Emirates BKK-FRA First Cheaper Than Business...Ever Seen This Before?

[OMGImInPattaya]

I'm currently pricing a little excursion from Thailand to Germany and my current fav airline, EK, is currently showing the price for a return ticket in First Class is about US$ 500 cheaper than Business Class...what's with that! I've never seen this before but I usually don't check F-class fares, only C-class so I wouldn't really know how common this might be. I only noticed it this time because the EK website, for whatever reason, showed the F-class fare along with the C-class fares on the booking page. It also appears that these would be suites as well, as the flights are on EK's A380s, which to my understanding have only suites seating in F class.

Is this at all common on airlines...anyone seen this type of pricing before?

[richard_smith237]

I thought the Emirates flights from BKK to Dubai were dual class flights (i.e. Economy and Business only). Unless they have changed in the past 4 months.

Dubai to Paris may have the three class flight.

Its possible your comparison is with a Full Fare Business Class flight..

How much is the flight ?

Edited April 12, 2015 by richard_smith237

[tartempion]

If you choose A380 all the way you will find F class, at 108K baht an excellent deal. Note for this fare return must be within 30 days.

Some B777/300ER's also have first, dunno to FRA.

I paid 87K for Qatar biz class, would pay 20k extra for first.

I tried to price same flights in biz, but no saver deal on selected dates, thus the F deal comes cheaper.

I am surprised they offer a deal at 108K, sometimes airlines make errors in pricing.

Edited April 12, 2015 by tartempion

[OMGImInPattaya]

I thought the Emirates flights from BKK to Dubai were dual class flights (i.e. Economy and Business only). Unless they have changed in the past 4 months.

Dubai to Paris may have the three class flight.

Its possible your comparison is with a Full Fare Business Class flight..

How much is the flight ?

EK flies both A380s and Tripple-7s on the BKK-DBX route...the A380s have three classes...I'm pretty sure the 777s do too.

108k.

[OMGImInPattaya]

If you choose A380 all the way you will find F class, at 108K baht an excellent deal. Note for this fare return must be within 30 days.

Some B777/300ER's also have first, dunno to FRA.

I paid 87K for Qatar biz class, would pay 20k extra for first.

I tried to price same flights in biz, but no saver deal on selected dates, thus the F deal comes cheaper.

I am surprised they offer a deal at 108K, sometimes airlines make errors in pricing.

For my dates and times, all legs are A380 (yeah) except one...the outbound DXB to FRA. Three hour layovers each way so enough time to enjoy the First Class lounge at Dubai International too.

[KhunBENQ]

"Funny" stuff

"Hinflug" -> Outbund.

Bangkok - Dubai: 14 closed suites in first.

Dubai - Frankfurt: 8 closed suites in first.

(seatguru)

Edited April 12, 2015 by KhunBENQ

[smokie36]

It happened to me with EK a couple of years ago....I snapped them up!

[TPI]

They're great prices!

[slightlychilled]

Maybe just selling them off. I read a report that Emirates was doing away with First class on their 380's on some routings in favour of just flatbed Business and Economy.

[OMGImInPattaya]

So like this is pretty unusual situation where EK's First Flex Suites fare being cheaper than Business class on flights to Frankfurt is still ongoing...and it shows this fare for bookings from basically now till at least early Fall (September). I went ahead and made my booking for early July. The final price of 108k came out to US$ 3300...like <deleted> Maybe EK is having a going out of business sale or something but that's a damn cheap fare IMO. This also includes 4 chauffeur airport transfers...I'm pretty stoked as this will be my first time flying First Class and it's long-distance intercontinental suites product! I usually fly business long-distance and never thought I'd fly First as i could never justify the price difference as I self-pay with cash...not miles or an employer. Booked the Jumeirah hotel in Frankfurt for the first few nites as well directly with EK as they had a promo of about $150 a nite and this was about 50 bucks cheaper than i saw at other booking engines.

Some other representative fares to FRA in First for the same dates:

Lufthansa...direct non-stop over 300k!!!...or with a transfer in Singapore (BKK-SIN in Jetstar economy...what a way to start and end a First Class flight) for about 200k

Qatar...No first class service...Business Class about 120k

Singapore...First Suites over 300k (and also with transfer in Singapore but at least it's on SIN metal but in a non-suites business class seat).

This will be my first time to Germany...plan to hit FRA...then take high-speed ICE train to Muchen for a few days...then ICE to Berlin again for a few days...then return for last nite in FRA and return to Bangkok next morning.

On other notes, the miles I earn at 150% come to like 30k and should catapult me directly from the first tier Blue membership to Gold in EK's membership scheme...will post a trip report for sure when I get back.

[jethro69]

I just want to stress out that you cant expect much first class service @ FRA, at least if not flying LH/Swiss. I was for example denied the first class lounge when flying First with Thai, (Star Alliance, as LH/Swiss) as it is reserved for LH/Swiss only. Had to move to the Senator lounge instead. Boarding was a mess to, I had to ask them if they do it the first time. Also the pickup service in FRA was pretty poor.

