ATLANTA — Flying business class doesn’t have to bust your budget.
Channel 2 consumer adviser Clark Howard says buying the deal instead of the destination is the key. Many times the deals are the results of human error.
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“I’ve flown so many times to Europe, South America for literally less than people paid in economy, which is kind of crazy,” travel influencer Ashley Peterson said.
Peterson has traveled to more than 100 countries. Peterson’s social media account, Ashley Gets Around, focuses on business class flight deals. It started as a hobby. Peterson now has 70,000 email subscribers.
She recently sent her followers an email about a mistake fare from New York to Paris.
“Mistake fares are these, like almost unbelievable rates that we find, I like to say 12 to 15 times per year, but we found like five last month. So it really varies,” Peterson said.
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These “mistake fares” are unpredictable because they’re due to human error like a typo or a technical glitch, but airlines usually honor them.
One round trip recently was less than $1,000 in business class. Passengers get a lie-flat bed. For perspective, Google Flights say a $3,610 price tag for a business class flight from Charlotte to Paris is a good deal.
Petersen says she never predicted a mistake fare she sent to her followers about a business class flight from the U.S. to Prague for $851. Google Flights show a one-way business class flight from Charlotte to Prague between $2,000 to $4,000.
What is Peterson’s No. 1 tip?
“Looking frequently, so searching often, because the more you search, the better deals you’re going to find,” she said.
Prices can vary based on dates, cities of origin or your destination.
Peterson suggests finding a cheap flight to get you overseas near your destination, then finishing your journey on a train. She says luxury travel is great, but she loves helping people save money.
“I hope people realize that they can fly in premium cabins for a lot less than they think and that they don’t have to use points to do that,” she said.
Howard says there are a lot of tools where you can find great deals that you didn’t know were you out there.
Check out Kayak.com/explore or Going.com. You can subscribe or you can use the free service to find deals that pop up.
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