Lounge access before you fly and a glass of champagne after boarding. Top-notch meals and service.A lie-flat seat that reclines into a comfortable bed as you cross the ocean.

This is what business class is all about. But if you've ever looked for business class fares through Google Flights or your favorite airline, you know these seats often cost thousands – if not tens of thousands – of dollars. Is it even possible to get business class tickets for less? Plus, how do people earn and redeem points to book these seats?

Take it from us: It can be done. Whether you're hoping for a cheaper business class ticket using cash or need to learn which points and miles can get you a comfortable seat at the front of the plane, consider this your roadmap for how to fly business class for less.

Want to fly business class? Thrifty Traveler Premium members get cheap business class deals and award alerts sent straight to their inboxes!

In this post Cheap Biz Class Airfare Deals are Rare … But They Exist! Hop on a Mistake Fare (Fast!) Use Points Miles to Book Business Class 1. Fly Business Class to Spain for 34K Miles 2. Fly One-Way to Lisbon for 35K via Avianca 3. Save Your SkyMiles, Book Delta One for 50K Points! 4. Fly Biz Class to Japan for 60K … or 75K Roundtrip! 5. Book Emirates to Italy or Greece for 108K Miles Roundtrip! 6. Wait for a Delta SkyMiles Flash Sale 7. Fly Qsuites to the Middle East for 70K Cheap Biz Class Airfare Deals are Rare … But They Exist! At Thrifty Traveler, we spend all day, every day scouring the internet for flight deals. And we find them all day, every day – like $200-some roundtrip flights to Europe, cheap flights to Hawaii and back for under $200, and even $63 roundtrip fares to Chile.

But when you're looking to fly up front in business class, here's the unfortunate truth: These kinds of unbelievably cheap business class flights just don't occur as often … but that doesn't mean business class flight deals are nonexistent.

Here's one recent example: Roundtrip fares flying American Airlines lie-flat seats down to Chile for $1,244. We sent this deal to Thrifty Traveler Premiumsubscribers in Detroit, Minneapolis, and Salt Lake City a while back.

And we've seen some amazing business class fares to Europe as well, like this deal flying British Airways or Iberia business class to Spain from U.S. cities nationwide for under $1,700 total.

Get business class deals like this plus cheap economy fares sent straight to your inbox with Thrifty Traveler Premium!

The deals occasionally get even better if you're looking to fly somewhere closer like Colombia, where we've seen nonstop business class tickets tumble as low as $420 roundtrip – a third of the normal cost!

Thrifty Tip: When business class fares get this cheap, they never last long. Book fast and ask questions later – you can cancel and get a full refund if you change your mind thanks to the 24-hour rule!

Hop on a Mistake Fare (Fast!) This is where things start to get really good – and really cheap.

While even a deeply discounted business class fare won't scratch the surface of economy prices, mistake fares can get you somewhere in a lie-flat seat for (literally) pennies on the dollar. Mistake fares are just what they sound like: Whether through a currency conversion error or missing a zero when entering prices, an airline erroneously sells flights for cheaper than they meant to.

Let's start with one of the best mistake fares of all time. Years ago, Hong Kong Airlines accidentally sold roundtrip business class to ahandful of Asian cities including Bangkok (BKK), Ho Chi Minh City (SGN), and Shanghai (PVG) for $600 or less. Clearly, someone at the airline missed a 0 on these fares that should have cost closer to $6,000 apiece.

Read our full guide to finding and taking advantage of mistake fares!

But here's the thing about mistake fares: Airlines don't have to honor them. It's a 50-50 shot, which is why we tell readers to wait at least a week or two after booking a mistake fare to see how things play out.Amazingly, Hong Kong Airlines decided to honor these tickets, giving thousands of travelers (including yours truly) a chance to fly in these seats to Asia for less than a typical economy ticket.

Mistake fares have gotten rarer over the last few years, especially for top-dollar business class seats. But we've still seen one or two a year, like this $900 roundtrip fare to London inVirgin Atlantic business class that cropped up in 2022.

Sign up forThrifty Traveler Premium to get deals like these – you'll make that money back when you book your first deal!

Like we said, mistake fares are rare – and mistake fares on business class fares are like shooting stars. If you're waiting for one, you could be waiting for a long time. But for these savings, that wait can be worth it.

Use Points Miles to Book Business Class No matter how you use them, having a stash of points and miles is crucial if you want to book business class tickets.

Welcome to the sometimes confusing (but incredibly rewarding) world of award travel. If flying at the front of the plane is your goal, using credit card points and airline miles is your best bet.It's the best way to get outsized value, as these tickets typically are triple or quadruple the costs of flying economy – but not triple or quadruple the miles. And using points is the easiest and most cost-effective way, by far, to secure yourself a seat in business class … no matter where you want to go.

