Discounted premium fares are fairly common between certain cities in mainland Europe (like Oslo, Stockholm and Milan) and Southeast Asia (Bangkok especially, as well as Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Jakarta, etc.). However, deals between London, with their expensive departure tax, and Northern Asia are much rarer.
Right now there are great business class fares flying SkyTeam from London, UK to Seoul, South Korea, from as low as £1,366 (~$1,750) per person.
While Korean Air, a fellow SkyTeam member, operates the route direct, as you might imagine, this direct flight is not included in the deal.
You can instead fly either KLM from Heathrow (or London City for slightly more) via Amsterdam, or Air France via Paris (CDG).
You can also do one carrier one way, and the other for the return for the same price.
I can see availability at this price departing many Wednesdays, Thursdays or Fridays from now until the end of schedule.
While the intra Europe legs between London and Amsterdam or Paris aren’t anything to get excited about, the long haul legs are on Boeing 777s for both carriers.
KLM’s 777 business class seats, which Ben reviewed here, are fully flat and in a 2-2-2 configuration.
Air France uses a three class 777 (with no first class), which should have their new 1-2-1 reverse herringbone business class seating, which Ben reviewed here.
In terms of where to credit the miles, both carriers offer routings that are around 11,000 miles total flown. Both carriers’ long haul segments from ITA Matrix book into ‘O’ class, which I believe is their business award fare bucket, which doesn’t make any sense.
So I assume this will ticket/credit as Z class for the long haul segments – their discounted business class bucket, which earns 125% in most SkyTeam programs (plus any status bonuses). You can check the best programs to credit those flights to on wheretocredit.com.
Bottom line
I don’t see London to North Asia deals very often in business class.
Given the quick connection options in Paris and Amsterdam, these are great fares for anyone looking to travel in comfort between the two cities.