Jan 4, 2014, 10:43 pm

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

Last edit by: skunker

Fare feels too good to be true? Don't call the airline!
Double-check that the fare is actually in Business or First as some online search engines or OTAs confuse booking classes on some airlines.
Post as much detail as possible about the First/Business fare, including: fare class, fare basis, one-way/round-trip, sales channel, sample dates and total price (including taxes).
When posting fare rules, please enclose them in a [COÐE][/COÐE] block. Note the use of the eth (Ð) instead of a capital D here to prevent the forum software from trying to insert an actual block. Be sure you use the capital D.
Refrain from posting fare requests or engaging in off topic debates such as fare trends, specific aircraft configuration or visa requirements
The deeply discounted international fares discussed here are almost always specific to a certain point of origin, and only very rarely work in reverse (e.g. a SFO-LHR-SFO fare usually won't work LHR-SFO-LHR). Domestic fares more commonly work in reverse.
Please include important information such as operating airline, fare classes, city pairs, etc. in the body of your post rather than the post title field as it is not visible to those reading FT on mobile devices. This is not the "trick it" thread. Please do not speak in code.
Please do not post large images. Not everyone has infinite resolution, and it makes the rest of the thread very difficult to read. If it's not important enough to type in, it's not important enough to be here.
Last but not least: don't call the airline!

Note: There is a known miscoding on ITA and elsewhere, where fares on EI (Aer Lingus) are showing as being in first class. This is not correct, as Aer Lingus does not offer first class. If you see this fare, please ignore it and do not post it here as it is completely unbookable in every sense of the term. The mods are summarily deleting these posts in order to unclutter the thread.

Note: There is a known miscoding on ITA and elsewhere, where Z fares on EY (Etihad) are showing as being in first class. This is not correct, as Z fares are discount business on EY. These fares will not receive chaffeur service. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/etihad-airways-etihad-guest/1622229-removal-chauffeur-service-some-business-class-passengers.html

List of known, active deals:

JNB-DXB-SFO in EK F, $4k-ish one-way
MLE-HKG-US (various) in C, $1400 +/- available only on CX's website.
CMB-MIA, other US cities, for about $4400 in F, round-trip/return

BA AARP $400 discount for J/F bookings is now valid again for booking until 31 Oct 2014 but departure to EOS seems to get the discount. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1435816-ba-fare-discounts-aarp-4.html

Good Deal Premium Fares 2014

Closed Thread Subscribe

Thread Tools

Search this Thread

Oct 7, 2014, 5:22 pm

#3016

TheBOSman

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2011

Location: Austin, Texas

Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!

Posts: 26,062

Quote:

Originally Posted by bocastephen

I'm not seeing any more availability....either the fare was just pulled, or the availability dried up.

Nope, the fares are still going.

Oct 7, 2014, 5:31 pm

#3017

FTstudent

Join Date: Jul 2013

Location: TPA

Programs: UA Gold

Posts: 341

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBOSman

Nope, the fares are still going.

I see the fare from OP's PRN is still alive, but the fare code is ZNA6Q2Y1 (on ITA). The fare code ZSA0Q2Y1 was the one being dissected for is F viability component. Could this mean the free ride in F is over?

Oct 7, 2014, 5:34 pm

#3018

tangel

Join Date: Feb 2013

Location: FLL

Programs: US CP, AA Plat, DL Silver, EY Gold, Kimpton IC, SPG Plat

Posts: 409

I guess these aren't as big of an issue as the economy fares of similar magnitude.

Oct 7, 2014, 5:44 pm

#3019

TheBOSman

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2011

Location: Austin, Texas

Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!

Posts: 26,062

Quote:

Originally Posted by FTstudent

I see the fare from OP's PRN is still alive, but the fare code is ZN (on ITA). The fare code ZS was the one being dissected for is F viability component. Could this mean the free ride in F is over?

I still have ZS coming up JFK-OSL.

