With so much Black Friday marketing activity it’s difficult to spot the real deals in amongst all the noise. We’ve setup this page to summarise the best Black Friday Flight Deals 2019 that we’ve spotted. Far from an exhaustive list of Black Friday deals, this is our choice selection of the best of the offers. So, without further ado, BoardingGroup.One presents Black Flyday 2019.
If you missed these deals, sign-up to our newsletter so you can hear about the next offers.
For our European readers, Scandinavia is once again the hot departure point, with many of the best deals originating from Stockholm and Oslo. Business class prices from the UK, France, and Germany haven’t yet been particularly eye-catching. Saying that, there are one or two premium economy deals originating from London.
- Finnair Business Class – Asia – £1,182
- Lufthansa or Swiss First Class – Beijing – £1,591
- Air France/KLM Business Class – Ho Chi Minh City – £1,189
- Singapore Airlines Business Class – Australia – £2,056
- Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy – China – £720
- Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy – West Coast USA – £717
- Qatar Airways Business Class – Australia – £1,840
- Qatar Airways Business Class – Asia or Africa – £1,162
- La Compagnie Business Class – New York to Paris – $998
- Etihad Business Class – Asia – £1,069
Health Warning
Not all sales are really sales. Just because an airline screams “seat sale” and shows “discounted prices” doesn’t always mean it’s a good deal. Dynamic pricing often makes it difficult to know what the normal prices of a seat is. As a general rule, we’ll look at prices beyond the offer end date, then again 3 months beyond that. Doing this has helped us spot so-called deals that were only a few pennies cheaper than the normal advance booking prices.
Always remember our price per flying hour rules – you can learn more about these in our post on how much you should pay for a business class seat.
All prices quoted were correct at the time of writing.
THE DEALS
Finnair Business Class – Asia – £1,182
Destinations: Beijing (£1,182), Bangkok (£1,315)
Cabin & Price: Business class return from £1,182 (from Stockholm or £1,308 from London)
Dates & restrictions: Booked by 2 December 2019. Travel 30 December 2019 to 18 June 2020.
The catch: Very few with this deal. Fly from Stockholm to Beijing via Helsinki, or from London for £150 more. Remember to check if you need a visa to enter China.
How to book: While the itineraries are easy to find on Google Flights we found cheaper prices coming up on ITA Matrix, so we’d advise contacting a travel agent to book the cheapest fares for you. If you’re an Amex card holder, American Express Travel are usually very helpful. Just quote the exact flight numbers and the dates you want.
Lufthansa or Swiss First Class – Beijing – £1,591
Destinations: Beijing, Shanghai, New Delhi, Mumbai
Cabin & Price: First Class return from £1,591, or business class return from £1,160 (from Stockholm)
Dates & restrictions: Travel before 29th July 2020
The catch: It’s a companion deal, so you’ll only get the cheapest fare if you search for (and book) two seats. The departure point is Stockholm, with a connection in Zurich, Munich, or Frankfurt, dependent on the itinerary you select. The first short flight will be in Lufthansa or Swiss European business class. The long-haul flight to Beijing will be in First Class. Remember to check if you need a visa to enter China.
How to book: We found good availability at this price from March 2020 until July 2020 on Google Flights. We found this nice itinerary to Beijing over Easter.
Air France/KLM Business Class – Ho Chi Minh City – £1,189
Destinations: Ho Chi Minh City
Cabin & Price: Business class return from £1,189 (from Stockholm)
Dates & restrictions: Book by 20 December 2019. Travel by 31 May 2020.
The catch: If you’re not based in Stockholm, you’ll have to get yourself there and pay the cost of those positioning flights. From Stockholm, there are 2 stops; one in either Amsterdam or Paris, then another in either Kuala Lumpur (onward short-haul flight with Malaysia Airlines) or Bangkok (onward short-haul flight with Vietnam Airlines) – it all depends on the route you choose.
How to book: We found fairly scant availability for £1,189, although when we looked it was still there for few dates in February and March 2020, and lots of availability for £1,285. Handily, one you find the itinerary you want on Google Flights, they will link you through to book directly with KLM.
Singapore Airlines Business Class – Australia – £2,056
Destinations: Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane
Cabin & Price: Business Class return from £2,056 to Perth, £2,059 to Melbourne, and £2,068 to Sydney (from Stockholm)
Dates & restrictions: Travel up until October 2020.
