If you’ve ever dreamed of stretching out in a luxurious lie-flat seat and sipping Champagne at 30,000 feet, we’re here to help.
Booking business class flights with points and miles is no longer reserved for the elite. With a bit of know-how and some strategic planning, you can elevate your flying experience without emptying your wallet—and you don’t have to be a points expert or have a stash of millions of miles.
Here’s how to book business class with points, plus tips for finding award space and transferring credit card reward points to the airlines.
Table of contents
Why should I use my points to book business class seats?
Many of us have some points and miles sitting in our accounts, whether it’s with a rewards credit card or in a frequent flyer program. But redeeming those rewards for gift cards or statement credits brings a fairly low value. Instead, redeeming your points for business class flights maximizes the value you get from your rewards.
While purchasing a premium cabin ticket with cash can often come with a hefty price tag (we’re talking $2,000+ for a one-way business class trip to Europe), using rewards earned through credit card spending, loyalty programs, and strategic point transfers can significantly reduce or even eliminate the cost altogether. This not only makes luxury travel more accessible, it also frees up your travel budget for other expenses or future adventures.
How to book a business class flight with points and miles
If you want to fly business class using your points but aren’t familiar with the process, don’t worry; it’s not as complicated as it seems. Let’s break it down.
Using points to book business class flights with an airline
Most airlines release a certain number of award tickets on each flight, whether it’s in business class or economy. Depending on when you book, you may pay a higher points price for your seat. This is especially true for business class, which is in high demand. However, saver-level business class seats (we’ll explain what those are in a bit) can be an incredible value and a great way to redeem your rewards.
If you have credit card rewards, the best way to use them is generally to transfer them to a partner airline rather than booking through the bank’s travel portal. You’ll get a much better value this way, but it means you’ll either need to check each airlines’ website individually to find business class award space, which can be a time-consuming task, or use a tool like point.me, which searches award availability across multiple airlines at the same time.
Using points to book business class flights with a credit card travel portal
Card issuers, such as American Express, Chase, Citi, and Capital One, all feature travel portals through which you can book business class seats. But you’ll want to be wary of that because it isn’t often a great use of your points.
Credit card travel portals will only give you a fixed rate for your points, usually between 1 and 1.5 cents each. Plus, the cost of your business class ticket in points is tied directly into its price as a cash ticket. This means that expensive flights will be expensive whether redeeming cash or points.
For example, a business class flight from New York to Naples, which might cost $4,000 in cash, will cost around 400,000 points each way when booked via your credit card portal, but it might cost only 50,000 points each way when booked directly with the airline.
Tips for finding business class seats with points
Saver-level awards are just what they sound like: awards that cost a lower amount of points than standard awards. To find saver-level awards, you’ll need to sift through different airlines’ websites, dates, departure airports, and more. If you have plenty of time on your hands, adjusting your searches across each website isn’t a particularly difficult task.
However, if you’d prefer a simpler solution, point.me can help you narrow down your available options. With a single search, you can check the cost of all airlines’ award availability at a single time, saving you the stress of having to do it yourself.
How can credit cards help me book business class with points?
We’ve already mentioned that if you hold an eligible credit card, you’ll be able to use your points to book a business class seat. That’s true with many card issuers whose credit cards earn points that can be transferred to partners, such as:
- American Express Membership Rewards
- Chase Ultimate Rewards
- Bilt Rewards
- Citi ThankYou Rewards
- Capital One Miles
After you’ve earned these rewards, you can then transfer points to a variety of partners to book award tickets.
Note that not all credit card rewards earn points that can be converted to airline miles. Some, such as cash-back cards, do not have this option. But there are quite a few popular cards that earn flexible currencies, including:
- The Platinum Card from American Express
- Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
- Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Citi Premier Card
- Bilt Mastercard
- Chase Sapphire Reserve
- American Express Gold Card
- Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card
Each card’s annual fee and benefits vary, so do your research before you apply.
Transferring credit card points to airline partners
What does it mean to have a transfer partner? Flexible points currencies, like the ones mentioned above, have a variety of hotel and airline transfer partners. This allows cardholders to convert their points to different types of miles, depending on which airline has the best-value seats for their flights.
What do we mean when we say best-value seats? Well, depending on where you’re going and when, each airline is going to charge a different number of miles for their flights.
Another factor that complicates the situation is that multiple airlines within the same alliance (such as British Airways and American Airlines, both members of oneworld) are going to charge you different amounts of miles, even for the same flights.
That’s where the strength of point.me’s search engine comes in. Not only will it show you business-class awards from multiple airlines, it’ll also let you know which ones are the cheapest to book.
