If you don't think you have enough points and miles to fly business class, think again. We're here to prove you wrong.
Sure, if you have Delta SkyMiles, you're all-too-used to seeing business class award tickets selling for 400,000 miles each way. But that's one extreme … and it's time to look at the other. Even when airlines are charging $5,000 or more for those same flights, you can book some of the nicest lie-flat seats around the world for 50,000 points or less.
The trick is knowing which airlines to fly, whose miles to redeem, finding the flights you can actually book, and having a stash of transferrable credit card points to make it a reality. With the right redemptions that combine all three essential ingredients, a single credit card welcome bonus is more than enough to get you on one of these business class seats.
From a slew of redemptions that clock in at exactly 50,000 points to others as low as 27,000 miles each way, here are a handful of ways to book that business class flight for 50,000 points or less.
Read next: The Best Airline Miles to Use for Booking Business Class Flights
- Air France/KLM for 50K Each Way
- Lie-Flat to Europe for 41K Each Way
- Iberia Biz Class to Spain for 34K Each Way (or Less!)
- A One-Way to London for 45K Points
- Aer Lingus Biz Class to Ireland for 45K Each Way
- American Biz Class to Europe for 45K Each Way
- Hawaiian Biz Class to Hawaii, Japan, Australia & Beyond for 40K-50K Each Way
- LATAM Biz Class to South America for 35K
Air France/KLM for 50K Each Way
Some of the best cheap business class redemptions are notoriously hard to find. This isn't one of them.
That's the beauty of booking KLM or Air France business class to Europe: These airlines make it easier than most carriers to book their lie-flat seats using points. And unbelievably, this redemption has gotten even better recently after Air France/KLM lowered award rates.
Whether you want to get to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG), Amsterdam (AMS), or connect almost anywhere flying business class to Europe, it'll run you as few as 50,000 miles each way. Better yet, Flying Blue unleashes a monthly set of discounted routes it calls Promo Rewards, with occasionally discounted business class rates to Europe from a handful of U.S. cities. To top it all off, regular transfer bonuses (including occasional 25% bonuses if you've got Chase or Amex points), can make these already-cheap redemptions even cheaper.
But that doesn't mean it's always easy to find these flights. You still might see business class award rates north of 100,000 miles each way.
But at Thrifty Traveler, we have special award alert that we reserve for the most rare, best business class redemptions: Unicorn Alerts. And this one was the ultimate unicorn.
Here's why this deal was so special:
- Peak summer business class award availability
- During the Paris Olympics
- Deep availability up to 9 passengers in some cases
- To and from nearly all of Air France and KLM's North American gateways
- Bookable through Flying Blue (transferrable from Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, and Wells Fargo!)
- All for just 50,000 points each way!
I can't remember ever seeing this much peak summer business class availability, helping travelers fly (in style) straight into the heart of Europe during the most in-demand time of year.
Read our guide to booking award tickets with Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles!
Lie-Flat to Europe for 41K Each Way
There's another brand-new way to fly lie-flat to Europe bookable with Flying Blue miles: Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) business class.
SAS just joined SkyTeam, the same airline alliance as Air France and KLM, meaning you can now book their flights through Flying Blue, too. While award availability is fairly hard to come by, we've found business class flights to Copenhagen (CPH) for under 41,000 miles and just $10 in taxes and fees. Throw in a transfer bonus like this (recently expired) 20% bonus from 20% bonus Capital One and it got even cheaper: Just 35,000 points each way!
We haven't flown SAS business class ourselves yet, but it gets good marks for comfort and service. And critically, no matter which credit card points you earn, you can get the miles you need to book these lie-flat seats. Flying Blue is a transfer partner of all the major banks: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, and Wells Fargo.
Iberia Biz Class to Spain for 34K Each Way (or Less!)
Iberia business class isn't the fanciest lie-flat seat in the sky, though it's still an incredibly comfortable way to fly. More importantly, it's absolutely exceptional for the price.
Read our full guide to booking these Iberia business class flights!
In the off-peak season from January to May, you can snag these seats for just 34,000 points each way, or just 68,000 points roundtrip! It's one of the best ways to book business class to Europe. It gets even cheaper if there's a transfer bonus in play like the current 30% transfer bonus from Amex to British Airways and Iberia.
Iberia or British Airways Avios are the points you'll need for this one, which you can transfer in from Amex, Bilt, Chase, Capital One, or Wells Fargo. That's right: No matter which credit card points you've got, you can easily book this deal.
This deal was just for Iberia's nonstop routes from Boston (BOS) and Washington, D.C.-Dulles (IAD), but you can also find rates this low from other U.S. cities like Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) and New York City (JFK) – or slightly more from both Miami (MIA) and Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW).
A One-Way to London for 45K Points
Ready for a weird one?
Long one of the best ways to book a lie-flat seat on virtually any Star Alliance airline, most transatlantic business class redemptions now cost 70,000 Avianca LifeMiles each way after a nasty devaluation this summer. But there's an exception – in fact, a few deals got even better.
