It’s really incredibly easy to travel in business class for less than economy class… if you want! I’m giving you another excellent example. Tonight, I’m spending 10 hours in a beautiful lie-flat pod seat in business class. The flight cost me the guaranteed fixed price of just 60,000 Aeroplan points (and 72 CAD in taxes/fees) instead of 3112 CAD (value of 5.1¢/pt).
I had relatively fixed dates, like for almost every other time I’ve redeemed points for business class flights.
That certainly doesn’t prevent you from traveling in business class! Stop using this excuse and read how to do it below to learn, if you want to make your flying much more enjoyable.
Here are 9 aspects of this new example that will help you understand how it works.
Overview of my business class flight example
I decided to treat myself, even though I just got a completely free (and very unexpected) upgrade to one of the world’s best business classes (Turkish Airlines A350) for my longest flight ever, just one week ago.
I splurged because I’m doing a quite phenomenal amount of flights (21 in total) and distance (64,374 kilometers (40,000 miles)) in a short time (3 weeks) during this 6-continent trip to earn 1 million points.
(And I have plenty of points thanks to all the crazy deals from recent years, thanks to the fact that I travel less, and thanks to the 2 challenges that gave 1 million points!)
If you want to travel in luxury, it’s honestly easy. For anyone. You just need to make at least a little effort to learn and to be a bit flexible!
Here are 9 important aspects inspired by my example from tonight:
- Flights in luxurious lie-flat pod seats in business class are worth thousands of dollars
- I paid 60,000 Aeroplan points and 72 CAD instead of 3112 CAD
- This route in particular is a sweet spot of the Aeroplan program
- It’s excessively easy to get 60,000 Aeroplan points now
- It’s excessively easy to get plenty more after that too!!!
- It’s very easy to find business class seats at the low guaranteed fixed price
- You just need to be flexible on the itinerary (not even on dates!)
- We’re going to help you very soon with a new section of lucrative points deals
- I’m going to share a detailed testimonial for this flight (like the ones we already have)
Flights that are literally worth thousands of dollars
Traveling in business class is very expensive in cash!!! Especially in good business classes, those with a luxurious lie-flat pod seat and direct aisle access from each seat.
So those who don’t know about points of the more lucrative type (that is the majority of people) think it’s completely inaccessible if you don’t want to spend.
But that’s completely false!
My flight today, from Bangkok to İstanbul in Thai Airways A350 Royal Silk business class, costs 3112 CAD for those who unfortunately pay that in cash.
My previous business class flights paid with points were obviously very expensive too:
- 4074 CAD for San Francisco-Seoul (United Polaris B787)
- 4000 CAD for Montreal-Munich (Lufthansa A350)
- 3856 CAD for Montreal-Doha (Qatar Airways Qsuite B777)
- 5080 CAD for İstanbul-Boston (Turkish Airlines B787)
- 4000 CAD for Copenhagen-Washington (Scandinavian A350)
That’s a lot of money! But it’s not very savvy to pay those prices!!!
My redemption of points of the more lucrative type
Points of the more lucrative type are the best because the price in points is NOT tied to the price in cash! That’s what makes their value UNLIMITED!!!
So, for my flight today, I paid 60,000 Aeroplan points (the guaranteed fixed price for this route) and 72 CAD in taxes/fees.
That gives a value of 5.1¢/pt!
Sadly, there are plenty of people who redeem 60,000 points to get just a 600 CAD discount (1¢/pt).
In fact, if I had booked this flight directly with Amex points, it would have cost me 311,200 points!!! But by transferring Amex points to Aeroplan, it costs just 60,000 points. Yes, these are the same Amex points… but it costs 60,000 instead of 311,200!
Crazy difference, right? That’s what we mean when we talk about the extreme variation in points redemptions!!!
This is important: Business class redemptions are the absolute best deal that exists in the entire world of travel! In terms of money saved, there’s nothing at all that comes even remotely close!!!
And I’m taking the opportunity to remind you how it makes no sense to complain: “But taxes aren’t included”!
I had to pay 72 CAD indeed, but my points were worth 5.1¢/pt. Imagine thinking it’s better to “not pay taxes” but get just 1¢/pt with the same amount of points…
It’s really vital to know how to do the math well in this wonderful world.
Sweet spot of the Aeroplan program
The Aeroplan program is by far the best for Canadians. Much to the dismay of those who clearly don’t understand!
(It’s quite normal when you don’t have the knowledge, but it’s not normal to continue not having the knowledge!)
Aeroplan charges a guaranteed fixed price for flights on the 40+ partner airlines. It’s by far the best points redemption (but the vast majority of people sadly redeem their points on Air Canada).
I think it would be very useful for everyone to know the guaranteed fixed price they can pay for luxurious business class flights with Aeroplan!
