Star Alliance and members Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa and SWISS currently offer business class trips from Budapest in Hungary and Košice in Slovakia to Delhi, India starting at just €1,211. The trip includes lie-flat seats on the long segment, lounge access and two checked bags weighing 32 kilos.
Our availability calendar highlights all possible flight dates at the lowest price for trips up to 28 days. It will forward you to Lufthansa with your selected flight dates.
Between Budapest and Zürich, you would fly one of SWISS’ many narrowbody offerings, usually the Airbus A220. Luckily, the seat next to you remains free even on the regional jets. To Frankfurt and Munich, you’d fly Lufthansa’s Airbus A320 family aircraft with a free middle seat. Until April – when the direct flight from Košice to Zürich begins – you’d need to transfer once in Vienna and then in Germany or Zürich for Slovakian departures.
The long flight will be one of the following options:
- From Munich before April: Lufthansa’s Airbus A350 featuring a 2-2-2 configuration
- From Munich after April: Lufthansa’s Airbus A380 featuring a 2-2-2 configuration
- From Frankfurt: Lufthansa’s Boeing 747-400 featuring a 2-3-2 or 2-2 configuration
- From Zürich: SWISS’ Airbus A330-300 featuring an alternating 2-2-1 1-2-2 seating pattern
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
The fare rules do not state how long this fare will remain valid. There is a minimum stay of 6 nights or a Saturday night and a maximum stay of 12 months.
You can use our calendar above that will show you availabilities. Once you select your dates, it will forward you to Lufthansa’s website with your preselected flight dates. In this case, we don’t recommend booking through online travel agencies (OTAs), as they don’t offer a price advantage. You can also search more specifically on Google Flights (instructions) for example by setting filters. You can then use our Go2 browser extension to book your flights.
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
Lufthansa and SWISS issue these tickets in booking class P. This is what a trip from Košice via Zürich would earn you:
- 11,028 Miles on Singapore KrisFlyer
- 9,240 Miles on Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 8,840 Points on SAS EuroBonus
- 8,822 Award Miles + 1,764 PQP on United MileagePlus
- 8,822 Miles on Aegean Miles+Bonus
- 8,822 Miles on Asiana Club
- 8,822 Miles on Avianca LifeMiles
- 8,822 Miles on Copa ConnectMiles
- 8,822 Miles on Ethiopian ShebaMiles
- 8,822 Miles on EVA Infinity MileageLands
- 8,822 Award Miles on LATAM Pass
- 8,822 Miles on TAP Miles&Go
- 8,822 Miles on Thai Royal Orchid Plus
- 8,822 Miles on Egyptair Plus
- 8,232 Miles on Air Canada Aeroplan
- 6,176 Miles on ANA Mileage Club
- 4,528 Award Miles + 480 Points on Miles&More
You can calculate your own earnings with the help of our mileage calculator. We also have a status calculator, which can help you decide which status should you aim for or which status does your next trip helps achieve. Or use our program mileage calculator that calculates your earnings based on your current status and routing:
See instructions on our status calculator‘s page.
Destination
Hotel prices in Delhi usually start at roughly €20 depending on the hotel category. Whichever category and hotel you opt for, make sure to get the best price! Our recommendation is to search on booking.com, or even on our own Travel-Dealz hotel search:
Information & Tips for Delhi
Delhi or New Delhi is the capital of India, the world’s second most popoulos country. The city combines architectural elements from more than 1,000 years. Therefore it appears as a timeless conflux of several cultures. From Hinduism, Moghul India through British colonial influences, the poeple of Delhi inhabited and preserved what they got from whomever ruled the city.
The result is a city full of sights like pompous temples and mosques, regal colonial buildings and buzzing shopping districts. One of India’s best public transport systems and a steady flow of taxis and rickshaws help you get around. With its undeniable contemporary influences, Delhi is the best gateway to enter the culturally vastly different country of India.
Best Time to Travel
Delhi is hot – from May through August, the average daily temperature is above 30 degrees, making this an unpleasant time to visit the city. From mid-september, when monsoon season is finished, to November is a great time go. While December and January can be cold and unpleasant, from February to April is another good time frame for a trip to India’s capital.
From the Airport to the City
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi Int’l Airport serves as hub for Air India. Delhi’s excellent subway connects it to the city. A ride to the city center takes around 20 minutes and costs less than €1. Furthermore, al large number of air conditioned buses are available, charging an ever lower fare. Taking a taxi can take up to an hour, due to heavy traffic. Prices are around €5.
→ All Dealz for Delhi
Information & Tips for India
India is billed as a “subcontinent” not only for geographical reasons. The argument can be made that there is no region on the entire planet as culturally different as India. For example, it is home to as many vegetarians as the rest of the world. But its unique cuisine is just one of reasons to go there – India has a lot to offer. You can finde paradise like beaches in Goa and Kerala. Buzzing metropoles like Delhi and Mumbai invite you as well as and extravagant buildings and palaces like the world famous Taj Mahal. In conclusion, a country as huge as India is full of possibilities.
Visa & Entry
EU citizens need a visa and a passport to enter India. The easiest way is to apply for an eVisa, that will grant you two entries and a stay up to 60 days. It costs around 30€ on the government’s official site. With it, you can enter the country at almost any international airport.
Transport infrastructure
Flag carrier Air India and a bunch of smaller LCCs connect the airports of Delhi and Mumbai to almost any noteworthy city in the country. For a country its size, India has an excellent railway network. This allows for extremely cheap ground transportation. Renting a car is possible, but incredibly dangerous due to poor road conditions and reckless driving habits.
Currency
Official currency is the Indian rupee. €1 buys roughly ₹89.
→ All Dealz for India
Cover Picture: Peer Linder
Comment (1)
Hi!
IMHO, could be useful and accurate to regularly remind of an extreme “weakness” of P booking class when holding Lufthansa (220-…) ticket.
Thank you.