On your last flight to Japan, you found yourself stuck in one of those dreaded middle seats. The window seat was taken by a traveler who was blessed with the gift of perpetual gab. The aisle seat was occupied by a gentleman who snored throughout the entire flight. His size made it impossible to get out of your seat, despite your rather urgent need to use the rest room.

Making matters worse, your flight was a connection, and a tight one, at that. This means that there was no food on the domestic portion of the flight, and the new airline liquid regulations made it impossible to bring a bottle of water on the plane. From your economy class seat, you watched the business class travelers get served their drinks, and your mouth began to water. Later, as the cramping in your legs tells you that you are suffering from the classic symptoms of "Economy Class Syndrome," you say to yourself, "never again!" So for your next international trip, you explore the possibilities of business class. Yet upon looking at the prices, you experience sticker shock.

Fortunately, there are solutions to this dilemma. The first is called frequent flyer miles. Unfortunately, most people are seriously misinformed about the benefits of enrolling in one of these programs. They erroneously believe that unless you are traveling on a monthly basis, these programs are not worthwhile. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most frequent flyer programs are affiliated with credit cards, car rentals, hotel stays and shopping networks. As long as you are flying at least twice a year, you can supplement your miles by using their affiliates. If you pay careful attention to the airline's promotions, there are special times where you can get double miles, either for travel or for purchases. Also, while this may seem counter-intuitive, if you can tolerate a domestic trip with multiple connections, you will earn even more miles. However, when choosing a frequent flyer program, be sure to choose a program that has multiple international partners. Even if you have not earned enough miles for an international business class ticket, you will have two very useful options: You can use your frequent flyer miles to upgrade a regular coach fare, provided it is eligible for upgrades. Some airlines will even allow you to purchase frequent flyer miles at the rate of about 2.5 cents a mile. While this might cost an additional $650 more than your coach ticket, it is still less expensive than the cost of a business class ticket.

If you are a frequent domestic business traveler, with a bit of advanced planning, you can develop a fund that can be used for an international business ticket. If you plan flights that are likely to be overbooked, you can volunteer to be "bumped." Keep in mind that this only works if you have not checked any bags. In most cases, the airlines will give you the choice of either a free domestic ticket or a monetary voucher valued up $400. Take the cash voucher. You can apply it towards an international business trip. But wait. It gets better! This portion of the voucher is non-taxable, and it still earns frequent flyer miles.

When all else fails, there's always the options of a travel consolidator. According to Frommer's travel website, the top consolidators are
Auto Europe: http://www.autoeurope.com/airf are.cfm
Executive Travel Service: http://www.executivetravelserv ice.com/
Bets Fares: http://www.bestfares.com

Before you suffer through another grueling international flight in coach, why not consider these options for finding cheap international business fares? Your legs and stomach will thank you!

Learn more about this author, Lisa Marie Mercer.
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