Premium Economy Sale: LA to Europe from $637
Who said all the premium deals originate in Europe?
While there have been some spectacular economy sales from the US lately, the majority of premium cabin fares have originated in the EU. Thankfully, that’s not the case today. Today’s deal brings us some solid Premium Economy fares from Los Angeles to Europe courtesy of our friend Notiflyr.
Dublin at night (courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
The Deals
British Airways is currently offering some fantastic deals in premium economy from Los Angeles to Europe. For the best deals, you’ll want to fly from Los Angeles to Dublin and Copenhagen. However, there are several other European cities available for around $800.
- Los Angeles to Dublin $637
- Los Angeles to Copenhagen $643
- Los Angeles to Billund $670
- Los Angeles to Athens $810
The Dates
Availability on these flights is pretty solid from late October until Spring 2020. You’ll generally need to stay a week, but I can think of worse places to spend a week than Ireland or Denmark.
What is Premium Economy?
Think of it as a domestic first class seat with additional amenities. You’ll get a bigger seat with a foot rest, extra padding, extra legroom, and recline.
British Airways Premium Economy (courtesy of BA.com)
As British Airways describes it, premium economy includes:
- Wider seats and more legroom
- A separate, smaller cabin with attentive service
- Two delicious meals and complimentary bar service
- A personal entertainment system with noise-cancelling headphones
- More free baggage allowance
- Priority boarding
For a 10-hour flight, these things can make a huge difference.
How to make these fares even better
One of the great things about British Airways is their upgrade availability. The downside to their reward program is the fees and taxes that typically come with award bookings. However, there are ways to avoid those. If you have British Airways Avios or points with Chase or Amex, snagging a cheap premium economy fare can be a fantastic way to get into business class on BA without paying the high fees.
Before booking, you’ll want to find business class award availability.The best way to check for this is using British Airways website. You can also use RewardFlightFinder to eliminate dates with no availability. However, you’ll want to verify that the availability is for the correct flight.
While availability is fairly limited during the summer, I was able to find at least 4 award seats on numerous dates between November and March.
After you’ve found availability and confirmed it on British Airways site, go ahead and book your flights. Once you’ve booked and confirmed your premium economy tickets, call up British Airways reservations at 1-800-247-9297 to upgrade your flights. The agent will quote you a price in miles and cash.
Depending on whether you’re flying peak or off-peak dates, it will cost you 25,000-30,000 miles each way. There’s also a cash charge, but that should be pretty minimal. However, if you’re quoted anything more than $100, ask the agent to do a manual calculation of the surcharges.
Where to Credit
In addition to being a relatively easy upgrade, you’ll earn miles based on your original booking. These flights book into the E fare class for the long-haul flights and S fare class for the shorter connections. Though we’re partial to Alaska Airlines, these flights will earn the same on Alaska, American, or British Airways. The flight between Los Angeles and London will earn 100% of your mileage flown, while the connecting flights will earn 50%. That’s still over 11,000 miles before factoring in elite bonuses.
Cheers to cheap flights to Dublin!
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