The catch: While this deal breaks the £2k barrier, you’ll be riding a bonafide 5-star airline all the way to Perth on brand-new Airbus A350s. Your journey starts in Stockholm (like every other deal!) and takes you to Moscow aboard a Singapore Airlines A350. From there, the aircraft continues to Singapore, where you await your connection to Perth, which is also an A350. The return journey is via Copenhagen, instead of Moscow, but still features A350s on the long-haul legs.
This offer beats Qatar Airways’ best prices from Stockholm by £250 and at £51 per flying hour, we’re sold! Read about our price limits for business class seats.
How to book: We found plenty of availability showing on Google Flights from February through to October 2020. Bear in mind that it starts getting chilly after March. The flights can be booked by following the link from Google Flights through to Expedia.
Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy – China – £720
Destinations: Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong
Cabin & Price: Premium Economy return from £720 (from London)
Dates & restrictions: Book by 2 December 2019. Travel up until 18 June 2020.
The catch: Non-stop from London makes this a very attractive option. Virgin Atlantic’s premium economy product is also highly respected. Remember to check if you need a visa to enter China.
How to book: We found lots of availability showing on Google Flights from January 2020 to early June 2020.
Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy – West Coast USA – £717
Destinations: San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Las Vegas
Cabin & Price: Premium Economy return from £717 (from London)
Dates & restrictions: Book by 2 December 2019. Travel up until 18 June 2020.
The catch: All of these routes are non-stop from London, so little in the way of a catch. £717 return to San Francisco in May feels like a great deal; seats on this route are typically around £1,000 return. Virgin Atlantic’s premium economy product is also highly respected.
How to book: We found lots of availability showing on Google Flights from January 2020 to mid-May 2020.
Qatar Airways Business Class – Australia – £1,840
Qatar Airways are back with some incredibly good value business class fares from Scandinavia to the Australia. They have a very modern fleet of A350 and 787 aircraft flying from Europe to Doha. At £1,840, this is the cheapest way to fly the world’s best business class product to Australia – read our A350 Oslo to Doha review and our A380 Perth to Doha review. The Perth journey is 19 hrs 30 mins each way, making it the quickest and least expensive of the “top-flight” airlines.
Destinations: Perth, Sydney, Melbourne
Cabin & Price: Business class return from Oslo – £1,840 (Perth), Sydney (£2,061), Melbourne (£2,082)
Stockholm and Copenhagen are other departure points worth checking – just type ARN for Stockholm or CPH for Copenhagen into Google Flights.
As a Oneworld frequent flyer, you’ll also pick-up 560 tier points, which is only 40 points short of BA Silver status.
CAUTION: You may find cheaper Qatar Airways fares from Eastern European cities like Bucharest, Belgrade, and Sofia, but be warned, these are operated by short-haul A320 aircraft. We tried one of these routes from Sofia to Doha in A320 business class and didn’t find the business product compared with that offered on the larger aircraft.
Dates & restrictions: Book by 4 December 2019. Travel February 2020 to 4 June 2020.
The catch: The cheapest departures are from Oslo, so you’ll need to pay for a positioning flight to connect with the flight from Oslo to Doha. These sale prices are well under our price limits for business class seats.
How to book: Plenty of availability from January 2020 through to May 2020 showing on Google Flights, with links straight through to book directly with Qatar Airways. Currency will be Swedish Krona, so bear in mind any foreign transaction fee your card issuer may charge (this will be anything between 0% and 3% depending on the card you have).
Qatar Airways Business Class – Asia or Africa – £1,162
The Qatar Airways sale continues with a slew of destinations across Asia and Africa. The departure point is Oslo, although all of Qatar’s Scandinavian destinations are served by A350 or 787 aircraft – you’ll either be in a lovely Super Diamond pod seat or a QSuite. The destinations we’ve listed are far from an exhaustive list of the cities included in the offer, but should give you an idea of the prices you can expect to pay to your destination.
Destinations: Bangkok, Cape Town, Singapore, Manila, Jakarta, Tokyo, Seychelles
Cabin & Price: Business class return from Oslo – £1,162 (Bangkok), £1,289 (Cape Town), £1,193 (Singapore), £1,281 (Manila), £1,372 (Jakarta), £1,543 (Tokyo), £1,543 (Seychelles)
Gothenburg and Stockholm are other departure points worth checking for cheaper prices – just type GOT for Gothenburg or ARN for Stockholm into Google Flights.
