Cheap Flights to Milan: $440 All in on Emirates JFK-Milan (Good Deal Alert)
TPG reader Julie passed on a promo she received from Emirates where two round-trip tickets from New York (JFK) to Milan (MXP) are going for just $880 including all taxes and fees - that's just $440 per person roundtrip!
You must book travel by February 8, 2014 with an outbound departure date up to and including February 28, 2014. To find the fares pricing out correctly, when searching, you must look for two tickets. If you price out a single ticket, it will come up at around $685, so this deal is really aimed at two people traveling together.
The pricing is also coming up on the ITA Matrix, for several departure dates in February - the key seems to be that you must return on a Monday or Wednesday to qualify for the lowest fares.
So you'll have to make a long weekend out of it, but that could be a good thing because you could take a romantic Valentine's Day trip that leaves on the night of February 13 and return on President's Day, Monday, February 17.
The flights are aboard Emirate' 777-300ER's, which are nice, new planes, and Emirates coach is supposed to be a really good product. There is seat back entertainment in every seat, power points, good food, and WiFi, and the flights are only about 7 hours and 45 minutes, so that's not too bad either.
Earning Miles
I wouldn't call this mileage run material because these fares are pricing out into the L fare class. On Emirates, that means you earn 3,750 miles and tier points total. And if you want to bank to Emirates' main US partner, Alaska, you would only earns 50% mileage - about 3,995 miles. So your per-mile cost is about 11 cents.
I'm not seeing this fare price out from any other cities but New York JFK, including those serviced by Emirates' codeshare partners, but if you find low fares from other gateways, be sure to share them here.
The JFK-MXP route is also one of the main competition routes between Emirates and Delta/Alitalia. Delta and Alitalia aren't price matching the fares just yet according to ITA or Orbitz, but that could change later today, so keep your eye out.
Still, if you're looking for a quick, easy mid-winter getaway at a low price, this is a pretty good deal to hop over to Europe. I visited Milan myself last May and had a fantastic time staying at the Park Hyatt and eating in wonderful restaurants.
Be sure to check out this post for the best sites and credit cards for maximizing points on airfare purchases.
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