Average spot price: $3,000

Fortunately, not all premium class tickets involve jumping through so many hoops. Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Offers Low points rate and decent rewards availability on its flights between London Heathrow and several American cities.

Like many Swifties, my best friend and I crossed the Atlantic for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour. We got standing room only seating and found ourselves only 10 feet from the stage. To top off our trip, we redeemed our points for business class tickets, which Virgin aptly calls “Upper class”, for our return flight. Our experience began with a private security entrance to Heathrow, which quickly took us to the Virgin Clubhouse. Although we were well fed on board, we couldn’t resist a hearty meal of fish and chips, followed by freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. We flew in back-to-back window seats on the Airbus A350, had afternoon tea in the onboard lounge and even received a deck of Virgin Atlantic playing cards from friendly flight attendants.

Search for “Award Flights” on Virgin Atlantic website makes it easy to find awards available in economy class (from 10,000 points), premium economy (from 17,500 points) or Upper Class (from 47,500 points) on the many flights between New York and London. We booked our tickets about three months in advance and found plenty of seats available. Although taxes and fees added another $850, getting business class seats during peak summer was worth it.

The longest flight in the world is even more comfortable in business class, or even better when booking it with points and miles.

Courtesy of Singapore Airlines

Singapore Airlines Business Class from New York to Sydney via Singapore

Points used: 129,000 Amex Membership Rewards (transferred to Singapore Airlines)

Average Spot Price: $10,000

Points and miles gave me the opportunity to experience the world’s longest flight on Singapore Airlines. Surprisingly, I didn’t want the first leg of the trip – the 19-hour flight from New York to Singapore – to end. The extended time in the air allowed me to take full advantage of the perks of business class: sleeping 10 hours, enjoying the airline’s signature lobster thermidor, and switching between a movie and the in-flight map as we flew across the world . Singapore Airlines offers free stopovers on award flights, giving me plenty of time to explore the hawker centers and admire the Jewel at Changi Airport during a 24-hour layover.

I booked this itinerary using Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles transferred from American Express. When you search the Singapore website, you should look for “Advantage” award rates. In 2022, I redeemed 129,000 miles and only $45 in taxes for the entire trip in 2022, although the same ticket now costs 190,000 miles (or 143,500 miles for the first trip from New York to Singapore) . To have the best chance of booking flights, you’ll want to do your research almost a year in advance.