Book Star Alliance business class flights to Europe with points

If you think it’s too late to use your points and miles to fly to Europe On peak days this summer, United Airlines and Swiss have plenty of seats available.

As originally published by Find me a flightMany July and August dates are available in business class above Star Alliance carriers United and Swiss to and from Europe.

You can fly non-stop from Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), Denver International Airport (DEN), Dulles International Airport (IAD) or O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Heathrow Airport (LHR ), Frankfurt Airport (FRA), Munich Airport (MUC), Brussels Airport (BRU), Geneva Airport (GVA) and Zurich Airport (ZRH).

Most availability is through flying with United, although some days fly with Swiss (especially between Chicago or New York and Zurich), and there are also some flights between these airports from Europe to USA.

Related: Is United Polaris business class worth going to Singapore?

If you have American Express Membership Rewards point, Capital One Mile or Citi ThankYou Rewards points, the cheapest way to book these flights is with AviancaMiles Lifecharges just 63,000 miles each way in business class between North America and Europe with no fuel surcharges, although TPG has found some itineraries for as low as 60,000 miles.

Transfers to LifeMiles are usually instant, but make sure you can check availability on the LifeMiles website before transferring credit card points.

If you have Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt RewardsCiti ThankYou or Chasing the ultimate reward points, you can also make reservations with Air Canada aircraft. It charges just 60,000 points for shorter flights from New York to Western Europe in business class and 70,000 points for most other itineraries.

You can also book these flights through United’s MileagePlus program, which charges 80,000-88,000 miles each way in business class.

If you want to search by multiple dates, United’s “flexible dates” search tool will show you 30-day prices on one screen, so you can see which dates are offered at the lowest price. Again, the best availability is in July and August.

Best credit cards to earn points and miles for travel

All of the following cards currently offer a strong welcome bonus with points and miles that you can transfer to your LifeMiles and/or Aeroplan account:

Bottom line

Europe will be a vibrant place this summer, especially with Paris Olympics in July and August. You often have to redeem your miles months in advance to pay these great low prices. Luckily, there are an impressive number of business class flights available on United and Swiss for as low as 60,000 miles.

With some other programs charging more than 300,000 miles for flights to Western Europe, this is a great way to use your credit card points – but don’t wait, because these seats will likely be booked out fast.