Discount Business Tickets

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Hi Everyone

I am new to AFF and i really like this site.

I had a question about discount business tickets. From reading this forum I gather that Qantas have different classes of business fares (D J I). I was wondering how I could access those discount business fares as I am travelling to London from Sydney sometime in June.

Can you access them through the website, travel agent or (I am working for company which books a lot of international travel) corporate travel centre. I would prefer travel with a OW airline for the SC and points

Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Evan]

Yeah good luck !

I class fares are the ones you want on QF if paying, and there is some seats on QF9 to LHR around early June, i know i checked, but i can't find any way to buy, the QF site is only listing the $12k fares !! ouch , i could do a DONE4 for that much.

There is however a nice special QF & JAL via NRT to LHR (but you have to overnight in Narita-Tokyo), its the QF A330's so sky beds, didn't check what JAL were using but assume 747's.
I can point you in the direction of a cheap hotel if you like.

But if you do find and cheap far would love to know the details, PM me if you like as in the same situation. (Or rather the in-laws are)

CX may have some deals (earn some QFF points), BA is same as QF
Lots of other non oneworld options like Gulf, Emerates, Malaysian, Thai etc, and of course SingaporeAir but they are expensive as well.

Evan

 

[NM]

I fares are special promotional business class fares and not often offered on routes like MEL-LHR. QF currently has some trans-Tasman I class fares available as a sales match for an Air NZ fare sale at the moment.

Even though I seats may be available on the QF 9/10 route as noted by Evan, they are probably restricted for sale in certain countries. For example, Qantas may be seeking to stimulate interest in their business class product in say France where they compete against several other carriers for business class product to Australia. So they initiate an advertising campaign along with some special fares that are likely to use the I fare bucket, but only be available for sale in France and for travel to Australia via LHR. Even though the fare may be cheaper than the LHR-MEL fare, the UK market does not have access to the promotional fares.

In the same way, people starting from MEL and heading to Paris will not have access to the promotional fares either.

Qantas rarely offers discounted business class seats from Australia to London except at times when business class sales are traditionally slow. They do sometimes have sales of business class fares to FRA and you can connect from there to London. Otherwise the mixed airline deals such as the QF/JAL one mentioned by Evan are generally the best.

There is currently a special deal with QF/BA/AY where you must use AY for the Asia-Europe sector and hence connect via HEL. From memory it was under $7000 from the Aussie east coast and will get you to London or many other European destinations. You can even choose to travel one direction via to USA (LAX/JFK etc).

 

[garyjohn951]

This is the Finnair Business deal that NM has mentioned.

You do not need to do a RTW trip.

Finnair Business Round The World

Up to 5 stops fr. $7599 + tax!


Finnair, your airline to Europe with a choice of oneworld carriers from Australia to Asia or USA and Finnair to your destination via Helsinki.
Finnair is the first airline in the Nordic countries to introduce lie-flat seats in its intercontinental fleet – so a Business Class flight is now even more comfortable than ever.

This amazing Round The World Business Class airfare allows you up to 5 stops.Valid for departures all the way through to 03 Sep'07 from only $7599 + tax fr. $600.
Travel with Qantas/British Airways/Cathay Pacific to Asia/USA or Africa and then Finnair from Asia to Europe (Helsinki) or from USA to Europe (Helsinki).
You can travel a) via Asia in one direction only b) via North America in one direction only c) via Japan in one direction only or d) via Africa in one direction only.
With so many routing options available, just speak to one of our Travel Experts and they will tailor-make your itinerary!

Sample Itineraries:

Australia - Los Angeles - New York - Helsinki - London - own arrangements to Paris - Helsinki - Hong Kong - Australia.
Australia - Johannesburg - London - Helsinki - Bangkok - Australia
Australia - New York - Helsinki - London - Tokyo - Australia

Destinations:



Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Billund*, Brussels, Budapest, Bucharest^, Copenhagen, Dublin*, Dusseldorf, Edinburgh*, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Geneva, Hamburg, Helsinki, Ivalo, Joensuu, Jyvaskyla, Kajaani, Kuusamo, Kiev, Kemi Tornio, Kokkola Pietarsaa, Krakow, Kittila, Kuopio, Saint Petersburg, Lisbon^,Ljubljana^, London, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Oslo, Oulou, Paris, Prague, Pisa*, Riga, Rome, Rovaniemi, Stockholm, Turku, Tallinn, Tampere, Kuressaare*, Vaasa, Venice*, Vienna, Vilnius, Warsaw, Zurich.
Via: Bangkok, Guangzhou, Delhi~, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Nagoya, New York, Osaka, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo. ^Travel commencing Northern European Summer 2007
*Seasonal services
~Services via Delhi commencing Nov'06





Conditions:


* Valid for sale & departures to 03 Sep'07 * Maximum stay 12 months * Travel between Finland - Europe is in economy class as well as within Finland * 5 Stopovers permitted on entire journey including turnaround point * 1 additional stopover permitted for North America routings * 1 additional stopover permitted within Australia on entire journey * Route restrictions apply * Open Jaw travel permitted * Surface sectors within USA are considered a stopover * Child fare is 75% of the adult fare, infant fare is 10% of the fare (not occupying seat) * Subject to limited availability * Booking, change and cancellation conditions apply * Noterices are correct at time of issue and subject to change, cancellation or withdrawal without notice * Please ensure you are fully aware of all passport and visa requirements for your entire journey * Insurance is not included and is strongly recommended *

 

[arrow]

Thanks guys

I will look into Finnair and the CX options and the routing through FRA.

I haven't yet inquired but I was wondering if corporate travel agents could get business airfares for cheaper. I know domestically they can access the flexible tickets (Y) for cheaper and its refered to as a (B) class economy ticket. Not sure if the same applies for business tickets.