It allows you to realize how accessible it is, first of all, but also to make you realize that paying 60,000 points for a roundtrip to Punta Cana in economy class might not be such a good redemption of points ;)!
So here’s the guaranteed fixed price for the most popular routes in business class (one-way):
- 60,000 points for Europe (Montreal-Germany)
- 70,000 points for Europe (other routes)
- 75,000 points for Asia (if you’re out West or position there to save points)
- 87,500 points for Asia (if you leave from elsewhere and don’t want to position)
Personally, I think Asia is the best sweet spot. Plus, it really totally is the best continent!
I wanted to go there and take a very long business class flight to really enjoy it, so I paid 75,000 points for the superb United Polaris business class from San Francisco to Seoul in February. It’s a 13-hour flight, so that gives 5769 PPFH (points per flight hour; I just invented this unit of measurement). And plus I got the Vancouver-San Francisco business class flight included (I was in Vancouver for an Amex Platinum event)!
In comparison, my girlfriend insisted on going to Europe in business class, so I paid 60,000 points for the very good Lufthansa A350 business class from Montreal to Munich in May. It’s an 8-hour flight, so that gives 7500 points per flight hour. Still good, but really a worse ratio.
So for the same price as Canada-Europe, my flight today is an excellent sweet spot! I paid 60,000 points for a 10-hour flight, so that gives 6000 points per flight hour. It’s rare that you’ll go through Türkiye to go to Asia, so the sweet spot might not be useful for you, but all the process and method remains valid and important to understand.
How to get 60,000 Aeroplan points
It’s so easy to earn plenty of points when you understand the most basic thing (that many unfortunately don’t understand): welcome bonuses are the key!
There are plenty of welcome bonuses that give 60,000 Aeroplan points (or 60,000 Amex points, which are transferable to Aeroplan at a 1-to-1 ratio).
| Best credit cards for Aeroplan points |
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 Valuation (BONUS)(≈ 9% back on $12k)
Rewards: ≈ $1330
Card fee: $250
Spend required:$12k in 12 mos. spend $1k/mo. for 12 mos. &
make 1 purchase in months 15-17
Best for: 92,000 pts + 4 lounges and $100 travel credit
 LUCRATIVE
No min. inc.
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Valuation (BONUS) (≈ 11.0% back on $10k)
Rewards: ≈ $1901
Card fee: $799
Spend required:$10k in 3 mos. spend $10k in 3 mos. &
make 1 purchase in months 15-17
Best for: 140,000 pts + unlimited PP lounges and $200 travel credit
LUCRATIVE
No min. inc.
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Valuation (BONUS) (≈ 5.9% back on $7.5k)
Rewards: ≈ $1041
Card fee: $599
Spend required:$7.5k in 3 mos.
Best for: 69,375 pts + unlimited AC lounges & other AC benefits
 LUCRATIVE
No min. inc.
ends August 18th
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| Terms and conditions apply. Flytrippers editorial opinion only. Financial institutions are not responsible for maintaining the content on this site. Please click "See More" to see most up-to-date information. |
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Best credit cards for Aeroplan points |
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LUCRATIVE No min. inc.
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $1330
Card fee: $250 (≈ 9% back on $12k)
Spend required:
$12k in 12 mos. spend $1k/mo. for 12 mos. &
make 1 purchase in months 15-17 Best for: 92,000 pts + 4 lounges and $100 travel credit
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LUCRATIVE No min. inc.
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $1901
Card fee: $799 (≈ 11.0% back on $10k)
Spend required:
$10k in 3 mos. spend $10k in 3 mos. &
make 1 purchase in months 15-17 Best for: 140,000 pts + unlimited PP lounges and $200 travel credit
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LUCRATIVENo min. inc.
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $1041
Card fee: $599 (≈ 5.9% back on $7.5k)
Spend required:
$7.5k in 3 mos.
Best for: 69,375 pts + unlimited AC lounges & other AC benefits
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LUCRATIVENo min. inc.
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $900
Card fee: $156 ($12.99/mo.) (≈ 8.3% back on $9k)
Spend required:
$9k in 12 mos.
Best for: 60,000 pts + 5X the points best card in Canada
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LUCRATIVE60k/100k
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $641
Annual fee: $0 $139 (≈ 5.3% back on $12k)
Spend required:
$12k in 12 mos.
Best for: 40k pts with bonus (52,000 pts total) 40k + 12k on min. spend
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LUCRATIVENo min. inc.
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $540
Card fee: $120 (≈ 14.0% back on $3k)
Spend required:
$3k in 3 mos. + $1k
Best for: 44,000 pts + a free bag on Air Canada
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LUCRATIVE 150k/200k
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $1126
Annual fee: $599 (≈ 2.2% back on $24k)
Spend required:
$24k in 12 mos.
