If you are considering flying business class on an international flight, you are no doubt hoping for more than a seat that is a couple of inches wider and reclines a few more degrees than those in coach. You probably have visions of a fully reclining seat, a fluffy comforter and pillow, and gourmet food. So, you will want to know not only what the best fares are, but also the characteristics of the seat you are booking. What seems a cheap business class fare when you book, may not seem so cheap when you are on board and find that the seats are not that much different from the ones in coach.

The cost and comfort of seats within the same class may vary dramatically. Different airlines have different ideas of what constitutes business class care, and may use different types of seats. Research carefully both on the airlines own site, as well as on airline review sites, the nature of the experience they offer. Then it is up to you to decide if you are getting what you are looking for with the extra expense. Two excellent sites to look at are www.seatguru.com. and www.airlinequality.com.

Frequent flyers and those with credit card eligible miles have the best opportunities to upgrade to business class for virtually free. While it is possible to purchase a ticket using only frequent flyer miles, you may want to consider several other options available to frequent flyers. Most airlines will allow you to purchase a full fare coach class ticket and then, by applying some frequent flyer miles, upgrade this to business class. This will allow you to get several business class tickets at a reduced rate.

Many airlines have programs for frequent flyers that allow them to buy very low cost upgrades on a space available basis at check-in. This is perhaps the most inexpensive alternative, frequently as low as $25 each flight. However, if you consider flying business class a must, this may not be the best option for you.

Even if you are not a frequent flyer there are still ways to travel more inexpensively in business class. One is to research the best available fares, covering as many search engines as possible. The easiest way to do this is to use a meta-search travel engine, such as the ones used at www.sidestep.com and www.kayak.com. Though I have followed many a link to websites claiming to have highly discounted fares, I have yet to find one that was more than a few dollars cheaper than ones I have found on these sites, and sometimes they are

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