 

[Evan]

B != Y
Meaning B tickets still usually have more conditions than a full Y ticket.

Thats really beside the point isn't it, In my experience the answer can vary.
Just like Harvey World could ticket a CX far for me the other day that Flight Center couldn't, and couldn't find any online that could. I should stress i am not implying Harvey World is any better, just better in this one case.
So you can check with them and just see i guess, an enquiry usually doesn't cost anything but a little time.

One thing i do know our travel agents seem to find the best deals they can for us !, even if there is the odd cancellation the cost are much cheaper.

Evan

 

[pauly7]

Thanks guys

I will look into Finnair and the CX options and the routing through FRA.

I haven't yet inquired but I was wondering if corporate travel agents could get business airfares for cheaper. I know domestically they can access the flexible tickets (Y) for cheaper and its refered to as a (B) class economy ticket. Not sure if the same applies for business tickets.

Corporate agents access to corporate discounts can also depend on their clients deal with the airline. For e.g. my wife's employer has great rates with QF & oneworld - they operate on a overall volume rebate but also an upfront discount on any available Y and J class fare. This company also allows employees to book personal travel at these discounted rates too which is a bonus for us (if we need to fly fully flexible or J) as a backup if I can't find a cheaper rate.

 

[NM]

B != Y
Meaning B tickets still usually have more conditions than a full Y ticket.

In my experience, the only difference in conditions between Y and B is that B is booked in B booking class and Y is booked in Y booking class. B may have less availability than Y, but if available, the conditions are usually the same. Both are fully refundable and valid for 12 months.

 

[NM]

I haven't yet inquired but I was wondering if corporate travel agents could get business airfares for cheaper. I know domestically they can access the flexible tickets (Y) for cheaper and its refered to as a (B) class economy ticket. Not sure if the same applies for business tickets.

In my experience, there are three ways corporate deals can be structured:

• The airline with whom the tickets are issues offers a rebate on a regular basis (may be monthly, quarterly etc) directly yo the company with whom they have the corporate deal in place. The rebate may vary with various fare types (i.e. be more for business class fare and less for discounted fares). In this case the company usually pays the published fare and receives the rebate at the end of the reporting period. This is how my company currently handles international travel.
• The airline offers special discounted fares to the corporation. These can usually only be accessed by their corporate travel agent and are a special fare basis constructed for that corporation. The fare basis generally reflects the name of the corporation that has negotiated the deal For example, such a K fare may have a fare basis of KXYZ1Y where XYZ is an abbreviation for the company. This is how my company currently handles domestic travel.
• A flat discount on the published fares. This discount may vary by airline, but are offered by the issuing airline. This is how my company used to handle all travel, where discounts were in the order of up to 15% for business class fares on QF and less than 10% for other airlines like BA, AA etc. The cheapest fares (such as Red-E deals) were not available for discount. I think it was only K and above fares were eligible under this scheme.

So finding a corporate travel agent does not mean you are going to have access to the discounted fares that come as a result of negotiations between a corporation and the airline.

 

[oz_mark]

In my experience, the only difference in conditions between Y and B is that B is booked in B booking class and Y is booked in Y booking class. B may have less availability than Y, but if available, the conditions are usually the same. Both are fully refundable and valid for 12 months.

While the 'B' class (on a private fare) I get booked into appears the same as Y, I have seen a couple of private B fares and conditions, and they do have some variations in conditions.

 

[NM]

While the 'B' class (on a private fare) I get booked into appears the same as Y, I have seen a couple of private B fares and conditions, and they do have some variations in conditions.

Fair enough. I expect it depends on the full fare basis and not just the booking code as different fare basis may use the same booking code and have different conditions. I guess I would over-generalising the situation.

 

[Chucksta]

I fares are special promotional business class fares and not often offered on routes like MEL-LHR. QF currently has some trans-Tasman I class fares available as a sales match for an Air NZ fare sale at the moment.

NM: Where can i find the I class fares for AUS to NZ? I'm looking for MEL to AKL or SYD to AKL in discount business.

I had a look on the qantas website, but they all seem to be over $1000 oneway.

thanks

Chucksta

 

[NM]

NM: Where can i find the I class fares for AUS to NZ? I'm looking for MEL to AKL or SYD to AKL in discount business.

I had a look on the qantas website, but they all seem to be over $1000 oneway.

thanks

Chucksta

Don't know. I have never booked one. You might have to use QF Telephone Reservations or a TA. I really don't know.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

NM: Where can i find the I class fares for AUS to NZ? I'm looking for MEL to AKL or SYD to AKL in discount business.

I had a look on the qantas website, but they all seem to be over $1000 oneway.

thanks

Chucksta

When I book a round trip ex-NZ they appear for both NZ->Oz and Oz->NZ on the website in the business class column with a fare something like NZ$700 (ie much lower than normal).

What dates are you looking for? The Air NZ sale is for travel to 25 June so I expect QF has only released I seats up to 25 June.

 

[Evan]

Easy enough to find I calss seats on ExpertFlyer but finding out if they are only to be sold departing NZ for example is not so easy, just because QF have an I class seat does not mean we can buy it from Australia (as an exmple, there could be other conditions, eg can only purchase if a connection via USA or whatever)

Evan

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

The current sale is only ex-NZ there is no corresponding sale ex-OZ.

On QF website.
Plug in AKL-BNE out 24 Feb, return 25 Feb and see the discounted fares. Change AKL-BNE to 26 Feb and still discounted fares available.

Plug in BNE-AKL out 25 Feb return 26 Feb and no discounted fares.