How to book business class air? - Timeshare Users Group Online Community Forums

Eric in McLean · March 10, 2009, 10:37 AM

We plan on traveling to China from DC. There's a direct flight from Dulles to Beijing. What's the cheapest way to book business class? Kayak is showing the flight costs more than $5,000 per person round trip. Do we get a better deal going to a travel agent?

djs · March 10, 2009, 10:43 AM

You may get better responses on Flyertalk but one way (if you have frequent flyer miles) is to find out what the cheapest coach ticket is that you can buy and will allow you to upgrade. It may or may not be a better deal than the fares you are looking at.

GetawaysRus · March 10, 2009, 08:00 PM

It's possible that a travel agent could help. Travel agents have access to consolidators.

There are several Internet sites for the consolidators. Well-known ones would include FareBuzz and Centrav. You will not be able to access these sites unless you have travel agent credentials.

Consolidators buy up blocks of tickets at a discount (both domestic and international). They offer these to the public via travel agents. The travel agent usually adds a mark-up of their own to the ticket price to try to make a small profit on the sale.

Travel agents can seldom save you money on a coach seat for round trip domestic travel. But sometimes they can save you money on a business class seat or an itinerary that has multiple flights by working through a consolidator.

One more thought: there are lots of flights to China from the west coast (Los Angeles and San Francisco). The Dulles to California flight is your short leg, and perhaps you'd consider a stop or even consider a coach seat for your first leg? If so, you might be able to pick up a business class seat for less out of LAX or SFO. I'd ask the agent that question as well.

March 10, 2009, 10:37 AM	#1
Eric in McLean Guest BBS Reg. Date: Jun 6, 05 Posts: 476	How to book business class air? We plan on traveling to China from DC. There's a direct flight from Dulles to Beijing. What's the cheapest way to book business class? Kayak is showing the flight costs more than $5,000 per person round trip. Do we get a better deal going to a travel agent?

March 10, 2009, 08:00 PM	#3
GetawaysRus TUG Member BBS Reg. Date: Aug 15, 06 Location: California Posts: 245	It's possible that a travel agent could help. Travel agents have access to consolidators. There are several Internet sites for the consolidators. Well-known ones would include FareBuzz and Centrav. You will not be able to access these sites unless you have travel agent credentials. Consolidators buy up blocks of tickets at a discount (both domestic and international). They offer these to the public via travel agents. The travel agent usually adds a mark-up of their own to the ticket price to try to make a small profit on the sale. Travel agents can seldom save you money on a coach seat for round trip domestic travel. But sometimes they can save you money on a business class seat or an itinerary that has multiple flights by working through a consolidator. One more thought: there are lots of flights to China from the west coast (Los Angeles and San Francisco). The Dulles to California flight is your short leg, and perhaps you'd consider a stop or even consider a coach seat for your first leg? If so, you might be able to pick up a business class seat for less out of LAX or SFO. I'd ask the agent that question as well. Last edited by GetawaysRus : March 10, 2009 at 08:09 PM.

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March 10, 2009, 10:43 AM	#2
djs TUG Member BBS Reg. Date: Nov 29, 06 Location: South Boston, MA Posts: 826 Resorts: Ridge Tahoe	You may get better responses on Flyertalk but one way (if you have frequent flyer miles) is to find out what the cheapest coach ticket is that you can buy and will allow you to upgrade. It may or may not be a better deal than the fares you are looking at.