Fly Up Front: The Best Business Class Points & Miles Deals We’ve Found in 2024

Of all the ways to use your hard-earned points and miles, booking a lie-flat business or first class seat somewhere overseas gets you the most bang for your buck. And there's nothing quite like sitting down in a plush seat with a glass of champagne in hand, wondering how many of your neighbors paid full price for the same seat.
And full price can be a lot : An international business class ticket typically starts at $4,000 to $5,000 roundtrip … and sometimes double that or more. If you think that's an absurd amount of money to spend on a flight, you're right! That's where points and miles shine.
For many travelers (myself included), it's the only way to make flying in this kind of style a reality. But even with all the points in the world, actually booking business class seats can be easier said than done. Airlines don't make it so easy to book these top-dollar flights using miles.
That's where our Thrifty Traveler Premium service comes in: Rather than searching for flights and coming up empty-handed, we let you know exactly when (and how) to book…
That's just the start: We've doubled down on finding these excellent business class award space alerts. These are the best Thrifty Traveler Premium deals we've sent this year, helping our members fly like they're millionaires … for just a few thousand points.

 
Air France/KLM Biz Class This Summer (Including the Olympics!)
Normally, cheap business class seats flying to Europe in the middle of summer (and during the Paris Olympics , no less) can be impossible to find. They're a true needle-in-the-haystack situation.  
But sometimes, airlines like Air France and KLM make thousands of business class bookable with points and miles all at once for trips during the best times of the year. The airline industry is a strange place! 
That's exactly what happened this week. 
 

 
These seats are long gone now – get the next deal to your inbox with Thrifty Traveler Premium !
Travelers based in nearly all of Air France and KLM's U.S. and Canadian gateways had a shot at booking these business class suites for just 50,000 Flying Blue miles (transferrable from American Express ,  Bilt Rewards ,  Capital One ,  Chase ,  Citi , and Wells Fargo ) in July and August! 
We even dubbed it a Unicorn Fare because it's so rare to see this much business class availability during peak travel season. 
 

 
 
American Biz Class to Europe This Summer
If you'd rather fly a U.S. carrier like American Airlines, you're in luck this year. We're constantly hunting for peak summer business class award availability to Europe on AA and that's just what we found earlier this year, giving Thrifty Traveler Premium   members a heads up on a chance to book this deal. 
 

 
This availability was fantastic, including almost every American Airlines route flying to Europe this summer. 
 

 
Some of these rates, especially booking with Alaska Airlines (right column) are unbeatable across the Atlantic for peak summer. 
 

 
It even includes extremely rare availability to places like Rome (FCO) and Nice (NCE) among others. 
 
Delta One Suites Unicorn Fare to Taipei
When it comes to booking Delta One Suites with Delta SkyMiles , we typically recommend that you don't . Most of the time, it's a terrible value for your hard-earned miles. But Delta likes to surprise and delight every now and again, and we always catch them in the act when they do! 
 

 
Want to fly business and first class? We allow Thrifty Traveler Premium members to get alerts for premium cabin award alerts from all U.S. cities!
With business class availability to Taipei (TPE) as low as 146,000 SkyMiles roundtrip, this Unicorn Fare we alerted our subscribers to was one of the best long-haul Delta One redemptions we've seen, period.  It's perhaps the best value you can get from your SkyMiles if you were prepared to book at the time we sent the deal. 
For most travelers in cities all over the U.S., you could snag these for 196,000 roundtrip – or less if you hold one of the co-branded Delta credit cards with the TakeOff 15 benefit . 
 

 
 
Qatar Airways QSuites from 70K Each Way
Want to fly the best business class in the world? Start looking for Qatar Airways QSuites . Or let us do the searching for you! 
 

 
QSuites award availability – flights you can actually book with points and miles –  like this doesn't come around all that often, but when it does, we pounce! Qatar is the best way to fly to any one of these destinations all over the world. One stop in Doha (DOH) with it's uber-fancy business class lounges and you're on your way to the Middle East, Africa, India, or even all the way to Southeast Asia! 
 

 
Qantas Biz Class to Australia & New Zealand
Flying business class to Australia or New Zealand is on the bucket list for many travelers – and for good reason. Those flights are long and those trips are once-in-a-lifetime for many flyers, so a little luxury is welcome. 
If you want to fly lie-flat down under, Qantas might be the very best way to do so. 
 

