How rich would you have to be to pay for business class flights?

Trust_2

Richard W

I am set in my ways, I would not pay $10 extra principles come into it, by the same token I would not pay for firstclass on a train

90% of the flights in economy at the moment are half empty last week middle row on long haul so I had four seats...

So what are you paying extra for
Wider seat?
Better Food?
Better Service?

miffyhugmuffin

Tojo_Ralph wrote: »

Thus I think it is safe to say that a poll and general chinwag about "how rich would you have to be to pay for business class flights" has DT written all over it....

Sorry, don't know what DT forum is.

Looks like saving up and looking for offers is my best bet then. Unless someone can tell me otherwise.......... I suppose if there was an easy way everyone would be doing it?

Tojo_Ralph

miffyhugmuffin wrote: »

Sorry, don't know what DT forum is.

Scroll to the bottom of the forum list where you will see Money Savers Arms.... In there you'll see DT or Discussion Time.

miffyhugmuffin wrote: »

Looks like saving up and looking for offers is my best bet then. Unless someone can tell me otherwise. I suppose if there was an easy way everyone would be doing it?

If you plan ahead a little, the cost of flying Business Class medium or long haul should not be that prohibitive. The alternative is holding out for some kind of an upgrade, which for someone without high end frequent flyer status, is the longest of long shots and even for the likes of Platinum FF's, bona fide upgrades FOC are a very long shot.
...

miffyhugmuffin

worldtraveller wrote: »

I generally fly economy short haul and business class long haul. When long haul I will rarely pay a business class fare as such, but will often pay for a premium economy and use FF miles to upgrade. That always seems to be the cheapest way for me, as I rarely need a fully flexible ticket.

I think that is my ideal too, economy for European flights and business for long haul. Is that BA's FF prog? I looked into it a while back and thought about joining because of the buy premium economy and upgrade with miles option. Now Flying Blue nick all my miles, I might use BA in conjunction with BMI FF prog.

Need to get a job where I get sent on business trips, that would help too!

miffyhugmuffin

duchy wrote: »

If you like playing the miles game then www.flyertalk.com is definitely worth a visit. Takes a bit of researching but there's plenty of ways to get extra miles and some good promotions running right now.

Thanks, I like the flyertalk forum, I've used it a bit for BMI related stuff. I can't quite work out which would be the best FF prog for me now all my BMI miles have gone. It is quite complicated when you get down to the particulars. I tend to do two long-haul flights a year and one short haul. These would be lesuire travel so I'd be paying for the cost myself. I guess most FF progs are aimed at people who are travelling much more than that. I am thinking of switching to BA or sticking with BMI.

Beaker99

Tojo_Ralph wrote: »

Scroll to the bottom of the forum list where you will see Money Savers Arms.... In there you'll see DT or Discussion Time.

If you plan ahead a little, the cost of flying Business Class medium or long haul should not be that prohibitive. The alternative is holding out for some kind of an upgrade, which for someone without high end frequent flyer status, is the longest of long shots and even for the likes of Platinum FF's, bona fide upgrades FOC are a very long shot.
...

I agree Tojo Ralph - I am one of these people who will personally fly business class longhaul out of my own pocket. As you say, with a bit of planning it doesn't have to be that expensive.. Just accept a non direct flight - in the case of my last one, hong kong via paris on air france which was £1,700 rtn through travelocity 10 months before (or £8k through Air france's website nearer the time).

As for how rich do you have to be? well I guess comfortable with reasonable disposable income.. we have about £1k per month which helps us pay for 1 big holiday a year or so), business class all the way. I see it that if I can afford it - and I've worked hard for my money, then it's worth every penny.

To be honest, to pay for business class out of your own pocket, at full list price you haven't got to be rich - just stupid (or so stuuupidly rich you don't care.

edit: infact the one thing that makes me laugh about business class is the 'dress down' competition. You see, people who try to get through on an upgrade will generally dress up to help their chances, so if you pay yourself, you specifically dress down, so others can you you're there because you paid. Usually ends up meaning j-class is full of unshaven blokes in tracksuits! (<ok that's a bit of a generalisation!)

short haul - btw, I only ever go Easyjet!

miffyhugmuffin

Beaker99 wrote: »

As for how rich do you have to be? well I guess comfortable with reasonable disposable income.. we have about £1k per month which helps us pay for 1 big holiday a year or so), business class all the way. I see it that if I can afford it - and I've worked hard for my money, then it's worth every penny.

To be honest, to pay for business class out of your own pocket, at full list price you haven't got to be rich - just stupid (or so stuuupidly rich you don't care.

Thanks, I'll keep my eye out for special deals, makes it more affordable. I'd only really seen the airline list prices before. My thinking is similar to yours, if it's disposable income then why not spend it on something you enjoy.

dmg24

Trust wrote: »

Richard W

I am set in my ways, I would not pay $10 extra principles come into it, by the same token I would not pay for firstclass on a train

90% of the flights in economy at the moment are half empty last week middle row on long haul so I had four seats...

So what are you paying extra for
Wider seat?
Better Food?
Better Service?

Please elaborate on this - I must be doing something wrong that I always end up in the almost full 10%!

sturll

dmg24 wrote: »

Please elaborate on this - I must be doing something wrong that I always end up in the almost full 10%!

Me too!

Tojo_Ralph

dmg24 wrote: »

Please elaborate on this - I must be doing something wrong that I always end up in the almost full 10%!

It would be interesting to see a year on year comparison for various routes, but my experiences on medium to long haul flights this year are in line with Trust's in that flights do appear to be quieter in the past six months and it has given me plenty of opporunity to investigate the various ways of seat blocking to ensure or at least greatly increase ones chances of sitting in a row of empty seats. ... And work on my advanced "building a bed out of three economy seats" technique.