Whether you're searching from the big East Coast hubs or starting all the way out West, booking business class flights using points has gotten harder over the last year.
But an excellent exception to that trend has emerged in the middle of the Rocky Mountains: Denver (DEN).
Long overlooked for bigger airports in either direction, this Colorado airport has seen a major surge in transatlantic flights in recent years with with additions from United as well as major international carriers like Air France, Aer Lingus, and even Turkish Airlines. All those extra flights mean lots of business class seats to fill … and based upon what our Thrifty Traveler Premium experts are finding, airlines are increasingly content to offload those seats to travelers redeeming their credit card points or airline miles.
Here's a closer look at the newest hot spot for hitching a ride across the pond in a lie-flat seat.
What is Happening Here?
It's not just the thinner air in the Mile High City.
Whether you're concerned about cash prices for flights or award availability to use your points and miles, supply and demand is (almost) everything. And no airport is benefitting more from that simple formula than Denver.
Get this: Looking ahead to this coming summer, the number of business class seats flying from Denver over to Europe has more than doubled as compared to pre-pandemic.
According to our analysis of flight schedules from aviation analytics firm Cirium, that 100% business class increase on tap for this summer in Denver is the biggest jump of any major U.S. airport … by far. Charlotte (CLT) comes in a distant second with a 67% increase in business class capacity since the pandemic.
Where does that come from? Brand-new airlines entering the market and more flights from Denver's tried-and-true carriers, too, like:
- Aer Lingus began nonstops from Denver to Dublin (DUB) last year
- Ditto with Air France to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG), a route the carrier added in 2021 and has steadily expanded with additional frequencies in the years since
- Turkish Airlines began flights to Istanbul (IST) in summer 2024
- United has drastically expanded transatlantic flights, adding new nonstops to both Rome (FCO) and Munich (MUC) while expanding existing service to London-Heathrow (LHR) and Frankfurt (FRA)
- And later this year, Lufthansa will fly one of its gargantuan Airbus A380s – with a whopping 78 business class seats onboard! – over to Munich (MUC)
That's a lot, but let's back up. Denver is still far from a major international hub the likes of New York City (JFK), Newark (EWR), Boston (BOS), or even Seattle (SEA) and Los Angeles (LAX). But that's some impressive growth … and it explains why business class award availability is popping up, too.
That's a win for both Colorado residents as well as any American willing to book a quick positioning flight in order to hop on a lie-flat flight overseas. Between United and Southwest and even budget carriers like Frontier, few airports in the country are better connected than Denver. For West Coast residents, in particular, taking a quick flight to Denver sure beats flying all the way to New York or Miami (MIA) before a seven-plus hour.
Alright, enough analysis. Let's get to the deals.
Biz Class to Ireland, Germany, London & More from 55K Points
Savvy travelers who have already signed up for Thrifty Traveler Premium have likely already seen this firsthand. In fact, sending out a slew of these these recent award alerts with Denver on the list is what led me to dig into this pattern in the first place.
If you want to fly to Europe in business class, Denver might just be the place to be. It all starts, of course, with United Airlines.
Denver's biggest airline flies planes decked out United Polaris business class several times a day. In fact, United's own transatlantic business class capacity on tap for this summer has more than tripled since before the pandemic!
Maybe that's why Denverites had their pick of the litter on this recent Polaris business class deal – in this case, to London-Heathrow (LHR).
But while United might offer the most options, you can get an even better deal on another carrier. If you want to head to Dublin (DUB), you can't beat Aer Lingus business class – especially at these prices!
These Aer Lingus flights from Denver were are bookable for 55,000 Alaska miles, just 48,000 British Airways Avios each way, or even using United miles – though you'd need 93,000 of them each way. Best of all, the Denver route included ultra-rare peak summer availability in June, July, and August!
That kind of peak summer award availability is typically hard to find in business class. But not if you depart from Denver …
This Lufthansa business class flight deal alert we sent just a few weeks ago also included wide-open award availability to fly the Airbus A380 double-decker to Munich (MUC) this summer for 70,000 Aeroplan points each way, which you can easily earn by transferring points from Chase, Amex, Capital One, and others. Oh, and this deal also included Oktoberfest availability in late September, too!
Like on many other carriers, booking Lufthansa business class has gotten harder to book over the last year or two. But Lufthansa's decision to expand that Munich route flipped that script.
While we're checking in on all of United's Star Alliance friends, let's look at one of the newest options: Turkish Airlines.
The airline that connects travelers to the most destinations on earth has a massive hub airport in Istanbul (IST) and now offers a nonstop from Denver. Just 65,000 Turkish miles (which you can easily transfer from Capital One, Citi, or Bilt) was enough to secure these fancy business class seats over to Turkey on this flight deal alert.
The Star Alliance may dominate in Denver, but other airlines have taken notice and sunk some additional resources into flying to Colorado and back. Air France is one of them, offering nonstop service to Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG).
Admittedly, it's been a while since we've seen Air France business class availability from Denver over to Paris. But after raising award rates to 60,000 Flying Blue miles each way – and promising that more award availability is on the way – Denver is ripe for another deal like this one.
Bottom Line
After doubling the number of business class seats flying to Europe, Denver (DEN) has emerged as a hot spot for business class points and miles flight deals.
Whether you live in the Rockies or you're struggling to find a business class redemption overseas, you'd be wise to check for flights in and out of Denver.