At the moment SkyTeam has some phenomenal business class fares for travel from Germany to the US. Roundtrip fares are $1,600-1,700, and perhaps what’s most exceptional is that you can travel as far as Los Angeles for that price. Fares are valid out of several German cities (Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, etc.) for travel to a few US cities (including Houston, Los Angeles, and New York).
The fare is valid for outbound travel through April 5, 2018, or for return travel between November 1 and December 21, 2018.
Obviously this is most useful for people based in Europe, though if you travel to Europe with some frequency, this can also be a great way to tie together a couple of trips. The fare is valid on Air France, Alitalia, Delta, KLM, etc.
Here are just a few examples:
You can even stretch the routing a bit if you want. For example, KLM doesn’t fly the 787 to Los Angeles, but does fly it to San Francisco. The 787 features their new reverse herringbone seats, so it’s a nicer ride than what you get to Los Angeles. You could easily route via San Francisco:
This is an opportunity to earn a ton of elite qualifying miles and elite qualifying dollars with Delta SkyMiles. Let’s take the above Alitalia ticket, which covers a distance of 13,900 miles roundtrip. If booked on Alitalia ticket stock and credited to SkyMiles you’d earn:
- 27,800 redeemable miles (200% of distance flown)
- 20,850 elite qualifying miles (150% of the distance flown)
- 5,560 elite qualifying dollars (40% of the distance flown — this is huge, since the same ticket on Delta would earn you 1,500 elite qualifying dollars, since that’s the cost of the ticket pre-taxes)
I’m tempted to book one of these, as it would sure help me to satisfy the revenue requirement for Diamond status with Delta, now that you can’t easily qualify with credit card spend anymore.
You can use ITA Matrix and Google Flights to find these fares. Then if you want to potentially save even more on the cost of a ticket you can book through Momondo, as they often have lower fares (I’m seeing fares that are about $100 cheaper roundtrip in some cases). However, do be aware that if you need to make changes or in the event of irregular operations this could complicate things, since they link to some obscure OTAs.
If you do book one of these tickets and have access to US credit cards, make sure you maximize the points you earn. American Express Platinum Card® offers 5x points on airfare purchased directly with airlines (on up to $500,000 of flight purchases per calendar year, and then 1x), which is a great option if you’re booking directly with the airline. Meanwhile the Chase Sapphire Reserve® Card offers 4x points on direct airfare purchases, and also offers fantastic travel coverage in the event of irregular operations.
Anyone tempted to take advantage of one of these great SkyTeam fares?
(Tip of the hat to FlyingFrZ)
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