Redeeming United miles for
business class award flights on United might be the most common way to book, but there might be some better options.
And one - way
business class award flights on United are only 45,000 miles!
At only 15,000 miles for economy class and 30,000 miles for
business class award flights on Flying Blue partner Delta, these are among the cheapest options available.
As a member of Star Alliance, there are many ways to book
business class award flights on ANA.
Book a short - distance
business class award flight on British Airways to gain Galleries access.
When I flew to Tokyo in January I had to position from London to Frankfurt to catch a JAL
Business Class award flight on the 787 Dreamliner and when I had wanted to try out Cathay Pacific First Class last year I had to position from London to Zurich to catch that award flight — London isn't exactly awash with award availability.
Not exact matches
On an American Airlines
flight,
business class and first
class award bookings will include about $ 280 in taxes and fees for a round - trip ticket.
Now that you have a handle
on how to book a British Airways
business class award flight, let's take a look at some of the best redemption options.
Korean Air SkyPass miles will not be a go - to for economy
class awards, but they are a solid way to book
business class awards on Delta
flights.
Just as if you were searching for an
award flight on Delta, you can use Delta's online
award search function to find Korean Air
business class award space:
Singapore Airlines has a handful of other sweet spots in their
award chart, and
flights on United within the U.S. in
business or first
class is one of them.
Korean Air SkyPass miles will not be a go - to for economy
class awards, but they are a solid way to book
business class awards on Delta
flights.
You could also book an
award flight on Eva Air to Southeast Asia in one of the nicest
business class cabins out there.
I'm lucky
on the first try, and Aeroplan found an
award on Lufthansa's non-stop
flight from Seattle to Frankfurt in
business class.
This is also in line with Donna's goal to fly
business class or first
class as much as possible
on this trip, as a
business / first
award booking with a stopover in Luxembourg takes no more points than a direct
flight back to Chicago would entail.
If you're booking a first
class award flight (or even a
business class award flight), it might make sense to purchase some miles to top off your account depending
on your situation.
You can fly economy
on United or one of their partners for 30,000 miles, in
business class on their metal for 55,500 miles, or in
business class on one of their partners, like Lufthansa, for 70,000 miles each way (sometimes they will have sales
on partner
award flights).
A United round - trip ticket in
business class will only cost you 88,000 ANA
award miles, or 55,000
award miles in economy, and ANA doesn't add fuel surcharges
on United
flights.
So far I have not come across an instance where ANA actually displayed
business or first
class award space
on one of these
flights.
The key thing to note is that sometimes all of the economy saver
awards sell out before all of the
business saver
awards do — and the price of the economy
award tickets are then actually higher than a
business class award seat
on the same
flight.
While Saver
Awards for continental U.S. flights will remain unchanged, the new policy — which you can read about in more detail here — means those who book business or first - class awards flights will fork over an additional 5,000 to 10,000 miles per leg on most routes, and even more during peak travel se
Awards for continental U.S.
flights will remain unchanged, the new policy — which you can read about in more detail here — means those who book
business or first -
class awards flights will fork over an additional 5,000 to 10,000 miles per leg on most routes, and even more during peak travel se
awards flights will fork over an additional 5,000 to 10,000 miles per leg
on most routes, and even more during peak travel seasons.
Here we had a stroke of luck, depending
on how you look at it: while the direct service
flight from Los Angeles did not show availability for a
Business Class or First Class Saver Award on most dates, a mixed class award connecting through San Francisco was avail
Class or First
Class Saver Award on most dates, a mixed class award connecting through San Francisco was avail
Class Saver
Award on most dates, a mixed class award connecting through San Francisco was avail
Award on most dates, a mixed
class award connecting through San Francisco was avail
class award connecting through San Francisco was avail
award connecting through San Francisco was available.
A one - way
award flight on Hainan in
business class will cost 55,000 Alaska miles.
If you want to use SkyMiles to book a
flight on Air France, you're going to pay 10,000 more miles for economy
class and 30,000 more miles for
business class than if you booked an
award flight on Delta.
For example, roundtrip
business class awards on Cathay Pacific from the U.S. to Asia cost just 100,000 miles, whereas similar
flights would cost 140,000 to 180,000 miles
on most competitors.