Best for: 85k pts with bonus (115,000 pts total) 85k + 30k on min. spend
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LUCRATIVENo min. inc.
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $315
Annual fee: $0 $89 (≈ 31.5% back on $1k)
Spend required:
$1k in 3 mos.
Best for: 20k pts with bonus (21,000 pts total) 20k + 1k on min. spend
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LUCRATIVE No min. inc.
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $814
Card fee: $199 (≈ 8.2% back on $7.5k)
Spend required:
$7.5k in 3 mos. spend $7.5k in 3 mos. &
make 1 purchase in months 15-17 Best for: 67,500 pts + simpler min. spend structure
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LUCRATIVENo min. inc.
Valuation (BONUS)
Rewards: ≈ $165
Card fee: $0 (≈ 16.5% back on $1k)
Spend required:
$1k in 3 mos.
Best for: 11,000 pts + no fees but way less value
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| Terms and conditions apply. Flytrippers editorial opinion only. Financial institutions are not responsible for maintaining the content on this site. Please click "See More" to see most up-to-date information. |
Until Monday night, you can get the best offer of the year on Marriott cards for free hotels. I’m actually doing a special live video just about that deal tomorrow (but I can talk about the business class deal too).
But also, if you prefer to travel in business class, there are 2 cards that give you Amex points and that also have their best offer of the year:
- Amex Gold Rewards Card (92,000 Amex points)
- 60,000 points if you spend 1000 CAD per month for 12 months
- 20,000 points if you renew your card after Year 1
- 12,000 points earned on these minimum spending requirements of 12000 CAD
- Net fee of 150 CAD (250 CAD minus 100 CAD credit that can be cashed out on Day 1 to reduce the fee)
- Amex Platinum Card (140,000 Amex points)
- 100,000 points if you spend 10000 CAD in 3 months
- 30,000 points if you renew your card after Year 1
- 10,000 points earned on these minimum spending requirements of 10000 CAD
- Net fee of 599 CAD (799 CAD minus 200 CAD credit that can be cashed out on Day 1 to reduce the fee)
How to get plenty more Aeroplan points
It’s so so simple: you take advantage of welcome bonuses again!
Getting more cards will improve your credit score (contrary to the very common and very false myth), give you plenty of travel benefits (free airport lounge access and much more), and a ton of points!
The most absurd thing we see as a comment, even though it’s obviously normal not to know it when you don’t know it, is: “it’s difficult to earn a lot of points”.
Literally anyone can get close to half a million Aeroplan points very easily, to get 7 flights that last 10 hours in luxurious business class worth a total of about 20000 CAD!!!
You can get:
- 92,000 points with the Amex Gold Rewards Card
- 140,000 points with the Amex Platinum Card
- 60,000 points with the Amex Cobalt Card
- 69,375 points with the Amex Aeroplan Reserve Card
- 44,000 points with the Amex Aeroplan Card
- 11,000 points with the Amex Green Card
- 21,000 points with the TD Aeroplan Visa Platinum Card
And that’s not even counting Amex “business” cards that don’t require having an incorporated business. And not counting the fact that despite the rules in theory, in practice you can get the biggest part of the main-level Aeroplan cards‘ welcome bonus an unlimited amount of times!
Yes, everyone can have that! No matter how much you spend.
The only thing that will depend on how you spend is how quickly you’ll get those Aeroplan points. But you can get them. The more you spend, the more you can unlock welcome bonuses quickly.
That’s literally just that you need to do: use all your spending to unlock welcome bonuses. It’s so simple to understand… and to do too!
Ease of finding business class seats at the low guaranteed fixed price
To date, there are 6 long-distance flights where I decided to travel in business class.
All 6 times, I found an available seat! Even when I had no flexibility at all on dates! Even in the peak summer period!
So the idea that you need to be flexible on dates is false.
However, you do indeed need to be flexible on the itinerary if you can’t be flexible on dates!!! So simple…
It’s worth it for the experiences of great luxury that cost literally thousands of dollars.
Being flexible with the itinerary
Traveling in business class is easy if you’re flexible on dates or if you’re flexible on the itinerary.
Being flexible on the itinerary is the easiest, because literally everyone can do it! No excuse possible.
That means just learning to live with positioning flights.
Here are my concrete examples from 2025 to explain this.
In February, I wanted to go to Asia in business class from Vancouver. I had fairly fixed dates because I had commitments. So I took any flight that crossed the ocean in business class.
Simple. It was a Vancouver-San Francisco-Seoul flight, and then I bought a cheap positioning flight from Seoul to China, my real destination.
In May, I wanted my girlfriend wanted to go to Europe in business class. She has a normal job and has very fixed dates, not even a single day before or after. So I took any flight that crossed the ocean in business class.
Simple. It was a Montreal-Munich flight, and then I bought a cheap positioning flight from Munich to Montenegro, my real destination.
