United Business Class to Belgium, Up To 8 Seats
It's not every day that we see up to 8 seats in business class to Europe. If you need flights to or from Europe in the next few months, this one is for you.
You'll find more space on the return, but there's still a solid chunk of space on the outbound. I've seen connecting space to/from Munich and Frankfurt so you could use this to see other parts of Europe..
Now, let's get into the details.
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I don't flag a ton of credit card sign-up bonuses but I think 80,000 transferable points is worth noting. The card earns 3x on gas, groceries, dining, and more. Plus, you could transfer to Turkish and book this alert for 45,000 miles one-way.
If you want to apply, you can find more info on my Best Cards page or email me. As always, thank you so much for supporting my work.
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Straight To The Points:
Routes: IAD-BRU
Operating airline: United
Class of service: Business class
Dates: February - March 2023 (Feb-May on the return)
Seats available: 2 (some dates up to 8)
Cabin layout: 1-2-1 (777-300 and 787-10)
Book with (per person, one-way):
- *Air Canada Aeroplan: 60,000 points
- *ANA Mileage Club: 88,000 miles (round-trip only)
- *Asiana Club: 40,000 miles
- *Avianca LifeMiles: 63,000 miles
- *EVA Infinity MileageLands: 65,000 miles
- *Miles & More: 56,000 miles
- *Singapore KrisFlyer: 81,000 miles
- *Turkish Miles&Smiles: 45,000 miles
- *United MileagePlus: 60,000 miles
*No Surcharges
Taxes/fees (per person):
- From IAD: ~$5.60
- From BRU: ~$50
Aeroplan and LifeMiles have partner booking fees.
Bank transfer partners:
- Air Canada: Amex, Bilt, Capital One, Chase, Marriott
- Asiana Club: Marriott
- LifeMiles: Amex, Capital One, Citi, Marriott
- EVA: Capital One, Citi
- Singapore: Amex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
- Turkish: Bilt, Capital One, Citi, Marriott
- United: Bilt, Chase, Marriott
Don't forget to let me know if you book and how you did it!
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Flight Experience
Flying out of Washington Dulles, you can expect to be on a Boeing 777 with a business class cabin arranged in a 1-2-1 layout. Each seat will have direct aisle access and is lie-flat. While the seat is nice enough, I would eat at the Polaris Lounge as the food quality is much better than inflight.
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Available Dates
IAD-BRU
January: 25, 28, 30
February: 6, 7, 13, 19, 20, 21, 27
March: 2, 6, 13, 19, 20, 26, 27
April: 2, 3
July: 31
October: 28
November: 27, 30
BRU-IAD
January: 29, 31
February: 1, 2, 4, 6-8, 13-16, 19-24, 27, 28
March: 1-3, 6-8, 10, 14, 15, 17, 21-24, 28, 29
April: 3-7, 10-14, 19, 28
May: 2, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 18
June: 5
August: 23, 29
September: 7
November: 14, 21, 22, 28, 29
December: 1
Not much from ORD, but figured I'd flag the space anyway.
ORD-BRU
January: 26
February: 9, 16, 20, 21, 23
April: 6, 7
June: 7
July: 18
November: 23, 30
BRU-ORD
January: 19-24, 28
February: 1-3, 6-10, 14-17
March: 21-24, 28, 29
April: 4-6, 11-14, 19
May: 2, 3, 10, 16
September: 2, 5, 6
November: 7, 8, 15, 22, 23, 29, 30
December: 1, 5
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Best Ways To Book
You can include connections on United from other US cities to Washington Dulles and to other destinations in Europe. In many cases, you won't need additional points/miles. If you can't find award space on the connection, it might be worth booking a separate positioning flight.
Turkish: Best One-Way Option
If you have Bilt, Capital One, or Citi points, Turkish is a great way to book at 45,000 miles one-way. While Turkish typically passes on surcharges, there aren't surcharges on this one. Generally, it's best to call Turkish to put the award space on hold while you transfer points.
Connections within the US and/or Europe will not increase the award rate.
ANA: Great Round-trip Option, Slow Amex Transfers
At 88,000 miles round-trip, ANA has a slight advantage over Turkish but your only transfer option is Amex and transfers can take a few days. It's a great way to book but keep in mind that space could disappear while you wait for the transfer.
Connections won't increase the award rate but could increase the taxes/fees if you connect in Europe on a Star Alliance partner that has surcharges.
United: Best Option With Chase Points
With Bilt or Chase points, United is a great choice for a one-way at 60,000 miles. You can include connections on United for no extra miles but connection on partners in Europe could add ~6,000 miles.
You might be able to use United's Excursionist Perk (similar to a stopover) on a round-trip award ticket.
Aeroplan: Solid Non-stop Option
Aeroplan is a solid option at 60,000 points one-way on the non-stop route if you have Amex, Bilt, Capital One, or Chase points.
However, if you need to connect, you'll quick be bumped up to the next award chart tier of 70,000 points. This also means including a stopover in Europe would jump the one-way rate to 75,000 points.
You can use GCmap to calculate your total flight distance and double-check Aeroplan's zone-based chart. You can also include a stopover for 5,000 additional miles.
LifeMiles: Solid Option With Connecting Flights
If you need connections and have Amex points, LifeMiles has a slight advantage over Aeroplan at 63,000 miles one-way.
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How To Book
If you don't know the exact dates you want to fly, keep things simple and use United's calendar search option.
- From United's homepage, select Advanced search
- Choose to show price in miles
- Select Roundtrip or One-way
- Enter the origin & destination
- Select Nonstop only (if you don't need a connection)
- Select the number of passengers
- Select your dates or choose Flexible dates and choose a month
- Select Business
- Run the search
- If booking with another Star Alliance partner, confirm space by searching with that program
- Transfer points (if necessary)
- Log into your account
- Run the search again
- Complete the booking
Once you know the exact dates you want, you can run the search with the program you'll be using to book. As always, I recommend confirming the program you're using sees the award space before you transfer points.
If you're booking with Turkish, I would call (800-874-8875) to put the award on hold before transferring points.
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Final Thoughts
Belgium alone is worth a trip to Europe but there are plenty of other fun destinations from which to choose. It's just a matter of deciding where to visit and which points/miles to use to get there!
Happy booking!
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