Flying domestic business or first class can be a dream come true if you're tall, need to work on your computer or don't want to spend a flight rubbing elbows with your neighbor.
First or business class seats are bigger for starters, and they have more leg room to boot. Since there are fewer people per row, you aren't packed in there like sardines.
International business class, on the other hand, is an entirely different animal. The food is often restaurant quality, and the seats can span from big to huge. Some international business class seats even feature full-fledged lie-flat seats that make sleeping and relaxing a breeze.
Now, onto the bad news: Business class flights can cost 2-10 times more than flying in economy.
If you're looking for ways to travel in business without forking over the full freight of business class tickets, there are ways to save even if it's all above your pay grade. With some planning and creative thinking, you could easily score discount business class tickets or even get them for free.
If not, well, you'll be stuck back in economy with the rest of us.
Rack Up Airline Miles
One of the best ways to save on business class airfare is to avoid paying for it completely. For the most part, you can do that by racking up airline miles, although you will be on the hook for government-mandated taxes and fees even if you pay with miles.
Just like if you were paying cash, however, you'll fork over more miles for a business class seat.
An example: With the American AAdvantage program, a round-trip, off-peak SAAver award to Europe from the U.S. is only 45,000 miles in economy, but surges to 115,000 miles round-trip in business class.
The bottom line: Plan on earning a ton of miles if you want to fly business class. You can do this by signing up for a few co-branded airline credit cards and using them for regular spending and signup bonuses.
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Watch for Special Sales
Economy airfare goes on sale all the time, but so do business class tickets. If you keep your eye out for sales, you'll have the best chance to pounce when the time is right. Keep in mind, it might take months-or even years-to find a business class sale for a destination you want to fly to.
To keep your eye out for upcoming sales, it can help to sign up for notifications from airfare deal websites like TheFlightDeal.com or SecretFlying.com.
Follow them on social media to hear about the newest deals the second they come out.
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Pay at the Gate
A final way to save on business class tickets is to pay cash for an upgrade at the gate. It doesn't always work, but you can try. And if you succeed, you could save thousands of dollars.
Here's a good example: Recently, I flew Air Tahiti Nui from LAX to PPT (Tahiti). The price for an economy flight was around $1,300 round-trip, but you could book a round-trip Poerava business class flight for around $5,800.
Yet, I saw many people pay $900 to upgrade one-way at the gate for the journey to Tahiti, then for the journey home. Obviously, paying $1,300 for an economy flight plus $1,800 for upgrades ($3,100 total) is a better deal than paying $5,800 off the bat.
Keep in mind, however, that this won't work for all flights or even all airlines. Not only that, but the fact you're not guaranteed a business class seat could leave you wondering until the last minute-or enduring an uncomfortable coach flight if business class sells out.
While flying coach is less than ideal, it's certainly better than staying home.
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