Here’s an example of a one-way business class seat from Newark (EWR) to Tokyo (HND). It’s flown by United Airlines and can be booked with United miles for 100,000 miles each way, but that’s not the best option. Instead, point.me recommends transferring points over to Air Canada’s Aeroplan to leverage the airline’s partnerships and snag that exact same flight for just 75,000 points each way. You don’t even have to fly Air Canada — you can often get the same flight for fewer points just by using the power of its loyalty program.
Even better, point.me reveals exactly which credit card rewards transfer over to Aeroplan, including American Express Membership Rewards points, Chase Ultimate Rewards points, Bilt points, and Capital One Miles.
Airline transfer partners
When booking and flying business class using your rewards, be aware that each flexible-point currency has a different airline transfer partner list. Those that partner with Chase don’t necessarily partner with American Express, and vice versa. You can keep copies of the different partners for each program or even search online to find out who partners with whom.
However, point.me once again comes in strong here. Members can add their credit cards and frequent-flier programs, then toggle search results to display only award flights for which they have available points.
Remaining flexible is key to scoring business class seats with points
The part where people get most frustrated when looking for an airlines’ business class seat is when they check out one route and one date that they’d like to fly, find out it costs 250,000 miles for a one-way ticket, and then give up.
Saver-level awards are the lowest-priced awards you’ll find, and they’re limited on every flight. This means that in order to find the best prices, you’ll need to be flexible — and not just by leaving a day later or coming home a day earlier.
Here are some helpful hints to help you find business class seats with points:
- Check out flights to and from multiple airports. Wanna go to Paris? Consider snagging a great fare to London and then taking the Eurostar the rest of the way.
- Consider booking a separate flight to an airport with many flight options. For example, if you live in Nashville, look for long-haul flights out of Atlanta, Miami, or NYC and then buy a separate ticket to get from your home to the departure airport.
- Travel during the shoulder season. Summer and the December/January holidays are always going to cost more.
- Book as far in advance as possible—like 11-12 months in advance when airlines first release award seats—or wait until the last two weeks.
- Look for economy or premium economy in one direction and business class in the other.
- Have a range of dates during which you can fly (ideally at least a 14-day span).
- Earn points from multiple credit card currencies so you can transfer points to as many partners as possible.
Let a trusted partner book your business class award travel
Booking business class flights with points and miles isn’t just a travel hack; it’s a game-changer that opens the door to a world of luxury and convenience, but for too many travelers, it’s struggle to find flights. Rather than wasting hours of time on airlines’ websites, get real-time, accurate results from point.me. In addition to finding business class award seats, point.me will also let you know the best program to book with — and even give you step-by-step instructions on how to do it.
Frequently asked questions about booking business class flights with points and miles
Which airlines offer the best business class seats?
The best business class products are going to be the ones that get you where you need to go. That said, travelers love Singapore Airlines’s business class for its huge, comfortable seats and incredible service. ANA and Qatar Airways are also fan favorites.
How far in advance should I book business class travel with points?
You have two choices when it comes to booking business class flights with points and miles: Either book as far in advance as possible — 11 to 12 months ahead, when an airline’s calendar becomes available — or wait until the last minute, when airlines release unsold seats as awards.
When do airlines release business class seats for award travel?
Airlines release seats when their calendar opens (usually 11-12 months in advance) as well as in the final days and hours before a flight.
How difficult is it to find business class seats for points?
It’s not difficult to find a business class seat for points, but it can sometimes be difficult to find the exact flight you want, so the more flexible you can be with things like departure dates, airlines, loyalty programs, and even the route, the Tbetter your odds of finding a great deal.
When should I buy miles for an award flight?
Buying miles for an award flight isn’t usually recommended. However, if you just need to buy a few to top up your account for an award, this could be an option. You may also want to do so when miles are on sale, and purchasing them will cost less than booking cash for a flight.
When should I pay cash instead of booking with points?
It can be tempting to simply pay cash for your ticket rather than fussing around with points and miles. However, doing the work to redeem them can grant you some incredible experiences that you likely wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise.
If you’re trying to decide whether to pay cash or use your points, do a little math. Divide the price of the ticket by how many miles you’re redeeming. If the cent per point value is less than 2.1 cents, it may not be worth it — and in fact, you may have been better off simply putting your spending on a 2% cash-back card instead.
Of course, this varies depending on both your points stash and your travel goals. If you have millions of miles, you may be happy redeeming for 1 cent per point. And if the redemption unlocks an experience you wouldn’t have had otherwise, then the conversion rate doesn’t matter too much. Tl; dr: 2 cents per point is a good target, but it’s not necessarily a hard and fast rule.
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