I flew back
on a
business class saver award, which included this Tokyo Narita to Newark flight on... [Read more...] about Review: United Polaris Business Class, Tokyo t
business class saver award, which included this Tokyo Narita to Newark flight on... [Read more...] about Review: United Polaris Business Class, Tokyo to N
class saver
award, which included this Tokyo Narita to Newark
flight on... [Read more...] about Review: United Polaris
Business Class, Tokyo t
Business Class, Tokyo to N
Class, Tokyo to Newark
A great price point
on the Singapore Airlines
award chart is for
business and first
class flights within the U.S..
At the beginning of every month the Flying Blue loyalty program releases discounted
awards for Economy and
Business Class travel
on Air France and KLM
flights.
While economy
class awards aren't changing much, there will be some significant increases in the cost of
business and first
class awards on American Airlines» partners —
flights on American Airlines have their own
award chart.
At the beginning of every month Flying Blue (the loyalty program for Air France / KLM) releases discounted mileage
awards for Economy and
Business Class travel
on Air France and KLM
flights.
From a positive point of view those with foreign - based MileagePlus accounts (or at least those with UK MileagePlus accounts) can now buy enough miles for two roundtrip
Business Class awards between Europe and the US
on United operated
flights (115,000 miles each).
Virgin Atlantic has great
award redemption values for
flights between the U.S. (especially Eastern U.S.) and Europe in both
classes, economy and
business, although outrageous Heathrow Airport fees and fuel surcharges in Upper
Class make business class TY redemptions on Virgin a less attractive op
Class make
business class TY redemptions on Virgin a less attractive op
class TY redemptions
on Virgin a less attractive option.
Award flight tip *: Round - trip
business class awards from the US - Europe cost 88,000 miles, just beware of high fuel surcharges
on some partners.
Availability in the other direction (Auckland to Doha) is pretty good do and, in this case, there are actually 4
Business Class awards available
on the very first Qatar Airways non-stop
flight between Auckland and Doha:
Flights between L.A. and Sydney feature a 777 - 300ER with excellent configuration in both first and
business class cabins, but premium
class seats
on this route are virtually impossible to get at saver
award rates.
BA.com showed
Business Class award availability
on most Cathay Pacific
flights between Tokyo and Hong Kong
on my chosen date but, rather than just book the
flight with the best timings, there was one last thing to take into consideration.
Here's another ExpertFlyer screenshot showing 4 First
Class and a minimum of 7
Business Class awards available
on a single
flight from Santiago and Miami:
Award space is pretty reliable for travel from / to USA and I have seen instances where there are as many as 4
business class awards on a
flight.
Take a look a these screenshots from American Airlines — all show
Business Class award availability
on non-stop
flights between various US cities and London Heathrow:
That's a minimum of 7
Business Class awards on each
flight (one of which is operated by the 777 - 300ER) and 9 First
Class award on a single day!
Most of the sub - 75,000 mile
Business Class awards that you can actually find and book through American Airlines are those that book
on to British Airways
flights.....
British Airways guarantees that it will release at least 2
Business Class seats
on every
flight so, as this route has just be loaded in the past few hours,
award availability should be plentiful right now....
In order to upgrade using Avios there simply has to be
Business Class award availability
on the
flight in question....
There were two more things to consider at this point —
Business Class award availability
on the return
flights and the aircraft that British Airways was offering.
Alaska Airlines increased the cost for
business and first
class awards on flights with their partner, Emirates.
Throughout the year, Flying Blue has Promo
Awards that offer special pricing
on flights for economy and
business class tickets.
You may notice that the
business class flight does not decrease by the entire amount of the U.K. Air Passenger Duty — this is because there are 2
flights on British Airways with this
award, so there are added carrier - imposed surcharges.
Earn 500
award miles per
Business class segment or 750
award miles per First
class segment
on Acela Express trains (no connecting
flight required) between New York's Penn Station and the following train stations: Boston's South Station, MA; Boston's Back Bay Station, MA; Boston's Route 128 Station, MA; Washington D.C.. For reservations for the Acela Express markets listed above, call Amtrak at 1 -800-USA-RAIL (1-800-872-7245) and be sure to provide your MileagePlus number to receive
award mileage credit.
For example, miles can be transferred to ANA Airlines of Japan, and 104,000 ANA miles can be redeemed for a round - trip
award flight in
business class between the United States and Africa
on any of ANA's Star Alliance partners such as Lufthansa, Turkish, Ethiopian, or South African Airlines.
Because it's not that rare to find
Business Class flights between the US and London coming in at under $ 2,000 and,
on top of that, if you're booking an
award you still have the issue of finding availability... and that hasn't been easy in recent years.