As a Oneworld frequent flyer, you’ll also pick-up 560 tier points, which is only 40 points short of BA Silver status.
CAUTION: You may find cheaper Qatar Airways fares from Eastern European cities like Bucharest, Belgrade, and Sofia, but be warned, these are operated by short-haul A320 aircraft. We tried one of these routes from Sofia to Doha in A320 business class and didn’t find the business product compared with that offered on the larger aircraft.
Dates & restrictions: Book by 4 December 2019. Travel February 2020 to 4 June 2020.
The catch: The cheapest departures are from Oslo, so you’ll need to pay for a positioning flight to connect with the flight from Oslo to Doha. These sale prices are well under our price limits for business class seats.
How to book: Plenty of availability from February 2020 through to early June 2020 showing on Google Flights, with links straight through to book directly with Qatar Airways. Currency will be Norwegian Krone, so bear in mind any foreign transaction fee your card issuer may charge (this will be anything between 0% and 3% depending on the card you have).
La Compagnie Business Class – New York to Paris – $998
Fancy spending Valentine’s Day in Paris? All-business airline, La Compagnie, is offering return business class flights from Newark, NJ to Paris (Orly) for just $998 return. La Compagnie describes itself as “The all-business-class boutique airline from Paris to New York” and operate a modern fleet of small A231neo long-range aircraft over the Atlantic. Their seats are lie-flat Collins Diamond in a 2-2 configuration, with a total of 76 of the seats on the aircraft.
Destinations: Paris
Cabin & Price: Business class return from $998 (£772/€905)
Dates & restrictions: Book by 2 December. Travel by 30 April 2020.
The catch: There’s little not to like about this deal. The business class product is fully You fly non-stop, direct to Paris Orly Airport, which is south of the city and was Paris’s main airport before Charles de Gaulle took over. The journey time between the centre of Paris and Orly is about 60 minutes.
How to book: Limited availability in January 2020 and March 2020. Nothing in April. At the time of posting, there was still good availability showing in February 2020 on Google Flights, including this itinerary over the Valentine’s weekend. Google provide links to book the fare directly with GotoGate or La Compagnie.
Etihad Business Class – Asia – £1,069
Etihad are at it again; offering extremely low-priced business class flights to destinations in Asia, via its Abu Dhabi hub. Oslo is the cheapest place to jump in, continuing the trend we’ve seen with other offers. Etihad operate a modern fleet and have a respected business class product – not quite as good as Qatar Airways or Singapore Airlines, but better than European and North American carriers. Flying Etihad also comes with the added perk of being able to combine your trip with a free stopover in Abu Dhabi.
Destinations: Bangkok, Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul
Cabin & Price: Business class return from £1,069 (Bangkok), £1,242 (Jakarta), £1,244 (Singapore), £1,278 (Kuala Lumpur) £1,479 (Seoul)
Dates & restrictions: Book by 31 December. Travel by 25 June 2020. No travel over new year and Easter periods.
Stopovers in Abu Dhabi are permitted as part of this offer. Business class passengers are entitled to one night’s free 5-star hotel accommodation. More information on the stopover and how to book.
The catch: There’s a connection in Europe before you continue on the long-haul flight to Abu Dhabi. You’ll connect with another flight there, meaning there are 3 sectors each way. You’ll be in European business class (not lie-flat) on the short intra-European leg, then lie-flat seats on modern Etihad aircraft on the two long-haul sectors.
You’ll spend 14 hours each way on the Bangkok flight, giving you 28 business class flying hours. At £38 per flying hour, we think this is a good deal.
How to book: Google Flights is showing availability at these low prices from January 2020 until June 2020, albeit limited availability in April 2020 (Easter). We like this itinerary for a week in Bangkok at the end of January. Links a provided to book directly with Etihad. Currency will be Norwegian Krone, so bear in mind any foreign transaction fee your card issuer may charge (this will be anything between 0% and 3% depending on the card you have).
We hope our Black Friday Flight Deals round-up helped you wade through all the Black Friday & Cyber Monday noise. If you missed these deals, sign-up to our newsletter so you can hear about the next offers. Let us know if you book any of these deals and definitely let us know about other good deals out there! Just leave a comment below…
Leave a Reply