A couple weeks ago, Rick Seaney wrote about bargain rates for holiday travel to Europe in business class. Slower seasonal demand for business class seats, plus the financial crisis and recession, have left a number of seats open, especially between business centers in the US and Europe.

Many of those seats are still available. Economy class fares are creeping up for those folks who waited until the last minute to book their tickets, but business class (and premium economy) are still comparatively low.

If you’re doing a search for fares, run a separate search for business class fares. The economy search that is the default on most booking sites won’t necessarily capture business or first class fares, even if they’re lower than coach.

The best deal I’ve seen for last-minute 2008 holiday travel has to be on L’Avion, the all-business class carrier flying between Newark and Paris. $1479 plus taxes ($1,581.79 all-in) pays for the round-trip. The coach fare on Air France is $1623 for the same holiday dates. L’Avion isn’t the top-of-the-line business class seat — it’s a cradle, not a flat bed — but it’s $50 less than the cramped coach seat. No contest. (Plus, you can earn miles in British Airways’ Executive Club, as of December 2, 2008.)

Some of those flights may be operated by OpenSkies, the British Airways subsidiary that sells premium-economy (cradle) and business class (flat-bed) seats. A L’Avion seat in business is considered equivalent to an Open Skies Prem+. Check both sites, but I found the fares lower on the L’Avion side — even for the OpenSkies operated flights.

Related:
- Booking flights on L’Avion just got less risky
- Inside L’Avion, part un: a good seat but a shortage of fluids and information
- Inside L’Avion, part deux: the airline that is betwixt and between
- L’Avion (aff)

I’m both pleased and amused to report that Upgrade: Travel Better is now available as a subscription on the Kindle. If you loved it for free on your laptop, you’ll love it even more when you’re paying $1.99 a month for it! And did I mention the 14-day free trial?…

Of course, it’s hard to actually read it that way if you don’t have a Kindle, and those are on backorder into the new year, should you wish to drop $359 for a unit.

Personally, I have never actually read anything on a Kindle, or even seen a Kindle, and I don’t know anyone who owns one yet. So I have no idea what this blog will look like on that reader. The content gets delivered wirelessly to the device (via the Sprint network), so it’s always up to date as long as you’ve got a signal.

Anyone out there actually have a Kindle?