While most of us can only afford to travel after checkingout cheap traveloptions such as cheap airplanetickets, discount hotel rooms, and cheap vacation packages, manyof us would love to fly in business or first class, if only it was affordable,or even free.
The following are suggestions on how to make upper classseats affordable, according to Rob Burgess:
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Signup for an American Express Gold card, which is free for the first year andcomes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 points which is enough to fly from NewYork to Paris free or business class from London to Moscow.
You do not have to make a lot of purchasesto take advantage of this deal. If youcancel the card and wait six months, you can reapply and earn another 20,000points. Many supermarkets offer specialson select products that convert into points for American Express cardholders.
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Lookfor underpopulated (as in less than full) flights. One of the best deals today can be had onflying European routes via Qatar Airways or Emirates Airlines which recentlyexpanded into the continent and are flying with empty seats.
Qatar flies two 787s out of Copenhagen toQatar daily. Because of low demand forbusiness class seats, prices are as low as $1,086 which is dramatically lowerthan flights to and out of London.
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Beflexible as to your departure airports. Ifyou have flexibility regarding where you are traveling from, you can accessmuch better deals on first and business class seats. For examples, flights that pass throughColombo, Sri Lanka, are especially cheap.
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Joinas many reward programs as possible and keep on the lookout for programs thatallow you to transfer points. Transferable point programs are currently being offered by AmericanExpress Membership Rewards, Chase ThankYou points, and Starwood PreferredGuest, all of which transfer to multiple programs.
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Signup for airline branded credit cards if you will be making significant creditcard purchases. These cards have annualmembership fees than range between $60 to $100. The side benefits, which often include priority boarding, priorityscreening, free bags, and lounge passes that can be used at thousands ofairports make these cards are the more valuable.
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Remainalert and organized so that you are not surprised by hidden fees, fuelsurcharges, and frequent changes to reward programs. Be aware that filling out applications formultiple credit cards comes with the risk of creating substantial debt. Only make purchases with credit cards thatcan be fully paid off monthly. The highinterest rates on credit cards are never worth the airline miles being offered.
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