My daughter and I are heading to Europe early this summer. For this trip, I booked award flights to Madrid in business class on Iberia and flights home in economy on KLM. I got a fabulous deal on our return flights at just 17k miles each (thanks to a 20% transfer bonus going on at the time). The routing isn’t the best–Hamburg to Amsterdam to Houston to DFW. But, we have our own row of 2 seats for the 10-hour flight over the pond.
Last month for spring break, we flew to Portugal in business and flew home in premium economy. But the problem with flying in business and premium economy is that you get spoiled with those comfortable seats. So, I decided to see if there were any better options for our award flights home from Europe now that we are closer to our trip dates.
Better Options
I have some orphaned Lufthansa miles, so I checked to see if premium economy was available for a nonstop flight between Frankfurt and DFW. Premium economy wasn’t available, but business class is available for 2 people:
Unfortunately, I’m short on miles for the two of us. I’d have to spend about $1000 for more miles plus over $800 in fuel charges and taxes. Nope!
However, American has a nonstop flight between Frankfurt and DFW with award space in premium economy for 45,000 Alaska miles or 47,000 AA miles:
And oddly enough, AA has first class award space from Hamburg to London to DFW available:
As crazy as it sounds, I’m not booking either of these options. The reason is that I don’t own millions of frequent flyer miles and points. While I do have the miles for these last two options, that would leave me with a low balance that might prohibit me from booking award flights to Japan for my family of 5 for next summer. I can’t imagine saying, “Sorry, kids, we can’t go to Japan because I wanted to sit in a first class recliner for 10 hours instead.” Ha!
What I was hoping to find
I was hoping we could stick with our same KLM flights but use more miles to upgrade to business class (this airplane does not have premium economy). Through the end of the month, Chase has a 25% transfer bonus to Air France/KLM Flying Blue. But unfortunately, the price of those business class seats just keeps increasing. This price is ridiculous:
I’ll keep checking to see if Lufthansa opens up any premium economy award seats for my dates. But most likely, we will be sticking with our cheap seats on KLM.
Bottom Line
It doesn’t hurt to re-shop your award flights closer in to your trip. I lucked out in finding better options for our upcoming Costa Rica trip. But, I still have to consider the miles and points I need for our future travel. I’d rather fly to more places in economy than fewer places in business class.
Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
That couple extra inches of legroom in Economy Plus, Comfort Plus, or whatever each airline calls it makes a big difference.
@ProjectX I’m gonna share your comment with my husband. He is 6 feet 3 inches, so almost as tall as you. He tolerates economy, but you will never hear him say that he enjoys it. Good for you!!
“I’d rather fly to more places in economy than fewer places in business class.”
^This. All. Of. This.
Most recently my family flew GVA-IAD in United Economy Plus (so not even premium econ). I’m 6′-4″, and I was perfectly comfortable. So was the rest of my family. Dare I say I enjoyed it? Something about just kicking back, watching a couple movies, playing some games, joking with the kids, knowing I have nowhere else to be for an extended period of time is nice.
I agree that transatlantic coach is perfectly doable. Flying a premium cabin westbound is strictly for fun instead of functionality.
Do you know if KLM allows one free checked luggage per person on a flight between US and Amsterdam?
@Hilde Yes, my ticket says it includes 1 checked baggage, 1 carry-on baggage plus a personal accessory bag.