From Miles to Smiles Stylish travel for professionals seeking luxury at affordable prices
I’m heading out to Seoul in March and am super excited to be flying business class once again. Before you start accusing me of being a pampered brat however, let’s be clear, I paid LESS for these flights than I would have paid for economy class tickets on the same flight. How, I hear you cry?
How I bagged a bargain to Seoul
Here’s how I bagged this deal.
Using airmiles accrued with British Airways, I booked two business class flights departing from Manchester to Seoul for £1149.52. This is actually the cost of the tax and fees (I know, painful right?) as the flight itself was free. Well, as free as it can be when you have paid over a grand in fees!
In addition I used 150,000 points and a companion voucher. The latter entitles a person of my choice (lucky husband!) to join me on a BOGOF basis so I only have to use enough points for one airfare. Unfortunately I have to pay the taxes and fees for two. There’s no avoiding those bloody annoyances.
How much would it cost to buy the tickets?
Flights on the same dates in Club cost a whopping £4679.52 for two people. On that basis therefore I’ve saved £3,530.
What’s more the same flights in economy cost £1299.42. So I paid £149.90 less than even the price for two measly economy seats.
Now, of course British Airways is not always renowned for being the cheapest airline, so it pays to do your research before booking. You may be able to get a better deal on Skyscanner and save your points for when you might get better value.
Redemption tips
It also pays to book as far in advance as possible to have the best chance of securing your business class redemption. I usually book virtually the full 355 days in advance. I’ve even been known to diary the date when flights are released to bag my bargains.
How can you earn the AVIOS?
If you are new to collecting AVIOS and want a ton of tips on how to collect enough points to book your own business class flights, you may wish to start with the Beginners Guide to Collecting AVIOS. This is a series of 14 posts sharing all the tips and tricks I have learned over the years to make it as easy as possible to collect points.
Your best redemption
So what has been your best airmiles redemption and what tips do you have for others? Feel free to share them with us below.
Someday I’ll actually bite the bullet and fly first class! I hear ya with the BA avios fares though. What’s with those fees?!
Great tip. I worked with India’s biggest travel firm for 6 years and we were selling this offer a lot. it is excellent and everyone loves and trusts BA.
That is so smart! We have so many offers for companion airfares and we have not once ever tried to get them. Definitely need to quit being a slacker and learn little tricks like you’ve mentioned.
Nice creative use of points to score such good seats! Amazing that you got the deal for less than what economy costs. Always good to think outside the box to save money on flights. Going to read more of your travel hacking posts now!
So awesome! I usually try to redeem points whenever possible, but am too cheap to spring for business class when I know I could get 2 economy tickets for the same amount of points.
Tamara, which airline are you using as economy redemptions will generally cost less points and less taxes? However if I’m comparing just the cost of what I’d pay to use points for business against booking flights direct, then business comes out cheaper? I don’t find much value in redemptions for economy or short haul
Hey, some good points there and you gave in a lot of thought to grab that bargain and kudos to you for that. Hope you have an amazing trip and make the most of those business seats.
Great tip except I don’t think I’ll be able to use it since I’m from Asia, so we have a different way to save money when going to South Korea. Still, I know people who fly with BA will find this useful!
There is one problem with this post (for me that is)…it’s British Airways. Im British and hate them big time, and I feel passengers don’t get value for money now as they cutting back on meals and all the bits and bobs in Business Class etc. I now only fly with them if they are the last resort. However, great tips in the post. Shame I don’t do airmiles…maybe I should get my ass in gear and start collecting them for a rainy day 😀
Funnily enough I’m writing a post on the very subject of all the cuts etc. That said for airmiles collection in Britain, they have the most opportunities to earn and let’s face it business class in BA is better than economy class in any airline!
Holy moly! That is one expensive flight. I love using Avios and did so for my trip to France last year. British Airways is one of the more comfortable airlines as well.
The tax is a killer but I prefer to look at it in respect of the thousands I saved on business class flights