Asia to Europe in the Best Business Class for 62,000 Chase Points

The RGS team booked a round-the-world style itinerary for under 100,000 points total, including an 11-hour segment in Qatar Airways Qsuite, a business class product widely regarded as one of the best in the world. That single flight would have cost about $3,200 in cash, but we booked it for 62,000 Chase points plus about $200 in fees.

Qatar Airways Qsuite Cabin (A350). Photo credit: RGS

Route: Seoul (ICN) → Doha (DOH) → Milan (MXP)

Layover: ~3 hours in Doha

Booking window: ~10 months in advance

How I got 62,000 Chase Points

There are a few realistic ways to get to 62,000 Chase points without doing anything extreme:

Option A: A sign-up bonus (fastest)

One welcome offer from a Chase Sapphire card or Chase Ink Business card.

Option B: Stack points across multiple Chase cards (most flexible)

This is the long-game approach many grad students can pull off over a year, especially if you have reimbursable expenses (conference travel, field work, supplies) that your PI or department covers. You can get there with ~$10k in spend.

Common point engines:

• Chase Freedom Flex for rotating bonus categories (5x back)
• Chase Sapphire Reserve travel booking for 8x back.

How did I book this flight?

I combined my Chase points spread over multiple cards to my Chase Sapphire Preferred card, and then transferred them to British Airways. Chase was running a 30% transfer bonus to British Airways at the time (as it usually does a few times per year), meaning my 62k Chase points became over 80k British Airways Avios. I then transferred 80k Avios from British to Qatar Airways and booked my flight (+$200 of fees).

Overall, this resulted in a cent per point value of almost 5cpp, which is excellent!

The trip report

Seoul: lounge access starts the luxury early

The business class ticket gave us access to the first OneWorld lounge in Seoul. I grabbed one last taste of Korea before boarding, including gimbap.

OneWorld Lounge in Seoul Incheon Airport. Photo credit: RGS

Qsuite on the A350: privacy that doesn't feel real

The Qsuite cabin is stunning. Once the doors close, it genuinely feels like you're in your own space. The standout features:

• Dine on demand (what you want, when you want)
• A double bed setup if you're traveling with a partner
• Service that feels closer to fine dining than “airplane food”

Double bed in the QSuite. Photo credit: RGS

RGS tip: Ask the flight attendant what they recommend ordering. The presentation is consistently elegant, but flavors can vary. The crew’s recommendation was excellent, while a couple other dishes were just “fine.”

Dine on demand. Why not a burger in the sky? Photo credit: RGS

Doha layover: the lounge is part of the redemption

Doha is already impressive, but business class makes it effortless. We used a reserved security line and headed to Al Mourjan Business Lounge The Garden. Highlights:

• Beautiful indoor tropical garden views
• Sit-down dining
• Most importantly: showers, which make you feel human again mid-itinerary

View from the Al Mourjan The Garden lounge. Photo credit: RGS

Doha to Milan: older seat, still a great flight

Our second flight was an older A350 business-class configuration, so less privacy than Qsuite. Still:

• Service remained excellent
• The bed mode felt more padded and comfortable than in the QSuite.

We landed in Milan at 7:00 am well-rested, well-fed, clean, and ready to hike the Dolomites later that day. Also, yes, it's fun to briefly live in a cabin full of people who are definitely not shopping the grocery store sale aisle like we do.