For many people, collecting miles and points is all about aspirational experiences and being able to travel in ways you couldn’t otherwise afford. Here are seven of the best First Class airline cabins that you can book using miles.
These products will rank pretty highly on any ‘World’s Best First Class’ list although to be clear I’m not ranking them in any particular order. I’ve also thrown in Qatar Airways QSuites for good measure as it has certainly set the benchmark in terms of new business class products. Meanwhile, the likes of Air France’s La Premiere and SWISS First are not included as it’s pretty difficult to redeem miles for those products and requires varying levels of elite status to do.
As the majority of our readership is UK-based, I’ve focused on miles and points which are readily accessible in the UK. While the best way to book Emirates First Class, for example, might be via Japan Airlines Mileage Bank or Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles, there isn’t an easy way to accumulate large amounts of either if you’re UK-based so I’ve left those out.
Singapore Airlines Suites Class
Singapore Airlines have long since been up there in terms of a revolutionary First Class product and their Suites Class offers is one of the few true ‘double beds in the sky’.
Below is the latest version of Suites Class which was unveiled in 2017:
To be fair, the ‘old’ Suites Class isn’t all that shabby:
Singapore Airlines is a Star Alliance member. However, First Class reward seats are only bookable using Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer miles.
Miles to use – Singapore KrisFlyer
How to earn enough miles – You can earn Singapore Krisflyer miles by converting American Express Membership Rewards, HSBC Reward, Marriott Bonvoy or Heathrow Rewards points.
A great way to try Singapore Suites Class is by redeeming on their fifth freedom route between Frankfurt and New York (JFK). A one-way flight from JFK to Frankfurt will cost 86,000 miles + $5.60.
A one-way flight from London to Singapore would cost 125,000 KrisFlyer miles + £218.
Emirates First Class
Miles to use – Emirates Skywards
How to earn enough miles – You can earn Emirates Skywards miles by converting American Express Membership Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy points or Heathrow Rewards points.
Comments – The above picture is Emirates New First Class available on their 777-300ER aircraft. This is slowly being rolled out on routes including Geneva, Brussels, Vienna, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Male and London Stansted (yes, Stansted!).
Incidentally, ‘old’ First Class, complete with onboard shower (on their A380’s), is equally deserving of a place on your bucket list.
If you want to book New First Class, you’ll need to hold your nerve. Emirates seems to release availability 2-3 days before departure.
A one-way flight from Dubai to Stansted would cost 85,000 Skywards miles + £368.
Lufthansa First Class
Lufthansa is part of Star Alliance. While you can use partner airline miles to book Lufthansa First Class, availability is only typically released within 14 days of departure. Members of the Lufthansa Miles & More program have much better access to awards and can book months in advance, subject to availability of course.
Miles to use – Miles & More
How to earn enough miles – You can earn Miles & More miles by converting Marriott Bonvoy points, getting the Miles & More Global Traveller credit cards (see below) or converting Heathrow Rewards points.
Comments – Lufthansa prices all of North America in one region when it comes to redeeming miles. This allows you to enjoy 11+ hours of Lufthansa First Class to San Fransisco for the same price as flying to New York.
A one-way First Class flight from Frankfurt to San Francisco costs 91,000 miles + £303.
Etihad First Class Apartment
Etihad is not a member of any of the three main airline alliances. They do have a nifty tie-up with American Airlines though which is also happens to be one of the best ways to use American AAdvantage miles.
Miles to use – Etihad Guest, American AAdvantage
How to earn enough miles – You can earn Etihad Guest miles by converting American Express Membership Rewards, HSBC Reward or Marriott Bonvoy points. The only real route to earning AAdvantage miles in the UK is by converting Marriott Bonvoy points.
Comments – American AAdvantage miles are really the best way to go on this one.
A one-way flight from London to Abu Dhabi costs just 62,500 AAdvantage miles + £219 or 87,781 Etihad Guest miles + £377.
