Travel despite Corona - with more distance in business class:
There are three ways to reduce the cost of business class
Photo: Lufthansa/ dpa
The Omicron wave has once again hit the tourism industry hard in recent months.
But now there are increasing signs of hope that the pandemic will end soon.
From Easter, but at the latest in summer, many people should be drawn to distant holiday destinations again.
Expect a travel boom like never before.
What should travelers who want to secure the safest possible holiday trip at reasonable prices consider in the travel year 2022?
A corona vaccination is not only urgently recommended from a medical point of view.
Proof of vaccination is also extremely useful if you want to travel freely.
Because some countries already have 1G regulations, ie only vaccinated people are allowed to enter the country.
This applies, for example, to
Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Canada, Kenya, Oman, Singapore and the USA
- no entry without vaccination.
In addition, a timely booster vaccination is advisable, as some countries could tighten their entry regulations to that effect.
FFP2 masks reduce the risk of infection on airplanes
Many travelers still shy away from flights, because if you sit in a confined space with many others and everyone removes the mask again and again to drink and eat, there is an increased risk of infection in times of omicron if you are unlucky enough to be in the immediate vicinity of one sitting with an infected person.
David Powell, a doctor with the International Air Transport Association (IATA), speaks of a two to three times higher risk of infection than before on the plane.
The most important thing to avoid infection is to wear an FFP2 mask all the time.
A recent study by the Max Planck Institute shows that the risk of infection when wearing FFP2 masks is even lower than with Delta.
The maximum risk of infection when meeting an infected person when both sides are wearing well-fitting FFP2 masks is less than one per thousand (0.1 percent), even after 20 minutes of close contact.
The situation is different if you wear the surgical masks that are often used abroad.
According to the study, the probability there is ten percent – about 100 times as high.
That means: No matter what the regulations of the airline are - usually only medical masks are required for flights - always wear an FFP2 mask during the flight.
And avoid
eating or drinking at the same time as people sitting nearby.
For shorter flights, it is better not to take off the mask at all.
Business class instead of economy class - that's often cheaper than you think
Another protective measure is flying in business instead of economy class.
Already at the beginning of the pandemic, we had identified the ten best flight products in a study in order to keep a particularly large distance to fellow passengers.
Of course, suites products such as
B. the Qatar Airways Q-Suite, because you can completely isolate yourself here.
Many will now object that business class flights are too expensive.
But that doesn't have to be the case, because there are generally three ways in which flight costs can be significantly reduced: by
using special sales
, by
departing from another European country
and by
using air miles.
Partner sales are booming
Even if a possible end of the pandemic is approaching: the airlines are still in crisis mode.
In order to remain liquid, it is important for many
to flush money into the coffers through large-scale, attractive sales in business and first class
.
The best example was the Lufthansa/Swiss partner sales in many countries in January.
Two people always had to fly together.
Partner sales are generally booming and usually deliver up to 50 percent cheaper prices.
The savings were enormous.
who e.g.
For example, if you fly from Frankfurt to Dubai in Lufthansa Business Class from September 6 to 12, you pay EUR 2,150 per person.
Who the partner sale from Helsinki e.g.
B. has booked only 620 euros, which is about 70% percent less and in this way you practically fly business class at an economy price.
Departure abroad
Another savings opportunity: Departure not from Germany, but abroad.
This is often possible without additional feeder flights, e.g.
B. lives in Düsseldorf and flies from Amsterdam and drives there by car.
In general, you should always combine this variant with city trips.
CO2 compensation can be purchased for feeder flights as well as for the main flights.
No price fluctuations thanks to miles
Another very worthwhile variant is the use of miles.
The good thing about mileage tickets is that the mileage prices are relatively constant with many airlines and do not fluctuate massively like the regular prices.
The disadvantage, however, is that if a plane is well booked, you can usually no longer book a mileage ticket, even though seats can still be booked regularly.
Once mileage tickets have been booked, another advantage is that they can usually be canceled free of charge or at a low price until shortly before departure.
This is a feature that is highly useful not only in times of COVID.
Contrary to the opinion of many who think that flying is the primary way to earn miles, the best ways to earn miles are usually on the ground.
Credit cards such as Miles & More credit cards, magazine or newspaper subscriptions should be mentioned here.
Anyone who would like to collect a maximum of 250,000 Miles & More miles in one go can do so via the Miles & More partner ASMALLWORLD.
Use miles for Business Class flights
The following applies when booking mileage flights: use miles primarily for business or first class flights.
This is because when booking miles, you still have to pay the taxes and fees in cash, and these often make up 60 to 80 percent of the fare on an economy class intercontinental flight.
The value of 1,000 miles spent in Economy Class is usually between 3 and 8 euros per 1,000 miles spent.
In business class it is usually 20 to 28 euros and in first class 30 to 40 euros.
This includes the so-called
mileage bargains
particularly attractive.
These appear every month and offer around 50 percent reduced mileage prices for Business Class flights to selected destinations worldwide.
How to fly e.g.
For example, currently in February bargains for 55,000 miles in Business Class in the USA.
It's only 40,000 miles return to Dubai.
Don't always book hotels through booking.com
One thing above all applies to hotels: Book as quickly and ideally as flexibly as possible.
At the Baltic Sea z.
For example, 70 percent of the rooms are already fully booked.
The trend will quickly continue worldwide.
At the same time, in this pandemic, you never know whether changes might suddenly occur.
Most will probably just go to booking.com and book there.
But just because almost everyone does it doesn't mean it's the best way.
There are ways that can be significantly cheaper or that can offer a significantly better value for money.
One of the most popular strategies used by optimizers to lower the hotel price is to
acquire and use hotel points
.
Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, IHG & Co. regularly offer point purchases.
who e.g.
B. Buying 100% bonus points at Hilton can save up to 70% in top Maldives resorts.
Savings of 20 to 50% are possible at Hyatt.
And if you still have Marriott points, you should use them quickly, because they will soon be significantly devalued by linking the required points to the actual prices.
Anyone who has hotel status knows them, the VIP benefits such as free breakfast, late check-out or room upgrades.
But very few travelers have such a status.
The statusless benefit from booking portals that are partners of programs such as Virtuoso, Hyatt Prive, Hilton Impresario & Co.
You usually book the so-called best available rate on such booking portals, which is the normal flexible price.
This price is sometimes slightly higher than the cheapest price, but this is usually more than compensated for by upgrades, hotel credit (approx. 80 euros), free breakfast, etc. As such, these rates offer the best value for money and maximum value for money .
In 2022, a huge travel boom could start in early summer at the latest.
If you book skilfully and as early as possible and also pay attention to vaccinations and the right masks, you can look forward to great, high-quality holidays at an attractive price.
Alexander Koenig is the founder of First Class & More, the largest German-speaking advice portal for cheap business and first class flights and the optimal use of frequent flyer and hotel programs. In his column "Koenigs Klasse" he regularly addresses topics that are of interest to frequent flyers and travellers.
