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Right now there’s a very good Economy Class fare available between Los Angeles and Europe which isn’t on a low-cost carrier and isn’t a Basic Economy fare either so you’ll have a carry-on and checked luggage allowance included in the cost.
On top of this the fare is easy to find and is available over a number of months so you won’t need to be too flexible with your plans if you want to book it.
The Fare
Los Angeles – Helsinki from $464 roundtrip on a combination of Virgin Atlantic and British Airways.
The Headline Fare Rules
- Fare is available from 28 October to 13 December, 24 December to 10 April and 22 April to 9 May 2019.
- Reservations must be made by 31 July 2018
- Minimum stay is 6 nights
- Maximum stay is 12 months
- 2 free stopovers in each direction
- Accompanied children (2-11) cost 75% of the adult fare
Availability
Here are some screenshots from the Matrix tool showing when the fare is currently available (availability is fluid so this could easily change by the time you check fares for yourself):
Finding The Fare
You won’t be able to find this fare on the Virgin Atlantic website (the transatlantic carrier) because it doesn’t have an agreement with BA (the intra-Europe carrier) and all you’ll get is a screen that looks like this:
The Virgin Atlantic website won’t even recognise Helsinki as a valid destination.
I suggest using the Matrix tool to find dates that work for you and, to help you along, here’s an example set of parameters I used in my searches:
Note: You’ll need to change the dates and the length of stay to suit your individual circumstances.
Once you’ve found dates that work for you, head over to your OTA of choice (Orbitz, Expedia, Momondo etc…) and, using those dates, you should see the fares appear ready for you to book.
Also, just incase there’s any doubt, here are screenshots from Expedia showing that a checked baggage allowance is included with both carriers on this fare:
That’s the best evidence to prove that no part of this fare books into Basic Economy.
Bottom Line
Helsinki is an interesting city in its own right (the hot smoked salmon served there is delicious) but it’s also a good jumping off point from which to visit the more eastern parts of Europe like the Baltic states and Russia.
Right now the fare appears to be pretty easy to find and you have until 31 July to book but, if you find dates that work well for you don’t hesitate too long – you never know when someone else will snap up the seats you were planning to book.
