I’m Not a Points Expert, But I’m Flying My Family Business Class Around the World for $5,136

I’m not a miles guru or a travel hacker—but I still managed to fly my family across the globe, with two long-haul legs in business class, for less than $1,750 per person.

This summer, my husband, our seven-year-old son, and I will take off on a trip that spans three continents and includes six flights—two of them in business class. We started in New York City and made our way through Europe and Southeast Asia before reaching Australia and New Zealand, eventually flying back to New York City in business class. The entire journey spanned just under three weeks, and we did all of the flights for a total out-of-pocket cost of $5,136 for all three of us.

We’re not the kind of travelers who live and breathe point strategies, but we were curious enough to try. With a few smart credit card decisions and one key online tool, we turned what could have been a $20,000+ itinerary into a family adventure we could actually afford. Here’s how.

Find the Right Tools—and Use Them Constantly

Once we knew we wanted to plan a big summer trip, I started obsessively using seats.aero, a real-time award search engine that scans airline loyalty programs and shows you what’s bookable with points. It’s incredibly simple but incredibly powerful.

What made it useful wasn’t just that it showed what seats were available—it also told me exactly how to book them. For example, it would say, “Transfer Amex points to Air Canada to book this Singapore Airlines flight.” That sort of transparency was key for someone like me, who didn’t know all the nuances of airline alliances or point transfers.

And because the tool allows you to search broadly—such as “U.S. to Europe in August,” with a plus or minus two-week window—it was perfect for our semi-flexible schedule. My husband already had a work trip to Europe at the end of July, so we planned around that and filled in the rest of the time.

Open One Card, Time It Right, and Max Out the Bonus

We didn’t open a dozen credit cards to make this trip happen. We opened one—an American Express Platinum card in November 2024—because it was offering a 175,000-point welcome bonus if we spent $8,000 in six months.

We had already planned a multigenerational trip to Switzerland for my mom’s 70th birthday that same month. My husband and I offered to cover all the family’s shared costs—hotels, trains, flights, group dinners—and get reimbursed. That helped us hit the spending threshold without breaking a sweat.

From there, we put as many daily expenses as possible on the card, including groceries, bills, and anything that earns points. By mid-February, we had earned about 250,000 points. And that’s when I spotted our first major win on seats.aero.

Use Points for Long-Haul Flights With Big Payoff

A deal popped up on seats.aero that seemed too good to pass up: Singapore Airlines business-class seats from Copenhagen to Singapore, bookable through Air Canada’s Aeroplan program, for just 80,000 points per person.

Singapore Airlines is known for having one of the best business-class experiences in the world, and the thought of spending thirteen hours in lie-flat comfort—especially with a child—was incredibly appealing.

We transferred 240,000 American Express points to Air Canada and booked all three seats, paying only $103.05 per person in taxes and fees. That flight, which would typically cost over $15,000 for three of us, cost us a total of $310.

Know When to Use Cash—and Still Earn Points Doing It

The other long-haul leg I really wanted to book in business class was the flight from Auckland back to New York. It’s a long journey, and we wanted to end the trip as comfortably as we were starting it.

I couldn’t find any great award availability, but I did find that Qantas was running a special: one-way business class fares from Auckland to New York City for about $2,300 per person. That’s still expensive—but better than usual. Luckily, I had about 257,000 points saved up in our Chase Sapphire Reserve account, which we’ve had for years. By booking through the Chase travel portal, I was able to cut down the cost significantly.

After applying our points, the remaining amount was $3,325 for three business-class seats. I charged the balance back to the same card to keep earning points for future trips. It wasn’t free, but for a long-haul flight in comfort, it felt like a great value.

Fill in the Blanks With Smart Redemptions

Once we had our two major flights confirmed, I turned my attention to the other legs of our trip. We still needed flights from New York to Amsterdam (for me and my son—my husband was already in Europe for work), from Amsterdam to Copenhagen, from Singapore to Brisbane, and from Brisbane to Auckland.

Seats.aero continued to be my go-to tool. I found an economy deal on a KLM flight from New York City to Amsterdam, bookable through Air France’s program for just 37,500 points total. We transferred 38,000 American Express points and paid a total of $202 in fees for the two of us.

For the Amsterdam to Copenhagen leg, Virgin Atlantic was offering a short-haul redemption for just 4,500 points per person. Even better, Chase was offering a 25% transfer bonus to Virgin, and we already had a few thousand Virgin points from earlier travel. We pooled everything together and paid a total of $291 for the three of us.

For the Singapore to Brisbane flight, I found another great redemption: 25,000 points per person for economy on Singapore Airlines, again through Air Canada. We used 75,000 American Express points and paid $318 in taxes and fees.

The only leg we couldn’t find a good points deal on was from Brisbane to Auckland. After watching prices for a while, we finally just bought the tickets outright—$690 for all three of us.

Track the Numbers—and the Value

In total, here’s what we paid out of pocket:

– $202 for NYC to Amsterdam
– $291 for Amsterdam to Copenhagen
– $310 for Copenhagen to Singapore (business class)
– $318 for Singapore to Brisbane
– $690 for Brisbane to Auckland
– $3,325 for Auckland to NYC (business class)

That adds up to $5,136 total for three people, or $1,712 per person round-trip, with two long-haul business-class legs. For a trip of this length and complexity, it felt like an incredible win.

Use These Simple Tips to Maximize Your Travel

You don’t need to be a travel hacker to make points and miles work in your favor. Here are a few things that helped me the most:

Pick one or two good travel cards and stick with them. We didn’t juggle a dozen cards. We leaned on just two: Amex Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve.

Time your card openings strategically. Open a new card before incurring big planned expenses, such as vacations or home projects, to take advantage of the intro bonuses.

Use seats.aero religiously. It’ll tell you what’s possible and how to get there. Think of it as your cheat sheet to reward travel.

Don’t hoard your points forever. Points devalue over time. If you find a good redemption, use them!

Watch for transfer bonuses. That 25% Chase-to-Virgin transfer bonus saved us major points on our intra-Europe leg.

Know when to pay cash. Sometimes, the best move is to just buy the ticket—especially on short-haul flights where award seats are scarce or overpriced. And you can earn 5 times the points on cards like American Express, which can help with future travel.

It Was Worth the Work—and We’d Do It Again

Planning this trip took time. I kept browser tabs open, and I checked availability more than I care to admit. My husband even joked that when I was in flight booking mode, I was “locked in” and couldn’t be bothered. But once it was all booked, it felt like magic: a round-the-world itinerary with luxury perks—without paying luxury prices.

We may be in economy for the short hops, but the business class seats on our longest flights will make a huge difference in comfort, rest, and general travel sanity. And we still don’t consider ourselves “points people.” Just regular travelers who took a little time to learn the system.

And now that we’ve done it once? I’m definitely checking seats.aero again next year.