Help! Last minute business class to London
 

Christina_m Welcome to FT

You are the sort of customer airlines really like; must fly at short notice so will pay what ever it takes. Airlines generally do not discount last minute business fares. Some people just pay the $$$$$.
Just look at google flights & the similar web sites for a cash paid fare


For AA award (they have a $75 close in award fee). Very low chance of an award

• HELP DESK: MileSAAver / SAAver award questions, assistance
  
• AA oneworld & Other Airline Partner Award information, rules (master thd)
  
• BA IB----> Help avoid YQ Surcharge: AA award on BA / British (& Iberia) (master thread)

A very general guide-->https://www.awardhacker.com/#f=SAT&t...=0&c=j&s=1&p=0

Edit
What are air fares pricing at? (Economy, economy plus & business)
BA fly Austin to LHR non stop
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_An...tional_Airport
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin...tional_Airport

I have an ich that you're not looking to pay 6000-8000 $. There's no silverlined option for you. If you're not alliance loyal in this case and are happy to position yourself, then you'd just position from SAT and look to fly somewhere convenient in Europe. You're still going to be looking at some 2500-3000 $ at least for the longhaul. TATL award availability will be very nonexistant at this stage.

P.S. I hate when people just lurk and take advantage of the community, but they only give input when they themselves need/want urgent assistance.

I appreciate the sentiment...I also don't like when people are not willing to do anything except reap the rewards of other peoples' hard work. I only suggest you consider that many of these people simply don't know any tips, tricks, or info to offer above and beyond what they read here on the forum. I'd been traveling for business for 15 years when I found FT and didn't have much to offer. Now, I do try to help those end-of-year mileage runners by spending Oct/Nov/Dec on the MR forums and respond as much as I can.

As others have suggested, last-minute biz class fares are just what the doctor ordered - for the airlines. Those fares keep the book-in-advance Econ ticket prices down.
momondo or google flights. Or awards. the first response by Mwenenzi was fully of good info.

There are two discounts that could be available depending on your status, though it still won't be cheap.

AARP offers $200 off BA business class when booked on their site.

Then I've had some luck applying the 10% discount code for Chase's BA cards to the AARP rate for other Chase cards. It's CHASEBA10 but it gets a bit tricky. It seems some days the discount works on the site. Other days on the exact same flights it doesn't

There are usually some good business class fares from YYZ. You could use miles to get there then pay $2500 to fly in business class that weekend on TAP Portugal.

The only cheap "premium" ticket you are going to get within a week's notice is a premium economy ticket on Norwegian for about $1500 return, from MIA or JFK.

Better than nothing/paying $6000+

Good luck

Icelandair and TAP have RTNs from EWR for $2500, that's probably as good as it's going to get.

It can be hard to help people who do not provide their budget. If the going tab for a J ticket a week out is $8K, a $6K ticket is a great deal. But, without knowing whether $6K exceeds OP's budget, it's hard to provide advice.

While the chances of a great deal are slim on short notice, it may be possible. But, it will take a lot of research to find what you are looking for. Look, for instance, at connections via AUS in addition to DFW. Also, consider whether slumming it in PE in at least one direction shaves enough off the price to make this palatable.

Be careful of scams as well. If the best ticket you can find on a carrier website is $8K, a $2K ticket from some opaque vendor may well be a scam.

If the OP is fine with ~2700$ + positioning, then do a return ticket MIA-MAD-MIA with Avianca in LH business class and via Colombia (Cali outbound and Bogota inbound). There's perhaps most date options still available. Position yourself SAT-MIA-SAT and MAD-LON-MAD. Like said, no budget makes it hard to recommend a specific solution.

It's not about everyone being a Google Flights, Matrix and ExpertFlyer hack. It's about contributing to the community with trip reports, commentary etc. Idling/Lurking isn't a contribution. Posting your experiences etc. is a contribution, no matter how miniscule your contribution may feel. If everyone would just sit idle and read what we post, there would be hardly any discussion. ;)

Desired travel dates weren't specified, but if you are flexible AA/BA have business award seats available departing on Wednesday and returning on Monday (both from/to SAT). You would have to buy 15k miles and pay the fuel surcharge if you use AA miles. Or you could transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards to BA and do a one way using AA miles and another one using Avios.

Consider Norwegian has Tue/Thu/Sat flights from Austin (AUS) to London (LGW). RT in Premium Economy $1500-$1600 on such short notice. Or get 57.5k AA miles + $660 business class ticket on Thursday overnight flight from Austin via JFK (or on Wednesday from San Antonio) on aa.com, and return on Norwegian to AUS on Tue ($830 Premium Eco), it's daytime flight anyway.

Hey!
I don't know if you've bought the ticket already, but how much are you looking to spend? I've found one for $7723

Consider AAVacations.com, Delta.com/Vacations, or Orbitz. I have never looked for a last-minute booking, but with advance purchase have often found Biz+Hotel from one of these three sites to be cheaper than just the business class seat direct from airlines.

Call the # on the back of your Amex Platinum and ask for Amex International Airline Program with the dates you want to travel.

Not really. Your suggestion is vague.

Mentioning that Amex "PTS" (whatever that is) discounts tickets is not the same as telling someone to call IAP with the dates in mind. As a newcomer, I know which suggestion I'd rather have.