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Answering your travel questions

Do premium seat deals coincide with when we see economy deals? - Member Gary L

Usually not. Premium seats see less price volatility than economy, in part because there are more last-minute bookings for the front of the plane. Economy cash deals happen most frequently during Goldilocks Windows-1-3 months ahead for domestic routes, 2-8 months ahead for international routes-but prices tend to jump in the final weeks.

In business class, though, if airlines haven't sold as many business class seats as they were expecting, they typically make those seats available for points redemptions. That's why it's common to see the most business class award availability pop up in the final weeks before a flight, even as economy cash prices jump.

Deals behave differently across cabins for numerous reasons. For instance, premium seats are popular among business travelers-who care little about price because it's their company paying, and they don't typically book months in advance. Therefore, prices aren't quite as volatile.

There's also differentiation between airlines. For instance, business class on Emirates looks a lot different than business class on Icelandair, but both economy cabins are similar. And that's all in addition to the fact that prices are substantially higher for business class, often 3-4 times more at a minimum.

All of this to say, if you see a business class deal-payable with cash or points-snag it. Delaying won't necessarily mean you'll get a better deal. In fact, history shows that the price of that premium seat is more likely to go up.

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Can you give advice on how to handle the Newark Liberty International Airport FAA safety issue? What should travelers consider? - Concerned member

Safety-wise, I would be perfectly comfortable flying through Newark (EWR). Even with scary headlines, it's hard to overstate just how safe flying has become over the past few decades. You're significantly more likely to be injured or killed on your drive to the airport than on your flight from the airport, Newark included.

That said, your odds of a delay or cancellation are materially higher with Newark than other nearby airports. How much weight to place on that just depends on how much a delay would upend your trip.

For flight disruptions (rather than safety) reasons, if all things were equal, I would fly into JFK over EWR right now. However, I wouldn't take a one-stop flight to JFK over a nonstop to Newark, nor pay hundreds extra to avoid EWR.

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Your guide on cheaper flights to Asia made me realize I've never seen a Denver-Tokyo direct deal with United. Is this simply due to lack of competition? - A Denverite dreaming of Tokyo

In case you missed our recent newsletter, this is the guide on cheaper Asia flights that this traveler was talking about.

Nonstop flights are way more convenient than connecting flights. A nonstop flight from Denver to Tokyo takes 12 hours, while the cheapest connecting flight (for sample dates July 5-12, picked at random) takes 23 hours. Like most people, I would pay good money to get back those 11 hours actually in my destination rather than in transit.

And airlines know this. That's why they typically charge substantially more for nonstop flights-sometimes double, if not higher. In other words, you're completely right. You're probably not seeing Denver-Tokyo direct deals, and not because you're just missing them, but because (at best) they're super-rare or (at worst) nonexistent.

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