This month’s cover story, How to Save Up to 67% on United Business and First Class Flights to Australia, South Pacific, may be a valuable read even if you don’t have that trip planned.
(A must read if you do.)
It illustrates how much wiser it can be to use miles to upgrade to Business Class from a bought economy ticket, or to First Class from a bought Business Class ticket.
And in so doing it addresses that dilemma:
“Can’t bring myself to fly coach, can’t bring myself to pay through the nose not too.”
(It’s a dilemma that’s especially acute on that Down Under route; given the long haul and the high fares.)
This clipping shows how well this upgrade strategy works to get a Business Class seat using a bought economy ticket and 60,000 miles:
There’s a sibling chart showing the sample savings using the same 60,000 miles to upgrade to First Class from Business.
N.B. If you need to buy the miles, then reduce the savings by the cost of the miles (you will still be substantially ahead).
Another N.B We’ve also included directions on How to Book the United Mileage Upgrade + When Availability is Strong.