Air China has matched and even beaten the low China Eastern fare from Los Angeles to New Delhi DEL India for departure dates in September and October as low as $476 round trip. This is an advantage for miles collectors headed to India since Air China economy L class flights earn 25% miles in United Mileage Plus, or 50% miles in Lufthansa Miles & More or even 100% miles with Avianca LifeMiles or Aegean Airlines. China Eastern economy Q is a no miles booking code for every frequent flyer program.
Google Flights shows Air China $507 low fares (Expedia) in an ‘all airlines’ search mode, however, I did not find these fares listed in Google Flights fare calendar mode filtered for Air China or Star Alliance. Basically I tried hunt and peck to see Air China flights coming up at same price as China Eastern on dates in September and October, but I did not see any sub-$500 low fares for Air China November departures. LAX-DEL ticket prices are $476.16 on Air China website.
Air China Los Angeles LAX – Beijing PEK – New Delhi, India DEL
$476.17 Friday Sep 2 – Tue Sep 13
Example of Google Flights fare display with $507 price for Expedia and ‘Check Price’ for Air China.
Air China LAX- DEL
$476.17 Tue Oct 18 – Tue Nov 1
Expedia prices at $506.15 and Air China prices at $476.17 when checking website through Google Flights link, as shown in previous screenshot.
Loyalty Traveler curated Airfare Deals and Google Flights and Kayak Explore tutorials.
Loyalty Traveler – Hotel Promotions Guide May 2016.
