Star Alliance carriers Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss and United Airlines join forces to bring you discounted business class from Budapest to New York, selling as cheap as HUF 474,400 (~€1,204). You will have to change planes in a European Star Alliance hub, but bonuses like priority services, checked bags, lounge access and crossing the Atlantic twice in a business class seat absolutely make up for that.
You have to be fully vaccinated for at least 14 days to enter the United States, with an approved vaccine, unless you are a US resident/citizen. You can read more about the entry requirements at the CDC.
Our availability calendar highlights all possible flight dates at the lowest fare for trips up to 28 days. It forwards you to Lufthansa’s or United’s website with your selected dates.
Some of our links will forward you to United Airlines. To get this redirect to work, you need to visit united.com at least once before.
While each itinerary features at least one stop in Europe, you have quite a lot of possibilities to cross the Atlantic Ocean, as Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa, Swiss and United all throw their hat in the ring for this offer.
Business Class Products
The Austrian business class may not be known by many, but all seats are at a consistently high standard. The Boeing 767, as well as the Boeing 777, are both equipped with the same seats, which are not only comfortable but also offer a good sleeping experience. The catering is also said to be especially good.
Many of our readers may have already experienced Lufthansa’s business class. Generally, Travel-Dealz writers and readers are not big fans of the Lufthansa business class, even though it is definitely not bad. One reason for that is that the service is too inconsistent: From extremely friendly and quick to unfriendly and slow – everything is possible with Lufthansa, even in business class.
With SWISS, it very much depends on the specific seat, as SWISS has a throne seat in every row. While the double seats share a platform in the middle, the throne seat has its own platform on each side, which you won’t have to share with anyone. Those seats thus offer privacy and comfort to an extent that the other seats cannot compete with. Therefore, you may be disappointed if you don’t get one of the throne seats, even if the other seats obviously also have a very high standard.
United has clearly upgraded its business class in the past years since they’ve announced the so-called Polaris business class. The new seats especially offer high privacy and comfort, which barely any other airline can keep up with.
Nevertheless, United also uses the term Polaris for flights with the old seats. On United.com/Polaris, you can check which planes were already refurbished. Currently, a big portion of the Boeing 767 and Boeing 777 planes have the new seats, while the chances are rather low for the Dreamliner.
You have to be especially careful with flights on a Boeing 777-200. Some of those have a 2-4-2 alignment in business class, which results in narrow seats. Luckily, these planes are mainly used within the USA on transcontinental flights, as well as to Hawaii and Guam. Occasionally, however, they do use them for transatlantic flights.
Search & Book
According to the fare rules, tickets are on sale until April 4, 2022 for trips of at least six days or one night from Saturday to Sunday. A maximum stay of 90 days applies. You can find flights from April through June and late August to October 2022.
You can find suiting flight dates with our availability calendar above, Google Flights or Lufthansa’s best price search tool. The latter is a great option, since you can buy tickets directly on Lufthansa’s website. We strongly recommend doing that when purchasing premium tickets.
Booking on United’s website will get you more miles on Miles&More, since purchasing the tickets there makes the accrual distance based instead of revenue based.
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
All flight segments are booking class P. Since operating airlines vary greatly, we recommend using our mileage calculator to see which program credits the most for your personal itinerary:
Destination
Even budget hotels in New York are notoriously expensive, so planning ahead pays off. Whichever category and hotel you opt for, make sure to get the best price! Our recommendation is searching on booking.com, or even on our own Travel-Dealz hotel search:
Information & Tips for New York
It is THE dream destination in the USA. The 5 districts of New York City offer more than any other metropolis in the world. And due to the high number of flights to New York, it is usually the cheapest way to get to the USA.
The Best Time to Travel
The best travel time with moderate temperatures is from April to June and from September to November. Summers can bring heat waves with high humidity. Winters are often snowy and very cold.
From the airport to the city
New York City is served by three commercial airports: John F. Kennedy Intl. Airport in Queens (probably the most famous), Newark Intl. Airport in Newark, New Jersey (which is not located in NYC, but serves the metropolitan area just like the others) and LaGuardia Airport also in Queens (which is closest to the city).
John F. Kennedy Intl. Airport
Public transport: From Manhattan by subway or LIRR to Jamaica (price varies from $2.75 – $10.00), continue with AirTrain to JFK ($8). Travel time 45 – 60 minutes.
Taxi: To Manhattan $62.50 (+ $5.50 toll), 45 – 90 minutes depending on traffic.
Newark Intl. Airport
Public transport: Almost $20 with a combination of AirTrain Newark and NJ Transit to Penn Station. Almost 45 minutes drive.
Taxi: To Manhattan $50 – $70 (+ $8 toll), journey time 35 – 60 minutes depending on traffic.
LaGuardia Airport
Public transport: LaGuardia is only served by buses, these are slow and don’t have much space to store luggage, but with $2,75 they are very cheap.
Taxi: To Manhattan $20 – $30, journey time 15 – 30 minutes depending on traffic.
→ All Dealz for New York
Information & Tips for USA
The USA offers many sights, natural wonders and cultural significance. Thanks to numerous airlines offering flights across the Atlantic, it is always pretty inexpensive to get there. Alternatively, you can also cross the Atlantic by boat.
Immigration, ESTA & Visa Requirements
The USA has one of the strictest entry regulations in the world. Most EU citizens, among others, are lucky to be able to participate in the so-called Visa Waiver Program. If you get an electronic entry permit (ESTA) for approximately €20, you don’t need a visa for entry.
The Best Time to Visit
Due to its sheer size, the perfect time to visit the USA varies greatly from region to region. In winter, Florida is very popular due to the mild temperatures. In the summer the West and East Coasts are flooded by tourists which drives up the prices for hotels and flights and during the Indian Summer in late autumn New England is a very popular destination. The hurricane season between July and September can be dangerous in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. Florida and the southern states are regularly struck by these tropical storms. Blizzards occur from the East Coast to the Midwest during the winter months and regularly put air traffic and public life on hold.
Currency
The US dollar is widely used throughout the world and accepted as a currency in most tourist hotspots worldwide. That being said, carrying cash isn’t necessary in the US, all you need is a credit card! These are very common in the USA and are accepted pretty much everywhere without any issues. If you already have a credit card in your wallet, you should make sure that it does not charge a foreign currency fee if possible. Carrying a few dollars in cash doesn’t hurt though. You might need cash e.g. for the bus ticket if you want to buy it directly from the driver. Most of the time you even have to give exact change.
Finding the Best eSIM Plan
We’ve compared various eSIM providers, such as Knowroaming and Ubigi. To see which plan is best for your travel needs, and which network offers the best coverage, feel free to read our detailed guide:
The Best eSIM Plans for the USA 🇺🇸 Compared
→ All Dealz for USA