Avoid the UK to get the best premium fares to Europe, travel expert shares
With the early booking season for Euro 2025 summer in full swing, Mark Twain, airfare specialist and founder of Flat Beds, shares how you can save precious dollars for your clients travelling over to the northern hemisphere. London is usually selected as the destination port as it’s seen as cheap and convenient, however Mark shares that travellers can make big savings when flying premium economy, business or first class by choosing another port of entry.
Mark notes that due to the high demand, London sets a premium departure tax (of $450, note it’s about to increase again by $40 from 1 April 2025) that other ports of entry don’t have. Major continental hubs such as Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Munich and others such as Helsinki, Istanbul and Zurich can result in significant savings in premium cabins. Savvy travellers could stop in Helsinki, add in another stop/visit to their trip, pick up a cheap economy flight or use points to London and still be over $1,000 better off per person. Similar scenarios can exist to Frankfurt or using Milan, Frankfurt or Paris where they are all significantly cheaper than their London fare levels. Airlines are utilising sophisticated revenue management software to maximize yields on high demand routes. This means that they can adjust inventory and prices relative to demand trends they see. London continues to see high levels of demand driven in part by those who incorrectly see it as a cheap/convenient point from which to base themselves in Europe. This premium on London fares is seen by nearly all airlines, although it is situational depending on dates, demand and the stopover/transit point.
Mark answers questions about how agents can get best deals for their clients on premium cabins:
Q: How does the cost of premium flights from the UK compare to those from other major European hubs, such as Frankfurt, Amsterdam, or Paris?
Major continental hubs such as Frankfurt, Paris, Milan, Munich and others such as Helsinki, Istanbul and Zurich can result in significant savings in premium cabins. At a base level it avoids at least the ~$450 in premium departure taxes [or Air Passenger Duty] which are passed on from the UK government for long haul flights. But you typically see significant fare savings and better availability which can range from several hundreds to sometimes thousands of dollars depending on the airline and specific scenario. Given the dynamic nature of yield management there isn’t necessarily a fixed/straight line example that applies universally but it’s very frequently in play.
Q: Are there specific taxes, fees, or airport charges levied in the UK that contribute to higher premium ticket prices? If so, how do these charges compare to other European countries?
Yes the UK Air Passenger Duty is a very high departure tax, it’s important to note it’s not just from London as well. This is significantly more than other countries which can be as little as $30-100. Premium cabin passengers, on flights ex-UK that are over 5000 miles, pay around $450 in departure taxes. This is going up from 1 April 2025 by around $40 [GBP22]. If the fare availability/price is lower ex-UK, due to market demand factors such as a major event [Olympics, Rugby World Cup, Year of the Jubilee] then there is potential that the overall cost could be lower despite the higher taxes. However, it is situational on a full fare comparison.
Q: Are there any particular times of the year, days of the week, or booking windows when it’s more likely to find better premium deals from non-UK hubs?
Not necessarily, although travel to the Northern Hemisphere is more popular over school holidays due to those visiting family and friends. Whereas other markets may get more leisure/holiday demand over shoulder seasons where they are price driven, instead of being beholden to availability of family. So you could say that the ‘peaks’ are elevated even more so for the UK, especially Christmas, due to the number of people wanting to visit family and potentially booking and paying with a higher element of emotional attachment.
Q: Are there any hidden costs or inconveniences associated with flying from non-UK hubs that travellers should be aware of?
Yes, it is important not to create a false economy. For example, if availability is similar then departing from Paris to save $300-400 in taxes may not be worthwhile from a purely price perspective as you’d need to get the Eurostar and transfer which will eat up most of that savings. However, you could see it from the perspective that you effectively get to see Paris for free, and as they say, Paris is always a good idea. This is why in economy class, you could argue that the savings aren’t significant enough to add in the extra hassle. In premium cabins, we’ve seen those price gaps widen when you can pick up some sale fares at lower price levels. So savvy travellers can add in another stop/visit to their trip, pick up a cheap economy flight or use points to London and still be over $1000 better off per person. Similar scenarios can exist to Frankfurt with , or using Milan, Frankfurt or Paris where they are all significantly cheaper than their London fare levels.