I Always Fly Business Class -- and It Only Costs Me $272 per Trip

Lots of people would love to fly business class, at least on long-haul flights. It's a huge upgrade in your travel experience every step of the way. Most importantly, it's much more comfortable than being crammed into economy. You get a bigger seat, and many airlines offer lie-flat seats that turn into beds.

But cost is an important factor when you're traveling, and business class is often out of people's price range. It's usually several times more expensive than economy class. On international flights, you could be looking at a price tag of $3,000 to $5,000.

The good news is that you don't need to spend anywhere near that much. I always fly business class, and thanks to my travel credit cards, I spend an average of $272 per flight. If you love to travel, here's how I save on business class flights.

How I fly business class for $272 per trip

Instead of booking business class with cash, I normally book it with frequent flyer miles. With miles, you can book tickets that would otherwise cost thousands of dollars, and all you need to pay are the taxes and fees. The only time I book with cash is when there's a good deal available.

To figure out my average business class spending, I reviewed the flights I've taken over the past several years. I left out short-haul flights I took in Europe. Those are shorter, cheaper, and not what typically comes to mind when people think of business class. Here are the long-haul flights I took and how much they cost me:

• Nice to Bogota: 83,500 Flying Blue miles and $329 in taxes/fees to book with Air France
• Bogota to Montpellier: 83,500 Flying Blue miles and $254 in taxes/fees to book with Air France
• New York to Paris: 63,000 LifeMiles and $83 in taxes/fees to book with Lufthansa
• Buenos Aires to Bogota: 28,000 LifeMiles and $88 in taxes/fees to book with Avianca
• Bogota to Los Angeles: $605 to book with Avianca

That comes out to an average of $272 in cash spending per flight -- less than the average cost of a domestic economy ticket.

My method for earning miles (and some of the travel cards I use)

You might be thinking that you don't have Flying Blue miles, LifeMiles, or any other types of airline miles lying around. I don't, either. That's why I've opened credit cards that earn transferable travel points. Several of the major credit card companies have partnered with airlines and hotels, allowing you to transfer the points you earn to their loyalty programs.

For example, Chase Ultimate Rewards points can be transferred to United MileagePlus, Flying Blue, and many other airline and hotel programs. If you have 25,000 Chase points, you could transfer them to United and turn them into 25,000 United miles. By getting cards with transferable points, you can book business class with many different airlines.

I also look for credit cards with big sign-up bonuses. Some cards have sign-up bonuses of 50,000 points or more. These allow you to earn a large number of points in a short amount of time.

There are plenty of great travel cards available. Here are the ones I used to book my business class trips.

Chase Sapphire Reserve®

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® is another card I've used for quite a few travel bookings. It has a welcome offer of 75,000 bonus points for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months.

This Chase card is on the expensive side, with an annual fee of $550. But it's also packed with valuable features, including an annual travel credit to help take the bite out of that annual fee. You can transfer Chase points to several partners, including Flying Blue, United, Southwest, and British Airways.

Citi Premier® Card

The Citi Premier® Card is one that I used for several years, as it's affordable and great for earning rewards. It has a $95 annual fee, and the welcome offer is 60,000 ThankYou® Points for spending $4,000 in the first 3 months.

It also earns points across quite a few categories, including air travel, restaurants, supermarkets, and gas stations. The Citi ThankYou Rewards program has plenty of transfer partners, including Avianca LifeMiles, Cathay Pacific, and Emirates.

The best way to book business class

Business class tickets may seem out of reach when you look at the cash prices. But you can score incredible deals when you book with miles instead of cash. If you pick the right credit cards and use them for all your expenses, you can earn travel rewards that you turn into luxury airfare.