There are not hundreds but thousands of ways to book business class tickets using miles. We've narrowed it down by focusing on some of these lowest-priced sweet spots when using miles. Do it right, and it won't cost much (or anything) more than a normal economy ticket.

Thrifty Traveler Premium members also get availability alerts to book award tickets like these …

1. Fly Business Class to Spain for 34K Miles This isn't just one of the best ways to score a business class seat. It's one of the best deals in the world of points and miles, period.

For the miles it typically takes to fly economy, you can use Iberia Avios to fly business class between the U.S. and Spain. That's right: It's just 34,000 miles each way to snag a lie-flat seat to Europe – or 68,000 miles roundtrip.

Why so cheap? Iberia determines how many miles you need using a distance-based award chart – the shorter the flight, the fewer miles it'll cost you. That carves out a serious sweet spot flying from the East Coast or Chicago: Nonstop flights to Madrid (MAD) from New York City (JFK), Boston (BOS), Washington, D.C.-Dulles (IAD), and Chicago-O'Hare (ORD) will run you as low as just 34,000 miles each way, plus about $130 or so in fees.

You'll see some higher rates of 50,000 miles each way during peak travel periods like the summer and over holidays. But no matter what, flying business class doesn't get much cheaper than this.

No matter when you're going, the trick is finding award availability to actually book these lie-flat seats at such low rates … and that's easier said than done. Let us do the work for you: We've sentThrifty Traveler Premiummembers a handful of alerts over the last year alone for a chance to snag these flights using points.

That's the power of these award alerts. They show you the flights you can actually book using your points, when you can book them, and the best points to use – with step-by-step instructions to make it a reality.

These flights are gone now – get the next alert to fly business class with Thrifty Traveler Premium!

How to Do It:If you’re wondering how you’re going to get the Iberia miles you need to book one of these deals, don’t sweat it – they couldn’t be easier to earn.

You can get Iberia Avios by transferring them from Chase, American Express, or Bilt Rewards. That means you can easily earn all the miles you need with cards like the *chase sapphire preferred*, the *amex gold*, or *amex platinum*.

But you can also book these flights for the same rates using British Airways Avios. Like Iberia itself, British Airways is a transfer partner with American Express and Chase, but you'll also be able to transfer Capital One Venture Rewards from cards like the *venture x* instantly to British Airways to book these flights on Iberia.

2. Fly One-Way to Lisbon for 35K via Avianca Take a different route into Europe for just 1,000 miles more using Avianca LifeMiles – another mileage currency that's easy to accumulate thanks to credit card transfer partners.

Normally, LifeMiles charges a fairly reasonable 63,000 miles to fly business class from the U.S. to Europe. But there's one massive sweet spot: You can fly to Lisbon (LIS) in TAP Air Portugal’s business class for just 35,000 miles one way.It’s a bit of a unicorn in LifeMiles’ options, as it only works on one single route: New York City (JFK) to Lisbon. Departing from nearby Newark (EWR) and even the return flight to JFK will cost you the full 63,000 miles.

Still, it’s worth highlighting – especially since it costs just 5,000 miles more than taking the exact same flight in economy. If you can, snag a flight on the shiny new Airbus A330-900neo with the best seats in TAP Air Portugal business class.

How to do it: At 35,000 miles for a one-way ticket, getting the LifeMiles you need to book this business class seat shouldn't be hard – especially these days.

You can transfer points to LifeMiles from Capital One, American Express, and Citi ThankYou Points. That means the miles you earn from the bonus on the new *venture x* could be more than enough for three business class seats to Portugal!

3. Save Your SkyMiles, Book Delta One for 50K Points! Want to fly a Delta One Suite? You're not alone – it's one of the best business class seats out there. And this is how you do it.

No, you're not using Delta SkyMiles. Delta regularly charges 300,000 SkyMiles or more for a one-way ticket. Instead, you're using points from Virgin Atlantic Flying Club – one of Delta's close partner airlines, and another mileage currency that's easy to pile up thanks to credit card points transfers.

Best of all, Virgin Atlantic charges just 50,000 miles each way to fly Delta business class from the U.S. to Europe. I kid you not, Delta was charging 340,000 SkyMiles for this exact same flight.

Using just 50,000 miles and a few bucks to fly like this? This is what points and miles are all about … especially if you book a route on Delta's A350 or A330-900neo to get the best business class experience on these transatlantic flights.

Read our full review of flying Delta One Suites!

How to do it: Unfortunately, it's gotten harder to lock in these Delta One flights via Virgin Atlantic. But with these savings, it's worth the effort and patience to try to make it work.

Delta has become much stingier with allowing these business class flights to Europe to be booked through partner carriers like Virgin. These days, you're more likely to come up completely empty-handed searching for these Delta flights through Virgin.

