Sick of seeing sky-high flight prices or struggling to use your credit card points or airline miles? Great flight deals are out there – just ask our Thrifty Traveler Premium members.
Our team scours the globe every day for the best of the best: think cheap domestic and international tickets, discounted business and first class fares, and even award space alerts like Delta SkyMiles flash sales and chances to book lie-flat seats abroad at great rates. And in July, we found and sent Thrifty Traveler Premium members a ton of alerts – more than 100 of them, in fact.
Those deals run the gamut from a sneaky way to fly the world's best business and first class for the price of one; lie-flat business class suites to to Tokyo for just 60,000 miles each way; fares to Europe this year or next in the $400s; flights to New Zealand in the $500s; and even some roundtrip flights domestic flights for just $96!
Join Thrifty Traveler Premium now – you'll come out ahead (and then some!) after booking your first deal!
Narrowing it down was the hardest part, but these are the 10 best deals we found last month.
1. Qatar QSuites (& First Class!) from 85K Points Each Way
We search for Qatar Airways Qsuites business class points and miles availability on the daily at Thrifty Traveler. It's the best business class in the world, after all, and our subscribers want to fly it. We don't blame them!
But this month, something different happened. While searching for that vaunted Qsuites award space you could book with points, we found that you could fly business class to Doha (DOH) … then connect onward to destinations like the Maldives (MLE), Thailand, or even Australia in Qatar Airways first class … for the same rate as flying business class the whole way!
This deal is long gone – join Thrifty Traveler Premium to get the next amazing award alert!
Think of it as a free upgrade to first class after a Qsuites journey across the Atlantic to destinations like Bangkok (BKK), Hong Kong (HKG), the Maldives (MLE), and Perth (PER). Best of all, that gets you access to the Qatar Al Safwa Lounge – widely considered the finest airport lounge on earth.
This deal was so good we dubbed it a “Unicorn deal” and sent a text message alert to our subscribers so they could run, not walk, to book this bucket list air travel experience.
2. Japan Airlines Biz Class to Tokyo for 60K Points
Japan Airlines business class has long been one of the best ways to fly to Tokyo. But it got even better when Japan Airlines (JAL) unveiled its brand-new first and business class suites.
So what's the problem? Well, there are only a few routes from the U.S. to Japan that operate on these brand-new Airbus A350-1000s with suites onboard … and finding the award availability to actually book them with your miles can be like pulling teeth.
Until this month, when we sent this alert to Thrifty Traveler Premium members.
That's right: We unearthed some rare availability to book Japan Airlines business class early next year for just 60,000 American AAdvantage miles each way. And while four U.S. cities got in on the action, the ability to book the brand new suites from New York (JFK) for the long ride to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) set off alarm bells at Thrifty Traveler HQ.
We heard from tons of subscribers who snagged the seats for themselves for a bucket-list flight to Japan in 2025.
3. Italy, Greece, & Spain Under $489 Roundtrip!
When it rains, it pours with cheap flights to Europe … and I mean that in a good way.
So many airlines fly to and from Europe so frequently, there's cutthroat competition for your business. So when one airline starts slashing rates, they all do.
Here's the result.
To close out July, American Airlines and British Airways led the charge on cutting roundtrip flights to places like Greece, Italy, and Spain. How low can it go? How about under $488 roundtrip!
It was a stunning development with some of the cheapest fares to prized European destinations we've seen in months – if not years. And it wasn't just from the big airports
We find flight deals from more than 200 airports in the U.S. and Canada. And more than 100 of them, big and small, got in the action with sub-$500 fares to Europe this coming fall, winter, and early spring.
Besides these unbelievable Athens fares, you could fly to almost any airport in Spain or Italy for the same rates, too!
4. Fly Delta to New Zealand for $557 RT!
Competition, competition, competition. That's the name of the game. And for Delta Air Lines, getting the attention of Bay Area-based travelers who are used to flying United out of its San Francisco (SFO) hub means you have to make a splash to win them over.
Consider ourselves splashed.
Flights to New Zealand typically clock in well over $1,000 roundtrip, so seeing prices in the $500s is special. But these fares were flying Delta – the top-rated airline in the U.S. And it even included availability over New Zealand's peak summer!
5. Emirates Biz Class to Greece & Italy from 108K RT!
To fly one of the fanciest airlines in the world – Emirates – you could book one-way business class flights from New York City (JFK) to Milan (MXP) or from Newark (EWR) to Athens (ATH) for 75,000 miles each way.
