2 ways to fly business class under 50k points.

Welcome back, friends.

Funny story, last week, I was so excited to write my newsletter, I sent it on Thursday, thinking it was Friday.

I’m sure all of you were sent into shock.

This Friday newsletter is packed with lessons to save you thousands of dollars on airfare.

Hope you’re ready.

Business class is possible.

You walk on the plane, past those enormous seats, and wonder, “How in the world do people afford that?”

Well, some people are rich.

And some people work for Fortune 100 companies.

And some people know the points & miles game.

Business class airfare is one of the biggest reasons people get into points & miles.

I want to show you 2 different ways to book business class seats under 50,000 points one-way.

Keeping in mind that international business class fares easily go for $3k-$10k, 50,000 points is a STEAL.

1) Air France/KLM to Europe.

Value here is insane.

Check out seats.aero, look for business class flights from North America to Europe, and you’ll see a ton of options from various U.S. cities to Paris, London, and Amsterdam.

I found a flight on July 30th from Chicago to Amsterdam for 50,000 points + $200.

You won’t believe the cash price.

$5,163.

See, it’s real.

I love this program.

You can book this with Capital One, Chase, Citi, or Amex points/miles.

2) Tap Air Portugal booked through Avianca.

Most people don’t think of Tap Air when they think fancy business class, and yea, this isn’t ANA, but it’s business class.

Check this out: 35,000 points to fly

Cash price is ~$2,500. 

Killer deal.

How to find this?

—> Search Avianca’s website (super easy calendar tool).

—> Transfer to your points from Amex or Capital One to Avianca.

There’s very limited availability, but it’s there!

Some lessons for finding business class:

—> Availability is tight - you have to be flexible.

—> Nothing is easy, you’re gonna have to deep dive into the blogs and call airlines and other terrible stuff.

—> Taxes & fees will be much higher than economy (typically).

—> Tools like seats.aero are your best friend.

—> Booking as far out in advance as possible will help you (or booking last minute).

Full disclosure: I’ve never booked a business-class flight with points.

—> It doesn’t fit into my strategy.

My strategy is to stretch my points as far as possible - while business class is awesome, it uses up your points pretty quickly.

However, for many, biz class is the pinnacle of the points & miles game!

I hope these tips helped you. There are many other great ways to get business (and first class) tickets and unbelievable deals thanks to points & miles.

Good luck!