No matter what, you'll need to be incredibly flexible, searching from many Delta hubs like Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP), Detroit (DTW), Seattle (SEA), and New York City (JFK). Search at VirginAtlantic.com and use this trick to pull up a flexible date calendar. Try, try, and try again until you find something…

… or let us do all that legwork for you. We're constantly scouring for chances to book Delta One to Europe for 50,000 miles for our Thrifty Traveler Premiummembers. We've sent more than six alerts in the last year like this recent gem, which was even better thanks to a 30% transfer bonus from Capital One to Virgin at the time. It even included availability to fly to Germany over summer 2024!

Get the heads up like this with Thrifty Traveler Premium!

Once you find the right deal, you can't transfer Delta SkyMiles over to Virgin Atlantic. But you can easily get Virgin Atlantic miles because they're a Chase transfer partner, Amex transfer partner, Capital One transfer partner, and a Citi transfer partner, too. That means a stash of 50,000 points from the *chase sapphire preferred* or *amex gold* is all you need. Earning points on rent with Bilt Rewards? You can transfer those points to Virgin, too.

Read more: How to Book Delta One Business Class to Europe for Just 50,000 points

4. Fly Biz Class to Japan for 60K … or 75K Roundtrip! After a long pause, travel to Japan is back in full-swing. And you won't beat these redemptions to get there in lie-flat business class.

For starters, there's Japan Airlines business class: one of the best ways to get to Tokyo. Lucky for you, it's also one of the easiest redemptions to pull off thanks to typically generous JAL business class award availability and easy-to-earn American AAdvantage miles. Put the two together, and you've got a lie-flat seat to Japan for just 60,000 AA miles!

A few weeks ago, in fact, we tipped off Thrifty Traveler Premium members to some wide-open award space flying Japan Airlines business class to Tokyo in early 2024 … from cities nationwide!

But getting to Japan can get even cheaper. While most airlines charge at least 200,000 miles for a round-trip in business class to Japan, when booking flights on All Nippon Airways with ANA Mileage Club, it starts at just 100,000 miles. For the roundtrip. In business class. That’s not a typo.

Even after a recent devaluation, this is still one of the cheapest ways to fly business class to get to Japan using miles. The trick is timing it right, as ANA carves out different pricing during low (L), regular (R), and high (H) travel seasons. Even if you can't make something work in the low season, a regular redemption jumps to just 105,000 miles roundtrip – or 110,000 in the high season.

ANA passes on some cash surcharges, but those have been decreasing lately: These days, you'll pay roughly $500 or so in taxes and fees for a roundtrip. Still, that's a decent price to pay when you're flying in lie-flat seats all the way to Japan and back for as low as just 100,000 miles total.

Check out our guide on how to fly to Japan in business class for the price of economy!

How to do it:There's one surefire way to earn ANA Mileage Club miles: You want some American Express Membership Rewards points.

ANA is one of the absolute best Amex transfer partners thanks to sweet spots like this one. That means you could pick up either the *amex gold* or *amex platinum* to get the miles you need.

But before you transfer anything, search through United.com to find award availability on these ANA flights. That's been harder to come by lately … unless you're looking within just a week or two of departure.

Oh, and a tip? Try to find flights from either San Francisco (SFO), Chicago-O'Hare (ORD), or New York City (JFK) – that's where ANA typically flies its incredible new business class suites these days.

Read our full review of ANA's “The Room” business class!

5. Book Emirates to Italy or Greece for 108K Miles Roundtrip! We're heading back to Europe … and taking some of the funkiest flights to get there in business class on a bargain.

Emirates might be based in Dubai (DXB), but they also run two fifth-freedom flights between the U.S. and Europe – one from Newark (EWR) to Athens (ATH) and another from New York City (JFK) to Milan (MXP).

Here's the best part:You can book business class on both of these routes for just 108,000 miles roundtrip!

Despite a recent price increase using Emirates miles, rates to fly to Europe remain excellent … at least so long as you book a roundtrip. It's a stellar way to book Emirates business class flights whether you're heading to Greece or Italy. It's tough to beat flying to Europe and back for 108,000 miles when you're flying like this.

The trick is finding this cheap award availability on the way to Europeandthe way back, as you'll need to book roundtrip to score this deal. We found it for our Thrifty Traveler Premium members recently, making a trip to Italy or Athens this spring or late this year a reality.

How to do it: We probably sound like a broken record by now, but it's no accident that we're focusing on business class products that you can book using miles that are easy to earn. And this one is no exception.

In fact, few miles are easier to earn than Emirates Skywards: You can transfer them from Chase, Citi, Capital One, American Express, and Bilt. If you get a huge 90,000 point bonus on the Amex Gold Card, you're set.

