Say it with me: Business class isn't just for the bougie.
While the cheapest economy tickets are (almost) always going to be more affordable than the cheapest business class fares, some travelers might be surprised at how inexpensive a lie-flat seat, lounge access, champagne, and a multi-course meal in the sky can actually be.
In the past year, we've sent our Thrifty Traveler Premium members a mistake fare flying United Polaris business class from $899 roundtrip, Delta One business class flying to Hawaii for $582 each way, roundtrip JetBlue Mint business class under $952 to the Caribbean, and even a wild (and quirky) way to fly Emirates First Class for just $940, too. And that's just a small sample of the business class deals we've seen.
Our team of flight deal analysts is constantly on the prowl for cheap business class fares, and we send out the best deals as soon as we find them. You don't need to hoard points and miles or dip into your savings to book a business class flight in 2024 – and here's the proof.
United Polaris to Europe from $899 RT
Sometimes the wrong price is put on the wrong seat. Sometimes the airline forgets to add a zero on the end of the fare. Whenever errors happen in airline pricing, we're there to catch them. We call them mistake fares, and this one could have gotten you a roundtrip flight to Europe in business class for as low as $899.
This mistake fare is long gone. Sign up for Thrifty Traveler Premium so you don't miss the next one!
United Polaris Business Class is one of the comfiest ways to cross the Atlantic. Several members of our team have flown in the (and had access to the luxurious Polaris lounges pre-flight, to boot) and think it's worth saving up your points to book. The cash rates never seem to get cheap, though. Until they did…
This was an unforgettable fare. And even though most of the fares included on this deal were right at or above $1,000, there were a few gems like this one with just three digits before the decimal!
Delta One to Hawaii for $582 Each Way
This is the kind of deal that was never supposed to happen. Delta One seats are rarely cheap to book with cash. They're just too valuable. But thanks to a pricing quirk, these lie-flat Delta One Suites to Hawaii were running at about 75% off!
Here's what happened: Delta normally operates a typical domestic first class seat on its route between Seattle (SEA) and Honolulu (HNL). It's a comfy recliner seat, but not lie-flat, and the price above is more typical of those recliner seats. But we caught wind that Delta was swapping in one of its new, fancy A330-900neos on this route for one month only, which is equipped with the Delta One Suites. But they never changed the fare to reflect that…
When you booked through Delta, the airline advertised these seats simply as “First Class”, but they're clearly Delta One Suites. That meant travelers could book the fares one way for $582 each way. It might be the cheapest Delta One fare we've ever seen, and plenty of our Washington and Hawaii-based Thrifty Traveler Premium subscribers happily taking advantage it this year.
JetBlue Mint to Costa Rica & the Bahamas under $965 RT
JetBlue hasn't always been known for luxury. But JetBlue Mint Business Class has flipped that on its head.
JetBlue flies its lie-flat business class product all over its route network, including to the Bahamas, Grenada, and Costa Rica. While these flights aren't super long, they do have lie-flat seats onboard, meaning you could start your vacation in style this year.
This Mint Business class deal featured roundtrip flights to Grenada (GND) from Boston (BOS), and to Liberia, Costa Rica (LIR), and Nassau, Bahamas (NAS) from Los Angeles (LAX) all for less than $965 roundtrip.
JetBlue Mint from Coast-to-Coast from $887 RT
JetBlue also flies its Mint Business Class seats on its longer, coast-to-coast flights within the U.S., giving people one of the finest rides between the two coasts that money can buy. And it won't take too much money, either…
Any business class fare under $1,000 is worthy of a Thrifty Traveler Premium alert. Less than $900 roundtrip for the best way to fly within the U.S.? That's set off all the alarms at Thrifty Traveler headquarters.
Travelers in Boston (BOS), New York (JFK), San Francisco (SFO), and Seattle (SEA) all got a taste of the action on this one, including nearly year-round availability on the Seattle route, including summer!
ZIPAIR to Japan under $1,000
ZIPAIR flights are almost always the cheapest way to get to Japan when you search for Tokyo flights on Google Flights. And for that reason, people get curious about the funky budget carrier. But ZIPAIR also has a lie-flat business class seat that might be the craziest value in the sky.
ZIPAIR Business Class is as no-frills as it gets. It's just a bed in the sky – with no other amenities, meals, or special service. But if you book it one way, the seat often prices out at or just below $1,000 each way, making it the cheapest way to fly lie-flat to Japan.
If all you want is a lie-flat seat for that long-haul flight across the Pacific, take a good look at ZIPAIR.
LATAM Lie-Flat to Punta Cana for $590 RT
Now we're into the truly crazy section of this post – and I mean crazy in the most affectionate sense. Booking these business class flights makes you a true travel nerd, and we celebrate travel nerds like nobody else here at Thrifty Traveler. So much so, that we have a dedicated list of subscribers who want to be notified to “Nerd Alerts” like this one.
LATAM flies lie-flat seats between Miami (MIA) and Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PUJ). It's a bizarre route for the South American airline to run, but since they do, in some cases, you can book one of these luxurious seats for just $590 roundtrip!
Sure, it's only about a two-and-a-half-hour flight, but why not make that journey in style?
Read next: Nerd Alerts: The Weirdest, Coolest Flight Deals We’ve Found
Avianca Lie-Flat to Colombia for $631 RT
Another short flight that offers maximum comfort is onboard Avianca's 787 Dreamliner in its new lie-flat business class. The Colombia-based carrier connects Miami (MIA) and its Bogotá (BOG) hub for just $631 roundtrip.
Plus, you get all the perks and benefits of flying business class like meal service and lounge access, too.
Air New Zealand First Class from $490
Stay with me here…
This unbelievable-looking first class seat is normally found on Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific. But Auckland-based Air New Zealand has leased the plane from Cathay and is running it as a business class seat on some of their routes, including the short hop between Auckland (AKL) and Melbourne (MLB), and they're pricing it as such, too.
So yes, for just $490, you can fly Cathay Pacific First Class on Air New Zealand to Australia. Does that make sense?
Emirates First Class for $940
When it comes to first class travel, Emirates is the granddaddy of them all. The crazy luxurious airline has one of the finest first class seats in the sky, typically available to travelers for whom money is no object.
Their massive, double-decker A380 plane has an onboard bar, onboard showers for first class passengers, (you read that right), caviar, and Dom Perignon. If you want to fly it on most routes, be ready to fork over a semester of private school college tuition.
But there's a sneakier way…
Emirates flies this behemoth plane between Christchurch, New Zealand (CHC) and Sydney, Australia (SYD), and that means these lie-flat first class flights can be had for just $940!
Bottom Line
When you fly business class, you feel bougie. There's nothing quite like champagne when you board, a multi-course meal in the sky, a night's sleep in a lie-flat seat, and sometimes even a shower onboard.
But business class flights don't have to cost an arm and a leg, if you know where to look, they might be as cheap as your economy ticket. These are just a few of the best ways we've found to fly lie-flat for less than $1,000.
