Most frequent fliers try to rack up points in a loyalty program so they can upgrade to the front of the plane instead of enduring a cramped economy seat. What if you could actually just buy that business class flight instead though, and rack up more miles in the process? Maybe even get into the lounge before your flight takes off or on the layover?
While it can easily cost you thousands of dollars to fly business class to Europe, the Middle East or Asia, getting to the front of the plane for Latin American flights often requires a surprisingly modest premium. Here, for example, is a sampling of November round-trip business class flights from Dallas to the capital of Panama on Justfly.com.
Here’s what it looks like if you go from Miami, with one of the flights being direct even but under $1,000 round trip.
How much of a premium is this over economy class? On long-haul international flights it is often 4x to 8x the price, but for these options to Central America the business class fare is roughly double the worst basic economy option—before you tack on their luggage fees!
The cheapest regular economy flight on a non-budget airline between Dallas or Houston and Panama on the same Saturday to Saturday dates I found was $496 and that was with long layovers. (And no lounge access unless you have Priority Pass.) For less than double the economy price you could go business class on Avianca or Copa Airlines instead.
Bargain Business Class Flights From the Northeast
If you’re flying from New York City, you’ll find some great business class bargains when you’re ready to escape the cold. Naturally the best deals are the ones covering the shortest distances, but there are some surprisingly inexpensive fares to South America as well.
It’s especially worth checking business class fares to Argentina, Chile, or Brazil. Those countries’ economy flights routinely top $1,000 anyway, so paying $1,755 for a one-stop flight to Buenos Aires that lets you stretch out with better food and wine with Avianca doesn’t seem like much of a premium.
Here are some other sample one-way business class fares from New York in late January, summer vacation time in South America:
Cancun $310
Guatemala $329
Costa Rica – $434
Cartagena $429
Quito $460
Manaus $533
Cusco $793
Santiago $768
Other times this doesn’t make such clear financial sense though. I found a round-trip economy flight from NYC to Buenos Aires for just $762 in November on Avianca. The same flight in business class was more than $2,000. That’s getting close to a 3X premium, so up to you whether that’s worth it. It could be better to just upgrade to an exit row seat, especially if it’s an older Avianca set-up without lie-flat beds.
Bargain Business Class Flights From the Midwest
What if you’re looking to get out of freezing cold Chicago in the winter so you can kick back some place warmer? Here are some sample one-way business class fares for a Saturday in late January.
Mazatlan $459
Mexico City $339 on Aeromexico (direct)
Oaxaca $459 on United
Merida $454 on American, $449 on United
Guatemala City $310 San Jose, Costa Rica $512 on American
Roatan $602
Cartagena $358
Quito $435 on Copa, so you could do a stopover in Panama
Lima $538 on Copa, so you could do a stopover in Panama
Georgetown, Guyana $600
Rio de Janeiro $835
Business Class to Latin America from Toronto
What if you’re trying to get out of Canada, a country not known for great flight deals, and you want to head down to Mexico, Central America, or South America? Well you’ll actually find better front-of-the-plane deals to a lot of destinations than you will starting off your vacation jammed in economy. Here are some sample one-way business class fares from Toronto. (Round-trip can sometimes be a better deal.)
Leon/Guanajuato $391
Puerto Vallarta $596
Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo $334
Tulum – $571 on Delta
San Pedro Sula $393
Guatemala City $398
Liberia, Costa Rica $416
Bogota $568 non-stop on Avianca
Santiago $890
Business Class From the West Coast
You can get some great deals to Latin America in business class from Los Angeles, and to many points in Mexico from San Francisco and Las Vegas. Check JustFly.com, Google Flights, or Kayak and pick “Business” to see the options for your dates.
What if you’re all the way up in gloomy Seattle in late January though and want to escape? Here are some of your one-way options for stretching out, with no more than one stop on the way.
Puerto Vallarta – $404 on United
Puerto Escondido – $560 on American
Guatemala City – $465
Liberia, Costa Rica – $526
Quito $598
Cartagena – $677
Keep in mind that you can earn miles on your regular loyalty program with many of the foreign carriers. Avianca and Copa are both part of the Star Alliance, so flying with them is generally the same as flying with United. Aeromexico is part of SkyMiles, like Delta.
