Over the weekend, US Airways’ award fare classes were renamed to match with American Airlines and align with the effort to standardize award booking classes among oneworld carriers.
- US Airways Saver North American First Class – O ➢ Z
- US Airways Saver International Business Class – I ➢ U
- US Airways Saver Worldwide Economy Class – X ➢ T
With Z, U, and T the new award booking classes, we got a gift — a temporary surplus of transatlantic business class space, including the highly coveted but rarely available Philadelphia – Tel Aviv route.
Space has been scooped up quickly and I am not seeing more than two seats on most travel days, but two seats are better than none…or flying on BA with a $1K surcharge to your mileage. Here’s a look at two seats from LA to London:
And LA to Tel Aviv:
I figure this must be by accident and will be patched up shortly, so best to book or at least hold space now — I have put more than a dozen trips on hold already! These can be booked through any oneworld carrier (remember the 40% AMEX British Airways Executive Club transfer bonus is still going on now, making flights from Philadelphia to Western Europe only 29K AMEX points each), but only when booking through US Airways or American Airlines are the fuel surcharges waived.
You will likely notice when you put space on hold with AA that your confirmation e-mail will label U-Class has economy class — do not be alarmed, you are booked in business.
Happy booking!
(tip of the hat to View from the Wing)
Is this still possible?