We’ve all come across those idyllic images of someone peacefully asleep on a long flight, enjoying every luxury they desire, while we’re squeezed between two others in Economy, having already spent a small fortune. What if I told you that you could become one of those elite travelers in Business or First class?

Theres a few different ways you can do this but first, it does take some planning and most importantly FLEXIBILITY. For my sweet type A friends like myself… I know, flexibility is rarely in our vocabulary but I promise it’s worth it.

Credit card points are your friend!

First disclaimer here as I am a CFP®… you do not need to have a credit card if you’re struggling to manage your finances. Credit cards are not the devil despite what is commonly advertised, as long as they are used correctly and you can keep up with your expenses. If you can’t do that, or find yourself not paying off your credit cards, then they are not worth it. You know yourself and your financial situation, so please make smart decisions here. Alright tangent over – now we can talk about the fun things!

There are some incredible travel cards out there where you can get points toward airlines. Some of our favorites are AMEX Platinum and while I’ve always been a Capital One girl, they recently released their new elevated card Venture X. The cool part here is that most of the perks are the same as AMEX, and if you book any trip through them in a year they’ll credit you $300 – so it’s technically the same price as their standard Venture card (and much cheaper than AMEX).

So finding a card that gets you points on everything you spend is critical. For context – Dylan and I are flying business class from NYC to Istanbul, Istanbul to Phuket, and Singapore to NYC. We paid around ~$2k (the price of one ticket to get us to Thailand the first time we went) after using all of our points, however if we didn’t use points those flights alone would’ve been around $25k for us… While we may like boujee travel we definitely cannot afford that.

Credit cards also give you welcome bonuses which are a great way to build up points quick if you are just getting started.

There’s then websites that will tell you the best conversion rates for your points like Points Hound. There are some that will try to get you to pay them, but that’s unnecessary to find a good deal.

When using points you do need to be flexible on departure times and days. Majority of the time you can actually find the flight want but you may just have to book some one way flights to really make your miles go a long way. For our trip we booked one way to Turkey, Thailand, and then found a flight back from Singapore. This allows us to see more places and have more flexible travel since we’re not stuck to round trip tickets.

Also when using points it’s very important to convert them to the airline, DO NOT reimburse yourself with points for travel expenses. It’s not the same value and you’re wasting points doing it this way. Most cards partner with specific airlines however a lot of the airlines are within the same alliance. Example – we booked a flight on American through Birtish Airways because they are both a part of One World Alliance. So don’t get discouraged if you don’t see your exact airline, just look up their partners.

Once you convert to the airline (usually takes about a day), you’ll want to go into their app or website and click on “Reward Flights” – this will take you to where you can search for flights like you would any other website, but it will show you the number of points needed.

Some partners will allow you to share your points, so if you’re a part of a family and you both have points collected you can actually share them to one account to book flights through.

Use sites like Point Hound to find deals. You do NOT have to pay for access to a site to find flight deals, so don’t get tricked into that.

Upgrades are possible

I know.. hear me out. I’ve never been the lucky passenger that’s magically been upgraded to first class, however there is a way to do it for a smaller price than the cost of the actual ticket

Most airlines have an app where you can store your flights you have with them and see your itinerary. In some cases, they will offer deals on upgrades where you can pay a smaller fee to upgrade your seat PRIOR to checking in. So example – the first time Dylan and I flew business class we weren’t planning on it. We had a normal economy ticket we booked to Paris from Charlotte. We happened to login to American’s app one morning and the price of business class seats had dropped down to $300 to upgrade. Now keep in mind these are easily $4-5k tickets outright. So we paid the normal economy ticket (around $1,300/pp at the time), + an additional $300/pp to get us upgrades to a business class seat. We personally felt the price was worth it for that kind of experience, especially on a long flight. I know a couple who ran into the same opportunity on their honeymoon flight to South Africa. Again, you decide what’s worth it for you.

You can do the same thing for first class domestic flights. I’ve had a number of opportunites where the price of a first class seat dropped down to $50-$100. Depending on where I’m going or how much I already paid I’ll usually consider the offer. Keep an eye on how many seats are available – if there’s still a lot open then there’s a good chance they’ll drop the price down again.

Now if you’re someone like Dylan who doesn’t want to give more money to the airlines than necessary (which I get), this may not be the option for you and you should stick with option 1. But I’ve gotten to the point where I care where I sit and the experience I get (did I mention type A??), so it’s completely up to preference.

Ready to pack your bags? Chat with us!