Taking an international flight in business class used to feel like a far-flung dream. My budget is typically in line with economy pricing — even premium economy can feel like a stretch if I’m paying cash on a peak date.
It wasn’t until I dove into the world of points and miles that I truly began to understand just how attainable a business-class flight could possibly be. Now, I’ve done it.
This year, I booked my first-ever business-class redemption to visit my best friend in London. I got a pretty stellar deal thanks to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, which I booked by transferring American Express Membership Rewards points.
Here’s how I identified, confirmed and booked my award ticket.
Identify travel dates with Seats.aero
Flexibility is the key here. I knew I wanted to visit my friend in spring, but I had some wiggle room with the exact date of my trip. Because so many airline loyalty programs use dynamic award pricing, you’ll find the best values if your dates aren’t as rigid.
You’ll also find more availability if you’re flexible about your departure location. My local airport — Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport (GSP) in South Carolina — is on the smaller side. As such, booking a positioning flight to the London-bound leg of my journey was in the cards.
I have multiple transferable rewards cards that partner with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club, and I’ve been eyeing its Upper Class business class since flying Virgin Atlantic premium economy on a trip last year. So, I decided to book this redemption with Virgin points over using another SkyTeam loyalty program.
When I’m looking for flight redemptions, my first stop is always Seats.aero. I have the Pro plan, which lets me set additional search parameters. Since my trip is flexible, I entered “USA” as my origin and set my departure date to be within 28 days before or after May 1 to keep my travel in spring.
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Finally, I selected the “only direct flights” option, set Virgin Atlantic as my operating airline and chose to only search for business-class seats. These are advanced filters, but they made narrowing my search much easier.
When I booked my award, I found a one-way flight in early May from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR) for 39,000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points plus $581 in taxes and fees.
However, when I ran the search a few weeks later, that pricing was no longer available. In the example below, you’ll see a business-class flight to LHR from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) for 47,500 points, with most other options in this time frame setting you back 56,000 points.
To learn more about running your own searches, read our full Seats.aero guide.
Related: Redeem your points and miles: How to search flight award availability for the major airlines
Confirm availability with the airline
This step is key. While Seats.aero is a fantastic place to start, you can’t rely completely on the aggregator to be 100% accurate all the time. And once you make a transfer, you can’t transfer your points or miles back to your credit card.
Before initiating a transfer to my Virgin account, I double-checked that the award I found actually existed.
For this article, I searched for the BOS to LHR flight on April 28 that I found for 47,500 points on Seats.aero.
I logged in to my Virgin Atlantic account and searched for a matching itinerary on the airline’s homepage.
I found the same flight on Virgin Atlantic’s website, meaning I could transfer the 47,500 points needed for the redemption to my account to book the ticket.
The only out-of-pocket expense would have been for the taxes and fees, which cost $589.
Related: 10 mistakes to avoid when redeeming airline points and miles
Compare cash vs. points and miles rates
Of course, there is no such thing as a “perfect redemption.” Any good redemption is one you find valuable. However, if you’re seeking a mathematically backed way to ensure you’re getting good value for your points and miles, you should compare the redemption’s value to its cash cost.
Since you may run into multiple award rates with dynamic pricing, we’ll run the math twice: first for the redemption I actually made from JFK (for 39,000 points plus $581 in taxes and fees) and the other example we’re walking through from BOS (for 47,500 points plus $589 in taxes and fees).
For the JFK to LHR redemption, let’s first determine the value of 39,000 Virgin points using TPG’s February 2026 valuations. TPG values Virgin points at 1.3 cents apiece, so according to this calculation, 39,000 points would be worth $507. Then we’ll add the $581 in taxes and fees, bringing the total to $1,088.
Compare that to the cash price of $2,633.50, and we’re saving about $1,546 by using points.
We can do the same math for the hypothetical BOS to LHR redemption. First, let’s determine the value of 49,500 Virgin points — about $644, per TPG’s valuations. Add that to the additional $589 in taxes and fees to get a total of $1,233.
The cash price for Virgin Atlantic business class can vary drastically, and the BOS to LHR flight would’ve cost $10,018.50.
As a result, you’d save more than $8,000 by booking with points, which is an incredible value.
Still, it’s worth doing the calculations to see if your redemption is mathematically sound. You can check out TPG’s Awards vs. Cash Calculator to compare the value of your own redemptions.
And always keep in mind that one-way pricing isn’t the same as two one-way tickets, so you may get an inflated valuation when comparing a one-way award to a one-way cash fare.
Related: How (and why) to calculate award redemption values
Transfer your points or miles
Now that I’ve found my award, confirmed its availability and ensured it’s a good redemption, I can transfer my points to Virgin Atlantic.
I chose to book with Virgin Atlantic Flying Club over another partner program, such as Air France-KLM Flying Blue or Delta SkyMiles, because I found such a solid award flight. I wanted to jump on the booking as soon as I found Upper Class availability for less than 40,000 points.
I used my American Express Membership Rewards points. To learn more about this process, read our full guide on transferring Amex points.
One of the best aspects of Virgin Atlantic Flying Club (and its sister program, Virgin Red) is that it partners with every major transferable rewards program:
Virgin often runs transfer bonuses with these programs, extending the value of your points and miles. For instance, Chase is currently running a limited-time 40% bonus for transfers from its Ultimate Rewards program to Virgin Atlantic through Feb. 28.
If I applied this bonus to my 39,000-point redemption from JFK to LHR, I would need to transfer just 28,000 Chase points to Virgin Atlantic. This is because they’d convert to 39,200 Virgin points with the 40% bonus.
Related: Current credit card transfer bonuses
Bottom line
Business-class flights don’t have to be out of reach, especially if you’re flexible and know how to find award availability.
There are multiple travel credit cards on the market that earn transferable rewards, allowing you to be even more flexible with which airlines you can fly.
I can’t wait to enjoy my lie-flat seat on the way to visit my best friend in London. With these tips, you’ll be hitting the sky in luxury, too.
Related: 7 of the best airline sweet spots to redeem your points and miles
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thepointsguy.com
