Following some discussions with friends or readers about our “good deals” section, it is useful to tell you a few words about what we mean by “good deal” or “cheap plane ticket”.

Indeed, some people are sometimes surprised to see us being picky when we find a business class ticket discounted by 300, 400 or 500 euros. Yes, the amount saved may be significant, but we don’t always find that, even at that price, it’s worth taking out our wallet. The product, the service is simply not worth it, period.

There is no such thing as a cheap ticket

On the other hand, the notion of a cheap ticket, when applied to the front classes, is also totally misleading and inappropriate. When we talk about 1000, 1500, 2000 or 3000€ tickets, we can’t say that it’s not expensive or we have lost all sense of reality. It may be “(much) cheaper than the normal rate”, “cheap for what it is” but you can’t say it’s cheap in absolute terms, even when you can afford it.

Well, the idea here is to explain that even well discounted a “good price” is not necessarily an interesting price and to give some ideas of order of magnitude for those who are not used to it and do not know, in front of a so-called good deal, if they have to take out the credit card or not. It’s not that we start to have a little experience in the matter but a little bit anyway. We start to have a good idea of what to pay for a given product (even if in the past we could fall into the trap of fake promotions before having the necessary experience to separate the wheat from the chaff).

TravelGuys’ good deals

So, let’s talk about the “good deals” section of TravelGuys. All the good deals we propose are generally flights that we would be ready to buy if we had the time or the budget, or that we have bought or plan to buy. We avoid talking to you about “fake” good deals like a business at 3500 sold at 2800 because at 3500 it is obvious theft and that at 2800 it remains too expensive! And we will also avoid certain promotions “the end of the world in business class at 1600€” because quite simply the product is not worth it. If you want to eat badly, be badly served or travel in an old-fashioned seat, you might as well stay at home or travel in economy. If you want to be disappointed, it is better to have paid 600€ in eco than 1600 or 2000 in business! Besides, we often tell you in the bottom line if it’s a great deal or if it’s just an interesting price but not to die for either.

And to close the introduction before going any further, why don’t we talk about the promos in economy? First, because there are so many of them that it’s impossible to keep up. In addition, because on long-haul routes, this is not a product we know well. As for the medium-haul, we know quite a bit but I’ll let Olivier explain to you in a future post why “a good deal in economy doesn’t exist in general“.

What are the criteria for a good deal besides price?

In what allows to say that we have a good deal there is the price but not only. We can give ourselves reference prices as we will do below but some factors also allow us to say “it’s cheaper than what I was ready to pay but I won’t” or “it’s 200€ more expensive but I’ll go anyway.

1°) The airline. For criteria such as reliability, safety, punctuality, service… Air China is not Qatar Airways. LOT is not Lufthansa which is not Singapore Airlines. I think it’s clear at this point.

2°) The cabin. You can be a very good airline and have cabins that are not up to current standards. We love Lufthansa but as long as their 777X doesn’t arrive their long haul business cabin isn’t great if you’re traveling as a couple and downright lame if you’re traveling alone. On Air France you have a quality business seat on some of the 777s and 787s but a totally outdated cabin on the A380s and some of the 777s. As for the new A330 business seat, we find that the 2-2-2 configuration is inappropriate for this aircraft and we have bad feedback on the lack of space even though we have not tested it personally.

So look at the type of aircraft and cabin you will be flying. It’s a shame to dream of the “cocoon in the sky” and find yourself in an outdated cabin because you didn’t check before booking.

3°) Distance. It may seem obvious, but we wouldn’t be comprehensive without saying so. Going to Sydney is more expensive than going to New York. And, while we’re at it, when the trip exceeds 12 hours, and even more so for 24 hours as in Sydney, the distance factor can justify going beyond the initial budget for a “super good price”. There are flights whose duration makes us count less when we talk about comfort.

It is up to you to make your choice according to the price and these criteria.

So let’s talk about prices.

Good prices in medium-haul business in Europe

On European airlines, you’ll have the same seat in medium-haul business class as in economy, a better meal and sometimes a little more legroom and the middle seat blocked in 3-3 configurations.

Why ? They operate these routes mainly with single-aisle aircraft, whereas the Asians have no qualms about using large twin-aisle aircraft for the same distance (but the market context is different) and, moreover, they do not invest in specific cabins for their medium haul business.

Notable exceptions are the Turkish Airlines A321 and B737, which have a true full-flat business seat in 2-2 when the rest of the cabin is in 3-3, or British Airways, which has a B777 on the London-Madrid route for example.

In short, given the service and the duration of the flight, there is no point in overinvesting in a medium-haul business if it costs more than 450€. 399 seems to me the maximum price! Unless it’s a great deal, or you need to score miles quickly, or you like priority lanes and lounges and your status doesn’t entitle you to them, it’s usually too expensive for what it is.

I am sometimes tempted when I see fares between 300 and 400 when the eco is in the 200s… which is very rare even if we sometimes have good surprises on Lufthansa or Swiss or on the flights to London where the competition of the Eurostar has an impact on the prices. But over these distances it is usually totally in the realm of the superfluous.

When I see prices around 600 or 700 euros for a 2 hour flight in Europe I am on the verge of a heart attack.

On the other hand, I found a Paris-Frankfurt-Istanbul-Izmir operated by Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines at a little over 500 euros when Turkish sells the Paris-Istanbul-Izmir between 400 and 550 in economy. To spend 7 hours in planes and airports during the day, this one was worth it.

