Love Flying Business Class Across the Atlantic? Save Miles by Flying Economy on Trip Home

I make no secret about the fact that I love to fly international business class whenever possible. I list the benefits at length in a previous post.

Direction I’m Flying Matters

I especially like it for long flights flying east. Because I’m flying against the sun, jet lag can really get to me if I don’t get some sleep. Sleeper seats in business class across the Atlantic allow me to increase my chances of getting some sleep on flights to Europe.

Flying west across the Atlantic is another story. Since I’m chasing the sun, I can get on a flight in Europe before lunch and be back home in LA before sundown. Since there is no need for a full night’s sleep, I don’t really need a sleeper seat. And while business class is great for so many reasons, it’s harder to justify when flying home from Europe.

This is why I will often mix my booking and fly business class to Europe and fly economy home from Europe. This strategy saves me a lot of miles, increases my chances of being able to redeem miles for free flights on the days I want to travel, and gets me that much closer to my next free trip.

Making Economy More Pleasant

Admittedly flying economy for ten or more hours is no picnic but there are ways to make it more pleasant. First of all, flying economy for flights of this length are only possible with the help of noise cancelling headphones. Being able to eliminate the loud cabin noise and watch movies or listen to my music at a moderate volume makes all the difference when it comes to reducing fatigue inflight.

The second trick is to treat yourself before the flight. Go ahead and buy a nice meal and some delicious snacks at the airport and bring it onboard. Yes, airlines feed you but for the longer flights it’s often not enough. Six hours into the flight, you’ll be glad you brought the turkey sandwich or pizza with you.

Preflight Lounge Access

Spending your time in a lounge before your flight is another great way to make the overall trip more pleasant. Lounges frequently have a variety of free snacks and drinks available to munch on before the flight. There is also an abundance of large comfortable chairs to spread out in. The bathrooms are clean and rarely over crowded. There are dedicated agents in the clubs to help you with any last-minute travel changes or complications. And there are power outlets everywhere so you can charge all of your devices before the flight.

The challenge is how to get in. Obviously economy tickets do not grant you access to lounges. But there are other ways.

Several credit cards grant access to the lounges of specific airlines like Delta, American and United. However, these credit cards often have a $450 annual fee, so if you are not a frequent traveler, it may not be worth it.

For those who fly less frequently, United offers two free lounge passes per year with its United Explorer Mileage Plus VISA. The card has a $95 annual fee, but the fee is waived for the first year, so you have 12 months to see if it works out for you before you need to pay the annual fee.

Another way to get lounge access is to simply pay for it. Most airlines allow you to pay a fee, around $50, for access. And if you decide to become a member of the lounge, that ~$50 is deducted from the fee.

This is an expensive way to spend a couple of hours, even considering the free beer and snacks. But if something catastrophic happens and you find yourself stuck in an airport for hours on end, this is a nice option.

I’ve been stuck in airports for up to 6-8 hours due to weather or mechanical delays and being able to access a lounge under these conditions is a real life-saver.

Saving Miles

As I mentioned above, the reason for all of this is the savings in hard earned frequent flier miles. A business class seat can cost 57,000 miles on the low end and as much as 70,000 miles on the higher end of the “saver” level. An economy seat can be had for as few as 30,000 miles. The miles I save are enough to fly me back to Europe, one way.

You Can Always Pay for a Ticket

Another option is to simply buy the coach ticket home. There are many budget airlines flying between the United States and Europe. I personally don’t fly them. But I don’t have to. Neither do you.

Competition in the marketplace means that there are many specials offered by the legacy carriers at similarly low prices. You can frequently see flights to Europe for around $300 each way on legacy carriers meaning you can still get a mean, select your seat and bring a carry-on bag.

So, you could book your free business class flight with miles one way and buy a cheap ticket home. It doesn’t even have to be on the same airline, or a departure from the same city or country. Book your flights to suit your travel needs.

Get Global Entry and Breeze Through Customs

Another advantage business class customers get is access to shorter lines in customs. For the rest of us, if you arrive at the same time as a couple of other jumbo jets, you could be in line for 30 minutes or more.

Global Entry eliminates that. By paying the $100 fee and going through a rigorous background check and in-person interview, you can become a “trusted traveler” for five years. Best of all, certain credit cards will reimburse you for this fee as long as you pay for it with the card.

Some of the cards that reimburse you have hefty annual fees like the American Express Platinum card or the Chase Sapphire Reserve. But other cards that reimburse Global Entry have an annual fee of $95, which is waived the first year. So that’s like getting the card for free for two years.

A few examples of cards that reimburse for Global Entry, have less than a $100 annual fee and have the fee waived the first year are the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card and the United Explorer Card.

Conclusion

To be honest, I truly believe that the value international business class provides you far exceeds the 27,000-40,000 premium in miles redeemed over economy, but knowing I’ll be that much closer to my next trip by simply putting on my noise cancelling headphones, watching several movies and eating that turkey sandwich I bought at the airport, is a worthwhile sacrifice.