For me, transferring points to an airline partner and then using them to book international first and
business class flights around the world is the best use of my points but I understand not everyone wants to, or can travel internationally every year.
I have been extremely fortunate that I have mastered the mile and point games to secure first class and
business class flights around the globe.
Not exact matches
You may fly on Alaska — but not on other partners — for no additional miles in order to connect to a partner
flight, so you could theoretically fly from as far as Orlando or Fort Lauderdale to Seattle in First
Class on Alaska, then onwards in
Business Class on Cathay Pacific from Seattle to Hong Kong and Hong Kong to Johannesburg, taking the extreme long way
around the globe.
That was my plan this time
around too (in fact, the original article I drafted on this topic was entitled «How I Saved Over $ 10,000 on
Business Class Flights»).
Pricing for our 1 Year Ultimate Luxury
Around the World Wellness Trip starts from # 156,000 pp, with
Business Class flights.
With the estimation that today's early 30 year olds won't be able to retire until they are 73, this
around the world trip which tops # 156,000 with
business class flights is an investment in your health and well - being.
A lot of people prefer the in - air product of Jet Blue over Southwest for longer
flights since it has tv's, free wifi, more leg room,
business / first
class «Mint» cabins, allows you to pick your seat, etc. but both airlines constantly rate among the best for award availability, making them both solid choices for getting
around the country, in terms of finding award seats.
Based on a few tests on the Avios Calculator it would appear that most
Business Class flights of
around 2,000 miles or more in distance will earn 140 Tier Points.
Also, if you were planning an
around the world trip where you wanted to cover a few short haul
business class flights, this benefit could've worked nicely.
Booking United
flights with Singapore Airlines to get
around the US in
business class is actually cheaper than United and you'll be saving 10,000 miles per round trip ticket.
I could have confirmed
business class on the Singapore - Bali leg if we took the later
flight arriving
around 9 PM, but we would prefer an earlier arrival.
Typical
business man knows their next
business or first
class flight is just
around the corner.
Make sure you play
around with your
flight options when booking these trips as you'll have a far better
Business Class seat if you book your
flight on an American Airlines aircraft rather than on operated by British Airways.
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:
As this screenshot from my booking shows, I booked the round trip Qatar Airways
flights for $ 1,252.97 which, a the time of booking, came to $ 1,402.95 or
around # 1,068 — not bad for
flights on one of the world's better
Business Class carriers
As I often suggest travelers take «positioning
flights»
around Europe (and the US) to make the most of any great
Business Class fares that come
around or to make the most of award availability that appears somewhere that isn't your home airport, I thought I'd share my experience of doing just that at Zurich airport.
Miles & More offers hugely discounted
Business Class round trip
flights from select Europeans cities to destinations
around the world.
Flying Blue does assess fuel surcharges on award
flights, however the highest we've seen is
around $ 250 for a
business class flight to Europe.
As well as that, any airline or alliance that I choose to fly also needs to be one that regularly offers good deals on the routes I want to fly — as the airlines
around the world gradually increase the cost of award travel it's becoming increasingly important, for those of us with a healthy aversion to Economy
Class, to be able to find great value
Business Class fares to keep our
flights comfortable.
I've started to see more and more good transatlantic
Business Class fares in past few weeks with fares to Chicago from $ 1,680, fares to Vegas from
around $ 1,620, a great sale out of Prague which saw
flight prices as low as $ 1,346 and, of course, the amazingly low fares I posted yesterday.
Flying Blue does assess fuel surcharges on award
flights, however the highest I've seen is
around $ 250 for a
business class flight to Europe.
Wednesday newsletters always feature trip reports of my
flights around the world (in
Business and First
Class), in addition to luxury hotel reviews.
For example, the standard redemption rate in
business class to Europe from North America for Flying Blue is 125,000 points and when you can book partner
flights, such as Delta the total fees remain reasonably low at
around $ 165.
First let's look at roundtrip
business class flights from various cities with none or one stop en route (we don't have all listed, so check
around!)
SkyMiles are useful
around getting to Europe in
Business Class without surcharges, though for
flights in 2017 they are charging 140,000 miles roundtrip, up from the 2016 rate of 125,000 miles.
They typically operate two
flights a day, and the
flights almost always have nine
business class award seats each 11 months out, and in my experience that availability sticks
around until close to departure.
If you have debt, and have a lower salary then perhaps you need to forgo the
Business Class flights, earn miles and points aggressively, and use them to turn
around your financial situation.
During our
around the world adventure, sampling the best first and
business class cabins, we took a ride on Qatar Airways
flight 57 from Doha to Munich, aboard their state of the art Airbus A350 - 900.
That chart has some real values, such as the ability to fly
business class between the US and Europe for 90,000 miles roundtrip instead of the usual 100,000, the ability to pop
around Europe with several extra
flights thrown in for 115,000 miles in
business class instead of 100,000 miles roundtrip plus another 20,000 miles for each and every additional intra-European
flight, and the ability to fly to Australia in
business class via Asia (not normally allowed on a single award ticket) for an extra 25,000 miles — and make stopovers in Asia, and throw in Australian domestic
flights at the same time.
Fares: Checking September roundtrips today,
business class flights between LAX and Sydney (or Brisbane) are running
around $ 5,300, premium economy is $ 2,100 and economy is $ 973.