I know you’ve seen all our business class flights, and maybe you thought that was the goal of using credit card points and miles. That may work for us sometimes, but there are several pros of flying economy. And more importantly, we don’t always fly business class—we fly economy most of the time. Well, at least Alex and Jess fly economy class seats on points/miles frequently!

Better Availability

How many of you have had trouble finding business-class flights? Although I can usually find what I am looking for in business class, it is definitely a work in progress. If you want to avoid frustration, go for economy class seats on points/miles.

We all traveled economy class for years, even internationally. Figure out the best seat on the plane in economy and make that work for you. I NEVER have problems finding economy class availability for international flights. Don’t have flexibility when you travel? Go for those economy-class seats!

Most of my trips to London to visit my daughter have been in economy class until the last couple of years – I survived just fine!

Cheaper Redemptions

This is obvious, but economy class seats cost fewer miles/points. I hear from people all the time who prefer quantity over quality—I can totally understand that. You will get many more trips if you book primarily economy class seats. For many, the trip starts at the destination, not when you get on the plane. That is how I was for years and years. Then I got bad knees, and my thinking changed. I didn’t fly business class until I was in my 50s (and that’s what I’d still be flying without this hobby)!

60K miles round-trip to Europe in economy versus 90K one-way in business class will definitely let you stretch your stockpile. This gets even more important if you are traveling with a family. Business class seats for family travel can diminish your points in an instant!

Upgrade to Economy Plus

One thing I did early on when traveling to London frequently was to book economy class and then pay to upgrade to Economy Plus for about $100+ each way. This was huge in making my United flights more comfortable. My daughters will still do this for daytime flights. They smartly say, “Who needs to lie down and sleep during daylight hours?” Economy Plus may be just fine for you.

The interesting thing is that booking Economy Plus seats from the start can be almost as expensive as business class. Check it out when you go to book—maybe just paying a little more with cash will work better for you, too. Here’s my old flight from SFO-LHR, which I’ve flown several times. Notice the Economy Plus price—does that even make sense?

Bottom Line

Please, please don’t think you are doing anything wrong if you book economy seats on points/miles. We 100% applaud anyone who wants to use points/miles in any way. I would say most people who do this are flying economy. Keep being you! Free is free, which is the common goal of all of us!