Have you ever wondered what it’s like to fly in business class on a long-haul international flight? Here’s how to fly business class to Europe from the U.S for even less money than most economy flights will cost you!
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve always been envious of those people sitting up at the front of the plane in their fancy seats holding a glass of champagne. I get particularly jealous on a long flight, where I know my legs are going to be scrunched up for hours on end.
Business class seats on international flights typically cost thousands of dollars if you pay cash.
The secret to getting cheap business class seats on flights to Europe is through using credit card points.
You can fly in business class on just about any airline, but if you want to do it for the least amount of points possible, you’ll want to go with Iberia.
Iberia has an EXCELLENT deal for their business class seats on select flights! While Iberia may not have the fanciest business class seat out there, it is certainly much more comfortable than flying economy. The food is tasty. But a big warning: the lay-flat seats will make you never want to fly economy again!! Read about all of the Iberia business class perks here.
There are many credit cards that will enable you to use points to fly on Iberia’s business class. I am going to focus on the one that I have the most experience with. My most used credit card is the Chase Sapphire Preferred. It is the one I used to earn points that bought me 2 round-trip business class tickets from Chicago to Madrid.
Whether you are completely new to the concept of earning credit card points or are someone who has earned points but is not sure how to redeem them, this post is for you!
This post is all about how to fly business class to Europe without breaking the bank.
Step 1: Earn a Sign-Up Bonus
Many credit card companies offer generous sign-up bonuses. A sign-up bonus is a sum of points that you will earn if you hit a minimum spend within a specified number of months.
To earn the sign-up bonus for the Chase Sapphire Preferred you need to spend at least $4,000 in the first 3 months.
You may be thinking that $4,000 is a lot of money. Well- it is!! A good idea is to sign up for the card when you know you have a large expense coming up. Perhaps you are in the market for a new couch or a new mattress. Purchases like these will help you hit the minimum spend more easily.
You should NEVER EVER use your credit card to spend money that you cannot afford to spend. If you go into debt to earn the sign-up bonus, the bonus will not be worth it. I repeat- do not spend money you don’t have just to earn the bonus.
Currently (August 2022) the sign-up bonus for the Chase Sapphire Preferred is 60,000 points which is valued at $750 in travel booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Portal.
If you’re not in any hurry, you can keep an eye on this to see when it goes up. In 2020, I was able to sign up when they offered a 100,000 point bonus. Earlier in 2022, they offered an 80,000 points bonus. While 60,000 points is great, 80k or 100k is even better.
Step 2: Search for Award Availability
On certain flights from the U.S to Madrid during off-peak dates, you can fly one-way in business class for only 34,000 Avios (Iberias points). You will get the best deal if you depart from Boston, New York, or Chicago.
If you don’t live in one of these cities, you can book a separate flight to get you there from your home city. For example- I booked a flight from SFO to Chicago in order to take advantage of the cheaper business class flight departing from Chicago. You’ll have to figure out if paying for the extra flight is worth it in your situation.
If you want to take advantage of Iberia’s fantastic business class deal, you will need to have flexible dates for your trip. Flying during “off-peak” dates will be most affordable.
To search for award availability, head over to Iberia.com. I am going to demonstrate how to proceed with the search process.
Initial Search
For the initial search, you should pick dates that align with when you hope to travel. You’ll likely have to change these dates a bit as you search.
Be sure to select “Pay with Avios” as well as “Premium cabins”.
Note: If the Pay with Avios selection is unavailable for you, make sure to create a free Iberia plus account before proceeding with your search.
screenshot from Iberia.com
Select Your Flights
You will be prompted to select your outbound flight. If there is Business class award availability, you will see the it on this page along with the price in points. If the flight is 34,000 Avios, you are in luck! This is an excellent price and will be a perfect day to fly.
If Business class says “not available” you’ll need to change your outbound flight to a different date and search again.
If the price is more than 34,000 Avios, it is likely because you are flying during peak dates. Keep searching to find the best deal that works with your schedule. This part requires some patience.
screenshot from Iberia.com
When you select the business class flight you will see more details about the flight including how many seats are left.
screenshot from Iberia.com
After you find an available outbound flight, you’ll continue the search process to find a returning flight that also has award availability. Again, you may need to play around with the dates if you want to fly business class in both directions. Another option is to fly business class one-way and economy one-way.
Once you have selected both flights you will be shown your total cost.
See Your Payment Options
No matter what, you will have to pay some cash for your flight in addition to your Avios. However, if you do not have enough Avios to cover the full cost, you can choose to pay more cash and you will still be getting an excellent redemption for your points.
screenshot from Iberia.com
Step 3: Transfer Points
Now that you have found award availability and decided how many points you are going to use, you’ll want to transfer your points immediately.
Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to Iberia instantly which is so convenient. American Express points also transfer to Iberia, but can take a couple days.
Before you transfer points to Iberia, you’ll need to make sure you have an Iberia Plus account set-up. This is completely free and easy to do from Iberia’s website.
Transferring points from Chase to Iberia is relatively straightforward. The Points Guy has an excellent guide for how to do so here.
PRO TIP: Sometimes Chase offers transfer bonuses which means you can spend even fewer points to get this flight. Keep an eye out for a bonus and take advantage of it if the timing works out for you. (Generally, you do not want to transfer points without a plan for how you’ll use them.)