 
Read Next: Qantas Business Class Review on the A380
In the last few months, we've found multiple Qantas business class deals, the best of which was this Unicorn Alert flying from New York (JFK) to Auckland (AKL) nonstop! This award space is exceedingly rare for one of the 10 longest flights in the world. We couldn't believe it. 
 

 
But for travelers not based in NYC, we found more fun times, too. 
 

 
Nearly all of Qantas's routes to Brisbane (BNE), Melbourne (MEL), and Sydney (SYD) were bookable using your Qantas miles for a trip this fall or upcoming winter. Plus, we even found some first class availability on the MEL and SYD routes from Los Angeles (LAX), too!
 

 
Hawaiian First Class Suites to Honolulu
You don't need a lie-flat seat to Hawaii , but wouldn't you love one? 
These brand-new Hawaiian Airlines First Class Suites are honeymoon bait if I've ever seen them. We just flew these on a recent trip to Honolulu (HNL) and found them spectacular, especially for the long journey across the Pacific to the Hawaiian Islands. 
 

 
This award space is long, long gone. Get the next alert with Thrifty Traveler Premium !
Best of all, you can snag these seats for just 40,000 miles each way booking through Hawaiian or partner airline Virgin Atlantic . But time it right with a transfer bonus to Virgin and you could book these suites for as few as 31,000 Virgin points! 
Best of all, you can transfer points to Virgin from nearly all the major banks: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, and Citi. Booking Hawaii flights with Virgin points is an expert-level travel hack, but Thrifty Traveler Premium deals like this always come with easy step-by-step instructions. 
 

 
Aer Lingus Biz Class to Ireland & England
Aer Lingus Business Class seats have been readily available to travelers with Alaska miles or Aer Lingus and British Airways Avios lately (or transferrable credit card points). If you also have a Thrifty Traveler Premium membership, you're getting first dibs on the best availability as soon as it's available. 
 

 
These nonstop flights on Aer Lingus to Dublin (DUB), Manchester (MAN), and Shannon (SNN) could be booked as low as 45,000 Alaska miles each way. It's a crazy value that several members of our Minneapolis-based team have booked over the last few weeks. 
 

 
Imagine landing in Dublin (DUB) after a good night's sleep in one of those swanky seats! That's well worth 45,000 points if you ask me. 
 
Emirates Biz Class to Italy & Greece
Emirates is known for its class and luxury flying to and from its hub in Dubai (DXB), but the fancy airline also runs cool, fifth-freedom routes between Newark (EWR) and Athens (ATH), and New York (JFK) and Milan (MXP). 
 

 
Best of all, you can fly roundtrip on either of those routes in business class for 108,000 Emirates miles. 
Read our review of Emirates Business Class on the A380 from JFK to Milan!
 

 
You might also have Emirates miles and not know it yet! You can transfer points to Emirates from American Express, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, and Citi. 
 
Singapore Airlines Biz Class
Singapore Airlines business class is close to the fanciest in the skies, and thanks to its partnership with Air Canada, North American travelers can book it for cheap! 
 

 
This flight deal could put you on the longest flights in the world from New York (JFK) and Newark (EWR) to Singapore (SIN) this year for just 88,000 Air Canada Aeroplan points each way. Best of all, you can transfer your Amex, Bilt, Capital One, or Chase points to Aeroplan instantly to snag these, too. 
 


 
ITA Biz Class to Rome
ITA Airways and its new business class fly to and from the U.S. to Rome (FCO) every day, and that's made award space flying lie-flat to Italy much easier lately. 
 

 
We just flew this ITA Airways business class seat and loved it! And even better – you can book them for as low as 69,000 Flying Blue miles each way. 
 

 
Cathay Pacific Biz Class to Southeast Asia
If you want to fly business class to Southeast Asia, or even all the way to Australia or New Zealand , your comfiest bet might be through Hong Kong (HKG) on Cathay Pacific. 
 

 
One of the top airlines in the world , Cathay Pacific runs nonstop flights to various cities in the U.S. and Canada, including the four listed below. 
Best of all, the nonstop flight to Hong Kong is the same rate as the connections onward to any of the destinations below, too! 
 

 
Bottom Line
Flying business class is within reach even if you don't have thousands of dollars to throw at tickets. Points and miles can be the great equalizer when it comes to flying in style.
But given the difficulty of tracking down available seats and finding the right miles to use, even points and miles millionaires can struggle. That's what our  Thrifty Traveler Premium   service is all about: Doing the legwork for you so you can score business class seats around the world without breaking a sweat.