Excellent Business Class Fares Europe-USA Still Available

The months of July and August are low season months for Business Class travel and, as such, are often some of the best months to find excellent Business Class fares to just about anywhere in the world (with the possible exception of Australia which always seems to be expensive).

While there are far fewer great summer 2016 Business Class fares (between Europe and the US) as compared to a few months ago, it’s worth pointing out that you can still snag a few bargains if you can be flexible with your dates and if you look hard enough.

Los Angeles

KLM and Lufthansa seem to have the best Business Class fares from Europe to LA right now (although AA/BA have a good fare in August) and the best departure cities appear to be in Scandinavia.

Best July Fares

Best August Fares

San Francisco

The story for San Francisco is much the same as the one for Los Angeles – KLM appears to offer the cheapest alternatives for those with flexible travel plans, Scandinavia is once again the starting point for the cheapest Business Class fares but American and British Airways don’t make an appearance in the sub-$2,000 bracket this time.

Best July Fares

Best August Fares

Chicago

Chicago is a fantastic city to visit in the summer (not so much in the freezing cold winter!) and Air Berlin is offering some very tempting prices for OneWorld flyers in July….

….but a few other mainstream airlines are offering some good July Business Class fares too:

August is a much leaner month for Business Class fares to Chicago (I have no idea why) but, if you hunt around, you’ll find that there are some good offers out there:

New York

OneWorld and SkyTeam airlines dominate the good Business Class faces between Europe and New York in summer 2016 with OneWorld coming out slightly cheaper. The very cheapest faces do appear to require different departure and arrival cities in Europe but there are plenty of only marginally more expensive option sphere that isn’t a requirement.

Best July Fares

Best August Fares

Miami

There appear to be more great Business Class fares to Miami than of any of the other major cities and OneWorld airlines rule the skies with these routes. While the best fares may not be quite as cheap as ones to other US cities in summer 2016, the choice of dates is far more impressive:

Best July Fares

The cheapest fare looks like this….

But I would prefer to pay a little more and book one of these flights…..

…because the quality of the aircraft and the Business Class cabin is better for the entire trip. With the slightly cheaper fares you’re changing aircraft in JFK and PHL which means that for a good part of your journey you would be traveling on aircraft configured for domestic US service….and they’re not worth paying a premium for.

Best August Fares

How To Find These Fares

I used the ITA Matrix search facility to find these fares so that’s where I recommend you start if you haven’t already got a favourite and efficient way of searching for good fares.

If you’re not sure how to use the ITA Matrix search then this basic introduction and this more advanced discussion of the Matrix search may help.

Bottom Line

These aren’t all the good Business Class fares between Europe and the US or summer 2016 but hopefully some of the fares have given you an idea of what’s still out there. If I haven’t mentioned a city that you’re interested in it doesn’t mean that you won’t find a good fare to that city…it just means that I don’t have the time to write about all the US cities.

If you’re wondering if something is a good fare or not then feel free to use my very broad rules of thumb:

A business class fare to the US for under $2,000 isn’t bad. If it’s under $1,800 it’s pretty good and if it’s under $1,700 then, as long as it’s on proper wide body aircraft with good seats, it’s a very good price indeed.