Avios are some of the best miles in the world for booking business class flights. And that's not just British Airways Avios – Iberia, Aer Lingus, Qatar Airways, and even Finnair are all part of the Avios family, too.
Thanks to an ongoing 30% transfer bonus from Amex, points from cards like *amex platinum* or the *amex gold* will go even further: That bonus means you can book flights using even fewer Amex Membership Rewards points. And you still have nearly a month to put these great deals to use, as this transfer bonus ends Sept. 30.
With that 30% bonus, you could book Iberia business class to Madrid (MAD) for as low as 27,000 points each way or fly the world's best, Qatar Qsuites, for just 54,000 Amex points. You can even fly business class on British Airways itself from 12,000 points each way, too – it's a weird one, I'll explain later! And since you can combine Avios between all five airlines, you can also easily book Finnair business class, score a lie-flat seat to Japan or Dublin, and many more.
So here's the bottom line: If you have American Express points (not miles from a co-branded Delta card, sorry) and want to fly business class this year or next, you should take a hard look at how far your points can take you. They won't get this valuable again in 2024.
Qatar Qsuites from 54K Amex Points
Ahh, Qsuites. The best business class seat in the world never gets old.
These days, the best way to book Qsuites is using Avios from either British Airways or Qatar itself. Both airlines charge just 70,000 Avios and about $100 in taxes and fees for a nonstop between the U.S. and Doha.
Both British Airways and Qatar are Amex transfer partners, so normally you could send 70,000 Amex points to either airline and book this flight. But with that 30% transfer bonus to British Airways, you'd only need 54,000 Amex points for a one-way to the Middle East in Qsuites.
Want to fly beyond Doha (DOH)? No problem: It'll cost you more Avios … but fewer Amex points than normal, too!
- Flying to other Middle Eastern destinations like Dubai (DXB), Abu Dhabi (AUH) or Muscat (MCT) costs 75,000 miles – 58,000 Amex points with the 30% bonus
- Other destinations like Amman (AMM) and Cairo (CAI) as well as major Indian cities go up to 80,000 miles each way, or just 62,000 Amex points after the bonus
- Getting to the Seychelles (SEZ) or Maldives (MLE) will run you 85,000 miles each way – 66,000 Amex points will do the trick
- Both Southeast Asia and South Africa typically cost 95,000 miles each way, which means 74,000 Amex points will get you what you need
These deals are phenomenal with this transfer bonus. The trick is finding award availability to actually book Qsuites overseas … and we're always searching for our Thrifty Traveler Premium members. In fact, with this transfer bonus, we've tripled our efforts.
That paid off a few weeks back when we unearthed a bunch of award space to book Qsuites in and out of Miami (MIA).
This availability got gobbled up within days – get the next award alert to fly Qsuites with Thrifty Traveler Premium!
Iberia Biz Class from 27K Amex Points
It might not be as fancy as Qatar Qsuites, but we love Iberia business class because it's one of the cheapest ways to get to Europe in a lie-flat seat. Heck, it's one of the best deals in the world of points and miles, period.
This transfer bonus makes it even better.
Time it right, and you can book Iberia business class to Madrid (MAD) from Boston (BOS), New York City (JFK), Washington, D.C.-Dulles (IAD), and even Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) for just 34,000 Avios each way. With this transfer bonus, just 27,000 Amex points is all you need to book this flight.
Read our full walkthrough on how to book Iberia business class for 34,000 points (or less)!
That's an incredible deal. Get this: Most airlines would charge you more than 27,000 miles for a one-way flight in economy!
You'll need to book during off-peak times to get the lowest rate, which means avoiding summer and the holidays. But even during the peak summer, higher rates of 50,000 Avios each way are still a steal … especially when this transfer bonus cuts your cost down to just 39,000 Amex points.
Japan Airlines Biz Class from 60K Amex Points
Japan Airlines business class is one of the best ways to get to Tokyo. But normally, booking these seats using British Airways Avios isn't your best bet.