Cathay Pacific First Class
Miles to use – Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, British Airways Avios, American AAdvantage
How to earn enough miles – You can earn miles by converting American Express Membership Rewards, HSBC Premier or Marriott Bonvoy points.
A one-way flight on Cathay Pacific First Class between London and Hong Kong costs 110,000 Asia Miles/ + £276.
Japan Airlines First Class
Miles to use – British Airways Avios, American AAdvantage miles, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles.
How to earn enough miles – You can earn Avios and Asia Miles by converting American Express Membership Rewards, HSBC Reward, Marriott Bonvoy points or Heathrow Rewards points.
A one-way flight in First Class between London and Tokyo would cost 123,750 Avios/110,000 Asia Miles + £276.
Qatar Airways QSuites
Miles to use – British Airways Avios, American AAdvantage miles, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles.
How to earn enough miles – You can earn Avios and Asia Miles by converting American Express Membership Rewards, HSBC Reward, Marriott Bonvoy points or Heathrow Rewards points. In terms of earning American AAdvantage miles in the UK, the only substantial route is via Marriott Bonvoy.
Comments – QSuites are now available on enough routes to give you a pretty good chance of trying it – including on some flights to/from London. You can see a full list of QSuite routes here.
A one-way QSuite flight between London and Doha, for example, would cost 62,000 Avios + £327. Alternatively, you’d be better off redeeming Asia Miles which requires just 50,000 Asia Miles + the same taxes.
All Nippon Airways First Class
This is one of the best sweet spots for using Virgin Atlantic miles.
Miles to use – Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles
How to earn enough miles – You can earn Virgin miles by converting American Express Membership Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy or Heathrow Rewards points. You can also take out of the two Virgin Atlantic credit cards (see below).
You can fly ANA First Class from Europe/USA to Japan for just 120,000 Virgin miles (or less) + taxes roundtrip. That’s insanely good value.
You can read more about this particular Virgin Atlantic sweet spot in this article.
How to earn enough miles?
The best way to earn large quantities of airline miles is usually via credit card spending. Here are some of the cards you can use to accumulate the various mileage currencies covered in this article.
British Airways Avios, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Etihad Guest & Singapore Airlines miles:
- British Airways Premium Plus Card – 1.5 Avios per £1
- British Airways Credit Card – 1 Avios per £1
- American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card – 1 mile per £1
- American Express Platinum Card – 1 mile per £1
- Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Credit Card – 1 mile per £1*
- HSBC Premier World Elite Mastercard – 1 mile per £1
- HSBC Premier Mastercard – 0.5 mile per £1
* You can increase the earning rate on the SPG card to 1.25 miles per £1 by converting your Marriott points to airline miles in batches of 60,000 points. The ratio is normally 3 Marriott Bonvoy points = 1 airline mile, however Marriott throws in 15,000 bonus points for every 60,000 points you convert to airline miles. So for every 60,000 Marriott points that you convert to airline miles you receive 25,000 airline miles.
Emirates Skywards miles:
- American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card – 1 mile per £1
- American Express Platinum Card – 1 mile per £1
Lufthansa Miles & More miles:
- Miles & More Global Traveller Cards – up to 1.25 miles per £1
- Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Credit Card – 1 mile per £1
American Airlines AAdvantage miles:
- Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Credit Card – 1 mile per £1
Virgin Flying Club miles:
- Virgin Atlantic Reward Credit Card – 0.75 Virgin miles per £1
- Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Credit card – 1.5 Virgin miles per £1
Marriott Bonvoy points:
- Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) Credit Card – 3 points per £1
- American Express Preferred Rewards Gold Card – points convert to Marriott at a 2:3 ratio
- American Express Platinum Card – points convert to Marriott at a 2:3 ratio
Verdict
There’s often a feeling in the UK of lagging behind the US in terms of the best miles and points deals. While our credit card sign-up bonuses do pale in comparison, this article demonstrates that booking some of the world’s best First Class airline products using miles is very much achievable in the UK.