Star Alliance members Lufthansa and Swiss currently offer decent business class to Dubai when departing from Amsterdam, Dublin or Helsinki. Tickets from Dublin are available for as little as €1,289 with short layovers in Frankfurt, Munich or Zurich. Departures from Amsterdam and Helsinki are just a little more expensive.
Our availability calendar highlights all possible flight dates at the lowest price for trips up to 28 days. It will forward you to Lufthansa or Swiss with your selected flight dates.
Our calendar only previews dates with short layovers. If you are willing to spend some time in Frankfurt or Zurich, availability gets even broader.
All itineraries consist of a European short-haul flight in Euro Business (= a free middle seat and complimentary food and beverage service) and a long haul flight to Dubai. En route to the Middle East, you usually have the options of a Lufthansa Airbus A330 (via Frankfurt), an Airbus A350 (via Munich) or a Swiss Airbus A330 (via Zurich). Lufthansa offers lie-flat-seating in a 2-2-2 pattern across almost their entire fleet. Swiss’ cabin offers a little more privacy with alternating 1-2-1 and 2-2-1 seating.
Many of our readers may have already experienced Lufthansa’s business class. Generally, Travel-Dealz writers and readers are not big fans of the Lufthansa business class, even though it is definitely not bad. One reason for that is that the service is too inconsistent: From extremely friendly and quick to unfriendly and slow – everything is possible with Lufthansa, even in business class.
With SWISS, it very much depends on the specific seat, as SWISS has a throne seat in every row. While the double seats share a platform in the middle, the throne seat has its own platform on each side, which you won’t have to share with anyone. Those seats thus offer privacy and comfort to an extent that the other seats cannot compete with. Therefore, you may be disappointed if you don’t get one of the throne seats, even if the other seats obviously also have a very high standard.
Search & Book
According to the fare rules, tickets for this price are on sale without a sales or travel period. A minimum stay of six days is necessary to get the cheapest tickets. You can find the tickets from May 2024 until early 2025.
Google Flights shows you additional flight dates. We recommend purchasing premium tickets directly from the airline.
Why is booking with an airline better than with an online travel agency?
More often than not, online travel agencies offer lower fares than airlines do. We still recommend booking with the airlines directly. There are two main reasons for that:
Better Customer Service
In case any problems like delays, cancellations or missed connections arise, you can communicate directly with the airline. The airline has to take care of you because you have a contract with them.
If a travel agency issues your ticket, you may have to reach out to them first. You also depend on your OTA to forward information like flight changes instead of receiving them directly from the airline. In many cases, you may get a prime exhibition of responsibility shifting rather than problem-solving.
This especially applies to premium tickets. You don’t want to spend more than €1,000 to wind up with some budget OTA’s telephone hotline in case anything goes wrong.
Baggage and Other Fees
Economy fares not including hold luggage are industry standard by now. In most cases, travel agencies charge much higher baggage fees than the airlines themselves. If bags are not included in your fare, airlines are often the cheaper alternative.
This also applies to other things like food services, insurances or priority treatment. In almost all cases, you pay less for additional amenities when booking on the airlines’ website.
Mileage
Both airlines issue tickets for all flight segments in booking class P. That being said, flights with Swiss yields far more mileage with most airlines:
- 9,330 Miles on Singapore KrisFlyer
- 7,526 Miles on Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 7,464 Award Miles + 1,494 PQP on United MileagePlus
- 7,464 Miles on Aegean Miles+Bonus
- 7,464 Points on SAS EuroBonus
- 7,464 Miles on Asiana Club
- 7,464 Miles on Avianca LifeMiles
- 7,464 Miles on Copa ConnectMiles
- 7,464 Miles on Ethiopian ShebaMiles
- 7,464 Miles on EVA Infinity MileageLands
- 7,464 Award Miles on LATAM Pass
- 7,464 Miles on TAP Miles&Go
- 7,464 Miles on Thai Royal Orchid Plus
- 7,464 Miles on Egyptair Plus
- 6,696 Miles on Air Canada Aeroplan
- 5,224 Miles on ANA Mileage Club
- 4,672 Award Miles + 480 Points on Miles&More
Here are your earnings for taking the same flight via Frankfurt with Lufthansa:
- 14,736 CV Points on Vistara Club Vistara
- 9,210 Miles on Singapore KrisFlyer
- 7,518 Points on SAS EuroBonus
- 7,368 Award Miles + 1,474 PQP on United MileagePlus
- 7,368 Miles on Copa ConnectMiles
- 7,368 Miles on Thai Royal Orchid Plus
- 7,368 Award Miles on LATAM Pass
- 6,694 Miles on Air Canada Aeroplan
- 5,158 Miles on ANA Mileage Club
- 4,672 Award Miles + 480 Points on Miles&More