Oct 7, 2014, 6:57 pm

#3020

cfischer

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2005

Location: BOS/EAP

Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat

Posts: 32,063

VS is still offering the $950+ BOS-AMS fare with no min and through EOS even though OW pulled their 3 day min fares a while ago. Probably not going to last much longer I'd say.

Oct 7, 2014, 7:31 pm

#3021

mattp1987

Join Date: May 2013

Location: RMS

Programs: DL Plat, UA Gold, Bonvoy Titanium, Hilton Credit Card Diamond

Posts: 8,789

Quote:

Originally Posted by cfischer

VS is still offering the $950+ BOS-AMS fare with no min and through EOS even though OW pulled their 3 day min fares a while ago. Probably not going to last much longer I'd say.

Is that supposed to be $1950+? The best I can find is $2008 which is still a good deal, and I'd like to try Upper Class. For some dates in March, VS has a 787 operating BOS-LHR. I also noticed that if you take BA for the LHR-AMS portion they have some 767s and A321s operating the flight, but on further inspection it looks like those are the Euro configurations of those aircraft rather than intercontinental. I'd probably go with KLM for those segments for crediting to DL.

Oct 7, 2014, 7:39 pm

#3022

Yahtzee

Join Date: May 2009

Location: Boston, MA

Programs: AA Million Miler, Mosaic, Delta Platinum

Posts: 1,561

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattp1987

Quote:

Originally Posted by cfischer
Is that supposed to be $1950+? The best I can find is $2008 which is still a good deal, and I'd like to try Upper Class. For some dates in March, VS has a 787 operating BOS-LHR. I also noticed that if you take BA for the LHR-AMS portion they have some 767s and A321s operating the flight, but on further inspection it looks like those are the Euro configurations of those aircraft rather than intercontinental. I'd probably go with KLM for those segments for crediting to DL.

I wonder if you could skip the BA/KLM legs on this.

Oct 7, 2014, 7:49 pm

#3023

af fp

Join Date: Jun 2002

Location: New York, NY

Posts: 1,589

Note that NYC to PAR is still coming up at a very low $2,300 at the end of December, e.g. Dec 20-29, with the three alliances. Quite a rare thing.

Oct 7, 2014, 7:51 pm

#3024

TheBOSman

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2011

Location: Austin, Texas

Programs: Airline nobody. Sad!

Posts: 26,062

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yahtzee

I wonder if you could skip the BA/KLM legs on this.

Yes, but it would cancel your return back to BOS. If your ticket is BOS-LHR-AMS-LHR-BOS, and you skip LHR-AMS, then AMS-LHR and LHR-BOS would cancel.

Oct 7, 2014, 8:14 pm

#3025

Yahtzee

Join Date: May 2009

Location: Boston, MA

Programs: AA Million Miler, Mosaic, Delta Platinum

Posts: 1,561

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheBOSman

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yahtzee

I wonder if you could skip the BA/KLM legs on this.

Yes, but it would cancel your return back to BOS. If your ticket is BOS-LHR-AMS-LHR-BOS, and you skip LHR-AMS, then AMS-LHR and LHR-BOS would cancel.

Just thinking that, given the absence of shared alliances, VS might not communicate that well with the others for check ins but no shows.

Oct 7, 2014, 8:44 pm

#3026

darmajaya

Join Date: Dec 2013

Programs: AegeanGold, *AGold, 1WorldSapphire, AAPlat, HHDiamond, HyattPlat, SPGGold

Posts: 75

JFK-OSL in P r/t $2212 ai Nov 13-17 2014 Austrian

Not sure if this is a great deal, but I should think it's a descent one?