This transfer bonus has changed everything: Factor in that 30% transfer bonus, and you can score one of the comfiest ways to fly to Japan for just 60,000 Amex points.
While redeeming AAdvantage miles is still the best way to book these seats, those miles can be harder to earn – and that's not a problem for Amex points. Find the award availability using AA.com – one of the best sites to find award space – then head over to search and book that date through British Airways instead.
Thrifty Traveler Premium subscribers in these four West Coast cities were the lucky ones in this latest alert … but we've found availability from nearly every Japan Airlines route to and from the states over the last few months.
Finnair Biz Class from 49K Amex Points
One of the newest business class seats in the sky is from Finnair … which is also a new entrant into the world of Avios. It takes some trickery to book it – more on that shortly – but it's one of the most affordable.
Here's the deal: Finnair charges just 62,500 of its own Finnair Avios to book a one-way in business class from the U.S. to its Helsinki (HEL) hub.
I know what you're thinking: “But Gunnar, Finnair isn't an Amex transfer partner.” You're right … but British Airways is.
That means you can take advantage of that 30% bonus and transfer just 49,000 Amex points to British Airways. Once those hit your British Airways account, kick them over to Finnair using our handy guide and you're ready to book one of the coziest and coolest lie-flat seats crossing the Atlantic today.
Flying solo, it's a cinch to find the award availability to book these seats – especially booking 10-plus months in advance. But if you're traveling with a companion, you might need to use a trick to find award availability for two.
International airlines have been throttling business class award space for U.S.-based travelers, and Finnair might be one of the worst offenders. You can only book one seat in Finnair business class from the States ……unless you set your location to “Finland” or another European country on Finnair's website.
Voila: Two business class seats are suddenly available. And thanks to this transfer bonus, you can book the pair of them for just 97,000 Amex points.
You can even connect onward throughout much of Northern Europe for the same rates!
American Airlines Biz (Or First!) from 48K Amex Points
American and Alaska Airlines miles are the best way to book American Airlines business class. That's a fact. But it's also a fact that AA miles aren't nearly as easy to earn as Amex Membership Rewards.
Combined with this transfer bonus, the best way to book American lie-flat seats isn't necessarily with American AAdvantage miles. Take a look at this recent Thrifty Traveler Premium alert we sent with wide-open award space flying to Europe.
It's a bit of a messy process: You'd want to transfer your Amex points to British Airways to get that tasty 30% bonus, then kick them over to Qatar Avios … because Qatar charges far fewer fees than British Airways. With award rates starting at 62,000 miles each way, a lie-flat seat across the Atlantic Ocean could be yours after transferring just 48,000 Amex points with this bonus.
But it gets better for travelers going to and from London-Heathrow (LHR): As American Airlines prepares to sunset its first class cabins, this could be your last chance to book them with points.
Bahamas or Cayman Islands for 12K Amex Points!
OK … this is the weirdest one, for sure. But it's really fun! Sometimes, the cheapest way to fly lie-flat requires getting creative … by flying strange routes that may not even touch U.S. soil.
British Airways operates one such route: A few times each week, it flies one of its planes decked out with snazzy new Club World business class suites … on the short, nonstop flight between Nassau (NAS) and the Grand Cayman (GCM). The airline flies one of its wide-body planes so it can serve both Caribbean destinations from London without having to run a separate flight.
Here's why it matters: The airline charges just 15,000 Avios and $25 each way for these intra-Caribbean flights. With this transfer bonus, just 12,000 Amex points will do you right.
This kind of quirky deal is the epitome of a “Nerd Alert,” the special deals we send to Thrifty Traveler Premium members to give them a chance to fly some of the coolest seats on strange routes.
Bottom Line
There's still (almost) one more month to utilize American Express's 30% transfer bonus to British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus
If you want to fly business class this year or next, it's one of the best deals you'll find right now.
