As digital nomads and frequent travelers, we’ve been to more than 90 countries over several decades while managing our e-commerce businesses. While we always look for the lowest fare on flights, we also prioritize convenience over price. On international long-haul flights, we always fly Business Class – and you can too. This post will tell you how we do it. Don’t miss the links to our videos below where we walk you through it!
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Business Class Upgrades Not Automatic
The days of smiling, dressing nice and being able to get an upgrade simply by asking are gone. The airlines have become very sophisticated about maximizing the revenue for those cabins and the upgrade process has been systemized.
So how do you do it? Definitely not by paying for Business Class. We employ a variety of strategies, but our primary approach is by using credit card points.
Credit Card Sign-Up Bonuses are Key
You earn points every time you use your credit cards. However, since you typically won’t spend enough (or fly enough) to get enough points for an upgrade, the best way to amass large amounts of points is through credit card sign-up bonuses. Often these bonuses translate to one (sometimes two) Business Class tickets, which can be worth $3,000-$5,000.
We avoid airline credit cards initially because they limit us to using certain airlines. Instead, we favor those cards whose points can be applied to more airlines and alliances (which gives us more flight options.) Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards and CapitalOne Rewards are the ones to look for. They are always offering sign-up bonuses so keep an eye out.
Finding Flights with the Best Points Redemptions
Once you have enough points to work with, the challenge is now to find the flights with the best redemptions. Trying to find these flights on your own can take forever, especially if you have some flexibility with your travel days and routings. We used to use a guy who did this for us, but now we have a great new tool that does all this for us.
We use Point.me to do all the legwork. This allows us to very quickly find the flights with the best redemptions, thereby maximizing the points we spend. They are hands-down the best awards booking service. Their powerful search engine displays reward travel options for over 100 airlines, all the major credit card rewards programs, and 34 airline loyalty programs to find the best flights and itineraries for the fewest points.
For a second opinion and possibly other combinations, we would also suggest checking out: PointsYeah.com.
They have a free plan which limits searches, but this can be enough to find you what you need. Also, check out their “Daydream Explorer” tab and you can quickly see what other people have searched – and get a near immediate estimate of the points possibly required.
Watch our YouTube video to learn the secrets to cheap business class flights.
Airline Credit Cards
Once we’ve gotten travel rewards from our credit cards, the next best strategy is to add in AIRLINE credit cards. This is particularly important if you tend to use the same airline over and over. Once you’re nomadic or a frequent traveler, you tend to look more for airlines within the same alliance, for example, Star Alliance, one world, or SkyTeam. Sometimes we can get upgrades this way.
Just keep in mind that once your points are with a specific airline (which can extend to the full alliance) you cannot move those points out. That’s the advantage of starting first with the cards mentioned above from Chase, Citi, American Express and Capital One that are not branded to a specific airline. Their reward points have significantly more flexibility.
Airline Status Upgrades
If all else fails, we book Premium Economy, then watch our flight reservations for upgrade offers. Often (if there is space in Business Class), the airlines will offer upgrades (typically paid) to members of their loyalty program.
You simply cannot bank on this availability, however. That’s why if you book a reward ticket directly into Business Class, you know you’ll have that seat. If you book Premium Economy, you are relying upon all the seats not being sold. It can happen, but it is not assured.
One recommendation: Always make sure if you use points that you also get a seat reservation. Even if the airline charges extra for that seat. We’ve arrived at the airport to the less-than-fun news that our Business Class flight was downgraded to Economy. This happened when we did not have a reserved seat assigned. It’s worth the cost, even if they assign it for free inside of 24 hours.
Watch our YouTube video to learn how we use credit card rewards to fly Business Class for $6
Buying Points
You can also speculate and buy points. This is more of a speculative game because it’s best to wait for bonuses. At times, airlines will sell you points at a fixed price but offer free bonuses such as 50% to 100%. It’s rarely worth it without these bonuses.
And it’s best to wait until these bonuses are at or near their historical highs.
You can usually find this by searching online, and there are many posts that discuss whether the current bonus is a ‘best ever’ or close.
Usually we’d wait for this to occur. And it is often times speculative for us as well. We recently bought 100,000 Aeroplan points and got bonuses 125% extra. This gave us 225,000 points at the cost of 100,000 and we get exposure to the Star Alliance. Based upon what we spent, we expect a 2x – 4x return on investment.
Just don’t do this unless you have expected flights coming up the next couple of years.
Use Our Strategies for Business Class Upgrades
We employ a few different strategies to ensure that we get Business Class upgrades without paying a fortune. Check out our YouTube channel to learn more about how to do this, as well as other great travel tips and hacks that can save you time and money.
