September 13, 2024

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How to Fly Biz Class to Asia & Oceania for Around 100K Points (Or Less!)

6 min read
For years, it felt like finding business class flights to Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, or New Zealand bookable with points was searching for a needle in a haystack. … Continued

For years, it felt like finding business class flights to Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, or New Zealand bookable with points was searching for a needle in a haystack. With fewer airlines operating fewer flights across the Pacific during and right after the pandemic, pickings were slim. 

Let me tell you: Things have changed…big time. 

Airlines have been releasing business class award space in numbers like we haven’t seen before, giving travelers a great shot at using their hard-earned points and miles for that ultra-long haul trip to Oceania or Asia they’ve been dreaming about. 

Whether it’s a business class flight to Japan, flying the best business class in the world to Thailand, a nonstop, lie-flat trip to Vietnam, or even an island getaway in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, there are a few great options for travelers looking to take a big, transpacific trip in 2025. And you can snag these seats with a stash of American, Alaska, or Delta miles or by transferring credit card points from banks like American Express, Capital One, Chase, Citi, and more. 

Our Thrifty Traveler Premium members know this all too well right now. In just the last few weeks, we’ve sent more business class award deals to Asia and Oceania than in the three months prior, and it’s showing no signs of stopping. Here are the best ones. 

Japan Airlines Business Class to Tokyo for 60K Miles

It’s an award travel sweet spot unlike any other: Booking Japan Airlines Business Class to Tokyo using American Airlines miles…and only 60,000 of them! 

Japan Airlines

Japan Airlines

Get more business class award alerts like this with Thrifty Traveler Premium!

When we find award space to book these seats with AA miles (and believe me, we check every single day), we send it to our subscribers immediately. The savings are enormous and the seat is exceptionally comfy, too. 

JAL

JAL

This deal wasn’t just using AA miles, though. Travelers could book these incredible seats for 75,000 Alaska miles or 78,000 British Airways Avios too, meaning you had a path to book these seats with Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, or Wells Fargo points, too. In the past, we’ve seen them available from all the cities below, too if you book with BA or Cathay Pacific miles, too. 

JAL fares

JAL fares

Qatar Airways QSuites to Southeast Asia for 95K Points

The most efficient way to fly to Asia and Oceania is by flying west, but for the best business class in the world, I think you’ll be OK flying east for once. 

QSuites

QSuites

Qatar Airways has one of the biggest route networks on earth from its hub in Doha (DOH), which means you can fly from the U.S., connect once in Doha, and then fly the rest of the way to Southeast Asia on the same ticket. 

Best of all, you can do it flying Qatar Airways QSuites

QSuites info

QSuites info

For the Asian destinations on this list like Phuket (HKT), Singapore (SIN), Hong Kong (HGK), Ho Chi Minh (SGN), and Hanoi (HAN), you’ll have to fork over 95,000 British Airways or Qatar Avios (transferable from Amex, Bilt, Chase, Capital One, Citi, and Wells Fargo).

QSuites

QSuites

For this stylish of a ride, 95,000 points is a steal. 

Vietnam Airlines to Ho Chi Minh City from 81K Points

There’s only one nonstop flight to Vietnam from the U.S. and that’s aboard Vietnam Airlines flying from San Francisco (SFO) to Ho Chi Minh City (SGN). 

Vietnam Airlines

Vietnam Airlines

Onboard those Vietnam Airlines planes are these snazzy business class seats that you can book for just 101,000 Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles each way. 

Vietnam business class

Vietnam business class

You can transfer points from Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Citi, or Wells Fargo to Flying Blue to book. You can also book these Vietnam Airlines business class sets through Virgin Atlantic for 140,000 points. 

Korean Air to Seoul from 75K Points

If you want to fly lie-flat to Seoul, you won’t find anything cheaper than flying Korean Air Business Class. 

