How I scored Business Class Tickets in Qatar's Q-Suite for only $7.65

Okay now I know you’re saying in your head “You’s a damn lie”, but I kid you not, I was able to score a Business Class ticket from New York to Doha, Qatar on Qatar Airways Q-Suite for only $7.65. Who said luxury travel had to cost an arm and a leg? Read on because I am spilling all the tea on how I was able to do this and how you can too!

I used to be that person that got salty at the folks that got to go into the posh lounges to relax with free food and wifi while I was stuck in the common gate area with the #gatelice. Oh, you don’t know what #gatelice is? It’s when people line up for the gate way before their boarding group is called. Like calm down, we’re all getting on the plane, there’s a seat for you. Lol

This ladies and gentleman are #gatelice. Standing about the gate waiting for boarding even though they haven’t called their group number.

My First Taste of the Premium Life

I also loathed the fact that “premium” class passengers got to board first. I always wanted to be the one to turn left instead of turning right and heading back to cramped economy. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind flying in economy for short trips like 6 hours and under. But anything longer than that is just uncivilized in my opinion. In 2012, I flew to Beijing, China in economy. That was a 12-hour flight to Tokyo, Japan and then another 4 hours to Beijing with a 3-hour layover in between. That’s a total of 19 hours! My travel companion and I lucked out by getting a row to ourselves so we had the middle seat to stretch out, but you don’t always get so lucky.

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In 2016, I was able to score Premium Economy seats for my flight to Thailand. That was back when search engines allowed you to combine cabin classes for flights with more than one segment. For this particular trip, my 15-hour leg from NYC to Hong Kong was in Premium Economy and my connecting flight from Hong Kong to Phuket was in Business class. This flight cost me roughly $1,200 which was great compared to $3,000. On this same extended trip where I also visited India, I was able to score a Business Class seat on Etihad Airways from Chennai, India to NYC via Abu Dhabi for $1,300! This was a Super Saver Business deal with fully lie flat seats!

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In Premium Economy you get a more relaxed experience than you do in regular economy. A lot more leg room, an amenity kit, and extra recline. But Business Class though, there is just no comparison. Once you fly long haul in Business Class, there is no way you could go back to economy even if the ticket was dirt cheap. I had to find a way to travel to those far out destinations I have always wanted to travel to but didn’t want to break the bank. That’s when I discovered Travel Hacking.

What is Travel Hacking?

Travel Hacking is an art form and by definition means working within the existing rules set up by airlines, credit cards and hotels and using them to your advantage to earn free travel including flights, accommodations and other upgrades. Travel hacking isn’t new; airlines have had loyalty programs since the first one created by United Airlines in 1972. I took my first “free” flight back in 2011 to Las Vegas. All I did to earn that free flight was sign up for the airline loyalty program, which is free, and frequently traveled with that airline, which in this case was JetBlue. Early on in my quest for cheap Business Class flights, I came across the now global blog The Points Guy. If you are not following them and aspire to be a travel aficionado, then you need to be. I practically learned the tricks of thee trade from that blog and keep up with aviation news through their site as well. Through the use of their helpful tips and strategies, I was able to choose an airline that I would be “loyal” to and choose a credit card with great sign up bonus to earn miles faster.

How I earn Miles

After careful thought, I decided to sign up for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard. I had already been a long time American Airlines AAdvantage member and since American Airlines is a part of the One World alliance, I knew that I could fly other partner airlines I was interested in like Qatar Airways. The card at the time of sign up offered a sign up bonus of 60,000 miles when you spend $3,000 in the first three months of opening. For me, getting the minimum spend was easy as I had job related travel coming up so I opted to put the expense on my card and be reimbursed. This allowed me to earn the bonus quickly without much effort or coming out of pocket. SCORE. I had around 40,000+ miles from previous American Airlines flights, and with the bonus, means I now had over 100,000 miles.

For the average person, spending that amount on a credit card can be hard, but it doesn’t have to be. What I do to also earn more with my card is divert my regular spending to my credit card instead of using my debit card, and then just pay my card at the end of the month. You can also pay your monthly bills using your credit card like your cable bill, electric, gas, and grocery bills. Get creative!

Other travel cards I currently have in my wallet include the Chase Sapphire Reserve, American Express Blue Travel Card, and the American Express SPG Rewards Card (now called Marriott Bonvoy). Click the links to learn more about each card and if you are brave enough, sign up! (disclaimer: If you sign up using the links above you’ll earn an extra bonus and I will too!).

Warning

Although using credit cards to quickly earn bonus miles is the best way to get to that premium cabin, I must warn that it is not for those who don’t have clear control over their finances. If you have shiny object syndrome and get the itch to use your card for random things with no clear way to pay the bill in full each month, I do not recommend this method.

While I won’t delve into this part too much, carrying a lot of credit cards will not impact your score as negatively as one may think. It might dip a few points the first month, but once the balance is reported, it actually increases your available credit and if you keep that ratio low (under 30%), your score will actually increase because creditors will see that you are a dependable borrower.

Using Your Miles

Now that you have acquired your bonus miles, you’re ready to take flight. You can take an international flight in business class starting at just 60,000. Personally, I don’t spend my miles on short distance trips. The payoff just doesn’t make sense for me, but to each his own.

For this Qatar Airways flight, I went to American Airlines website and searched for award space by entering my route (NYC - DOH), entering a date (I am going to look at the whole month anyway) checking the Redeem Miles button, then hit search. This would show me when award flights are available and for how many miles.

Flexibility is key here in finding an opening. The great thing about American Airlines is that you can get your miles back if you book a trip and then need to change plans. I originally booked for May but then needed to change it to April because of work. I simply called them up and the representative helped me find the best dates with award space available. This flight cost me 70,000 American Airlines miles. The route took me from NYC to Chicago (First Class) and then from Chicago to Doha (Business Class).

What I love about the Q Suite Business Class Product? It’s like flying in First Class with your own private suite equipped with a door for privacy. You are able to enjoy the flight without having a view of your neighbor across the aisle. I had a window seat so that I can film take off and landing. The middle seats is perfect for those traveling as a couple or in groups of 4. If traveling alone, you can still enjoy one of the middle seats as it still provides privacy and direct aisle access.

Qatar Airways Q Suite Business Class Window Seat

On the next page, I unchecked the airlines I didn’t want so that the results will only show Qatar and American Airlines. Although the Q Suite does fly from New York’s JFK, for some ungodly reason, I couldn’t find one and only had layover options 🙄. At first it was annoying but then decided to choose a city with a long layover in which I had not seen before like Chicago or somewhere where I had family and friends I could link up with. In my case, I chose Chicago since I had never been.

Once you find a route that works for you, BOOK IT. Award space gets taken up quick so don’t miss out. You can figure out the other details like accommodations after your flight is secured.

Now that you know how I booked this incredible deal for only $7.65, will you go out and do the same? That answer better be YES!

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