You can still find reasonably priced business class flights to Europe for this summer.
Chase is now providing a 20% bonus for transfers of Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Air Canada Aeroplan until July 31. With this promotion, 50,000 Chase points will convert to 60,000 Aeroplan points.
Currently, United Airlines offers excellent business-class availability to Europe during the busy summer travel season. The best availability is observed from mid-July to mid-August from United hubs such as Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Dulles International Airport (IAD) near Washington, D.C., and O’Hare International Airport (ORD) in Chicago to Heathrow Airport (LHR) in London, Brussels Airport (BRU), and Geneva Airport (GVA). These routes have at least four business-class seats available, with several dates showing as many as nine seats that can be booked using points and miles.
You might initially think of booking these flights using United MileagePlus miles since United is the airline offering them.
For these flights, business-class seats begin at 80,000 MileagePlus miles each way.
Related: Is it worth flying United Polaris business class to Singapore?
United is a transfer partner of Chase Ultimate Rewards at an equivalent 1:1 ratio. However, there is no bonus when converting Chase points to United, meaning you’ll require 80,000 Ultimate Rewards points to finalize your booking.
When compared to Delta SkyMiles rates, this is a decent deal for summer travel to Europe. Delta SkyMiles can charge up to 375,000 miles for similar flights to Europe. However, the offer becomes even more attractive when booked through Air Canada Aeroplan.
Although Aeroplan applies dynamic pricing for Air Canada flights, often resulting in higher rates for summer travel to Europe, it charges only 60,000 points for business-class flights from the northeastern U.S. to Western Europe. This also covers flights operated by partner airlines such as United. For longer routes, such as those from Colorado and California to Europe, the requirement is 70,000 Aeroplan points, which remains quite fair.
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Fees and taxes are marginally higher via Aeroplan but remain relatively low at approximately $57 per ticket.
Using 60,000 points rather than 80,000 miles for the same United flight is a fantastic bargain, but it’s even more cost-effective if you have Chase Ultimate Rewards points. With the 20% transfer bonus, transferring just 50,000 Chase points to Aeroplan will net you 60,000 Aeroplan points. This means you can fly to Europe this summer for just 50,000 points, saving you thousands of dollars in cash.
Similar: Top Chase credit cards
Bottom line
With abundant award availability this summer for flights to Europe from multiple United hubs in the U.S., it’s still possible to comfortably fly your family across the Atlantic.
Although your initial inclination might be to redeem United miles for booking United Polaris flights, by taking advantage of the current 20% transfer bonus from Chase Ultimate Rewards to Air Canada Aeroplan, you can save 30,000 miles. You only require 50,000 Chase points to book United flights to Europe this summer, providing a superb opportunity to optimize your travel.
At present, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® and the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card both offer substantial welcome bonuses. After spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of opening an account, you can earn 60,000 bonus points, simplifying the process of booking your ideal summer getaway.