However, Emirates might have their own lounges, and arrangements which makes it probably a better experience than I had.

Thai airways is not to blame here, it's the protectionism from LH, which made it a pretty bad experience. I speaking from Frankfurt airport only, all the rest of the flight was just perfect.

[slightlychilled]

I just want to stress out that you cant expect much first class service @ FRA, at least if not flying LH/Swiss. I was for example denied the first class lounge when flying First with Thai, (Star Alliance, as LH/Swiss) as it is reserved for LH/Swiss only. Had to move to the Senator lounge instead. Boarding was a mess to, I had to ask them if they do it the first time. Also the pickup service in FRA was pretty poor.

However, Emirates might have their own lounges, and arrangements which makes it probably a better experience than I had.

Thai airways is not to blame here, it's the protectionism from LH, which made it a pretty bad experience. I speaking from Frankfurt airport only, all the rest of the flight was just perfect.

I can't imagine what you were expecting. Entrance to First Class Lounges is generally limited to passengers flying the airline that the lounge belongs to. These lounges are generally situated only in the major hubs and not at every airport throughout the world. Nothing new. Naturally Lufthansa has a First Class Lounge in Frankfurt, Thai International has a First Class Lounge in Bangkok whereas Lufthansa doesn't. Not surprisingly Emirates has its First Class Lounge in Dubai but not in Frankfurt.

First Class Lounges are usually also available for arriving passengers so you could have used Thai First Class lounge when you arrived in Bangkok but obviously that's not quite the same experience as departing.

Next time you fly First Class, pick your airline wisely and make sure you are flying out of a hub if you want to enjoy all the services and facilities on offer.

Edited April 14, 2015 by slightlychilled

[jethro69]

I just want to stress out that you cant expect much first class service @ FRA, at least if not flying LH/Swiss. I was for example denied the first class lounge when flying First with Thai, (Star Alliance, as LH/Swiss) as it is reserved for LH/Swiss only. Had to move to the Senator lounge instead. Boarding was a mess to, I had to ask them if they do it the first time. Also the pickup service in FRA was pretty poor.

However, Emirates might have their own lounges, and arrangements which makes it probably a better experience than I had.

Thai airways is not to blame here, it's the protectionism from LH, which made it a pretty bad experience. I speaking from Frankfurt airport only, all the rest of the flight was just perfect.

I can't imagine what you were expecting. Entrance to First Class Lounges is generally limited to passengers flying the airline that the lounge belongs to. These lounges are generally situated only in the major hubs and not at every airport throughout the world. Nothing new. Naturally Lufthansa has a First Class Lounge in Frankfurt, Thai International has a First Class Lounge in Bangkok whereas Lufthansa doesn't. Not surprisingly Emirates has its First Class Lounge in Dubai but not in Frankfurt.

First Class Lounges are usually also available for arriving passengers so you could have used Thai First Class lounge when you arrived in Bangkok but obviously that's not quite the same experience as departing.

Next time you fly First Class, pick your airline wisely and make sure you are flying out of a hub if you want to enjoy all the services and facilities on offer.

Well, then I wonder what Alliances are good for, in this case Star Alliance. You're still allowed to use the Business lounges, even if it's not the Hub of your carrier.

Edited April 15, 2015 by jethro69

[tartempion]

Frankfurt lounge:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci_xFH5VTSs

Edited April 15, 2015 by tartempion

[Familyonthemove]

Cathay had a similar issue over the Songkranlong weekend. Economy to Hong Kong was an extorsionate 30k THB because it was a peak period - but the same days in Business were 22k THB.

It's a pricing error obviously ..... but demand for economy was probably very high over a hollday period, but Business may have been less in demand.

[Aussieroaming]

I got the same type of deal flying from South Africa to Australia on Qantas, first class was $500 cheaper than business class. I found qantas first class to be very average though.

These deals come up from time to time and are a good way to experience first class if you fly a premier airline like Emirates. Having flown emirates first class in a suite I can definitely recommend it in regards to comfort.

So if you are thinking of flying first class just make sure it isn't a code share flight

[OMGImInPattaya]

I got the same type of deal flying from South Africa to Australia on Qantas, first class was $500 cheaper than business class. I found qantas first class to be very average though.

These deals come up from time to time and are a good way to experience first class if you fly a premier airline like Emirates. Having flown emirates first class in a suite I can definitely recommend it in regards to comfort.

So if you are thinking of flying first class just make sure it isn't a code share flight

This pricing anomaly is still ongoing...at least 4 days since I spotted it. I have already booked one trip to Frankfurt for July and am now considering booking another for September or October at the same fare. I have poked around Emirate's system and at least for other cities where I might want to go, Frankfurt/Germany seems to be the only fare anomaly. Of course, with cheap inter-European flights and high-speed trains, one could use this flight to get to just about anywhere in Europe (London is like a $100 and three hour train ride from Frankfurt).