Just look for your flights through Emirates.com – be sure to click Classic Rewards and flexible dates when you search. It may take some trial and error to find dates at the 90,000-mile level.

Read our complete guide on how to fly Emirates to Europe for 108,000 points roundtrip in business class!

6. Wait for a Delta SkyMiles Flash Sale Delta is notorious for charging an arm and a leg when trying to fly business class using SkyMiles. But three words can flip that on its head: Delta SkyMiles flash sales.

These deeply discounted rates are where SkyMiles truly shine, as you can often book flights using a fraction of the miles other airlines charge. We find and send these deals to Thrifty Traveler Premiummost often in economy: Think 37,000 SkyMiles roundtrip to New Zealand, 9,000 SkyMiles to Cancún (CUN), and 9,000 SkyMiles or less for domestic roundtrips.

SkyMiles flash sales on Delta business class seats are incredibly rare … but they do happen. Check out this unadvertised deal we sent to subscribers last year for roundtrip flights to Europe for 148,000 SkyMiles total.

Or this recent deal to Seoul (ICN) for 170,000 SkyMiles roundtrip.

We've seen even lower rates for Delta One redemptions in the past, like these roundtrip fares to Europe for 90,000 SkyMiles a few years back.

But the record was this unbelievable fare to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) we found for just 90,000 SkyMiles … roundtrip in Delta One Suites. It doesn't get any cheaper than that.

Get award alerts like this one in your inbox with Thrifty Traveler Premium!

How to do it: From flying with Delta to renting cars or even buying concert tickets, there is no shortage of ways to earn Delta SkyMiles.

Like almost every other opportunity on this list, the easiest way to rack up Delta miles comes through credit cards. Delta has a suite of different co-branded American Express SkyMiles cards, and they regularly roll out elevated welcome bonuses of up to 90,000 SkyMiles.

But Delta is another Amex transfer partner, which gives you another easy way to earn Delta SkyMiles. That means you can earn a bonus of up to 150,000 points on the Amex Platinum Card via CardMatch (or even more from a referral link…) then transfer the points you need when a great flash sale hits your inbox.

7. Fly Qsuites to the Middle East for 70K We saved the best for last. It's our favorite business class seat in the world and our favorite way to use American AAdvantage miles.

From the private, lush seats to the amazing service and the top-notch food and drink onboard, Qatar Airways Qsuites are truly the best in the world. There's simply no better way to fly than this.

Read our full review of Qsuites!

Amazingly, you can book a nonstop flight in Qsuites from the U.S. to Doha (DOH) for just 70,000 American miles each. Heck, you can even start from your home airport with American service and connect onward to Doha for the same rate. Or take things to the next level and head all the way to the Maldives (MLE) in Qsuites for, you guessed it, 70,000 miles each way.

Thrifty Tip: For the same 70,000-mile charge, you can also connect through Doha and head somewhere else in the Middle East like Muscat (MCT), Dubai (DXB), or Amman (AMM) … and spend your layover in Qatar's Al Safwa Lounge, perhaps the best first class airport lounge in the world!

These days, your best bet to book Qsuites might be using Avios from British Airways or Qatar Airways itself. Both airlines charge the same 70,000-mile rate for nonstops between the U.S. and Doha, though making a connection will cost you more. And the airlines tack on some additional fees.

But the tradeoff is that it's much easier to actually booking these suites using those miles – especially if you're looking and booking 11-plus months in advance. We always are.

Book Qsuites easily – sign up for Thrifty Traveler Premium alerts!

How to do it: There are plenty of great ways to book Qatar Qsuites, but using AAdvantage miles is the easiest. Lucky for you, they're easy to earn.

That's due in part to the fact that American has co-branded credit cards from two banks: Citi and Barclays. That means you can open two American Airlines cards, spend a few thousand dollars, pay it off immediately, and earn 120,000 AAdvantage miles – more than enough to book Qsuites.

It starts with the AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®, which has one of the best welcome bonuses you'll find. Open the card, pay the $99 annual fee, and make one purchase, and you can earn 70,000 AAdvantage miles.

From there, look to the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard,which offers 50,000 AAdvantage miles after spending $2,500 in the first three months. The $99 annual fee is even waived in the first year.

British Airways and Qatar Avios are even easier to earn. British Airways is a transfer partner with American Express, Chase, Bilt, and Capital One.

Bottom Line Whether you're paying cash or using miles, booking business class tickets can feel like a pipe dream. How do those high-flying, luxurious travelers do it? Are they all rich?

Well … some are – but we're not. If you wait for the right deal or make the right game plan to use points and miles, there are some great and easy-to-achieve ways to book business class. And a Thrifty Traveler Premium will put these deals straight in your inbox so you can make it a reality in just a few clicks.