auntieginzy

We are getting reasonably near to our emigration date. we want to fly British Airways or any other airline, but business class. What's the best way of doing this? A single ticket seems to cost much to much? Any thoughts?

GeoffM

Round trip and throw away your return portion. Or at least set the return date as far away as possible so you can use it if necessary. Business class flights are often changeable anyway.

lansbury

Contact Trailfinders on 020-7368-1400, they used to have access to discounted business class fares. Not sure what their pricing is like now as we haven't used them since we moved to the States. But we had some cracking deals using them.

Bob

There are so many threads on finding best rates. kayak.com etc, etc to find rates.

Get a return ticket, either bin the return portion or have the return as far in the future as you can and change the date if you end up needing it. It's because the airline is responsible for flying you back if you get deported on a one way ticket.

lansbury

Not for business class tickets. You need to find a travel agent that has access to the consolidator business class fares, "Z" class I think it is, or keep watching the airlines web sites for special offers.

Been browsing the fares as my son gets married early part of next year. Kayak was quoting business class returns around $5k, odd times mid $4k. USAirways on their own web site had the same flights for $3k.

When we moved over I got one way business class direct from Lufthansa for one euro less than the return economy fare. Was that a bargain

Chrisdc

Best time to look for fares is Tuesday afternoon. Airlines start discounting and the occasional fare war breaks out - usually over in a few hours. Prices are generally higher if you are looking at the weekend.

If you look around you can find forums where people discuss good fare deals.

Bob

And definitely clear the cache before going back to a particular site.

And if other sites do a Orbitz, spoof your web browser to show you not as a Mac, if you're a Mac user

Ozzidoc

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=653462

IPM

Lansbury is spot on. Z class is what you need (cf. C or D).

I fly Wash DC to London at least 4/5 times a year and can normally get this for under $2,500 return (inc. tax) in Virgin Upper Class. Just web check fares regularly. The best deals are typically 60 days in advance of the travel date, but it can be quite random.

tonrob

BA frequently charges less from European cities (via London) than it does from London itself. If you have the time and the inclination, consider having a weekend in Amsterdam, Lisbon or somewhere else before you emigrate. Simply break your journey in the UK for the required length of time before continuing to the US.

Bob

That's to get out of the international taxes and saves quite a bit if the international leg if else where in the EU, goes for all flights, but the savings are bigger on the posh tickets because they initially cost a lot more.

auntieginzy

Thank you all so much - very helpful!

Poppy girl

Go to http://www.flightcentre.co.uk/ they have an agreement with certain airlines for special rates on 1 way flights, to and from the US, I got my Virgin Atalntic flight $624 cheaper then a rtn so worth a call, or book through the US office, if you want the number and email then feel free to message me