Star Alliance Biz Class: NYC to Dubai from $1,708
We're not seeing many fares like this to Europe let alone the Middle East so I was excited to see a deal that could be booked for $2,000 round-trip. It's even better when you factor in the Amex Offer that could drop the price by $300.
Shoutout to jfkeze on FlyerTalk for finding the fare on Swiss and inspiring me to dig into this a bit more!
Before we get into the details...
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Points & Miles Meetup
A quick reminder that I'm coming to Dallas-Fort Worth this weekend. I'll be joining points aficionado Allison Caraway and our friends at Award Travel 101 for a meetup this Saturday, June 25.
Allison helps run the Award Travel 101 Facebook group where she helps members earn and redeem points. She also helps coordinate regularly meetups in the DFW area for people to chat all things points, miles, and travel.
Award Travel 101 will be giving away two Award Travel 201 memberships.
Yes, you have to attend to be eligible. :)
Location:
Truck Yard The Colony
5959 Grove Lane
The Colony, TX 75056
Date:
June 25, 2022
Time:
7:00-9:00pm CT
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Straight To The Points
Routes: EWR/JFK-DXB
Operating airline: Star Alliance
Class of service: Business class
Dates: July - October 2022, January - April 2023
Seats available: 4+
Aircraft: Varies
Cabin layout: Varies
Book with (per person, round-trip):
- Amex International Airline Program (IAP): From $2,008
- $300 off via Amex Offer (make sure you have added the offer)
- Amex Business Platinum (35% rebate): From 135,785 points
- Chase Sapphire Reserve: From 141,558 points
- United (direct): From $2,124
Don't forget to let me know if you book and how you did it!
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DISCLAIMER: Please be aware that the COVID-19 situation and the resulting travel restrictions could prevent you from traveling. Additionally, please make sure you understand the cancellation and change fees before booking.
Travel Restrictions and Requirements
With travel restrictions changing by the day, please take a look at the US embassy site for your destination. Here's a link to the UAE to get you started.
Flight Experience
Between Austrian, Lufthansa, and SWISS, the business class cabin layouts will vary a bit so keep that in mind when booking.
- Austrian: 1-2-1 (767); 1-2-1/2-2-2 (777)
- Lufthansa 2-2-2 (2-2 on the upper deck of a 747)
- SWISS: 1-2-1/2-2-1
Austrian's catering gets high marks and many love their coffee drinks. SWISS would probably be my second choice. While Lufthansa is fine but not great. However, if you have United PlusPoints, you might want to try for an upgrade to Lufthansa first class.
Please keep in mind that SWISS charges a fee to select "throne" seats prior to check-in unless you have Miles & More Senator or HON Circle status.
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Best Ways To Book
The key to getting the fare down to $1,708 is the Amex Platinum or Business Platinum which both have access to the Amex International Airline Program (IAP) premium cabin discounts. Naturally, a Centurion card would work too.
Assuming you have one of the cards, make sure you've added the Amex Offer for $300 off $1,000+ spent on an Amex Travel IAP booking.
You might be able to pair this with the Amex Business Platinum's 35% rebate when you pay with points. I'd love to hear if anyone has done this successfully as it would bring the points cost down to 111,024 Amex points after the rebate.
If you have the Sapphire Reserve, this is still a solid deal at 141,558 points.
Google Flights Link
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Where To Credit The Flights
These fares will book under P fare class - I would confirm this after booking though. You can use Where To Credit to check which options would earn the most redeemable miles or help you earn elite status.
Keep in mind that some of these flights are codeshares which means the marketing carrier will differ from the operating carrier. When you check Where To Credit, you'll need to chose the airline based on the marketing carrier.
If you want status with a Star Alliance program, this could be a fun trip and nice boost toward earning or maintaining elite status.
If you don't care about status, think about which transferable points you earn and choose a Star Alliance transfer partner based on what you expect to use. My guess is that many will choose Aeroplan, LifeMiles, or United.
Use GCMap to check the flight distance and calculate redeemable miles.
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Bottom Line
With airfare on the rise, this is a great option to book business class flights to Dubai this fall or early next year. Even better, you'll earn some redeemable miles on the ticket.
Happy booking!
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