Thanksgiving Discounted Business Fares to Europe: From Less than $1,500 Total Roundtrip!
For the past several years, most major US airlines have heavily discounted business class airfares to Europe over the Thanksgiving holiday. Luckily, this year many have already loaded these discounted fares- with certain roundtrip business class fares from the East coast to Europe as low as $1,439 roundtrip. This is a great opportunity to plan your last elite status run, especially if you get Thanksgiving and the day after off- it's nice to plan a mini-mileage run vacation- in style. I'd also recommend checking to see if you have any vouchers that are going to expire. I recently checked my Delta account and found a couple hundred dollar voucher from a last minute flight I cancelled 6 months ago. (To check to see if you have any Delta vouchers go Delta.com -> SkyMiles -> Manage My Account -> Manage Profile -> Certificates & E-credits.)
Fares are generally cheapest from NYC, though I'm sure there are exceptions out there. I found discounted fares over Thanksgiving on American, Delta, United and US Airways, though I didn't check other carriers. I was curious if British Airways was running the sale, because I would have considered stacking it with the 10% off discount you get as a British Airways Visa cardholder, alas it seems all British Airways flights are regular price. Here are some of the good deals I've found- feel free to share your finds.
Delta from JFK to Dublin for $1,439 total roundtrip. S class, 9,540 Medallion Qualifying Miles earned.
American Airlines JFK- London Heathrow for $1,546 total roundtrip in business (fare class I). This is a great route to use a systemwide upgrade because the 777s have the Flagship first class lie flat bed. Less than $1,600 for roundtrip first class airfare to London is an absolute steal! Unfortunately American doesn't give bonus elite qualifying miles for business class- only elite qualifying points, so you don't enjoy the class of service elite bonus that most airlines offer on premium fares.
United from Washington Dulles to Amsterdam via New York for $1,846 total roundtrip- 11,610 Elite Qualifying Miles.
United New York to London via Washington Dulles for $1,560 for 11,715 Elite Qualifying Miles.
US Airways Philadelphia to Madrid for $1,789- 11,043 Preferred Qualifying miles.
Delta from Miami to London (with out of the way routing via Detroit, Amsterdam and Paris to maximize mileage) for $2,014 roundtrip- 16,012 Medallion Qualifying Miles!
American from Chicago to Madrid for $2,040 roundtrip.
Delta Minneapolis to London roundtrip for $2,066- 12,045 Medallion Qualifying Miles.
Delta from Atlanta to Paris via Miami roundtrip for $2,138- 15,550 Medallion Qualifying Miles.
United San Diego to London via Houston for $2,488- 18,411 Elite Qualifying Miles.
Air France Los Angeles to Paris for $2,544 (these flights can also be booked on Delta.com). Routing via Atlanta nets 19,020 Medallion Qualifying Miles for $2,558.
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