Well, the major airlines had ignored for the most part the relatively low fare on Maxjet between JFK-STN. But DL's introducing very low (~$1,200) roundtrip for their new JFK-LGW in BusinessElite throughout most of the fall. And at least Continental has responded with around the same fare for EWR-LGW.

Not sure if or when AA and BA will respond, but that's some good deals for travel to London.

Flights from other cities cost more.

I posted about the DL fare on the Europe board http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34859374

Their JFK-LGW service starts November 15th and the fare is good for outbound travel through March 21st with April 20th as the latest return.

Yes, I've learned about DL's fare. CO's response, however, is new. The cat fight over the Atlantic between the two "partners" continue.

And of course, most Skyteam flyers will agree that CO's BF is better than DL's BE. At least for the time being.

I knew you knew I posted the above, more or less, so people would know the specific dates that the fare is valid. I hope I get the "new" BE cabin on one of my flights in Nov/Dec.

Hm... Seems like CO's prices are a little higher than DL's. ~$1,200 for business class on CO vs ~$1,000 on DL;
~$400 for coach on CO vs ~$300 on DL.

DL's lead in business class fares are obviously going to be very low yielding and will probably only flood the market. Way to go, Delta!

However, when comparing the actual products on offer across the Atlatic, it is undeniable that both BA and VS are light years ahead of the opposition. BA are soon announcing an upgrade to its revolutionary Club World product which is going to make the DL product seem even more.......un-business class-like. The same applies to CO's also mediocre product.

A huge, HUGE number of people who fly business class longhaul do so on their company's dime. Unless a corporate travel arrangement dictates otherwise, not many people are going to opt for DL's inferior product and frequency.

People who can afford to PAY for business class from their own wallet will sneer at DL's offering. DL will most likely succeed at luring people who would consider paying for VS or BA's premium economy product. I can't see them luring the 'real' money though.

BA is offering a $998 Club World fare <b>ATL</b>-LGW for essentially the same travel dates. Plus $273.15 in taxes and fees = $1,271.15 all in.

BA is not happy.

Patty.. yes, I just booked BA ATL/LGW for that fare today... and used 50k BA miles to upgrade to First Class.... travelling in First for $1271... priceless

Tom,
Glad you were able to take advantage of it.

BTW CO is now matching the DL fare, so both CO BF and DL BE are now $1141 all in.