Good prices in business class to USA/Canada/Mexico/Caribbean

Well it depends, east coast or west coast? And at what time of the year? The business and first are often discounted in the summer and you can sometimes find discounted business class tickets less expensive than the most expensive economy!

For me a good price is 1500€ (east coast) or even 1700 (west coast) or less (and towards the USA it is rare but it exists). Beyond that it’s a fair price up to 2000. After 2000 it’s not interestting and above 2500 I don’t call it a promotion anymore, it’s just not worth it.

The proof: we have already found Miami or Los Angeles at 1600€, Chicago at 1483, Mexico and Cancun at 1289, Havana at 1299….

Good prices in business class to South America

Some countries are more popular than others and the reverse seasons with Europe play their role on the prices. But we found Sao Paulo at 1300 or even less, a friend went to Buenos Aires for 2000 on Air France… I will say that at 1500 or less you have a great price. Up to 2000 is debatablethen you fall into normal prices.

Good prices in business class to the Middle East

I would say 1500€ maximum, you have almost all the year Swiss around 1200€ from Paris, I even had it recently at less than 1100€. Given the distance, it’s out of the question to pay more than 2000€, it’s not worth it given the time spent on board!

Good prices in business to Asia

Asia is big and there are strong disparities between countries. I would say that under 1750€ you can go, but again it depends on the destination. Tokyo will always be more expensive than Bangkok.

But we found Bali at 1785€ (and on Qatar please), Tokyo at 1560€, Singapore Airlines at 1555€, on Etihad at 1499€, Bangkok at 1500€…. And not with second class airlines! I would add that Qatar eyes the Scandinavian market all year round, often offering its business to Asia from 1555€ when you can expect nothing less than 3 or 4000 with a departure from Paris.

So between 1500 and 1750€...it exists so there is no reason not to enjoy it .

Good prices in business to Oceania

For flights that last about 24 hours, we might as well not hope for a miracle. Some time ago I told myself that if I could find a flight for 3000€ I would be happy. Well, miracles do exist: 2382€ for Sydney in business class on Singapore Airlines or 2417 from Paris with a mix of Lufthansa/Swiss + ANA/Singapore Airlines.

Business Class at 1750€ or nothing

In fact, without being aware of it when I started writing this article, I just realized something that I was already unconsciously taking into account: except for exceptional factors (a great product, a very long distance) a real good deal in long haul business is maximum 1750€ and not more.. A little above is “correct”, too much above is not worth it.

Good prices in first class

It is difficult to “price” a first class as the airlines have different strategies: some want them to be exclusive and refuse (in theory) to sell them off, others aim for a “top of the range but not hyper luxury” product and adapt their prices to fill them. So we see all kinds of things. 2400 to 5000 for Dubai, 3300 for Asia or South America…

Just a few remarks: for a flight of less than 8 hours (Dubai or New York) is the price worth it? I would say that at 2500 you can enjoy yourself, at 3000 not.

We already found Air France to Singapore for less than 4000€, this year I did Lufthansa to respectively Hong-Kong and Beijing for 3300 (not a promo, just the cheapest tickets available) and 1700€ (that was a “companion fare”, you had to buy two tickets and fly together).

So remember that you can fly first for less than 4000€ or even less than 3000€ which is not more expensive than a “badly bought” business or an airline that has a strong hand on the salt. Given the difference in experience between the business and the first class, the price difference is often more than justified. If you want to go to 5000€ and more, that’s your business but it’s a waste.

A free ticket is not always a cheap ticket!

Then I see it coming from afar: “but if I pay my ticket with my miles, it’s free and therefore unbeatable”. Yes…but no.

A ticket paid for with miles is never fully paid for: you still have to pay the taxes, which come out of your pocket.

Then the miles used to pay for your flight are not “free”: you have them because you have paid for flights elsewhere! And when you look at the acquisition and redemption rates for miles, pseudo-free is not always a good deal.

Without going into the details of very complicated calculations you will quickly realize that your miles, which sometimes cost you 1€/mile to acquire, will be taken back at 10 cents (purely illustrative values) to obtain a free ticket.

But remember: in the air travel business, nothing is free. When you feel that it is, tell yourself that you have already paid for it.

You have to suffer to fly cheap

To benefit from such rates, no miracle, you must make efforts. I mean efforts other than using your credit card.

1°) These fares are not available all the time. You may have little leeway in choosing your booking and travel dates. Sometimes you won’t have much time before you leave, sometimes you’ll have to plan 6 to 9 months in advance..;

2°) These rates are not always available from Paris. To be honest they almost never are. Paris is not a “good plan” city. With a bit of luck you will find London, Amsterdam, Milan, Porto…otherwise it will often be Stockholm, Oslo, even Copenhagen or Gothenburg. But in some cases to make your super first class flight between Frankfurt and Beijing you will have to leave from secondary airports like Manchester or Birmingham.

This involves paying for pre/post travel and takes time. Sometimes it’s worth it, sometimes it’s not, sometimes it is but you won’t have the time.

Bottom line

Yes, there are some very nice deals to be had on front classes, sometimes even for not much more than a full-fare economy class. But it comes with constraints that even if you can afford it, it doesn’t always come at the right time or the right airport.

But if you want to treat yourself once and see how it goes on the front of the aircraft you will sometimes be surprised to see that some people who are seated there there did not pay so much more than you in economy.

Read also on the subject…

Photo : cheap plane ticket by Billion Photos via Shutterstock.

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