Who can afford First Class prices?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We mostly fly business or first class but we definitely shop around for the best price. Economy has become a cattle car. We are retired and can afford it. Recently we had a UA flight cancelled and the best they could do was rebook us on a flight where we were in middle seats near the back of the plane. That experience reminded us why we book first class.

Haha, you're joking right? If you're in first class and the flight is canceled, they will rebook you in economy on the next flight. There is no guarantee that you get first class.

Please read Reddit and FlyerTalk forums. Tons of stories about first class ticket holders getting rebooked in economy. The airline will not even proactively give you the difference in fares, you have to call to customer service multiple times. And even when they do you refund you the difference, it will be the small amount between your discount first class ticket and the most expensive last-minute economy ticket. So maybe you get back $100/person on a $1500 biz fare. And you still flew economy!

There is no sense of "make it right" for first class ticket holders. These airlines DNGAF unless you spend $100K annually.

Do they at least refund the fare difference?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We mostly fly business or first class but we definitely shop around for the best price. Economy has become a cattle car. We are retired and can afford it. Recently we had a UA flight cancelled and the best they could do was rebook us on a flight where we were in middle seats near the back of the plane. That experience reminded us why we book first class.

Economy seats on mainline airlines haven't significantly changed in size since I remember (around 35 years). In fact they are better because of streaming options, either to seat back screen or your tablet.

Back screen is NOT a feature. If it's broken you are SOL, and it's not a light touch screen so you are pressing and pressing and you feel the person behind you pressing and pressing, which is probably why they break so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We mostly fly business or first class but we definitely shop around for the best price. Economy has become a cattle car. We are retired and can afford it. Recently we had a UA flight cancelled and the best they could do was rebook us on a flight where we were in middle seats near the back of the plane. That experience reminded us why we book first class.

Haha, you're joking right? If you're in first class and the flight is canceled, they will rebook you in economy on the next flight. There is no guarantee that you get first class.

Please read Reddit and FlyerTalk forums. Tons of stories about first class ticket holders getting rebooked in economy. The airline will not even proactively give you the difference in fares, you have to call to customer service multiple times. And even when they do you refund you the difference, it will be the small amount between your discount first class ticket and the most expensive last-minute economy ticket. So maybe you get back $100/person on a $1500 biz fare. And you still flew economy!

There is no sense of "make it right" for first class ticket holders. These airlines DNGAF unless you spend $100K annually.

Do they at least refund the fare difference?

Yes they will, most of the time automatically, but may need to follow up on it. But yes, a class downgrade gets a refund of the difference.