OneWorld Business Class Sale from USA East Coast to Europe, from $824!!
Finding cheap business class fares across the Atlantic seems to be harder than it used to be. The majority of flights are originating in Europe, leaving those of us who live in the good ‘ol US of A out of luck. There’s a sneaky little sale happening right now, but you’ve got to be quick, and flexible, and there’s some travel hacking involved.
Stephen wrote a while back about how to nest trips, as this is how we’ve usually flown across the pond. Starting in Europe has always been our secret to really low business and first class fares, but now for those of us on the East Coast, here’s a great way to get over there without breaking the bank.
Our good pal Gilbert over at God Save The Points posted earlier about this amazing sale from New York to Dublin for about $1350, but using a little American Express trick, you can actually get the flights even cheaper!
American Express’ International Airline Program
American Express has a little known division called the International Airline Program. While usually it doesn’t provide a lot of value (sorry, just being honest), sometimes the discounts can be pretty awesome. In order to find the BEST deals, you’ll need to be logged into your American Express account. Don’t have one? No problem. You can find the cheap fares on SkyScanner, but they’ll be about $80-100 more expensive.
Cheers to cheap flights to Dublin!
New York, New York
As we’ve seen with many discounted airfares to Europe, the cheap ones tend to be flying out of New York. This time, the link is from New York to Dublin, with other cheap options abound to a few other European Cities.
Right now, you can fly from New York to Dublin for only $1269. The first portion of your flight (from New York to Toronto) will be in coach, and the long haul over the water will be in Business Class. On the return, you’re going to fly from Dublin to London in coach (for all of 50 minutes) and then be in Business Class from London to New York.
As God Save The Points mentioned, Boston also comes in to play with some $1400 fares. If you’re looking for other deals, check dates in December, February, April, and even a couple dates around the holidays.
- Boston – Dublin $1448
- New York – Brussels $1648
- Boston – Amsterdam $1741
Play around on Google Flights and when you see a cheap flight, jump over to the Amex page. Chances are it’ll reduce it down via the American Express International Airlines Program.
Lower it EVEN MORE with your American Express Business Platinum
One of the awesome benefits of the American Express Business Platinum card is the 35% rebate you get when using your points to redeem for a business or first class flight. Since you can get this flight for $1269, that’s roughly 126,903 Membership Rewards points.
- Membership Rewards = 126,903
- 35% Rebate = 44,416
- Total Membership Rewrads Price = 82,486 (that’s really only $824!)
Amex values those points at a penny a piece, turning that $1269 into 126,903 membership rewards. Now, some of you purists out there will note that the Amex points are worth more than a penny a piece, and I’d be inclined to agree. But, once you realize that you can also EARN miles because this is a paid fare, you’re going to get miles back after you fly as well. Just pick your favorite Oneworld or Partner airline (Alaska’s my go-to here) and you’ll earn butt-in-seat miles.
We recently used the Business Rebate on a flight to Portugal and got the 35% rebate about 6 weeks after we paid for it. I’d say that’s worth a few pints of Guinness.
Dublin Guinness
Whether you’re paying the $824 or $1280, it’s one hell of a deal to a great European city!
October 8, 2019
Good find. The only thing I disagree with if the valuation of Amex pts at one cent each. That’s awfully low since you can have better uses for them.
October 8, 2019
And I did point that out. Really, you’re getting a lot more than 1 cent each, but Amex values them at that. Think about spending 84k and then getting back 20-30k from the paid ticket. That’s a fantastic value!
October 9, 2019
How is this a paid fare when you book it using AmEx points? Are you using some dollars & some points?
>Amex values those points at a penny a piece, turning that $1269 into 126,903 membership rewards. Now, some of you purists out there will note that the Amex points are worth more than a penny a piece, and I’d be inclined to agree. But, once you realize that you can also EARN miles because this is a paid fare, you’re going to get miles back after you fly as well. Just pick your favorite Oneworld or Partner airline (Alaska’s my go-to here) and you’ll earn butt-in-seat miles.<
October 9, 2019
You actually “buy” the ticket, and American Express takes the points off your account at 1 cent each. So it’s a paid ticket that earns miles.
October 9, 2019
84k for RT Business to Europe? Great value as I see it like 42k each way and earning miles in the process.
October 9, 2019
Bingo!