Over on the v-flyer forums members have discovered what gumshoe describes as:

a sneaky – but entirely legal – way of saving hundreds of pounds on business class fares.

It’s generally referred to as the Amsterdam Trick, but in actuality it works from many continental European locations.

It involves starting your long haul flight somewhere other than the UK – normally Amsterdam, Dublin or Brussels. It relies on the fact that (a) taxes are much lower there than here and (b) VS has more competition there so offers cheaper fares to people willing to fly via the UK instead of direct.

 

The disadvantage is you have to actually get to Amsterdam, Dublin, Brussels or wherever which obviously involves extra time and hassle. …

 

I should also add it also works on other airlines, not just VS, and in lower cabins although the savings will be much smaller meaning it probably wouldn’t be worth the extra time and inconvenience. ~gumshoe

Obviously, this “trick” is primarily useful to residents of the UK. But as International Hitman points out, it’s a nice trick for everyone to keep in their back pocket for unexpected situations, and can save much more than “hundreds of pounds”:

Last summer I had to cut a family holiday in Tuscany short by a couple of days to attend an urgent meeting in Shanghai, as I was looking for an UC fare with only 3 days before departure fares were coming back £4500+ [plus I was losing my return flight and having to pay for a new flight back to the UK] —- looked on Expedia for flights back from Pisa to the UK and while playing with options typed Shanghai as the destination — came back at £1800 including the business class flight with BA back to LHR, – the “Pisa trick” was a great result and softened the blow of losing a few days holiday

Note: there is one potentially serious drawback to the Amsterdam Trick, being that, if you are required to spend a night in Amsterdam prior to your departure the risk of missing your early-morning flight is signficant:

Just be careful – I did the “Amsterdam trick” once, and for many reasons (cough) nearly didn’t make it back in a stable state to pick up my VS flight the next morning… ~preiffer

Learn more about the Amsterdam Trick, the reasons why it works, and the various ways it can be used to save big bucks on Business-class tickets from these threads:

Amsterdam trick
Cheaper Fares by flying from AMS or DUB