hate to sound cynical, but you are very, very unlikely to have your choice of carriers, most especially for an F award; consider yourself lucky if you can get the correct day on even one carrier in both directions!

UNITED959

Not sure how easily miles come your way, but ORD-Europe is not that long--business, in most cases, should suffice.

I believe LH and UA are the only carriers offering F-class transatlantically speaking (hey, I think I just invented a word! ), and of those two...I'd take LH.

I also have to partner with Starman--you pretty much take what you can get these days...

zrs70

If you can get 2 F seats on SQ via NYC, by all means do that. Yes, it would mean an added connection.

Otherwise, I would take BD's C service in a heartbeat.

transpac

Also, be aware that UA/MP have restricted trans-Atlantic award travel on LH to +90 days. So unless this policy has changed you will have to wait until May 2005 if you want LH. Probably best to just go for whatever you can now?

boomerang-boy

BD?

MBS MillionMiler

British Midland.

MY trip last summer I did in F. United on the way over (overnight flight, more comfortable for sleeping), Lufthansa on the way back (daytime flight, less sleeping, more service and better food).

LOVED doing it that way, and would again...I wonder if the difference in miles was worth it on the +/- 7 hour trans-Atlantic flight...But I had the miles to blow at the time.

Swiss Tony

bmi british midland (not BM as you suggested before)

Downside with this is another connection as I don't think you can fly *A from MAN-ATH without a connection.

noah

For ease of connections, I'd recommend:

ORD-FRA/MUC-ATH on UA and then LH from FRA or MUC to ATH.

But as others have said, you're really just going to have to see what you can get since availability will be the major factor in making this decision.

I also think that business should be sufficient unless you have a lot of miles to burn.

Avoid connections through IAD which would put you on a CRJ to IAD from MSP (no first class) as opposed to a jet between MSP and ORD WITH first class seating.

boomerang-boy

There is nothing available on UA in Business Class from any city in the US during the week in August that I want to depart. The reservation agent said that UA hasn't released any of their seats to Europe yet for this time period. When asked why, the reply was that UA sells business class seats easier than first class. Flyers then upgrade to first class from these seats. I was able to hold 2 business class seats on a combo SK/LH ticket from ORD to ATH via CPH/MUC. Who has flown on SAS recently, how is their business class product? Routing looks like this: MSP-ORD (UA) ORD-CPH (SK) CPH-MUC (LH) MUC-ATH (LH) ATH-CPH (SK) CPH-ORD (SK) ORD-MSP (UA). What do you think, should I snatch these up or wait for something better? Believe it or not I was able to find SQ business class seats from JFK to FRA, but JFK is a royal pain to get to and from from MSP.

noah

Well, a tripple connection on the way there and double connection on the way back really isn't that bad of a way to go. If I were you, I'd probably take the SK flights.

That said, I'd also probably go out of my way to take the SQ flights... You can fly MSP-IAD-JFK on the RJ's or MSP-ORD-LGA in F and take the bus over to JFK.

vedette

I am curious as to how long SK will let you hold the seats. I am thinking of booking outbound 330 days out, then holding for the return a few weeks later. I know that UAL won't do this anymore. But SK?

ChgoBob

I went thru similar attempts 2 weeks ago. I could secure First Class from FRA-ORD, coming from PRG, but no Business seats at all. Since we were going direct to Warsaw or Krakow in Business on Lot (no 1st), it would have been a waste of miles. (If one leg is 1st, the entire trip is withdrawn as 1st class) We took the return on SK thru CPH in Business. Here are some responses on the A340 that they fly on that route. (not much) Seat Guru also shows the seating. There is one picture of business class at the SAS web site. (search for "more pictures" at the bottom of the page on planes)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=362403

Since you are booking thru the UA award desk, the same 3 days applies. That's what they allowed me with LO and SK. The best that you can hope for is to book a tentative within 3 days of the flight day that you want, then rebook the day that you want.