Business class isn’t just for the rich. Trust me, I just booked a long-haul flight from the USA to Japan in business class for free. I only had to pay $33 USD in taxes and fees! Today, I’m telling you how you can do it too. Here’s how to get free business class flights step by step.
Open A New Travel Credit Card
First, unless you already have a stockpile of credit card points and miles (in that case, kudos to you), you’ll want to open a new travel credit card. Ideally, this travel credit card will earn flexible points and miles, meaning you can redeem the points and miles on a variety of airlines or hotels.
Additionally, it’s best to choose a card that has a high and/or elevated welcome offer (70,000 points or more). This is how you’ll earn enough points and miles for a business class flight without spending an absurd amount of money on the card. Welcome offers are bonus-point incentives that credit card companies offer to new cardholders. For example, a credit card may offer 75,000 bonus points for new cardholders who spend $4000 in the first three months of opening the card.
If you don’t already have a card in mind, I would probably recommend the Capital One Venture (lower annual fee), Capital One Venture X (higher annual fee but great benefits) or the AMEX Platinum card (very high annual fee but high welcome offer) for this scenario. Typically, I would recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred for beginners (see all my beginner recommendations here), but I like to save my Chase Ultimate Rewards points for Hyatt hotel stays, not for flights.
Earn The Card Welcome Offer
Next, after you open the card, you’ll need to work toward that minimum spend to earn the welcome offer bonus points. Do this by putting all of your normal everyday spend on the card: groceries, gas, dining out, car maintenance, everything that doesn’t charge an unreasonable credit card fee. You can do this with a new card every three-ish months to earn even more points.
Of course, remember you never want to spend more than you have in cash. Accruing debt at high interest rates is not how to get free business class flights. This is the No. 1 rule to points and miles travel (download all eight of the rules for free here). However, most of us will spend at least $4000 on everyday living expenses over the course of three months anyway. So, why not get a free business class flight with those purchases, right?
Sign Up For Business Class Alerts
Once you earn the welcome offer, you’ll want to set up business class award availability email and/or text alerts for your desired destination and trip dates. My current favorite award availability alert systems are Thrifty Traveler Premium alerts (paid but emails step-by-step instructions to book — get $20 off your first year here) and Pointsyeah.com alerts (there is a free limited version).
Alternatively, if your destination and dates are flexible, you can easily find business class award availability on Pointsyeah.com’s Daydream Explorer flight ideas page by filtering out business and first class cabin availability only. You’ll also want to filter out bank programs to include only the card points you have earned.
As you could imagine, many points and miles travelers are looking for business and first class award availability. This means that, for most business class award flights, booking is pretty competitive. You’ll want to book as soon as you can after you get a good alert, which I’ll show you how to do next. And by good alert, I mean business class award availability for 120,000 points one way or less for a long-haul flight. I personally would skip anything above that and fly economy if absolutely necessary.
Also note that usually award availability is booked one way. So, you may need to earn more than one signup bonus (i.e. welcome offer) for round-trip business class flights. Not always, but usually. This is easy to do as long as you follow the essential travel hacking rules.
Double Check Award Availability
After you receive an award availability alert that you want to book, you need to make sure that the flight is still available on the airline or airline partner’s website. For instance, when I booked my Delta One business class flight to Japan, I booked the flight through Delta’s alliance partner, Air France. When I got my Thrifty Traveler Premium alert that there were Delta One seats available to book through Air France, I immediately double checked Air France’s website directly to ensure that there was still availability. There was availability, so I continued on to the next step in how to get business class flights for free.
Transfer Welcome Offer Points To The Airline Partner Program
Once you have confirmed that there is indeed business class award availability for your desired business class flight, transfer your flexible travel credit card points to the corresponding transfer partner. To use my Japan Delta One flight example to illustrate again, Capital One is transfer partners with Air France’s loyalty program, Flying Blue. So, I needed to transfer my Capital One miles to my Flying Blue loyalty account to book my Delta One flight. (Again, Delta Air Lines and Air France are alliance partners.) I transferred the exact amount of Capital One miles I needed — nothing more — because once you transfer them out of the flexible card account, you cannot un-transfer. To book this business class flight, I needed 89,000 Flying Blue miles. Therefore, I transferred exactly 89,000 Capital One miles to Air France Flying Blue.
Transferring points out to transfer partners can sound daunting, but I promise, it is not as hard as it sounds. All you have to do is create a loyalty account for the partnering airline, locate the “transfer points” or “transfer to partners” tab in your card’s bank portal, and follow the prompts to transfer your points. From my experience, the point transfers are usually quick or even immediate.
Book The Business Class Flight For Free Using Points
Finally, when your points transfer is complete, you can officially book your free business class flight! Book using your newly transferred points and miles. If the flight price is showing up in cash, make sure you toggle “book with points” or “book with miles” on the airline’s website. The base fare for the business class flight should be completely covered by points and, therefore, be free. Then, all you have to do is pay taxes and fees.
Also note, depending on the airline, taxes and fees can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. But, there are flights with taxes and fees as low at $5.60, so just keep your eye out. You can even filter out the maximum taxes and fees you’re willing to pay when you set your award availability alert. This is exactly how I got a business class flight for free plus $33 in taxes and fees.
More Guides To Get Free Flights
Best Travel Credit Cards For Beginners
How To Get More Credit Card Points Without Spending More
How To Get Free Flights For Life (Travel Hacking For Beginners)
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