We (spouse & I) are planning on splurging & flying Business class on Air France to Paris (San Francisco/Paris/Barcelona/San Francisco) at the end of May 2012. I've been pricing both economy & business & was surprised to see (Yapta-wise) that business class ticket dropped $500 (each) last week (appx $4700 to $4200 appx), a 12% decrease. Meanwhile, economy fare hasn't changed. Any input as to whether I should take advantage of this fare now (rather than have the airlines take advantage of me later) or wait until within a few months of travel to see if the business fare further improves?
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
I have never seen business class fare drop substantially. If they don't sell I think they tend to be used as upgrades and awards to the frequent flyers.
Posted by
Ottawa
1446 posts
As Frank said. For Business Class fares, talking to a travel agent, who can access consolidator fares for Air France, can save you money. Buying early can really pay off as well.
Posted by
OP
Sacramento
34 posts
Thanks for the input. I'll be contacting a travel agent. However, I'm afraid I may have blown a opportunity by not snagging the air fare when it had dropped as it is now back up to where it started and with less desirable flight times.
Posted by
OP
Sacramento
34 posts
Following up on this, not sure if I should be posting a fresh question or not); I'm looking for input on Cook Travel out of NY. They can offer a discounted AF business fare SFO->CDG RT that I can't get at AF directly (late spring). Haven't located any reviews on Cook Travel. I'm just a bit anxious that this might be too good to be true?
Posted by
Denver, CO, USA
1601 posts
A key thing to check on are the fare rules. Most but not all business class tickets are fully refundable. If this is the case, go ahead and buy it. If the price falls, refund these tickets and buy it again.