But what if I told you that it gets better?
That's right: Time it right using Emirates Skywards miles, you can fly Emirates business class roundtrip to Europe for just 108,000 miles! You can transfer credit cards points from all the big banks like Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, or Citi points over to Emirates, too – so you might have a stash of Skywards miles and not even know it yet!
Tracking down the award availability to actually book at these dirt-cheap, roundtrip rates is the hard part. With Thrifty Traveler Premium, we do the work for you.
This honeymoon-like luxury journey to Italy or Greece is one of the best deals of the month, hands down. We loved Emirates business class, and we think you will, too.
6. Seattle for $96 RT!
No joke: You can fly to Seattle (SEA) and back for less than the cost of your weekly grocery bill.
We brought receipts.
Thanks to Alaska Airlines, fares plummeted to Seattle (SEA) this month, giving travelers from five different U.S. cities a shot at some sub-$100 flight deals. And Seattle residents benefitted from some $96 fares to several cities, too!
Seattle isn't really known as a magnet for cheap flights. So when we found these surreal fares, we sent them to our Thrifty Traveler Premium members ASAP. What a steal!
7. Europe from 26K Delta SkyMiles RT!
The worst part about Delta SkyMiles is also the best part about Delta SkyMiles: They're priced dynamically.
That means Delta is raising and cutting SkyMiles rates on all its flights, all the time. That's a recipe for some sky-high redemption rates … but also some unbelievable SkyMiles flash sales, too.
Even with cash prices flying Delta to Europe approaching $1,000 roundtrip or more, we found a barnburner of a SkyMiles deal to get you there for 30,000 SkyMiles or so. With a Delta Amex credit card, you get 15% off those very same fares – dropping the final total down into the 20,000's roundtrip!
Not only were there dozens of U.S. airports included in this stellar SkyMiles deal, but you could also fly to nine popular European airports for the same low rates.
Don't let anyone ever tell you your SkyMiles are useless. If you pay attention (or subscribe to Thrifty Traveler Premium), you can get some serious value.
8. Minneapolis to Hawaii for $284 RT!
Hawaii is one of the most sought-after travel destinations for all travelers. We hear from our subscribers all the time: “Have you seen any cheap flights to Hawaii lately?”
Here's our promise to you: Any time we find a cheap fare to the Hawaiian islands, we'll put it straight in Thrifty Traveler Premium members' inboxes. We sent a handful of cheap fares to Hawaii throughout July, in fact.
But this one took the cake: $284 roundtrip fares from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to both Maui (OGG) and Kauai (LIH).
At under $300, it's a quarter of the cost of what Minnesotans typically pay for a trip to paradise. Super-low fares and quick connections to one of the best destinations in the U.S. – what's not to love?
9. Costa Rica Under $296 RT!
It's a ziplining, hiking, wilflife-spotting rainforest adventure. It's a sunny, cocktail-sipping, beach retreat. It's both. That's why Costa Rica is so great.
Especially at these prices.
Costa Rica is great anytime, but it's especially great when you can get there for less than $296 roundtrip!
This deal left our members stunned, and many of them have that Costa Rica retreat on the books thanks to this price drop alert.
10. Iberia Business Class to Madrid from 34K!
It might be tenth on this list, but it's still one of the best deals in the world of points and miles, period.
You can book Iberia business class for as low as just 34,000 miles. But this deal can be tough to pull off: It's only available from select cities – at certain times of the year – and Iberia has gotten a bit stingier with releasing these lie-flat seats to book with points.
We made it happen in July.
We sent this alert to Thrifty Traveler Premium members last month with some wide-open availability to Madrid (MAD) and back for a trip next year. That even included flights from Washington, D.C. (IAD) and Boston (BOS) – both of which are flying the brand new Airbus A321XLR planes with a snazzy new business class seat onboard.
This deal is amazing for many reasons. But it belongs on this list because it's one of the least expensive ways to fly lie-flat to Europe … and also because I may have booked this myself! See you in the skies!
Bottom Line
Think flights are too expensive? Here's your proof: They don't have to be with Thrifty Traveler Premium.
Our track record in July speaks for itself. Whether you want to find a $96 roundtrip flight to Seattle or fly the best business class in the sky, we do the legwork for you at Thrifty Traveler Premium.