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British Airways Slashes Biz Class Fares From All Its US Gateways

Want to take your summer vacation in Europe and fly busines class at a great rate?  Then book your trip now and take advantage of this extraordinary sale on business class seats from British Airways.

In what must be a response to competition from eos and Maxjet, British Airways is offering round-trip, business class fares between New York (JFK and Newark) to London for as low as $2,112 good for travel between July 1 and Sept. 2.  You must purchase your tickets by midnight (Eastern Standard Time), Feb. 1, 2007. 

The fine print: You must book 21 days in advance.  Travel on a weekend (Thursday through Sunday), and there's a $30 surcharge each way.  A Saturday night stay is required; maximum stay is 11 months.  Taxes and fees of about $150 are additional. 

No matter how much fine print, however, this sale is at least a nod toward the competition faced by British Airways, which offers totally flat beds in its business class cabin.  Biz fares have been as much as $8,000 between the East Coast and London, but the rise of all-business-class airlines such as eos and Maxjet is putting pressure on carriers such as BA, American, and United.  Look for BA's competiton to match these prices.

And BA's deal extends beyond New York.  All 19 US gateway cities served by BA are included, with prices ranging from $2,225 between Atlanta and London to a high of $3,641 (all before taxes and fees) between Seattle and London.  Need a hotel in London?  If you fly business class, the airline has deals on stays at such nice addresses as The Ritz, Grosvenor House, Kensington House and Copthorne Tara. 

New, All-Business Class Paris-NYC Airline Debuts; Is This the Start of Something Big?

As eos and Maxjet battle the major carriers to put passengers on their discounted, all-business class flights between the East Coast and London, a new French carrier launches on Dec. 27 its own version of lower-cost, all-business-class flights linking Paris with Newark airport.  Round trip fares: $2,118, thousands of dollars less than Air France or other carriers normally charge for business-class tickets. 

L'Avion is the new airline promising "high frills" for less.  In response, Air France immediately dropped the price of its business class tickets beginning Dec. 27 to about $3,600--still $1,500 above L'Avion's price but much lower than its normal fare.

Here's the question: Will Air France and others begin charging much less on a permanent basis?  Ever since eons and MaxJet targeted the London-NY and London-DC corridors, competitors including British Airways have slashed their business-class fares to try to hold on to their passengers.  The same may happen on flights to and from Paris from New York.  L'Avion reportedly chose Newark airport because of the large number of connecting flights on domestic airlines that will allow passengers to reach other parts of North America. 

The new airline estimates 300,000 passengers fly round-trip in business class between New York and Paris each year; it hopes to capture 28,000 of them during its first year in business.  Flying a single, leased Boeing 757-200, L'Avion put 90 business-class seats on a plane that usually contains 200.  It intends to fly round trip six days a week. 

Booking tickets wasn't easy at first for North Americans, but  now the airline has an English site where you can find special offers.