There’s one big player that is conspicuously absent in the above list. That would be LATAM, the main airline based in Chile and serving other cities in South America. They seldom seem to offer bargain flights from North America, but you may have better luck from Miami or the various American Airlines hubs.
They used to be part of the OneWorld alliance, but then Delta bought a 20% stake in the company and they had to leave it. Oddly though, they still haven’t joined SkyTeam, so you can earn Delta miles, but your SkyTeam status has no impact and you can’t earn for other alliance airlines. If you’re sitting on a bunch of Delta miles, you may be able to cash them in for premium seats by calling customer service — a good use of your miles if you’re headed down to the southern cone of South America, which is usually an overnight flight.
I also didn’t mention Aerolineas Argentina because they almost never have the best available fare and they don’t get standout reviews from customers. If you’re going beyond Buenos Aires in Argentina though they may be the only choice. I did find a biz class flight from Miami on that airline all the way to Ushuaia for $3,251, which is less than 2X the economy fare if you’re going to Antarctica. Unlike LATAM, they are part of the SkyTeam alliance, not just a Delta partner.
If you are looking to cash in airline points instead of paying for your business class flight, get an inside edge by subscribing to a service such as Going.com or Point.me. You can get alerts about when there are great deals going on either way.
A Small Premium Between the USA and Mexico in the Front Cabin
I have started flying business class between the USA and Mexico when I return to my home in Guanajuato from my other base in Tampa Bay. That’s because my wife and I are usually bringing back at checked bag’s worth of goods with us each time and only the United Airlines credit card gets us a free bag on international flights in economy. For Delta and American, the bag perk is only for domestic flights, which is annoying.
So I’ll always check the business class fares too and often they don’t require much of a premium. Last time we flew Tampa Bay to Guanajuato via Dallas and it was only $90 each more than the worst basic economy cattle ticket with no carry-on allowed and no assigned seat–the Frontier/Spirit equivalent as the legacy airlines have raced to the bottom.
I’m about to buy another one to fly from Miami to Guanajuato because this time the biz class one is only $61 more. Since that comes with two checked bags, a meal, drinks, and lounge access, it’s a no-brainer decision. Here’s what our meal was like on AA business class from Tampa to Dallas on the first leg last time:
Frankly it was better than what I usually end up with in the airport itself and then we had a nice stay in the lounge at DFW after that. Here are a few sample one-way business class fares to Mexico from the USA for early December, with one or zero stops:
Miami to Leon/Guanajuato $465
Chicago to Cancun $470 non-stop on United
San Francisco to Loreto $413
Houston to Mexico City $280 non-stop on Aeromexico
Toronto to Huatulco $580
Washington D.C. to Mazatlan $436
All Business Class Cabins Are Not Created Equal
It pays to do a little research before hitting the booking button if you’re buying a business class flight to South America. Some planes from Avianca don’t even have a business class option, which I saw first-hand when I flew from Bogota to Mexico City last year. The whole flight felt like one on Spirit Air or Viva Aerobus, with no complimentary food or drinks.
When they do have it, some long-haul business class seats look like the ones pictured at the top of this article, but others aren’t any better than a domestic business class flight in the USA. (You have a better chance of a great cabin in the front if you’re flying from Europe.)
The same goes for Copa Air, where business class almost never comes with a lie-flat bed seat. The exceptions are flights on a Boeing 737 MAX 9, so check the aircraft or look at SeatGuru and other sources. Drink and meal choices are often limited on both Avianca and Copa in business class. Since American and United have both stepped up their game in this area in recent years, you may be better off there if this aspect is important to you.
LATAM is more reliable for lie-flat business class seats on long routes, as well as being known for having a good selection of Chilean wines chosen by the only master sommelier in South America. The seats are usually in a 1-2-1 configuration, so you don’t have to bother anyone to get to the aisle for a bathroom break.
For Aeromexico, the configuration depends on how long the flight is usually. Flights between Mexico and the USA can be a terrific value, often just $100 or so more than the cheapest economy ticket, but they’re normally 2-2 business class seats that recline but only partially. If you’re on a long-haul Clase Premier flight of theirs all the way to South America though, you’ll see a 1-2-1 configuration (787-9 aircraft) or 2-2-2 (787-8 aircraft) setup with seats that turn into lie-flat beds.
Have you flown in business class to Latin America? Tell us about your experience in the comments.
