Haven’t had the chance to fly business class yet? Envious of those influencers jetting around the globe in luxurious lie-flat seats, as showcased on TikTok and Instagram? Well, here’s some great news: turning that dream into reality is more achievable than you might think! In today’s blog post, we’ll reveal just how affordable it can be to indulge in the business class experience and provide you with essential tips for securing your booking!
What to look for to finding the cheapest seats:
To experience the luxury of lie-flat seats that convert into beds at a more affordable cost, it’s ideal to focus on shorter flight routes lasting approximately 3-5 hours. While this may not always hold true, it is often the case that shorter flights come with lower ticket prices. However, there’s a catch: airlines are aware that lie-flat seats are not essential for these routes, so they tend to use planes without such seats in order to maximize passenger capacity.
Nevertheless, with the right knowledge, you can identify occasional flights on short routes that do offer lie-flat seats. Surprisingly, the price for a ticket with a lie-flat seat on these specific flights is often the same as the price for a regular business class seat on a different plane without lie-flat functionality. By carefully researching and understanding the available options, you can find these hidden gems and unlock the opportunity to enjoy a business class experience with lie-flat seats, even on shorter flights.
For you to be able to take advantage of this, you’ll need to understand 3x things:
- The routes that offer lie flat business class seats
- The planes that offer lie flat business class seats
- How to confirm the plane & route is a lie flat seat
1. Short routes that offer lie flat business class seats:
Sydney to Fiji (To/From)
Sydney to Perth (To/From)
Brisbane to Auckland (To/From)
There are more, but this is an example to get you started. If you want to find all the routes you’ll want to look for the following aircraft….
The aircraft to look out for:
Qantas Flights – A330-200
Fiji Airlines Flights – A350-900
You must pay close attention to this hidden error:
We all know just how great the Qantas website is…. well, be sure to pay close attention to this confusing detail when booking flights looking for lie flat seats. Below, we were trying to locate lie flat seats onwards to Perth. Usually, there should be a lie flat symbol to confirm that these seats are lie flat… For the Perth route there is no symbol confirming this and it displays that the seat pitch only reclines 79cm….
Most people would ignore this and assume it’s not lie flat, however, we know that the A330’s have a lie flat business class cabin (which can be confirmed by looking at the seat maps). So, pay close attention to the aircraft type & then proceed to the seat selection page. Here is where you will confirm that the seat selection page matches the seat map of a cabin with lie flat seats. The seating configuration you’re wanting should be 1-2-1. This is a great hidden detail that many will miss unless they know what to look for!
Example – Fiji Airlines – Sydney to Fiji (Nadi) – A350
Image – Fiji Airlines – Stunning Interior Business Class Cabin w/Lie Flat Seats
Fiji Airlines regularly flies to/from Fiji with multiple aircraft. Most of these aircraft do not feature lie flat seats and their business class cabins will basically be an extra wide economy seat with a bit more incline. However, the A350 regularly flies on this route too which does feature the lie flat seats. The key is to look out for the A350 planes and particularly look out for the lie flat symbol that confirms this. I’ve highlighted what to look for below in yellow boxes.
Image – Qantas Website
By keeping an eye out on these 2x things (Aircraft & Seat Confirmation), you can take advantage of these routes and enjoy a lie flat seat! Something to note is that these flights will be few and far between and will take a bit of searching to hunt them down!
How much does it cost to fly business class on this route?
As you can see an example classic rewards business class flight on a lie flat seat can cost as little as 41,500 Qantas Points + $100 in taxes! It’s not hard to accumulate 41,500 Qantas points meaning to fly business class in a lie flat seat is a realistic goal that anyone can achieve! For tips on how to accumulate Qantas points, be sure to check out our other blogs here!
For more details on Fiji Airways Business class check out their site here
