Business class travel is one of three levels of airline travel typically available on transcontinental or overseas flight. While business class amenities vary from airline to airline, most offer considerably wider seats with more leg room than economy, premium food and wine service, more seat controls and increased cabin staff. For long flights, these amenities are often desirable, so airlines usually charge a premium for flying business class, however, lower cost and discounted business class tickets can be obtained if you know how.
Things You'll Need
- Frequent flyer points
Tips For You
Purchase Discount Tickets
- Book with an online consolidator such as Airlineconsolidator.com or Travelhub.com or a travel agent who may have access to unpublished business class tickets.
- Be flexible. Travel during non-peak times, if possible. Visit your preferred airline website. Look for a link for airline alerts. The alerts will let you know when fares are lower.
- Check want ad or auction websites such as Craigslist or eBay for discounted tickets.
Upgrades With Frequent Flyer Points
- Join a frequent flyer program and try to fly as often as you can with the airline whose program you joined.
- Use the frequent flyer points to buy upgrades or, if you have enough points, purchase the ticket with points.
- Travel often enough and some airlines will automatically upgrade you without having to use any points. Automatic upgrades are much more likely to occur while traveling domestically.
Purchase Upgrades
- Check in as early as you can online, usually exactly 24 hours before your flight. Upgrades are sometimes available for purchase at this time.
- Arrive early at the airport. Ask about upgrade opportunities from the ticket agent.
- Check the airline website for last minute discount upgrades.
