TAP Portugal is offering a very good deal on one-way business class flights from Dublin to Chicago and San Francisco. Flights to Chicago start at $694, and to San Francisco from $723, fantastic prices for lie-flat seats on trans-Atlantic trips. These work with any one-way flights to Europe depending on travel dates. The Chicago deals are especially good, as they run all summer; if you have a cheap flight to Europe for school break, this is a great way back to the Windy City. San Francisco’s start in November (there is one date in summer, August 23, so go for it if you’re interested). Deal prices run through “end of schedule”, which is next April currently.
The catch, or bonus, depending on your view, is a long stopover in Portugal – either Lisbon or Portugal. However, TAP Portugal allows free stopovers of up to 5 days on trans-Atlantic flights, so the better deal might be to make a “two in one” trip of Dublin and Lisbon/Portugal (or a general tour of Europe, if your one-way from the US is to another destination).
If you book one-way to Dublin and just decide to stick with Ireland, I have found flights from Chicago from $224 and San Francisco from $300 (though summer is generally pricier). That means a round trip with a return in business class is under $1000. And again, if you just book a one-way to anywhere in Europe, you can get a better price and explore the whole continent.
Whatever flight you book for your trip to Europe, make sure to pay close attention to the baggage, seat selection, and (depending on the airline) meal fees/rules. Your best prices will be in basic economy, so that may dictate your travel plans. Of course the return trip is in business class so that will include checked bags, lounge access, and a bed in the sky.
I post one-way deals periodically, because there are often good deals back to the US. This is one of the better ones you’ll find (TAP has been running these periodically) and I’ll post them whenever I see them. So book quickly before the airline switches cities or raises fares.
How to Book
- Book directly with TAP for stopover options. Optionally, follow link for sample date or search Google Flights optional for departure and destination. Note: Orbitz is pricing these at $3 more than booking direct, but you may earn more than that in “Orbucks” which could make it worth it.
Travel Dates for Business Class Flights
- Chicago: widely available June 2019 – April 2020. San Francisco: generally Sun. & Wed. travel November 2019 – April 2020
- No minimum stay required
(SEE ALSO: Best way from Dublin airport to Dublin city center)
Places to Stay in Dublin
- Holiday Inn Express Dublin City Centre
- Radisson Blu St. Helen’s Hotel Dublin
- Hilton Garden Inn Dublin Custom House
- Park Inn Radisson Shannon
(SEE ALSO: 9 of the best hotels in Dublin, Ireland)
Things to Do in Dublin
Good luck and happy flying!
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Chuck, This is a good one to just file away in my mind. I do not normally think of TAP. The other way this works is to take a cruise to Europe from the US, and then the business class flight home.
Yes – I’ve always thought it would be fun / cheap to take a repositioning cruise to do something like this. Another option is to nest trips like this starting in Europe. Ric @ Loyalty Traveler has several posts on how he goes to Europe from the Bay Area by buying several Europe-SFO roundtrips and just keep going back
You seem to think that the TAP C o/w fare (Dublin-ORD or Dublin-SFO via LIS) also applies to any departure city in what you call Europe. Are you sure?
As a European, may I ask you to treat Europe with more respect, knowledge and commitment?
Maybe I wasn’t as clear as I meant to be in the article. One-way trips to Europe are often on sale, especially from TAP. I have posted about several this year already. Additionally there are always intra-European flights available for very little money, including to Dublin. So if you took a cheap flight to Europe, it’s not hard to fly (or train and ferry) from your original destination to Dublin and take advantage of this fare. Thus, you could take a “tour” of Europe and reach Dublin for your departure.