In June, I wanted my girlfriend wanted to come back from Europe in business class. I was going to the Vans Warped Tour in Washington, so my dates were completely unflexible again. So I took any flight that crossed the ocean in business class.
Simple. It was a Copenhagen-Washington flight, and then I bought a cheap positioning flight to Copenhagen from Croatia, where I was.
This week, I just wanted to do half of the Australia-Türkiye flight in business class (I explain this in the last section below). I had fairly fixed dates because my flight to the next continent leaves on Monday morning. So I took any flight that crossed all of Asia in business class.
Simple. It was a Bangkok-İstanbul flight, and then I bought a cheap positioning flight to Bangkok from Australia, where I was.
You understand the principle.
Be flexible on the itinerary and take positioning flights! By doing this, it’s very likely that you’ll find a business class seat for your dates if you want to experience luxury at very low prices.
You can even increase your chances of finding one even more with a double positioning flight (before and after the business class flight). It’s a bit less convenient, obviously, and it increases the price a bit more… but it’s still very, very far from the thousands of dollars of the cash price for business class! And like that, it’s almost sure you’ll find a seat!
New section of deals in points of the more lucrative type
Besides being flexible, you also need to know how to search for seats.
Good news: we’re going to help you spot deals in points of the more lucrative type! You won’t need to do anything except go to our homepage regularly, like for deals in cash (and so in points of the more simple type).
Stay tuned very soon for this new feature! You can sign up for our free newsletter specifically about travel rewards to receive this first!
If you don’t want to wait, you can obviously do it on your own. We explain all the details in our guide on how to travel in business class for less than in economy class. It’s honestly very savvy to read that to be very knowledgeable, even if you want to use our turnkey deals.
Testimonial of my Thai Airways flight
I’m going to share a detailed testimonial of my Thai Airways flight, like I did for the business classes United Polaris and Qatar Airways Qsuite.
Unfortunately, the seat is a bit less good. It’s a lie-flat pod seat with direct aisle access, so it’s not horrible. But it’s in a configuration that gives a bit less privacy than the best business classes.
Very first-world problems, I know. But the food and service are supposedly excellent on Thai Airways, so that compensates.
If that interests you, I’m sharing a bit more context about this flight.
The only flights I hadn’t booked from all my current 6-continent journey were those between Australia and Türkiye.
It’s because I was hesitating between coming back in business class (since the 20 other flights are in economy class and I’m doing the equivalent of 12 times Montreal-Paris in 3 weeks) or in economy class (but separating the 20 hours of flights in 2 by spending a few days in Asia so it would be as bad).
Since I had an unexpected, absolutely amazing, completely free upgrade experience on the 20 hours of the direct flight with a stopover for the outbound, I felt bad about doing the whole distance in business class again.
So I decided to make a compromise: the flights between Australia and Asia were so cheap in cash (as little as 240 CAD for flights of almost 10 hours) that I was comfortable doing it by paying a bit more for a day flight (340 CAD) as I hate overnight flights in economy (and it was even less in net cost, because I took an overnight stopover on an airline that pays for the transit hotel and that savedme one night of accommodation).
Honestly, day economy class bothers me much less, as you could have deduced from my 64,374 kilometers (40,000 miles) of flights in 3 weeks. Night flights are atrocious; no doubt. But day flights are fine.
Plus, I used the trick again of politely asking to have a seat in the emergency exit row, and I got it again.
Let’s say the 9h 25m flight is much more comfortable with this insane amount of leg room, especially for someone who’s 6 feet tall and always has his knees pressed against the seat in normal economy class. And I got the whole row too!
So I’m now in Bangkok, as you could see if you follow the stories on my personal Instagram account. I decided to go spend time there before the business class flight rather than stay in ultra-expensive Australia.
It’s mainly the cost, but also because I wanted to minimize traveling around during the already intense trip. So 3 full days in Sydney without going elsewhere were enough; I’ll have to go back to Australia for the rest of the country anyway.
Unlike Kevin, who has been to Bangkok 20 times and has spent months there, I had only visited for 1 day in November during my round-the-world trip for the other 1M points challenge and 1 day in March because I had taken another positioning flight for a business class flight again!
Learning how to travel for less
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Summary
It’s really easy to travel in luxurious lie-flat pod seats in business class if you want! You just need to be flexible on the itinerary, like me this week. I searched for anywhere to İstanbul in business class, and I simply bought a cheap positioning flight from Australia to the departure city of the seat I found! So simple!
What would you like to know about this business class example? Tell us in the comments below.
See the flight deals we spot: Cheap flights
Discover free travel with rewards: Travel rewards
Explore awesome destinations: Travel inspiration
Learn pro tricks: Travel tips
Featured image: Royal Silk business class (photo credit: Thai Airways)