New York (JFK) to Oslo (OSL) - Thu, Nov 13
Austrian New York (JFK) to Vienna (VIE) - Thu, Nov 13
Austrian 88 Dep: 6:00PM Arr: 8:25AM 8h 25m Boeing 777 Business (P)
OPERATED BY TYROLEAN AIRWAYS TIROLER LUFTFAHRT Layover in VIE Fri, Nov 14 1h 55m

Austrian Vienna (VIE) to Oslo (OSL) - Fri, Nov 14
Austrian 335 Dep: 10:20AM Arr: 12:50PM 2h 30m Fokker 70 Business (P)
OPERATED BY TYROLEAN AIRWAYS TIROLER LUFTFAHRT

Oslo (OSL) to New York (JFK) - Mon, Nov 17
Austrian Oslo (OSL) to Vienna (VIE) - Mon, Nov 17
Austrian 332 Dep: 6:30AM Arr: 9:10AM 2h 40m Fokker 100 Business (P)
OPERATED BY TYROLEAN AIRWAYS TIROLER LUFTFAHRT Layover in VIE 1h 35m

Austrian Vienna (VIE) to New York (JFK) - Mon, Nov 17
Austrian 87 Dep: 10:45AM Arr: 2:25PM 9h 40m Boeing 777 Business (P)
OPERATED BY TYROLEAN AIRWAYS TIROLER LUFTFAHRT
Cost per passenger (including taxes & fees) $2,212.00
Total cost for 1 passenger $2,212.00

Oct 7, 2014, 9:13 pm

#3027

mattp1987

Join Date: May 2013

Location: RMS

Programs: DL Plat, UA Gold, Bonvoy Titanium, Hilton Credit Card Diamond

Posts: 8,789

Quote:

Originally Posted by darmajaya

I'd call that a decent deal for sure. Just be aware that OS P doesn't accrue anything to UA. It does accrue to M&M which is where I credited my OS P flights this summer. Not to go too far off-topic for this thread, but I really enjoyed VIE-ORD on OS although the lounge offering was quite lacking for those of us unable to use the Senator lounge.

It seems odd that OS is the only *A airline that comes up with these fares on ITA. I thought all US-Europe fares were filed as part of the JV. UA and LH are both north of $4k for the dates I checked.

Edit: OS P does now accrue to UA at 100% for both base RDMs and PQMs. Credit to Lack for correcting me on this change.

Last edited by mattp1987; Oct 7, 2014 at 10:09 pm Reason: Update incorrect mileage accrual

Oct 7, 2014, 9:44 pm

#3028

baclubflyer

Join Date: Sep 2007

Posts: 506

Quote:

Originally Posted by peterk814

Had to fly AA on the outbound to LHR but got the BA 747 on the way home.

JFK-CPH 11/28
CPH-JF 11/30

How did you get BA on the inbound? For the same date they are only offering AA...

Oct 7, 2014, 9:58 pm

#3029

Lack

Join Date: Mar 2008

Posts: 4,859

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattp1987

I'd call that a decent deal for sure. Just be aware that OS P doesn't accrue anything to UA.

http://www.united.com/CMS/en-US/mark...spx?ItemId=302

Officially it's 100% + status bonus efective Aug 1.

Oct 7, 2014, 10:08 pm

#3030

Calchas

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Mar 2013

Location: London

Posts: 17,007

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattp1987

I also noticed that if you take BA for the LHR-AMS portion they have some 767s and A321s operating the flight, but on further inspection it looks like those are the Euro configurations of those aircraft rather than intercontinental.

Is that surprising?

BA might swap you out for a longhaul aircraft but it's unlikely On KL you are more likely to get a Fokker 50 and a bus gate than a long haul aircraft though. The flight is about an hour so you should manage

. The terminal change at LHR would be my main consideration.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yahtzee

Just thinking that, given the absence of shared alliances, VS might not communicate that well with the others for check ins but no shows.

Well it's not so much the alliance as the GDS---auto cancel not working reliably is a well known bug even between AA and BA (Sabre and Amadeus). VS uses SHARES and the tie in between Amadeus and SHARES is even looser. However I would never expect it to work as predictably as you hoped!