Cheapest way to get Business Class flights?

[rheak]

I recently turned left for the first time, oh my was it brilliant
I actually enjoyed the flight!

I fancy going to Japan next year in July. But would consider elsewhere if flighte reasonable.

What’s the cheapest way to get Business Class flights?

Do I book say BA direct and then upgrade beforehand or at the airport?

Book a random airline indirect and see if I can upgrade?

Or monitor prices for months and wait until a bargain pops up?

This year I upgraded online and then at the airport and it cost me ~£400-500 each way.

Airline membership, collecting air miles on every flight you take. Flying lots with work on someone else's coin, then collecting the air miles for the pleasure.

Have a look on BA.com at how much your return flight is, and then try doing a flight+hotel or flight+car and see if the very cheapest package comes out cheaper. You don't need to actually use the hotel/car but you get the benefit of the package air fare. Also earns you extra Avios.

Business class is still turning right - at least for United it is and that's where we have the airmiles. We're able to buy longhaul flights and pay only for the taxes & fees - still have to book months in advance though because there are limited seats available for air mile redemption and lots of people obviously do it! Sometimes, we pay for the business upgrade on family holidays but most often than not, we get them anyway because DH has a huge number of airmiles.

If you want to book with BA wait until the sales in January. We usually get some very good deals for Business then.

1. Get on all the relevant airline fb pages/email lists etc, and join the loyalty schemes. Consider flying indirect as well as via euro hubs too. (Also check out what the airlines offer as not all bus class is created equal!)
2. Check the google flights price graph to get an idea of the lowest prices/dates/times (bearing in mind that will always still probably be 3-4 x economy fare)
3. Investigate purchased upgrades/bid offers, but remember these can be one chance only and not guaranteed at all.
4. Be ready to book immediately a fare sale comes up (see 1 and 2) as the lowest promo fares will go very quickly, within hours on popular routes.
5. Get yourself psychologically ready to spunk a good chunk of cash on an airline ticket. I'm now at the stage where long haul for me just means business class. I've done my hard years in long haul economy and i live a generally well budgeted life, so this is where I deliberately choose to spend some of my money now.
6. Always check first class too. I have seen first class promo fares for just £2-300 more than business. That would be a no brainer for me, just for larks!
7. Enjoy it!

I've heard good things about this, but not sure what the provisions for Business are like:

www.jacksflightclub.co.uk/

Jack's is ok but it's better for cheaper/economy/package hols and stuff - great for bargain holidays and last minute stuff.

Not quite so focused on bus/first classes.
I had the full premium sub for a month when I was researching my last trip. I got my fare sale tip off on the airline's Facebook post and had booked (and probably travelled), and I don't remember seeing a single mention of the sale in Jacks emails.

Do I book say BA direct and then upgrade beforehand or at the airport?

Book a random airline indirect and see if I can upgrade?

Where are you flying to/from? Is it really only BA that fly direct?

what both shotsfired and sweatyfretty wrote. Do enrol yourself onto the airline's loyalty scheme.

re your comment:-
"Do I book say BA direct and then upgrade beforehand or at the airport?"

Upgrading at the airport is unlikely to happen with BA if you are not an Executive Club member. They usually prioritise their frequent flyers or higher tier members of their Executive Club scheme and would let those people know beforehand.

"Book a random airline indirect and see if I can upgrade?"

You may not be successful either. It very much also depends on the time of year, route flown and day of the week.

Re Japan at that time of year BA can sometimes (and have indeed in previous years) offer very good deals to Tokyo Narita or Haneda airports particularly if you can be completely flexible re dates and not travel on weekends. Its also not a popular business route in high summer so good deals can be found.

The website headforpoints tells you ways to get cheaper business class flights, for example flying from a European airport.
Well worth a read, also explains avios in detail.