Oneworld carrier British Airways offers low Business Class fares from Brussels and Luxemburg to Shanghai. The cheapest flight starts at €1,482 from Luxembourg. All flights include a layover in London-Heathrow – connections from Luxembourg tend to have a longer one as the airport isn’t served as reguarly as Brussels.
Airbus A320 family handle inner European flights aircraft. A Boeing 777-200 will take you onwards to Eastern China. These airplanes feature a 2-4-2 configuration in business class. While all seats are reclinable to a lie flat position, half of them are facing backwards.
Search & Book
Fare rules for these tickets are very unrestrictive as neither a travel nor a sales period applies. A minimum stay of at least one night from saturday to sunday is given as well as a maximum stay of one year. There’s plenty of availability between November 2019 and July 2020. Flights leaving Europe on Friday, Saturday and Sunday are harder to find than the rest of the week.
Both fares can be found easily on Google Flights (instructions). After retrieving flight dates, you can buy your tickets through our flight search or ba.com. The latter will see a slight increase of prices around €30.
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
The inner European flights are booking class J, while the international segments are booking class I. These are reasonable booking classes for discounted business fares, granting between 100% and 150% of the distance travelled in award miles:
- 32,210 Award Miles + 19,726 Elite Qualifying Miles on Alaska Mileage Plan
- 19,726 Avios + 1,150 Elite Points on Iberia Plus
- 18,316 Miles on American AAdvantage
- 18,316 Points on Finnair Plus
- 18,316 Avios + 360 Tier Points on British Airways Executive Club
- 18,316 Avios on Aer Lingus AerClub
- 14,902 Miles on Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer
- 14,902 AsiaMiles + 180 Club Points on Asia Miles
- 14,902 Miles on Japan Airlines Mileage Bank
- 14,902 Award Miles on LATAM Pass
- 14,902 Avios + 86 Qpoints on Qatar Privilege Club
- 14,902 Miles on Royal Jordanian Royal Club
- 14,902 Miles on SriLankan FlySmiLes
- 12,030 Points + 24 Elite Points on Malaysia Airlines Enrich
Further, a complete roundtrip from Brussels or Luxembourg to Shanghai and back will earn you 360 tier points in British Airways Executive Club. That brings you close to the limit of 600 tier points that you need to surpass to earn Executive Club Silver tier and the coveted Oneworld Sapphire that comes with it.
British Airways’ Club World Business Class
BA’s Business Class is subject to some mixed reviews. While it offers lie-flat seats in most aircraft configurations, they are deemed to narrow by some costumers. Further, that some business fares do not include free seat selection is critized, as it may cost €60 to select the seat of your choice. A more detailed review of BA’s 777 Business Class can be read here.
Information & Tips for China
China is the most populous and the third largest country in the world, so naturally, there is a lot to see. The most touristically important cities are the capital of China, Beijing and the financial and trade center Shanghai.
Best Time to Travel
Since the country is vast and extends over several climate zones, there is no best travel time for China. China is connected to Europe through numerous direct flights and the travel time is about 11-13 hours. Flights to China can be found for less than 400€ throughout the year, and there are also often excellent Business Class fares.
A general advice is that travel should be avoided during the Chinese national holidays, which span over the first two weeks of October. During these time tourist destinations are overcrowded with Chinese tourists on their domestic vacation.
Visa for China
Most European citizens will need a visa to enter China.
You can apply for a tourist visa at a Visa Application Service Center (CVASC) in your country. There you’ll hand in your visa application personally and can pick it up again after a few days. There is no faster and cheaper way.
Alternatively, you can apply for a visa by mail. The processing time will be up to two weeks, and you’ll have to pay for extra for shipping.
There are also so-called Visa services available that sometimes offer a faster (and maybe even cheaper) way to get your Visa. Check local sites to find out more.
→ All Dealz for China
Information & Tips for Shanghai
Shanghai is the most important financial and commercial center of China. But not only business travelers are welcome here. Also, regular tourists can get there money’s worth. And this is great because the city is connected to many major airports and therfor we’ll often present you with good deals for flights to Shanghai.
Best Time to Visit
Since Shanghai is located in a subtropical climate zone, spring and autumn are the best travel times thanks to moderate temperatures and a few rainy days. April, May, September, and October are particularly suitable for a visit to the Chinese city thanks to the low rainfall and humidity.
From the airport to the city
Shanghai Pudong Airport is located 40km east of the city center. Probably the fastest and most exciting method is the Maglev. The magnetic levitation train takes only 7 minutes, and with costs of around 5€ it is also a rather inexpensive (and of course faster!) alternative to a taxi, which would cost about 20€.
→ All Dealz for Shanghai