Right, flying business class sounds like it’s something only celebs and CEOs can afford. Not exactly. It does not break your entire travel budget and with a few smart tricks you can land a business class seat. You want no travel hacks that are too complicated, just some known domain and you are golden. Let’s ruin how you fly fancy for cheap (spoiler: it’s so doable).
So throw out the usual ‘be flexible’ advice and dive right in to what really works — real ways to get business class seats without paying full fare.
Sign up for mistake fare alerts
Sometimes airlines cause mistakes. Even the big ones — yep. At times, when they do, they snap up insane deals — discounted business class tickets priced equal to economy. Exactly these are called mistake fares and don’t last long.
Once they find the wrong fares, sites like Secret Flying, FlyerTalk and Airfarewatchdog post them. You can also subscribe to deal newsletters like Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights) that send you straight to your inbox when they notice a good deal too good to miss.
Use points smartly
You don’t need to be a full travel hacker to use airline points. Is it a simple trick? Sign up for a credit card that gives you a big signup bonus. With some travel cards you can get 50,000 to 100,000 points if you spend a certain amount within a few months. That’s usually enough to get a one way business class ticket (sometimes even a round trip if you catch a promo).
After you’ve accumulated points, see which airlines have partners. Booking through partner airlines, specifically American Express Membership Rewards, is a perfect example where you’re using the same flight but you’re paying fewer points. I mean it’s a little travel cheat code.
During a transfer bonus (typically 20–30%) where you are transferring points, you can actually get even more value.
Look into lesser-known airlines
Business class isn’t just for big airlines anymore. But some of the smaller or lesser known international carriers give you a fantastic experience at a much lower cost.
- There are great business class deals with Turkish Airlines to Europe or Asia heading from major US cities.
- Sometimes, for example, TAP Air Portugal sells round trip business class flights to Europe for less than premium economy from other airlines.
- Flights to South America also have fair deals from LATAM, Aeromexico.
You won’t get your glass of Dom Pérignon, but you will still get a lie flat seat, top notch service and a vastly better flight experience than economy, for a fraction of the price.
It’s actually possible to score business class flights for cheap. You don’t have to game the system or wait around for upgrades or quickly pay exorbitant prices in order to do it. All you have to do is understand where to look and what you’re looking for. Signing up for mistake fare alerts, using those credit card points intelligently and, definitely, not neglecting the smaller airlines with the biggest value is also worth trying.