Korean air

Korean air

Thanks to its partnership with Alaska Airlines, you can snag these seats for just 75,000 Alaska miles and $19 in taxes and fees one-way. If you don’t have Alaska miles (or a way to earn them), you can also book through Virgin for 85,000 to 100,000 points each way. You can easily transfer points to Virgin from nearly all the major banks: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, and Citi. 

Korean air info

Korean air info

Korean Air might have more North American gateways than you think, too. Flying from Dallas (DFW), Las Vegas (LAS), Toronto (YYZ), and Vancouver (YVR), we found dozens of available dates to make your trip to Seoul (ICN) the comfiest yet in 2025. 

Korean air

Korean air

Fiji Airways Business Class for 80K Miles Each Way

The islands of Fiji are deceptively far away. Located far closer to Australia and New Zealand than the U.S., the remote islands make for a dreamy beach getaway. And if you want to kick off this honeymoon-y trip in bougie fashion, jump aboard Fiji Airways to do so. 

Fiji Airways

Fiji Airways

Booking Fiji Airways business class isn’t always straightforward, though. The seats are tough to find…that is unless they launch a brand new route and need to fill its business class seats fast! 

Fiji Airways

Fiji Airways

Read more: New Airline Routes: The Secret to Cheap Flights & Award Availability

The new Dallas (DFW) to Nadi (NAN) route is a huge boon for our subscribers who were alerted to the nonstop award space bookable with American (or Alaska) miles. But we also found more than a hundred other connecting routes into Dallas that gave travelers from all over the country a stab at these fares – all for the same 80,000 AA miles rate. 

Delta One Business Class (For a Few Miles More…)

Everything you saw above was right about 100,000 miles or fewer to get to Asia and Oceania. But here’s a hard truth: If you want to fly Delta One business class using your Delta SkyMiles, it’s never going to be that low. 

Delta’s SkyMiles prices are the single worst in the world when it comes to redeeming for business class. You can do better earning almost any other kind of point or mile. With one-way flights being almost always worthless (international roundtrips on Delta are typically priced almost the same as one-ways), and with roundtrip flights being prohibitively expensive (think 400,000+ SkyMiles per ticket), we’ve declared that SkyMiles are the worst points currency for business class flyers.

Still, with so many travelers earning SkyMiles these days, we check these coveted Delta One seats every single day to alert subscribers to (relatively) cheap availability. And lately, we’ve found some great value – including some rare, rare one-way rates, too. 

Delta One Seoul

Delta One Seoul

This deal is long gone – join Thrifty Traveler Premium to the next Delta SkyMiles deal in your inbox!  

Recently, a rare opportunity to book one-way Delta One flights came about with this deal to Seoul (ICN). Just 140,000 SkyMiles would be enough to do the trick, and it’s even lower if you have a Delta SkyMiles credit card thanks to their 15% discount on award bookings

Delta One Seoul

Delta One Seoul

A similar deal also came around just a few days ago, this time flying to Delta’s newest destination: Brisbane, Australia (BNE). The fares below were a rare chance to book one-way flights to Australia using your SkyMiles. 

Delta One Brisbane

Delta One Brisbane

We also found these Delta One flights to Auckland, New Zealand (AKL) for 350,000 SkyMiles roundtrip. While it’s not even close to being the most competitive rates out there, these are still half-off SkyMiles fares to Auckland. 

Delta One Auckland

Delta One Auckland

You won’t get sub-100,000-mile fares to Asia and Oceania when flying Delta, but you can still save big if you know where to look. 

Bottom Line

It’s been a boom time for business class award flights to Asia and Oceania, and most travelers won’t need more than 100,000 points to book a comfy seat across from the Pacific Ocean this year or next. 

From Fiji to Seoul to Thailand and back again, these are some of the most available cheap and comfy flights to Asia and Oceania that we’ve seen in years. 

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This article has been archived by Slow Travel News for your research. The original version from Thrifty Traveler can be found here.

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