Star Alliance partners Air Canada, Lufthansa, Swiss and United Airlines offer a wide variety of cheap business class tickets from Spanish airports Madrid and Barcelona to Cancun, Mexico. Connections with a single stop in either Europe or America are available as low as €1,150 for flights in 2021.
On June 19, 2020, SkyTeam members Aeromexico, Air France, Delta Air Lines and KLM have matched the offer. They are offering flights via Amsterdam, Atlanta, Mexico City, New York or Paris. Sadly, their offer often requires two layovers to get the lowest price. SkyTeam’s offer is valid through July 1, 2020.
Possible airlines and layovers include Air Canada via Toronto, Edelweiss via Zurich, Lufthansa via Frankfurt or United via New York. Between all of these airlines, Air Canada probably offers the least attractive premium product and flight times.
We expect further shakeups in the airline industry over the following months. Some services might be cancelled, aircraft changed or downgraded. The schedule we describe may very well change.
Search & Book
According to the fare rules, this offer has a very gratuitous expiration date of December 31, 2020. It is valid for all flights until July 2021 with at least one night from Saturday to Sunday between them. Of course, availability paints a slightly different picture, as you may find these fares on select dates between January and May 2021.
Check Google Flights to find availabilities (instructions) or head directly to Lufthansa’s best price search tool. There you can find suiting flight dates and book directly with the airline, which we recommend.
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
Since there are many airlines involved, your it may be best to calculate your mileage individually on wheretocredit.com. Almost all carriers involved book these flights in booking class P. We give you to examples on your possible mileage harvest. This one covers the cheapest possible ticket on Air Canada via Toronto:
- 21,540 Miles on Ethiopian ShebaMiles
- 21,540 Miles on TAP Miles&Go
- 21,540 Miles on Aegean Miles+Bonus
- 16,156 Award Miles + 3,232 PQP on United MileagePlus
- 16,156 Miles on Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 16,156 Miles on Copa ConnectMiles
- 16,156 Miles on GOL Aéreos Smiles
- 16,156 Award Miles on Azul TodoAzul
- 16,156 Miles on Air Canada Aeroplan
- 16,156 Miles on Egyptair Plus
- 14,002 Miles on EVA Infinity MileageLands
- 13,464 Miles on ANA Mileage Club
- 13,464 Award Miles + 10,770 Tier Miles on Avianca LifeMiles
- 13,464 CV Points on Vistara Club Vistara
- 13,464 Award Miles on Etihad Guest
- 10,770 Miles on Asiana Club
- 10,770 Award Miles + 480 Points on Miles&More
- 10,770 Points on SAS EuroBonus
- 10,770 Miles on Singapore KrisFlyer
- 10,770 Miles on Thai Royal Orchid Plus
While a Lufthansa roundtrip via Frankfurt yields the following award miles:
- 24,928 CV Points on Vistara Club Vistara
- 15,580 Miles on Singapore KrisFlyer
- 12,464 Award Miles + 2,494 PQP on United MileagePlus
- 12,464 Miles on Copa ConnectMiles
- 12,464 Miles on Thai Royal Orchid Plus
- 12,464 Award Miles on LATAM Pass
- 12,196 Award Miles + 480 Points on Miles&More
- 12,196 Points on SAS EuroBonus
- 11,580 Miles on Air Canada Aeroplan
- 8,726 Miles on ANA Mileage Club
Lufthansa’s Business Class on Long-Haul Routes
Lufthansa is rated as a 5-star airline through Skytrax and is the only European airline amongst the other 5-star airlines.
Business class with Lufthansa typically includes the following amenities:
- Business check in
- Priority borading
- 2 checked bags each up to 32kg
- 2 items of carry-on baggage each up to 8kg plus a personal item
- Access to business lounges across the Star Alliance network
- Access to welcome lounge in Frankfurt on the way back
All airplanes that Lufthansa utilizes for long-haul have a 2-2-2 seat configuration in business class. However there is one exception which is the single-aisle upper deck of the Boeing 747-400 that comes in a 2-2 seat configuration. All seats are fully lie-flat. Window seats do not have direct aisle access.
Service, food, inflight entertainment and the amenity kit are of high quality.