Looking beyond U.S. airlines, here’s what to do when you don’t have enough miles or just want to save a bundle by using Amex, Capital One, Chase and Citi points
FCF’s series on booking mixed-cabin tickets highlights many different ways this can work for premium travelers. Mixed-cabin flying is where you fly in one cabin on the outbound flight, like Business Class, and return in another, say, Premium Economy. Or First Class out, Business Class back.
This is a good strategy to implement for comfort, accessibility, and/or price. For example, if you were on a budget why would you pay very much for a lie-flat seat when you’ll be working on your laptop or watching a movie? Most people select the default option of flying both ways in the same cabin, but there is another way to maximize value on long-haul flights.
We’ve covered this strategy using normal published fares, here, here, and here. And we also looked at mixing cabins when using miles with American, Delta, and United to Europe here. This was all to prompt you to think creatively about mixing up your seats. You have more choice than you think, and certainly more than the airlines or your average travel advisor will talk to you about.
Mixing Cabins to Europe Using Foreign Carriers
This month we look at the following carriers to Europe: Air France, British Airways, Emirates, Iberia, KLM, and Virgin Atlantic — for which you can obtain miles through points transfers from Amex, Capital One, Chase, and Citi — and the many possible cabin combinations, namely:
- First Class on the outbound flight, Business on the return
- First Class on the outbound flight, Premium Economy on the return
- First Class on the outbound flight, economy on the return
- Business Class on the outbound flight, Premium Economy on the return
- Business Class on the outbound flight, economy on the return
- Premium Economy on the outbound flight, economy on the return
There are plenty of reasons to mix cabins, covered more in depth here. You can add this special report to the list if you’re not satisfied with the aforementioned options delivered by the big three U.S. airlines.
Why Use Foreign Carriers’ Loyalty Programs for Mixed Cabin FLIGHTS To/From Europe?
Because some foreign carriers offer lower-cost mileage award tickets in First, Business, and/or Premium Economy, while:
- American inflates the cost of mixed-cabin tickets
- Delta is ridiculously high most of the time
- United’s mixed-cabin award tickets can often offer good savings, but not always
If your itinerary requires a connection, there’s more on that here.
Looking at Foreign Loyalty Programs for the Mixed-Cabin Strategy
We’ve looked at the top foreign loyalty programs to find out which ones the mixed-cabin strategy to Europe works with best. We’ll highlight the best and worst options below.
Best and Worst Upgrades & Downgrades
What's the best downgrade with miles? (By downgrade we mean dropping down a cabin level on one leg to save, more here). Emirates saves you 40,000 miles and $17 in taxes when downgrading from a First Class round-trip to First Class outbound (on your night flight) and Business (on your day flight) on the return. Air France and KLM saves you 35,500 miles and $206 in taxes when you downgrade from Business Class round-trip to Business Class outbound (on your night flight) and economy (on your day flight) for the return flight (115,000 versus 79,500).
What's the best upgrade with miles? Air France and KLM charge just 12,000 miles and $77 more in taxes when upgrading from a Premium Economy round-trip to Business Class outbound (on your night flight) and Premium Economy (on your day flight) on the return (103,000 miles versus 91,000). That’s a great value.
What's the worst downgrade with miles? It’s Iberia, but ONLY because Iberia’s overall round-trip costs are so low, so it doesn’t make sense to downgrade. In other words, Iberia only saves you 8,500 miles and $21 in taxes to downgrade the return flight.
Mixed Cabin Pricing and Savings Opportunities
Perspective #1: Downgrading the Return Flight to Save
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Perspective #2: Upgrade Your Outbound Flight for Maximum Return on Investment
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