When we discovered that we’d need to leave Germany ahead of schedule, my first order of business was finding flights home. We ended up flying home on British Airways and American Airlines on a basic economy ticket, though booking the tickets turned out to be an incredibly complicated endeavor.
Thank You American Airlines: Cheap One-Way Ticket From Europe To USA
Our usual preference for a return flight is a non-stop flight from Zurich to Los Angeles on SWISS. During the pandemic, however, SWISS is not operating this service. Flights to San Francisco are operating sporadically, but we needed to leave on Tuesday or Wednesday and the next flight wasn’t until Sunday. Furthermore, my miles are being depleted at an alarming rate.
One option that looked promising was flying KLM from Basel to Los Angeles via Amsterdam. The flight duration was only about 14.5 hours, making it by the far the easiest return option. Mileage seats via FlyingBlue were also available at 29,000 miles and 100EUR each. Still, I kept searching.
Searching for flights on Google Flights, an option on American Airlines caught my eye. It was only 277CHF (about 300USD) for a one-way ticket from Zurich to Los Angeles via London and New York. Yes, the extra stop was annoying. Yes, this was a Basic Economy ticket that would not even earn any elite miles.
But, I liked the idea of $300 tickets and there was upgrade space available. Who knows if I’ll have other uses for my eVIPs (systemwide upgrades) on American Airlines, so this seemed like the perfect flight combination. American now allows upgrades even on Basic Economy (“B” fare) tickets.
Booking it, however, was not so easy. I’m going to lay out the trials and travails of booking this ticket in a future post, but just note that American Airlines was of no use at all. This was a point of sale issue, AA’s Swiss and British websites errored out, and I ended up having to book the ticket through Expedia’s UK site. By the way, I tried to pay a bit more to earn elite miles, but AA made it impossible. Their loss on what turned out to be empty flights…
And then the infant ticket turned out to be a nightmare among nightmares, which requires another extended post of its own.
CONCLUSLUOIN
We made it back it one piece, despite two stops. Quite honestly, the itinerary was much better than it looks because we were able to leave mid-day on both days and did not feel rushed. My point is to alert you to check out American or British Airways for cheap one-way fares from Europe. We could have traveled nonstop from London to Los Angeles even cheaper on BA (about $225), but no upgrade (or baggage allowance). There are some great deals out there right now if you are traveling light.
image: American Airlines
41h to get home? Yikes…
Quite honestly, the only annoyance was the ~4 hour layover in New York.
More so than the overnight in London (if it was a 41(!) hour itinerary)?
Finding cheap one-way tickets is GOLD. I love to construct travel itineraries around single sectors, including some at the very cheapest price. It was getting easier before COVID-19; I hope the trend continues in the future. Airlines resisted for decades…for no good reason.
For trans-Atlantic, TAP tends to have very competitive one-way fares. (And Norwegian of course, but it remains to be seen whether they will survive.)
Yes, TAP, Aeroflot, sometimes Finnair, Vietnam have decent one-way fares…but the more mainstream carriers want to lock people in to returns. And it has only changed for the better with the advent of the LCCs.
The “no baggage” on BA is still unresolved. I often book basic economy tickets flying oneworld transatlantic. Almost always it is 001 ticket stock, because I have so many American Airlines vouchers and gift cards that I can only use when booking on aa.com
As a oneworld Emerald, I get 3 checked bags on AA but none on BA when flying basic economy. AA insisted that I was entitled to my 3 bags even when flying BA, because AA is the marketing carrier – and according to them – that is what matters. BA was having none of it and told me to pay. At the end, AA said that the entitled baggage allowance was accidentally dropped off my ticket between me putting the ticket on hold (to then mail in a paper voucher to AA) and the ticket eventually being issued after they received the voucher. I still don’t really believe that story, and I just think the entire “Atlantic Joint Business Unbundled Fares” of AA, AY, BA and IB is a complete disaster, as each airline has their own rules for oneworld elites regarding baggage allowance and advance seat assignments. I am convinced that they don’t even follow the rules and frontline ground staff doesn’t even know the different rules.
FWIW, I was allowed three bags on BA and my wife/son two, even though we remained in Q Class on the BA segment.
These are interesting links
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/30365110-post150.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/2017908-guide-ajb-basic-economy-fares.html
Seems like BA has officially updated their end so that basic fares do not get any baggage allowance regardless of your BA or OW status or marketing carrier. Of course with rules this complex YMMV on the day – especially with a contractor at an outstation and/or with a cute infant in arms to distract 🙂
Indeed, I saw those and was expecting to pay. But (maybe because of the upgrades), noticed upon online check-in that my baggage allowance was as if I was traveling in business class.
With two kids in tow that sounds exhausting.
Why do you need an infant ticket? Who checks it? Does the gate agent really see if you have an infant on your arm and then ask for a separate BP? Does TSA ask for infant boarding pass and ID? LOL. What happens when you don’t have an infant ticket (for infant in lap). Do they tell you to leave the infant behind? Or gate check the infant?
Yes you do need an infant ticket. And yes even an infant needs a passport for international travel.
Why do you need an infant ticket? Because all airlines require it for international travel.
Who checks it? The airline.
Does the gate agent really see if you have an infant on your arm and then ask for a separate BP? Yes, every passenger, including an infant, must show a boarding pass when boarding.
Does TSA ask for infant boarding pass and ID? No, TSA doesn’t require ID for children.
What happens when you don’t have an infant ticket (for infant in lap). You will be forced to buy one when checking in. Infant fares are typically 10% of the cost of an adult fare in your cabin. Buying at the airport means you will pay 10% of the walk-up fare for your flight. Since day-of international fares can be astronomically expensive, particularly in J cabins, it’s advisable to purchase the infant ticket in advance.
Do they tell you to leave the infant behind? Or gate check the infant? No, they tell you to buy an infant fare or you won’t be able to travel.
Whatever I “saved” in dollars with a 41 hour routing home from Europe, I would surely pay back (many times over) with my wife after enduring such a journey with our two kids.
We really had a great trip home. The only trouble was the infant ticket. Had a nice night (of isolation) in London.