It’s time to update our list of airlines that accept payment via Paypal for flight bookings online. The list has grown a little since last year’s article – but this still remains more common in the US than other parts of the world.

“Paypal” airlines (as of September 2009):

American Airlines – US/UK customers only
Northwest Airlines – US customers only
Delta – US customers only
US Air
Continental Airlines
Southwest Airlines
JetBlue
Midwest Airlines

Lufthansa (Germany)
Monarch Airlines (UK)
Jet 2 (UK) - GBP/EUR transactions only
Emirates (Dubai) - GBP/EUR transactions only
Air Asia (Malaysia)
Air Asia X (Malaysia)

Some airlines are currently offering incentives to book through Paypal. For example Jet 2 and Monarch are waiving booking fees; JetBlue will give you a free first checked bag; Emirates and AA are offering a 1% cashback to UK residents.

Online agent Hotwire also accepts Paypal as payment for flights.

And AirTravelGenius.com accepts Paypal for purchases of the Ultimate Airfares & Upgrades Guide.

New York £1,099
Boston £1,199
Orlando £1,299
Toronto £1,499
San Francisco £1,699
Los Angeles £1,699

Cairo £899
Tel Aviv £799
Dubai £1,359
Barbados £1,319
Mumbai £1,359

Club Europe stand-out fares from Gatwick LGW are:
Turin £159
Amsterdam £169

The Turin fare looks like a great Tier Point (or QF Status Credit) run.

Virgin Atlantic is matching many of the BA offers, again bookable by March 24th.

KLM also have some business class offers from various airports ex-UK. For example, from Manchester:

Tel Aviv £798
Cairo £908
Dubai £1,058
Mumbai £1,186
Sao Paolo £1,489
Jo’burg £1,558

Middle East Airlines

Emirates has a companion fare business class offer bookable to 16th March 2009. Fares to Asia and Africa look competitive (per person for 2 people travelling from London):

Cape Town £1,402
Hong Kong £1,493
Singapore £1,495
Bangkok £1,496

Rival Etihad also has the following biz class fares out of London Heathrow:

Mumbai £1,192
Johannesburg £1,404
Bangkok £1,584

Qatar Airways offers from London:

Mumbai £1,035
Dubai £1,151
Bangkok £1,577

Something to consider if travelling to India via airlines from the Middle East. It has been reported that service levels on the Middle East – India segments can be patchy as these flights tend to be full with migrant workers.

Obviously one has to account for regional services being often inferior than long-haul services – this is applicable worldwide.

British Airways has a business class airfare sale until 27 Jan 09. Return prices in Club World on selected routes ex-London are New York £1,099, Mumbai £1,359, Dubai £1,459, Tokyo £1,999 (all 05 Feb 09 to 31 Mar 09), Barbados £1,319 (01 Mar 09 to 20 Mar 09), Jo’burg £1,999 (06 Feb 09 to 31 Mar 09), Sydney £2729 (15 Jul 09 to 31 Aug 09). Many other destinations are available. One-way upgrades to First start at £499.

Note, if you are registered with ba.com (it’s free), log in and get an additional £20 off per person on all long-haul economy and business sale fares.

Virgin Atlantic is matching its Upper Class fares with BA on routes they share.

Qatar Airways has a business class airfare sale until 31 Jan 09 for travel up to June. Fares from London include Dubai £1,179, Colombo £1,325, Jo’burg £1,609, Hong Kong £1,739 and Singapore £1,899.

Emirates has an interesting companion fare offer in business or first class which can be booked by 15 Feb 09, travel to the end of October. Use the promo code UKCOMP9. Fares per person are Dubai £1199, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Shanghai all available for just under £1,400, Mauritius £1,389, Seychelles £1,474, Colombo and Male for £1,682. The stand-out fare looks like Cape Town or Jo’burg for £1,299, with first class for £2,271.

KLM has some good biz class fares ex-London for travel 9 Jan 09 to 30 Apr 09. Delhi £940, Dubai 1,085, Nairobi £1,371, Jo’burg £1,418 and Seoul £1,568. Similar fares available from regional UK.

With oil prices having come down but with the credit crunch still stifling premium demand now is a very good time to pick up a business class airfare deal for 2009.

Singapore Airlines – the first airline to fly the A380 commercially, from Singapore to Sydney, Australia. They currently have 4 A380 aircraft in service deployed on various routes:

Singapore to Sydney – Flight SQ 221

Sydney – Singapore Flight SQ 222

London Heathrow to Singapore Flights SQ 317 / SQ 321

Singapore to London Heathrow Flights SQ 318 / SQ 322

Singapore to Tokyo Flight SQ 638

Tokyo to Singapore Flight SQ 637

This week (2nd to 8th Aug) one of the A380s has been flying on the Singapore – Beijing route ahead of the Olympic Games.

Emirates – On 1st August Emirates flew its inaugural A380 service from Dubai DXB to New York JFK. From 8th August they will fly the route as follows:

DXB to JFK Flight EK 201 (Sun / Wed / Fri)

JFK to DXB Flight EK 202 (Sun / Wed / Fri)

Emirates plans to fly the A380 on the Dubai to London Heathrow route from December 2008 and Dubai – Sydney – Auckland from February 2009.

Qantas – Are awaiting delivery of their first A380. They begin service on October 20th 2008 with flight QF 93 from Melbourne to Los Angeles. On October 24th, flight QF 11 will fly from Sydney to Los Angeles. These flights can be booked on Qantas’ website.

Qantas will deploy the A380 on its Sydney to London backbone route in 2009.

If you are based in Sydney you will be spoilt for choice on A380 options.

Next year will also see A380 deliveries to Air France and Lufthansa.