Class Warfare: Get Biz Class Seats For Coach Prices

Flying sucks. But wouldn’t it be a little better if you could fly business class for the price of coach? Michelle Higgins, Practical Traveler for the New York Times, explains the secrets to getting upgraded without paying the price. And it all starts with the “Y-up.”

Y-up is airline speak for first and business class seats that are sold at coach prices, Higgins said. Sites like FareCompare.com monitor ticket prices so you can spot the best deals when they show up and also employ a Y-up tool. But the best way to find these fares, according to Higgins, is to call up the airline and ask. They’ll tell you.

Many airlines have employed a new booking system known as time-tiered price structuring. If you’re able to book your trip a month or longer out, you can cut the price of business class tickets in half. A British Airways flight from New York to London next week on business class is over $7000. But that same ticket a month out is $4000.

For the diehard traveler, there’s JoeSentMe.com, a subscription-based web site that clues you in to when there are business class sales by sending customized alerts. And British Airways recently launched Open Skies, a new business-class airline that offers routes from New York to Paris and Amsterdam from around $1600.