Years
ago, while flying from Dubai to Paris on Emirates, my mother and I were
upgraded from coach to business class, through no doing of our own.
When we received our boarding cards, we glanced around surreptitiously,
wondering whether we were just the lucky beneficiaries of somebody’s
egregious mistake.
The experience was glorious: All the pains and indignities
one typically suffers on a long flight in coach were nonexistent as we
nibbled on Godiva chocolates after our multicourse meal served on real
china and snoozed in our roomy, fully reclining seats. We arrived in
Paris impossibly fresh after
such a long international flight. Of
course, our joy was soon erased as we shuffled into coach class of an
American Airlines Group Inc. (NASDAQ:AAL) jet bound for the U.S.
Since then, I’ve looked longingly at business-class fares whenever I book a trip. As travel expert Johnny DiScala, aka Johnny Jet,
puts it, “Once you’ve flown up front, it’s tough to go in the back.”
But on a journalist’s salary, those fares -- which are often
dramatically higher than those in coach class -- remain out of reach.
(For example, a recent search of flights from New York to Paris turned
up business-class tickets that cost more than five times those in
coach.)
And flying coach has only gotten worse, as seats shrink and
service gets stingier. Meanwhile, the experience beyond the coach-class
curtain appears to be even more luxurious, with airlines racing to
improve their premium cabins with amenities such as private suites and
fully flat seats. And as carriers operate more packed flights, chances
for random upgrades such as the one I happened into have become
impossibly slim.
But experts say it is possible to experience the comfort of
business class without paying through the nose. It requires a bit more
legwork on the ground before you travel, but once you’re relaxing in
premium class with a drink in your hand, it will have been worth it.
Here’s how:
To fly premium, become elite.
Most airlines still offer upgrades as perks to their most
loyal flyers. If you aren’t one of those people who travels tens of
thousands of miles each year, the best way to earn elite status on
airlines’ frequent-flyer programs is still through the many co-branded
airline credit cards that offer hefty sign-up bonus points and reward
miles for purchases. While many cards are excellent for accruing miles,
you need to focus on credit cards that help you accrue so-called elite
qualifying miles, or EQMs, to earn elite status. One such card is the Platinum Delta SkyMiles American Express,
which awards 5,000 EQMs and 35,000 bonus miles after you spend $1,000
in the first three months of owning the card. And if you spend $25,000 a
year, you’ll earn another 10,000 EQMs, plus 10,000 regular bonus miles.
Scott Mackenzie of HackMyTrip.com offers a roundup of the requirements and perks of major U.S. airline elite programs here.
If you travel with a companion, the American Express Platinum card
gets you two-for-the-price-of-one first- or business-class tickets each
year. (However, eligible fares may cost more than the price of two
discounted ones, so be sure to check.) And the card’s annual $450 fee
pays for itself, thanks to the many travel benefits that come with it,
according to DiScala. For instance, you get $200 in fee credits on any
airline, a $100 credit towards the U.S government’s Global Entry
program, and access to more than 600 premium airport lounges around the
world.
Buy upgrades with miles.
If you have a lot of miles that don’t qualify you for elite
status, they can still help you get into premium cabins for less than
the price of a business-class ticket. As George Hobica of Airfarewatchdog.com
observed, “This is one of the highest-value ways you can spend your
miles.” For example, you could upgrade a $400 coach ticket from New York
to Los Angeles to a business-class ticket that’s worth $4,000 -- for
around 30,000 miles on a flight offered by the United Airlines unit of
United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE:UAL). Keep in mind most airlines
will now charge you both a cash fee and the miles to upgrade, Hobica
noted. If you don’t see the option to upgrade when you book, check back
with the airline about three to four days before departure. “That’s when
they put the upgradeable seats back into their inventory,” he pointed
out.
Consider a cheap last-minute upgrade at the airport.
Many airlines will give you the option to upgrade your
ticket for a discounted rate at the last minute if they have the room,
according to Hobica. These are typically made available about six hours
before flight time, so call before you depart or pay attention when
you’re checking in. Virgin America offers these last-minute upgrades for
around $299 on long-haul flights when seats are available. Italy’s
Alitalia offers upgrades on board the plane: If there are business-class
seats available, you can buy them when you board the aircraft for a fraction of what they would have cost otherwise.
Keep an eye out for sales.
Premium cabin fares do go on sale -- you just need to watch
for them. If you want someone to do all the work for you, sign up for
the First Class Flyer
newsletter, DiScala recommended. Run by Matthew Bennett, the newsletter
costs $197 a year and publishes information about sales on business-
and first-class fares, in addition to other tricks. If you’d rather do
the legwork on your own, be prepared to get organized. Hobica said
airlines send out alerts via email and snail-mail touting fare sales --
so don’t dismiss them as junk. British Airways had a sale on
business-class round-trip tickets from Los Angeles to London for just
$2,013.
And competition from domestic carriers have made sale
prices much more affordable. “Thanks to JetBlue lowering fares on
transcontinental flights, other airlines have followed suit,” Hobica
said. “From New York to Los Angeles, you could have paid $2,400 for a
business-class ticket going just one way. Now, thanks to JetBlue, I’m
seeing them closer to $1,000.”
You can also find nonrefundable discounted premium seats
from the legacy carriers, Hobica said. On a nonstop flight from Los
Angeles to Miami, American Airlines was selling nonrefundable
first-class fares for $368 each way, while the refundable seats cost
$2,148.
Fly when business travelers aren’t.
You’re more likely to be offered an affordable last-minute
upgrade or find a cheaper business-class fare if you schedule your trip
for a time when business travelers are not going anywhere, DiScala said.
“A lot of business travelers aren’t going to travel on a Saturday or a
Sunday morning,” he noted. And Thanksgiving and Christmas are actually
times when business travelers stay home, so those cabins are emptier
then.
Get help landing a deal.
You don’t have to do it on your own. Because travel agents
deal in so much volume, they often have access to fares you might not,
DiScala said. His travel agent helped him get a round-trip first-class
ticket from Los Angeles to Singapore for around $3,500. DiScala said it
would have cost him $8,000 otherwise.
There are also several consolidators, such as Planetamex.com,
that sell premium cabin fares at big discounts that can be as much as
50 percent. The catch is that their fares are most likely nonrefundable,
and you may not be able to accrue miles for those flights, Hobica said.
Look out for offers that let you buy miles.
The cost of buying miles is a roundabout way of buying a
ticket, but it can work. American Airlines frequently offers “buy miles”
deals. Recently, the company had a sale for 100,000 miles at the cost
of $1,300. If that sounds hefty, consider that a round-trip first-class
ticket from coast to coast would normally cost around $5,000.
Alternatively, you can redeem 65,000 of 100,00 miles for the same trip.
Be willing to get bumped.
If you’re flexible about getting to your destination,
volunteering to be bumped from a flight can also provide good leverage
to ask for a better deal. If volunteers are few and far between, request
a first-class seat on the next flight, DiScala advised. It worked for
him on a trip from Los Angeles to Erie, Pennyslvania. He arrived at his
destination about four hours later than planned, but, because he owned
the American Express Platinum card, he relaxed for free in the Delta
Club lounge while he waited.
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