Now, you can book United Polaris business class from Newark (EWR) to London-Heathrow for just 45,000 LifeMiles each way.
Just a few miles away, you can fly from New York City (JFK) to Zurich (ZRH) for 55,000 miles each way. And OK, sure, that's over 50,000 miles … but factor in a transfer bonus like a previous 15% bonus from Amex, and that brings your total cost for this flight to just 48,000 points.
Avianca LifeMiles isn't our favorite way to book flights using miles, as its website is wonky and customer service can be quite bad. But when you can book a business class seat to London for under a fraction of what other airlines charge, it's worth it. We recently gave Thrifty Traveler Premium members the heads-up on how to book this deal for a trip this fall.
On the plus side, Avianca LifeMiles are incredibly easy to earn. You can transfer points to LifeMiles from cards like American Express, Capital One, and Citi.
Aer Lingus Biz Class to Ireland for 45K Each Way
Aer Lingus has a sneakily awesome business class that doesn't get enough credit in our opinion. It might just be the best way to get to Dublin (DUB).
And we just put it to the test again thanks to this deal, too!
Flying Aer Lingus's nonstop routes from all over the U.S. and Canada, you can snag these seats from just 45,000 miles from Alaska Airlines each way … or a few miles more using other airline programs.
The best part about this Aer Lingus deal, though, is simply how much business class availability is bookable. While it varies from city to city and time of year, it's among the easiest business class cabins you to book with your miles – especially because with the dozen-plus cities in the U.S. and Canada Aer Lingus flies to, there are plenty of options.
American Biz Class to Europe for 45K Each Way
The foreign airlines get a lot of credit for their comfortable lie-flat seats – and for good reason. But don't sleep on American Airlines … especially if you're looking for a bargain.
It's been easier (and cheaper) to book lately than you might expect.
We've found tons of availability to book these business class seats to Europe lately, including many dates with award space for up to nine passengers! If you're looking to use miles to fly the whole family in business class this year or next, AA business class might be your best bet.
AAdvantage miles will do you right, but using a smaller stash of Alaska Airlines miles is even better. Thanks to a quirk with award pricing, you can fly to many cities throughout Europe on American (or several other airlines) using just 45,000 Alaska miles each way.
Read our guide to booking award tickets with Alaska miles!
Hawaiian Biz Class to Hawaii, Japan, Australia & Beyond for 40K-50K Each Way
If you thought only Europe gets to have fun with sub-50,000-point business class awards, you're wrong! You might just have to work a little harder to snag the same rates across the Pacific.
Hawaiian Airlines' business class seats – plus its fancy new first class suites on its Boeing 787s – are one of the few tried-and-true redemptions to get to Hawaii in lie-flat seats. Here's the best part: You can book it for just 40,000 Hawaiian miles, which you can transfer from Amex credit card points.
But you can go much further. From its hub in Honolulu (HNL), you can fly lie-flat nonstop to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea for just 50,000 points each way on Hawaiian Airlines.
This deal is exceptional because of the price, of course. But it's also great for the opportunity to book a stopover in Hawaii on the way to or from your final destination. Just grab the cheapest flight you can to Hawaii, spend a few days there, and then continue on in a lie-flat seat to the South Pacific or Asia. Incredible.
In some cases, you're better off booking with Virgin Atlantic points, as the airline charges some shockingly low rates for these gruelingly long flights. If you time it right with a transfer bonus of 30% to Virgin, 50,000 credit card points is all you need.
LATAM Biz Class to South America for 35K
Finally, you can fly south – like, 10-plus hours south – for just 35,000 points each way, too! Check this out.
LATAM business class seats fly all over South America from the U.S., with routes as far south as Sao Paulo (GRU) and Santiago (SCL) in Chile. And while they're not the mega suites that you'll see from some airlines, it's still one of the best ways to get to South America. There will, however, be brand-new business class suites flying for the airline later this year.
Oh … and did I mention that you only need 35,000 Alaska miles to grab these flights, too?
If Alaska miles aren't in your arsenal, then 50,000 Virgin miles can get you to Lima (LIM) in Peru from several U.S. cities as well!
Bottom Line
You don't have to be hoarding hundreds of thousands of points to fly business class. Choose your battles, and might not need more than 50,000 points to book the best lie-flat seats in the world.
Great article… for the East Coast and Hawaii. What options do you recommend for SFO and LAX?
Why is Atlanta not included?
You Guys hardly ever offer advice on destinations in Southeast Asia, or Africa.
Why is that?
We do write about getting to both Southeast Asia and Africa – stay tuned! Unfortunately, both destinations will certainly cost you more than 50,000 points each way so they didn’t fit in this story.
Seems like those of us on the West Coast – I’m SFO – don’t get S much benefit in these examples…or am I missing something here?
Jeff
These are just a few examples of many. San Francisco definitely still benefits – though admittedly to a slightly lesser extent: The longer flights to Europe and especially Asia/beyond mean that those redemptions often cost a bit more than East Coast to Europe, for example.