Business class seemed out of reach for my family of 4 — until we found an easier way to find the right deals

Two years ago, a family of four traveled from Dallas to Scotland through London. Their children slept little on the 10-hour economy flight, and the trip became stressful.

The parents wanted business-class seats but could not justify paying more than $10,000 for upgrades. They planned to use credit-card points, mostly earned through one Capital One card.

Finding seats that matched their dates, points balance, and family size proved difficult. Travel portals may omit some award flights, while airlines often release only a limited number of points-bookable seats.

They turned to PointsYeah, a flight-search tool that lets users enter dates, cities, airlines, and spending limits, then set alerts for suitable deals. The free plan offered real-time searches; a yearly plan costing about $120 raised their alert limit from four to 32.

They searched departures from anywhere in the United States and were willing to buy separate tickets to reach the international flight. After several weeks and transferring points, they had their upgraded tickets.