By Joseph Hellman-Benjamin, Founder and CEO of The Points King. Last updated: October 12, 2026. Editorial Policy
The Points King books business and first class tickets for customers using miles, usually for less than the cash fare. You tell us the route, dates and cabin, and we reply by email with a price in writing. Nothing is charged until you accept, and payment is by PayPal. If you hold miles or credit card points yourself, you can often book the same seats on your own, and the second half of this page shows how.
Before you book: know the rules. Airline programs prohibit buying or selling award tickets. American’s terms say a passenger who uses a purchased award ticket can have it cancelled or confiscated and may owe the full fare (AAdvantage terms), and Delta’s rules say such tickets are void. That risk sits with the traveler, and no broker, including us, can remove it. Read the risks before you ask for a price.
Compare our price with the airline’s cash fare and with what the seat costs in miles if you book it yourself, below.
Sources as cited on this page: NerdWallet (updated October 7, 2026) for the Los Angeles to Paris fares and View from the Wing for the business sale fare. Fares change daily and these are separate searches, so read the gap, not the cents.
| Program | Route example | Cabin | Miles, one way |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virgin Atlantic Flying Club | ANA, US West Coast to Tokyo | First | 72,500 |
| American AAdvantage | Japan Airlines, US to Tokyo nonstop | First | 80,000 |
| Qatar Privilege Club or British Airways | Qatar Qsuites, US to Doha | Business | From about 70,000 |
| Turkish Miles&Smiles | Turkish, US to Istanbul | Business | 65,000 |
| Air Canada Aeroplan | Star Alliance, East Coast to Europe | Business | 60,000 |
| American AAdvantage | New York to Los Angeles | First | About 50,000 |
Sources and the full list, with taxes, transfer partners and the 2026 changes (including Lufthansa First leaving partner programs on June 1, 2026), are in our guide: how to get cheap first class tickets with points and miles. Most of these programs take points transferred 1:1 from Amex, Chase, Citi, Capital One or Bilt.
NerdWallet found a Los Angeles to Paris first class fare at $18,606, against $1,180 in economy (NerdWallet, updated October 7, 2026). A transatlantic business class seat on sale is closer to $2,500 round trip (View from the Wing). That gap is why miles are the usual way to fly in front.
If you have miles you will never use for a trip like this, we also buy them; see selling airline miles, with the same rule risks.
It depends on the route. A long-haul first class seat can cost $12,000 or more in cash, while the same seat may cost 70,000 to 100,000 miles plus taxes.
No. Airline programs prohibit buying award tickets from third parties and can cancel them. Booking with your own miles, or having a relative book for you at no charge, is within the rules.
Yes. Amex, Chase, Citi, Capital One and Bilt points transfer to airline programs that book first and business class.
By PayPal, after you accept our written price.
From the do-it-yourself section on this page. Airline programs prohibit buying or selling award tickets, which is why the route starts with your own miles.
To check how many miles a first class seat costs on your route, use our first class miles calculator. To see whether an award is good value next to the cash fare, use the cents per mile calculator.