Hi All, Can anyone help me on what are the cheaper ways to fly premium economy and business?

Hi All, Can anyone help me on what are the cheaper ways to fly premium economy and business? Both Europe and North America. Have heard of mile brokers, but seemed to only be aimed at business and first.

Thanks Ed

Hi Ed, apart from point redemptions (and usually it's better value redeeming for business than it is is premium economy) the cheapest way to fly premium economy and business (without pre-positioning for regional fare differences) is to simply watch the sale fares. We've had some good ones lately ($2K PY to LAX - Air New Zealand; $6K J to JFK - Qantas; etc) - it always seem Feb is a good month for fare sales but if you have flexibility you can generally find good value.

If you are not fussed about status credits/elite earn, you can always scan point sales and buy redemptions but always check you have an award availability first. But if you don't care about elite earn, some of the best fares are on the LCCs like Scoot or AirAsia who sell very cheap premium seats to get to markets that offer US or Europe fares cheaper than you can get here (if you don't mind taking the long way round, you can obtain significant savings).

Do exercise care buying point tickets, as some airlines void such things as an abuse of their program.

Also it pays to follow the various travel gaming bloggers out there, they are usually the first to pick up on any good deals or strategies going round.

Building on what gippsflyer says, I have recently found that a cheap one way to international hubs like Singapore allows you to access cheaper fares than ex-Australia. the fare element that is often overpriced is the SYD,MEL, BNE etc outbound flight to the gateway e.g. SIN

Also avoiding LHR and going into one European hub and out of another changes prices dramatically.

So a return flight from East Coast Australia to Europe in one hub and out of another would currently be 785 plus 219 economy or 499 business class (Scoot) or 375 Jetstar. So hybrid business/economy return would be $1284 or pure economy $1004. Much cheaper than flying direct pure economy.

I did something similar last year and went BA from SIN - LHR -SYD and one way Scoot business to SIN.

If you have points you could even look at upgrading to PE depending on the fare class and airline rules.

Currently $784/785 for on kayak for SIN-PAR, then DUB-BNE or SYD:

http://www.kayak.com.au/flights/SIN-PAR/2015-10-26/DUB-BNE/2015-11-21

http://www.kayak.com.au/flights/SIN-PAR/2015-10-26/DUB-SYD/2015-11-21

Things to consider are how pressed you are for time - whether it's worth the hassle to go via a hub and the hassle factor of the intra Europe flights though these are usually cheap and if it's for pleasure you get to experience more travel.

This example was for economy business mixed, but the same applies for other fare classes.

Business would be $499 plus $4565 - much cheaper than the 7-8K Etihad or Qantas direct fares for the same dates.

Im more keen on the direct flights or flights that dont give me long layovers, but ill have a look at scoot, how did you find scoot business?

Scoot Business was not bad. Like an older business class product. Very no frills though foodwise but good leg room and the price of economy on other carriers so you can't really complain. Not flat bed seats though. I've flown Thai and Singapore First and Cathay and Thai Business and they are a lot better - true business class products. It's more like a Virgin and Qantas Domestic Economy seat if you're familiar with those. Leg room is important to me as I'm 6foot 2, so it's my first priority. Champagne, caviar etc. is a nice to have if someone else is paying, but when the savings add up to more than a bottle of Grange then if I'm paying I know which I would prefer.

Haha very wise! Yeah flow business on a few cheaper asian lines, and seem to be worth the dollars you pay; flew vietnam airlines business and found that great value!.

Ill try to scramble some points togther, always the preferance, with stealing a cheaper seat. If i have enough. If not ill think about a try through asia on the budget carriers.

Yeah if can snare an Air NZ flight for 2k PY id take it! Just seem to always miss the sales!

Needs to be a site that alerts you to all the airfare sales worldwide, or is there one?

Will keep an eye on more bloggers too. Otherwise might need to bank a few more points this year. 

You can use Skyscanner to create fare alerts for specific routes. That's a good place to start.

You can of course always buy points..... Alaska Airlines, AA, US Airways, BA Avios lifemiles (when they have bonus deals)... for cheaper travel, or get them through credit card signups, paying tax by credit card (for some cards) etc...

One good way to save money can be looking at the codeshares for the flight, Google Flights is a good tool for that. For example, if I want to go to Dubai on QF metal but not pay the QF price, check what Emirates charge for the same flight, that way you will get to enjoy Qantas service but pay the less price of Emirates. Hope this helps!