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How to get a United BusinessFirst Lie-Flat seat for $325:

Nearly everything is about evaluating the value of miles. This an instance of where it is really important to look for the best redemption. Remember, you can only get the best value from your points only if you know how to use them. I haven’t been around as long as other bloggers, but things I (think) I am good is experimenting with redemptions, maximizing awards, and staying up to date on all information from forums and blogs (*hem* mistake fare :)).

This is one of the “scenarios” that I have been playing with for a few weeks, and since it looks like the window for purchase is closing fast, I thought I might as well post it. This is how you can get a lie-flat bed on a domestic flight for a steal of a deal. Note that I have not yet tried this personally but this might be very lucrative for those who want to do it. Now back to the topic…

I think that domestic first isn’t that worth that much. Frequent Miler presents several options to maximize your miles while flying first class. But I disagree, and I think this might revolutionize “purchasing” domestic first with miles. In my opinion, this is the best and most cost-effective way to fly domestic first class. So either you can spend 34,000 Aeroplan miles, 25,000 United miles, or ~$350. What would you choose?

MeliáRewards, a hotel chain with many hotels in Spain and in the Caribbean is selling points with 25% bonus. You can sign up here (I get 250 points per signup to a maximum of a few thousand points – thanks for your support!).

This makes every block of 10,000 miles only 64 Euros, or ~$88 Canadian, with each mile only costing 0.88 cents. You can buy miles here.

Why is this important? This is because Melia is a 2:1 transfer partner to Miles & More, which allows you to book tickets on Star Alliance Airlines. This means you can essentially buy Miles & More for 1.76 cents each.

The cost of each award then, by directly buying miles, is the 1.76 cents per mile multiplied by the award amount. For example, that means a roundtrip award to Europe is just under $2000 if you directly buy the miles, excluding fuel surcharge.

But what Miles and More is a great redemption for is using their miles for domestic flights within a single country. Since Canada and US are big countries, this is a HUGE sweet spot (no pun intended). The award price for a one-way is just 17,000 miles. You can annually buy a maximum of 100,000 miles, which transfers to 50,000 Miles & More. his means you can at least get three one-way domestic/transcon business class awards pre year through this method.

This means you can fly United Domestic First and Air Canada Executive Class for just $320 plus a maximum of around $50 in airport taxes. This is an AMAZING VALUE. Sure, domestic first class might not be worth paying the premium for. But being able to get the LAX-JFK p.s service with flat beds with connecting flights given that there is space for $320 by purchasing miles and $2.50 in airport taxes is an amazing deal.

This is when the flight normally goes for at least $2,000 when buying a revenue ticket. I’m not saying that I would be paying $2000, but at least it means you’re better off using your United miles for transatlantic and transpacific tickets in premium classes.

This is nearly exactly the same case in Canada. For example, look at this itinerary which is a one-way flight in Executive Class (Air Canada Domestic Premium Class) which is pricing at just over $2000.

This includes the YYZ-YVR in a lie-flat pod (Executive First).

The taxes and fees are just $32.60 in addition to purchasing the miles.

This isn’t just for the “flagship routes” with a lie-flat bed. This is any route within one country that has exorbitantly high fare prices yet award availability. For example YYC-YEG-YUL which is pricing at over $300 one-way in economy class. Or even an expensive transcon such as SEA-DEN-MIA which is pricing at over $270 one way in economy class. If there is award space, why not outright buy the miles and get an “upgrade” for under a hundred dollars?

Of course the value proposition is slightly different if you have elite status, but it is a fantastic deal to lock in a confirmed domestic first flight months in advance with an award from purchased miles given that the price is this sweet.

See what I’m doing here? I’m leveraging three different promotions to achieve the cheapest redemption possible for a flight. When the promotion ends, that means each Mile & More mile will be 2.2 cents, with a 17,000 business one-way domestic ticket pricing at ~$374. Is that a great deal? Still acceptable although not a lot better. But right I think lie-flat seats across the country for under $400 is a definitely a decent if not good deal.

Summary:

I am buying miles at a discount, transferring to a good airline partner, and then redeeming for a sweet spot on the chart to pull out this deal. By tackling the sweet spots of three promotions this is why this kind of deal can appear. Here is the process if you are numbers person:

224 Euro = 308 Cad$ = 35,000 Melia Points = 17,000 Miles & More = 1 domestic business redemption = lie-flat bed/pod = deal

Update:

I have confirmed that the domestic awards apply in Canada and the US.

Does this make your miles useless?
No. In nearly all other cases, miles are the best way for international business and first class. But domestic first class is something that I don’t find it is worth spending the money on. So for those who don’t have elite status, this might be a good alternative.

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