It takes more than checking search engines to find some of the cheap business class flight deals. It is a combination of timing, intelligent booking systems and the knowledge of the lever to pull when you have already booked.

To get the prices available to most passengers, target Flight Reservation/Booking behavior, innovative Seat Upgrade approaches, Group Booking/Reservation approaches, and rational utilization of Ticket cancellation services.

Start with the right booking windows and channels

The airlines and consolidators offer discounted premium seats which are released at a particular time. In case of international routes, watch out the windows on sale about two or five months before departure when airlines replenish stocks. To save last minute book seven to fourteen days before departure when full cabins are repriced to fill in.

Consolidators usually display the cheap business class flight deals not provided on the airline websites since they purchase blocks of seats by the airlines and sell them at reduced fees.

Look at the fare class code in the fare details when comparing to ensure that you are in the actual business class seat and not the premium economy rebrand.

Exploit routing and multi-city searches

Hundreds of dollars can be taken off a business class ticket with two straightforward strategies of routing. The first one is to compare one-way prices of various carriers rather than round trip. Second, experiment positioning flights/ search multi cities. Consider an example flying into a large hub and then proceeding with a low-cost transcontinental flight would open cheaper premium inventory on long-haul flights.

The ITA Matrix or a more advanced multi-city search can be used to mix and match carriers and stopovers before remaking the booking on the airline or consolidator final site.

Practical insider checklist with action steps

Subscribe to specific fare alerts and mileage program newsletters. Flight trackers and route alerts should be used instead of region alerts.

• Watch private consolidators and specialist marketplaces which sell unpublished fares. These are patient yet tend to save more on business class.
• Experiment with one-way segments and different-connection combinations to find less expensive segments and combine them into a single itinerary when booking them.
• Collect loyalty points to make a combination with the paid fare so that the hybrid savings can be made; there are cases when it is cheaper to use miles on one part and cash on the other.
• Seat Upgrade auctions and bid-upgrade auctions should be considered as an upgrade at the time of booking; often a small fee to upgrade to a close to the departure date will be much cheaper than purchasing business class directly.
• In the case of groups, request Group Booking/ Reservation services of the consolidators; request group inventory quotes in case of parties of five or more since per seat rates may reduce significantly.
• In case of risk, take out Ticket cancellation services provided by trusted booking sites to insure a high value purchase; most of the sites have a brief free cancellation period, or offer paid flexibility options.
  

Storage of full fare breakdowns and booking codes should be stored after purchase always. In case you intend to adopt seat upgrade strategies, ensure that the booked class is upgradeable. Early group travel lock rates and keep track of the fare movements to amend the booking immediately in case a cheaper fare should come up.

The cheap Business class flight deals are not made by chance. They are owed to focused searches, the proper channels and the repetitive usage of these particular tactics. Practise them and you will not miss deals.