Have some kind of business idea and kind of need some info.
Thanks
Was curios that how many people on this website, would book a business or first class ticket when flying usually costing ridiculesly amounts more then a normal coach ticket.
I'm cheap. Cram me in an overhead bin if the price is low enough...
Never, they are way over a reasonable price.
I try to when work are paying for it
I like the choice of free half entertaining reading material, service on tap, lack of screaming kids, and ability to get on/off the plane quickly without having to wait for the people who seem to take forever to move off a plane. The latter drives me absolutely crazy.
I use my miles to upgrade to business quite often. I have to admit that I really do appreciate the extra space for legs and hand luggage. It's all just a bit less stressful.
Only when we get 'bumped' - which happen to us 3 times.
But no, I could never justify the cost- however pleasant it is
We thought about it once, but quickly realised we could stay 5 times as long on hols, or go on 4-5 other hoildays - or do much more interesting things with the money.
Would like to afford business because of flying to OZ quite often. Long flight, dreadful for my OH who is really tall (i'm a short ass, so it doesn't matter to me too much).
I don't want to fly with anything else than Singaporeair but a business ticket is triple the price of a economy ticket. Where's the logic in that???
Shall i mention to Swiss that im going home for my wedding soon? Or Swiss first class is not worth it?
How far do you have to go? Any short (up to three hour) journey is easy to do in economy. Far East trips in those conditions leave me a bit screwed for a day (I suppose my legs are a bit longer than average), so I would definitely push for an upgrade in that case.
Any first class is worth it. And I like swiss...
well if you really want to do it right, you go private jet
Not that we can afford that, but hubby's company has a plane that flies regularly between it's two US "headquarters" which are not that close to big airports. Drive right up, no security, show your badge and if you are on the list you are on your way! I would like to be able to experience it...imagine, not having to throw out the water, take off shoes, etc...
For longer overnight flights (>10 hours) where you have to be fresh for serious business it makes a massive difference, especially if you are doing it 2* per month once east, once west.
It costs 3 or 4 times more than the cheap eco seats because each seat takes several times more space. There is still a premium vs economy though.
First class. OH GOD NO!! Travel in an aircraft with other passengers... Do you know who I am?
Oh okay then. Only if Hilary is using Air Force One...
I would never consider it, though like Odile i have been 'bumped' up to first class when the plane was over booked. In my naivety I didn't realise (seat 1A, how stupid was I?) until I was served with the food and drink and the cabin crew were really really nice to me!
ah ha, not a transatlantic flight, then. You definitely know on those! For short European trips it doesn't make a difference to me. But on an 8+ hour flight those business class seats make a difference! Forget first class, don't think I have ever seen those
I'll probably get groaned at for being a snob, but I don't travel long-haul more than about 8+ hours unless it's in business class, regardless of who's paying the bill.
For business travel, I'm lucky enough to work for an employer that pays for me to travel in the pointy end of the plane. They do this because I'm expected to get off an overnight flight and work the same day with a minimal loss of productivity. And there are months when I'll do 3-4 longhaul return flights to Asia/US, so it ends up being eight nights a month sleeping on a plane. I worked at a company that used to insist we do this in economy, and I swore I'd never work for another company that didn't have a business-class long-haul policy.
For personal travel, I use miles or pay real cash money for a seat up front. AF/KLM often run half-price miles deals, which make the tickets affordable; BA & BMI likewise have cash+points deals that mean a business-class ticket ends up being no more expensive than an economy ticket (except you've got to throw in some miles).
For some destinations, the fares in business class are much more reasonable. For example, flying to Bangkok is a great bargain -- business class tickets are usually only about double the price of economy, whereas flying to the US it can be seven or eight times more expensive than the economy fare. The trick is to book early and take advantage of the business-class sales.
On personal travel, I'll fly westbound to the US quite happily in economy, but coming back I like a business-class seat to get a decent night's sleep.
If I flew once a year, it probably wouldn't be a big deal, but I spend enough of my life in an airplane seat that, these days, I want to make sure it's a comfy airplane seat.
First class, however, I only fly when I get bumped up... I can't justify the premium over business class for what is, in my mind, quite a similar product.
Although I happily flew business class whenever the company paid I never used to (pay for) business class when traveling on my own, as I just couldn't justify the cost. Bought lots of upgrades or companion tickets with miles, though - back in the days when one actually could get an upgrade on the ZH-ORD flight, that is.
Our typical trip is 5-6 days, where we fly 10 hours, spend 2 hours queueing at O'Hare, then drive for 6 hours through endless cornfields, stay with one family 2 days, drive another 6 hours, stay with the other family 2 days, fly 10 hours. I used to take that in stride - but now that I'm getting older I find it exhausting. I'll admit that these days I'll pop for business class when I anticipate an especially stressful trip home - it's often the only sleep I get during the whole trip.
It's a sinful expense - but then, crashing on the highway while driving exhausted would be a tad worse.
To me, first class isn't worth it. I'm asleep by the time the plane hits cruising altitude - my goal is to sleep the entire flight, so the first class extras are wasted on me.
We fly up front when we go back to the states. If it was just me, I'd fold myself up in the back, but in traveling with the kids it makes a huge difference in my sanity level upon arrival.
FYI, we have a travel allowance, so while it does impact my bottom line, it isn't money that's coming out of my piggy bank. If it was, the story might be different.
Also used to work for Cessna (makes more than half of all the private jets in use worldwide). Never got to take one across the pond, but flew in several around the states. Now that was a nice ride...
I used to have access to a client's private jet service that operated the same way -- they had a small fleet of corporate jets (approximately 50-70 seats on each) which operated from small, general aviation fields near the various sites across the US. They ran a standard schedule each day and it was basically like taking a shuttle bus. Aside from top brass, it was basically first-come, first-served for seats, each of which sold for a standard internal cost of something like $200 per leg.
It was great -- friendly service, driven right to the door of the plane, no need to switch off your laptop, and you could work without fear of disclosing confidential information. It also turned what would otherwise be a 6-7 hour door-to-door journey using commercial carriers into a 1.5 hour door-to-door journey, making day trips practical.
My only faux-pas was the first time I took the plane -- I hadn't realized they operate out of general aviation strips in all of the cities they served, and I'd booked a car to meet me at the commercial airport, 25 miles away. I was left stranded at an empty private airport, and had to beg one of the other guys to give me a lift!
Why settle for first class or even business class when you can own your own private Learjet?!