How to Get FREE Business Class Travel Using AMEX

This post contains affiliate links. You will not be charged any extra when using an affiliate link but it will help to support this blog and grant you access to the signup bonus of 30,000 bonus Amex points. 

One of the reasons I started my online business was freedom to travel the world and work from anywhere. Recently, my travels got a serious upgrade when I had the pleasure of flying business class with Emirates for the first time!

To be honest, economy feels like business class when flying with Emirates so you can only imagine the next level service you get sitting up front. 

But here’s the thing, it didn’t cost me tens of thousands of pounds to upgrade to business class. I actually got business class tickets for free for both me and my partner using my Amex Preferred Rewards Gold card and today I’m going to show you how you can too. 

So, if you’ve been searching how to get cheap business flights, then this week’s post is for you. 

Which Credit Card Gives Air Miles?

There are lots of UK credit cards which give you air miles that allow you to upgrade to business class for free but the Amex Gold is by far the best that I’ve seen so far that’s available to UK residents. 

You can use your Amex points and using credit card points for flights and flight upgrades probably gives you the biggest bang for your buck in terms of rewards. 

How Do Credit Card Airline Miles Work?

I used the points I accrued from my Amex Gold card which I then used to upgrade our flights to business class. 

If you’re sitting there scratching your head wondering “how do flight miles work on credit cards?”

It’s simple. 

With the Amex gold card, my preferred travel credit card. You get points for every £ you spend on your card. Plus, if you sign up using my referral code, you can get 30,000 bonus points when you spend your first £3000. 

You can then log into your rewards account and convert your Amex points into flyer miles with a bunch of different airlines. 

I then purchase an economy flight whenever I’m travelling and use my flyer miles to upgrade to business class for free. This is the ultimate way to get cheap business class flights anywhere. 

How to Get Cheap Business Class Tickets

In the past, I always saw lots of people in America flying business class for cheap but previously in the UK, it was really difficult to access deals that would allow you to get enough flyer miles to fly business class for cheap or free. 

But, with the Amex Gold card you can easily access those business class seats with minimal spend. 

For example, to upgrade your flight from Dubai to the UK on Emirates, it will cost just 40,000 flyer miles. 

If you sign up to Amex Gold using my exclusive link here, you’ll get your first 30,000 points when you spend £3000 in your first three months. Then, you only need to spend a few thousand more on everyday essentials to push you over that threshold; which is surprisingly easy. 

Earning LOTS of Flyer Miles as a Digital Nomad 

I use my Amex for pretty much every daily spend. 

That’s food shopping, coffee shop visits, daily travel expenses, the gym…everything. I then pay everything off in full. If you use your credit card like your debit card, you’ll easily hit the £3000 mark in no time at all, PLUS you’ll rack up extra air miles from all those small day-to-day expenses. 

But here’s some other ways I use my card to earn credit card points for flights as an online business owner. 

If you’re a digital nomad, or aspiring to be, this is how to fly business class cheap when you start working from anywhere. 

Firstly, I pay for all my business expenses using my Amex. Running my online coaching business means that I do have a fair amount of monthly recurring business expenses. I pay for online tools to support my online business, I pay for my team and I have a lot of other ad hoc business expenses, too.

I’ve also paid for high ticket mentorship and coaching which gets us lots of points, too. 

Additionally, I put all my travel through the card too as you get 2x the points on flights and foreign currency. Things like Air BnBs plus flights add up quickly as a digital nomad which means more cheap business class tickets for us. We also get extra protection using a credit card to book travel as opposed to a debit card. 

The Amex Gold Rewards Card also gives you 2500 bonus points for every £5,000 you spend on it up to an extra 12,500 points per year. 

Plus, the credit card comes with lots of other travel-friendly benefits, too, hotel upgrades, spa access in some hotels and even free Priority Pass lounge access.

Free Priority Pass Airport Lounge Access with Amex Gold

Relaxing with a complimentary glass of champagne or catching up with a bit of work in the airport lounge is so nice, especially if me and my partner are about to board a long flight. 

Some airport lounges even have showers which is a great way to recharge after sitting in a tin can for 7 hours. 

With Amex gold, you get 4 complimentary priority pass access passes meaning that you can sit back and relax in the lounge even if you don’t have a business class flight booked. This is especially great if you’re flying short haul or if the airline doesn’t have any business class seats. 

That benefit in itself almost pays for the annual cost of the card. 

How Much is the Amex Gold Card?

Yes, the Amex Preferred Rewards gold card comes with an annual fee of £160. 

HOWEVER, you get your first year for free, so you’ll enjoy all these perks for absolutely nothing for the first 12 months, meaning you’ve got nothing to lose. 

You can sign up here to get access to those 30,000 extra points. 

Will you be getting your hands on this card and upgrading to business class for your next long haul flight?

Let me know your dream destination and if you’d like to see more behind the scenes/travel, don’t forget to follow my travel account @thenomadiccreator over on TikTok and Instagram for more inspiration and tips for running an online business whilst travelling the world. 

Claudia xx