Step 4: Book the Flight!
Once your points transfer over from the bank to Iberia, you should book your flight ASAP.
There is limited award availability so you’ll want to make sure you snag that flight that you found back in Step 2 before someone else does.
You will not be able to transfer your points back to the bank once they are with Iberia. It is crucial to book the flight as soon as the transfer goes through.
Step 5: Get Ready for an Incredible Flight Experience!
Now that your flight is booked, you have a nice trip to look forward to!
If you don’t care to visit Madrid, you can catch a cheap flight from Madrid to any other city in Europe that you’d rather visit.
I flew on my first business class flight in June 2022 and it was the best flight I have ever experienced! I never thought I’d be able to be one of those people sitting up at the front of the plane in the fancy seats because I knew I wouldn’t be able to drop thousands of dollars for a flight.
Using this exact method enabled me to experience what I thought would never be possible. I really hope you’ll be able to experience it, too! Please reach out if you have any questions.
Byblissbalance says
Really great tips!
Bree says
I am happy they were helpful! Thanks for taking the time to comment!
Jeanine says
These are great tips, sadly I am in Australia…but I always look around for cheap business seats
Heather says
This is something worth noting! Thanks for posting!
1xbet зеркало рабочее says
Букмекерская контора 1xBet является очень известных на рынке. 1xbet зеркало рабочее Большой выбор событий из мира спорта и киберспорта, множество открытых линий, высочайшие коэффициенты. Кроме того, БК имеет обширный функционал и немногие дает возможность совершать ставки по уникальным промокодам. Используя их, вы можете получить настоящие деньги, не внося абсолютно никаких средств. Это реально! Узнать актуальный промокод вы можете прямо сейчас, однако использовать его необходимо в соответствии с правилами и инструкциями, которые приведены ниже.
נערות ליווי says
I was very pleased to uncover this great site. I need to to thank you for ones time for this fantastic read!! I definitely appreciated every bit of it and I have you bookmarked to look at new information on your blog.
🎁 Get free iPhone 14 Pro Max: http://dlworldwide.com/uploads/go.php 🎁 hs=6328ff2c83db6aa687042eebc936b0bd* says
eu30lv
tlovertonet says
I’ve been browsing on-line more than three hours as of late, yet I never discovered any attention-grabbing article like yours. It is lovely value enough for me. In my opinion, if all web owners and bloggers made just right content material as you did, the internet will be much more useful than ever before.
Kera Biotics says
Wow! This could be one particular of the most beneficial blogs We’ve ever arrive across on this subject. Basically Magnificent. I’m also an expert in this topic therefore I can understand your hard work.
Sumatra Slim Belly Tonic says
I have recently started a web site, the info you offer on this web site has helped me tremendously. Thanks for all of your time & work.
view now says
Woah! I’m really digging the template/theme of this blog. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s difficult to get that “perfect balance” between user friendliness and appearance. I must say you have done a amazing job with this. Additionally, the blog loads very quick for me on Safari. Outstanding Blog!
swimming pool companies tallahassee says
hello there and thank you for your information – I’ve definitely picked up something new from right here. I did however expertise several technical issues using this website, as I experienced to reload the web site lots of times previous to I could get it to load properly. I had been wondering if your web hosting is OK? Not that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will often affect your placement in google and could damage your high quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords. Anyway I am adding this RSS to my email and could look out for a lot more of your respective interesting content. Ensure that you update this again soon..
Redboost reviews says
I am not real good with English but I find this real easy to understand.
Boostaro says
Heya i am for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It really useful & it helped me out much. I hope to give something back and aid others like you aided me.
sugar defender review says
It is really a nice and useful piece of information. I’m glad that you shared this useful info with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thank you for sharing.
Sumatra Slim Belly Tonic says
I have been exploring for a little bit for any high quality articles or blog posts on this kind of area . Exploring in Yahoo I at last stumbled upon this web site. Reading this info So i am happy to convey that I have a very good uncanny feeling I discovered just what I needed. I most certainly will make sure to don’t forget this website and give it a look regularly.
fitspresso reviews says
I dugg some of you post as I thought they were very useful handy
lottery defeater says
Lottery Defeater Software is a digital tool designed to assist individuals in improving their chances of winning in various lotteries.
Soulmate Sketch says
Hi, i feel that i saw you visited my weblog thus i got here to “return the desire”.I am trying to find things to improve my website!I suppose its adequate to make use of a few of your concepts!!
java burn review says
Java Burn: What is it? Java Burn is marketed as a natural weight loss product that can increase the speed and efficiency of a person’s natural metabolism, thereby supporting their weight loss efforts
sugar defender says
What Is Sugar Defender?Sugar Defender is a new blood sugar-balancing formula that has been formulated using eight clinically proven ingredients that work together to balance sugar levels.
zencortex says
What is ZenCortex? ZenCortex is a cutting-edge dietary supplement meticulously crafted to provide essential nutrients that support and enhance healthy hearing
zencortex says
What is ZenCortex? ZenCortex is a cutting-edge dietary supplement meticulously crafted to provide essential nutrients that support and enhance healthy hearing
order cbd online says
Heya i’m for the first time here. I found this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and help others like you helped me.