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.
For 110,000 miles you can book a one - way first
class award flight on Lufthansa.
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.
Because Mileage Bank miles are a bit harder to earn, it could be easier for you to use American AAdvantage miles to book off - peak economy
class award tickets for 45,000 miles round - trip
on flights operated by American Airlines.
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.
While a round - trip economy
class award on a
flight operated by American Airlines will include about $ 180 in taxes and fees, an economy
award on British Airways will require about $ 520 thanks to carrier - imposed surcharges.
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.
On United, all award travel is booked one - way for flexibility, so you can book a different award type or even class of service on your outbound and return flight
On United, all
award travel is booked one - way for flexibility, so you can book a different
award type or even
class of service
on your outbound and return flight
on your outbound and return
flights.
The taxes and fees
on a round - trip first
class award ticket will be roughly $ 700 but for two 10 - hour
flights in first
class, that's not bad at all.
Upgrade
awards on Korean Air
flights are limited to generally expensive fare
classes on paid tickets, so your ticket may not be eligible.
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.
One of the best parts of Korean Air is that they actually release enough first
class award space for several people
on some of their
flights.
Earn fixed mileage
Award Miles for European
flights based
on each booking
class.
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.
Thanks to Korean Air's SkyTeam partner, you can book an
award flight on Air France in economy
class from Los Angeles (LAX) to Tahiti (PPT) for 60,000 Korean Air SkyPass miles.
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.
Recently he found another
award flight on that same route for 42,500 points when the economy
class was booking at 70,000!
Airlines will generally issue a limited number of lower mileage «saver»
award tickets
on a
flight in each
class of service, and then offer additional
award seats to flyers at a premium.
After confirming Saver
class availability for each
flight segment by searching them as one - way
flights, I now stitched them all together in United's multi-destination
award search tool, making certain to choose the specific
flight numbers I'd confirmed availability
on during my one - way searches.
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.
A first
class flight on Qantas will cost only 70,000 Alaska miles, but it is extremely rare to find the necessary
award space.
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.
A first
class award seat
on Qantas isn't easy to find, but we'll show you how to give yourself the best chance and what to expect
on this amazing
flight.
I've also written about a nice opportunity to get free stopovers
on domestic
flights, making the Alaska Airlines
award chart particularly valuable: How to Book
Awards on Emirates with Alaska Airlines Miles Alaska Airlines
Awards: Two Domestic One Ways for the Price of One It does take 90,000 miles each way to fly First
Class, however, and the big downside is that Alaska... [Read more...]
Whether booking a first
class flight on ANA or booking a fun partner
award, ANA Mileage Club is a great program to know.
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 to N
class saver
award, which included this Tokyo Narita to Newark
flight on... [Read more...] about Review: United Polaris 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..
Promo
awards, offering 25 - 50 percent off the standard
award chart, are available each month for select
flights, but most passengers will spend the bulk of their miles
on classic
awards, which can be used
on any partner airline but not
on first
class cabins.
Platinum: Additional unlimited complimentary round - trip upgrades (transferable to
Award Nominees)
on Thai Airways upon each accumulation of 50,000 miles for
flights on Thai Airways in Royal First
Class or Royal Silk
Class.
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.
If you are a frequent traveler, both the number of airlines and their quality will be important: You will not only be able to earn miles
on a large number of
flights, you will also have access to some of the best airlines for aspirational
award travel — a trip in Singapore Airlines or Lufthansa First
Class will make any honeymoon very special!
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).