How to Fly Business Class to Italy for Free

If you've ever dreamt of exploring the catacombs of Rome or eating your way through Tuscany, your rewards can get you there -- in style -- for free (or at least for very, very cheap). Even better, those rewards are often easy to earn through credit cards. Here are just a few of the ways your cards can get you to Italy.

Issuer travel portals

The simplest way to make your Italy trip happen with travel credit cards is to redeem your points through the issuer's travel portal. These are the four most popular programs:

• American Express Membership Rewards
• Capital One Venture Rewards
• Chase Ultimate Rewards
• Citi ThankYou Rewards

This method is nice because you don't need to look for special award tickets; you can simply choose the flights (and hotel, and rental car) that works for you and use points to pay for it. Plus, it's great for keeping your out-of-pocket costs to a minimum since you can typically cover all of the costs -- right down to the fees -- with your rewards.

The downside here is that you won't be maximizing the value of your points. Transferring your credit card rewards to an airline frequent flyer program, then redeeming those miles for travel, can often score you a higher per-point return.

Booking with miles

The most popular way to fly for free is through airline miles, either transferred from a travel card or earned directly (by flying or with a co-branded airline credit card). Every airline I've come across has a frequent flyer program that lets you book flights using rewards.

The potential for fees: If you're using airline miles to book a flight, be prepared to pay at least a small amount in cash to cover applicable taxes and fees. Often, it's nominal; you might pay $5 or $10. Other times it's ridiculous. For instance, most flights to or from (or even through) the UK have outlandish surcharges: I've seen them reach $1,000 or more on a one-way business flight.

American Airlines

The cheapest flights to Italy came from American Airlines. I found nonstop business class availability this fall going to Rome and Milan from a few U.S. hubs for just 65,000 AA miles plus $5.60 in fees.

Unfortunately, AA isn't a regular transfer partner of the four credit card programs. That said, you can earn AA miles through any AAdvantage co-branded airline cards. AA offers both personal and business cards.

Using Avios on Oneworld airlines

American Airlines is part of the Oneworld airline alliance, which also includes British Airways and Ibera. As such, you can book AA flights through the BA or Iberia websites using Avios points. Amex and Chase will transfer to both airlines, giving you a roundabout way to use transferable points to book American Airlines.

The consideration here is you may need to fork over both more rewards and more cash if you go this route. For instance, the above flight from AA would run you 77,250 Avios plus $232.80 in fees when booked through Iberia. If you want an option that lets you transfer points, however, it's definitely still a great deal for business class to Europe.

United Airlines

Another decent deal was from United Airlines with business class flights (with various layovers) starting at 88,000 United miles plus $12.50 in fees. (If you want nonstop, they were going for an eye-widening 174,500 miles, plus $5.60 in fees.)

United miles can be earned directly via the MIleagePlus co-branded cards. Or you can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points.

YMMV: ITA Airways via Virgin Atlantic

So, the most observant readers may have noticed this is an article about flying to Italy and I have yet to mention Italy's own ITA Airways. There's a pretty important reason why: It's stinkin' hard to earn Volare points (the ITA currency). There is an Amex card, but it's not available in the U.S. as far as I can tell. And none of the major programs transfer to ITA Volare, either.

However, last year, Virgin Atlantic and ITA announced a partnership that would let you cross-book the airlines via the other's rewards. In theory, this is great, as Amex, Chase, and Citi all transfer 1:1 to Virgin Atlantic.

In reality, it's less awesome.

I searched dozens of routes, from both coasts, at all different times of year, including routes that I 100% knew were available via ITA -- I couldn't find a single ITA business class seat on Virgin's website, let alone an award seat. (In fact, I didn't spot any ITA flights at all.) You may have to call to book these flights.

Air France/KLM

If you don't mind a layover in Paris, consider Air France/KLM. I found flights from NYC to Rome for as low as 55,000 Flying Blue miles plus $218.30 in fees. All four major rewards programs transfer 1:1 to Flying Blue, the rewards program for Air France/KLM. (There is also a middle-of-the-road co-branded card with Bank of America.)

Booking AirFrance/KLM via Virgin Atlantic

If you don't have any Flying Blue miles but have some Flying Club points, check Virgin Atlantic's website. While I didn't find anything for ITA Airways, I did find a decent selection of business class awards operated by Air France/KLM.

Most flights cost 48,500 Flying Club points plus $291.30 in fees. That's 6,500 fewer points, but $73 more dollars. (That works out to $0.011 per extra point.) Depending on how you personally value Virgin Atlantic points -- or the rewards that you turn into them -- this could be a worthwhile trade.

These are just a few of the options for getting to Italy for (mostly) free in business class. Explore airline alliances and reward programs to find the deals that suit your needs best.