Business Class awards cost fewer miles (62,500) but you'll pay the same taxes and fees as you would for a First Class ticket so, if you have the miles, First Class appears better value.
This sees roundtrip
Business Class awards cost just 55,000 miles and, bearing in mind that this is for travel from or to the two US cities I've named, that's a fantastic deal!
In general,
business class awards cost twice as many Avios as economy, and first class awards cost three times more.
At the saver level,
business class awards cost twice the price of economy awards on the same route, and first class awards cost three times as much.
That puts it within the range of 20,001 - 22,000 miles traveled, so
a business class award costs 125,000 miles and carrier surcharges are just $ 319.
Business class award costs jumped from 90,000 miles to 110,000 miles without notice.
Both are fantastic rates, considering that an economy class award usually costs 60,000 per round trip, and
a business class award costs 115,000 - 140,000.
Not exact matches
However, the United
award chart shows that
business class saver tickets only
cost 60,000 each way, or 120,000 round - trip for the same exact flight, a quarter of how many miles or points you would have needed with cash back or a statement credit.
While it will
cost about $ 200 per person to hire an
award booking service, this could be money well spent when you are able to use the lowest possible number of miles to book
business or first -
class award reservations that can be worth thousands of dollars.
Specifically, a round - trip economy
class award ticket will
cost 20,000 SkyMiles more, while a
business class award ticket will require an additional 42,000 miles when booking Virgin Australia.
For example, a one way domestic
business class award ticket in the contiguous U.S. redeemed through Singapore Airlines will
cost 20,000 miles, 17,500 economy to Hawaii or 30,000
business to Hawaii.
When an
award is 50 % off, it will only
cost 12,500 miles to fly each way in economy, or 25,000 miles in
business class.
Even so, at the longest distance for Etihad Guest
awards on Royal Air Maroc (2,001 + miles), New York to Casablanca
costs just 22,000 miles one - way in economy, or 44,000 miles one - way in
business class.
Business class awards will
cost 185,000 Korean SkyPass miles.
The US Airways
award chart suddenly has a former great deal missing: gone are the off - peak
awards to South America that
cost 35,000 miles round - trip in economy and 60,000 miles round - trip in
business class.
Using a MileSAAver
award, a
business class seat to the same destinations would
cost only 25,000 miles.
When a 40 % bonus is available, buying the 55,000 miles necessary for a one - way
Business Class award from scratch would
cost $ 1,100.
Specifically, a round - trip economy
class award ticket will
cost 20,000 SkyMiles more, while a
business class award ticket will require an additional 42,000 miles when booking Virgin Australia.
A
business class award that departs the U.S. on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday and returns on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday will only
cost 80,000 miles.
As per
award chart, a round - trip ticket from New York City to Honolulu
costs 35,000 Elevate points in economy and 80,000 points in
business class.
That means upgrading from Economy to
Business Class for half of this
award would
cost 20,000 additional miles per person, while an upgrade to First
Class would require 37,500 more than an Economy
award.
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.
Business and first
class awards will soon
cost $ 300 for a no show / canceling within 24 hours PLUS an additional $ 75 to redeposit your miles back into your account.
A one - way
award flight on Hainan in
business class will
cost 55,000 Alaska miles.
As mentioned above, a one - way
business class award flight to «Europe» will
cost 62,500 miles, which is a solid redemption.
Do note that Flying Blue's best
award redemptions tend to be in economy
class vs
business and offer low rates to places like Hawaii, Central and South America, and even Europe at
costs less than many of their partner airlines included Alaska or 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.
When an
award is 50 % off, it will only
cost 12,500 miles to fly each way in economy, or 25,000 miles in
business class.
Even so, at the longest distance for Etihad Guest
awards on Royal Air Maroc (2,001 + miles), New York to Casablanca
costs just 22,000 miles one - way in economy, or 44,000 miles one - way in
business class.
A
business class award originating in Europe would only
cost 68,000 miles.
A
business class ticket on Cathay Pacific between Los Angeles and Hong Kong falls into Asia Miles
award Zone D (5,000 to 7,500 miles) and
costs 120,000 miles per roundtrip.
Yet, a longer flight between Dallas and Hong Kong, which falls into the multicarrier
award Zone 6 (7,501 to 9,000 miles),
costs only 85,000 miles in
business class.
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.
While it will
cost about $ 200 per person to hire an
award booking service, this could be money well spent when you are able to use the lowest possible number of miles to book
business or first -
class award reservations that can be worth thousands of dollars.
With a load factor of 84 %, the carriers are constantly tweaking the
cost of
award flights by either raising redemption levels or reducing the saver
award inventory, especially in first and
business classes.
Saver
business class awards from North America to Europe
cost 90,000 miles roundtrip and saver
business class awards from North America to South Africa
cost 135,000 miles roundtrip.
What you do know is that a round - trip Delta
award flight generally
costs 30,000 SkyMiles for an economy seat and 60,000 miles for
business class.
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.
Business class award tickets will
cost the same with either of those programs, too.
A
business class award seat
cost 72,250 miles and 68,000 miles from New York and L.A. respectively, so the difference is not that big.
On top of that Virgin also changed the number of miles needed to book
awards on Delta with Economy
Class awards generally decreasing in
cost but some
Business Class award increasing in
cost by over 70 %.
Per the American Airlines oneworld
award chard, a roundtrip
Business Class fare on any of these three routes will
cost 150,000 miles + taxes (which will be low)
While the changes to the
cost of First
Class awards are annoying, the fact is that they won't affect too many customers... but the same is not true for
Business Class awards.
An Off - peak
Business Class award between New York and London will
cost 100,000 Avios + $ 1,169 in taxes and fees for one person:
When you consider that it
costs 135,000 — 155,000 Flying Club miles to fly round trip between the West Coast and Europe in
Business Class on Virgin Atlantic or Delta some of these ANA
awards look amazing.....
A roundtrip
business -
class award costs 125,000 miles.
Using the best currently available rate to buy miles (1.83 cents each) that
award would
cost $ 2,105 and, just recently, we've seen
Business Class fares to Europe as low as $ 1,400 (HT: VFTW).
While the number of miles needed for a
Business Class redemption isn't exactly low (you're better off trying to get to / from Europe on United's own aircraft which will only
cost 115,000 for roundtrip
Business Class), the taxes for a premium cabin
award are low for a European route.
A Miles & More
Business Class award flight between the US and Europe will
cost 105,000 miles roundtrip and, as you can see from this randomly selected set of dates, a JFK to Frankfurt roundtrip will
cost around $ 2,500:
Business Class awards between the Middle East and the South Pacific (Doha — Auckland)
cost just 45,000 AAdvantage Miles / person one - way.