Travelers who want the comfort and convenience of flying business class now have the option of joining a program that will get them those coveted tickets at only a fraction of the cost.
For example: If someone wished to purchase a business class ticket on Qantas from Sydney to London one month ahead of his travel time, his normal cost would be almost $9800. That price is the cheapest available for business class. The new Australian-based company iFLYflat offers the same ticket for under $6000. And that is iFLYflat’s claim; that they will obtain a business class ticket for their customers anywhere in the world for under $6000.
How does iFLYflat arrange such a discount? The secret is in frequent flyer mileage points. Founder of iFLYflat, Steve Hui, former Macquarie Back senior finance executive explains that it is all in the numbers.
Upon joining iFLYflat Mr Hui begins to manage and accumulate frequent flyer points on behalf of his members. Mr Hui guides his clients on how to acquire the right points, in the correct programs. Some points also come from credit card and loyalty programs. In addition, instead of waiting what could be years for the points to add up, Mr Hui looks for other sources of frequent flyer points.
Frequent flyer points are actually traded on the open market. Corporations and overseas airlines with staff that travel often sell their extra points. US based airline companies also sell points. Since the points are transferrable anyone can purchase them and then redeem them for airline tickets at a significant cost savings.
“It’s like financial planning for frequent flyer points,” Mr Hui explained. “Everything can earn you frequent flyer points, we all have credit cards, and we just don’t manage them well.”
“You don’t need to buy a TV or thousands of dollars’ worth of stuff,” Mr Hui said. “That will take you forever and you have to spend a lot of money.”
“You can actually buy the points themselves. I’ll get the points, I’ll organize your flights, I’ll book them, order your meals and even order a limo service from your home,” Mr Hui said.
Mr Hui says he can do all this for under $6000. It costs $550 to join iFLYflat, but that money is easily saved after just one use of the program.