Author: Carrie Kirby / Source: Wise Bread
There’s a practical reason to save up miles to fly first or business class: You often get more value per mile than you do on a coach trip.
But the real reason that I’ve been gathering miles for my first international business class trip isn’t so practical. It’s fanciful.
I want a flight attendant to bring me warm nuts in a cloth napkin. I want an amenity kit. I want to feel special.In a couple of weeks, my mother and I will be flying business class from Brisbane, Australia, to Honolulu. I’m already poring over menus — will I choose the short ribs or the shrimp? Our seats will transform to lie-flat beds. We paid 65,000 American AAdvantage miles each to take this flight on American partner Hawaiian Airlines. (See also: Best Airlines for Scoring First or Business Class Award Seats)
Is first class unattainable to the average person? Not if you play your points right. There are several ways to leverage your miles and points to get that upfront seat.
Use miles to purchase a first class ticket from the airline
Using your miles to book seats in business or first class can be a bargain. For example, many airlines only require twice as many miles for a business class award as for an economy seat — sometimes even less. That’s a deal, considering that business class seats often cost three to four times as much as the economy seats if you pay in dollars.
The cost in miles of first class seats ranges from just 14,500 for a short domestic one-way Delta flight to 280,000 KrisFlyer miles to ride in one of Singapore Airlines’ luxurious suites from New York to Sydney. Those numbers aren’t apples to apples, since some airlines’ miles are more valuable than others, but the take-away is that you need quite a few miles to sleep in Singapore’s double bed in the sky.
You book premium class seats the same way you’d book economy class seats using miles. On the search page of the website, look for a check box labeled “use miles” or something similar. Some airlines, such as Hawaiian, require you to log in before the option to see prices in miles. (See also: 4 Tools That Help You Find Free Award Flights)
If you have almost but not quite enough miles to book your first class trip, some airlines allow you to pay with a combination of miles and cash. Others offer you the chance to purchase miles. If you’re considering buying miles, make sure you compare the final price of the ticket with purchased miles to the cost of just buying the ticket outright.
Use miles to upgrade
A word of warning here. While it’s possible to upgrade your ticket with miles, it’s rarely a good idea. Many airlines require you to buy a higher fare in order to be eligible for upgrading with miles. In addition, the number of miles charged for these upgrades is often high — sometimes nearly as many as you’d pay for a full award ticket. On top of that, airlines sometimes require a cash copay when upgrading with miles.
Also note that if you used miles to book an economy ticket, you probably won’t be able to upgrade that ticket to a premium cabin. (There are a few exceptions for members with elite status.) But if you bought…
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