Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These days many of the people flying first class are people with lots of air miles (usually due to work travel) getting free upgrades. I fly first class all the time for this reason and have never paid for it.

+1 this is me. I’m 30 and take 2-4 flights per week. With my status, I always get business or first. I’d never pay for it.

You will when you no longer get the upgrades and have to suffer in the back like the rest of us cattle.

Fortunately, my industry will always have me traveling

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These days many of the people flying first class are people with lots of air miles (usually due to work travel) getting free upgrades. I fly first class all the time for this reason and have never paid for it.

+1 this is me. I’m 30 and take 2-4 flights per week. With my status, I always get business or first. I’d never pay for it.

You will when you no longer get the upgrades and have to suffer in the back like the rest of us cattle.

Anonymous wrote:These days many of the people flying first class are people with lots of air miles (usually due to work travel) getting free upgrades. I fly first class all the time for this reason and have never paid for it.

+1 this is me. I’m 30 and take 2-4 flights per week. With my status, I always get business or first. I’d never pay for it.

Anonymous wrote:We've been shocked to find that first class seats are sometimes not much more than coach. Last year when we went to Mexico they were only $100-something more per person.

Was going to say this too. I fly for work but I know my schedule 8-10 months in advance. Booking that far out, and first class may only be 25% more than economy (for domestic flights). It's worth it to me as the seats have a bit more room -- but just enough more room that I can comfortably work on my laptop and have a few papers next to me that I refer to at the same time. Big productivity gain for me.

Heck, I'm flying first class next week to New Orleans and I already have a list of tasks to do while on the flight. They are the tasks that either require deep concentration and focus, or are tedious.

We've been shocked to find that first class seats are sometimes not much more than coach. Last year when we went to Mexico they were only $100-something more per person.

Anonymous wrote:There is very little difference between first and business internationally.

For many international airlines business class is their first class.

We always flew coach until a few years ago. Once we retired we realized that if we didn't fly first class our kids would with what we were going to leave them. It's ridiculously expensive but economy has become such a cattle car as airlines have all added more seats. 40 years of coach business travel wore my DH down.

There is very little difference between first and business internationally.

Anonymous wrote:My first and only time flown in 1st class was my business class ticket bumped to 1st class after business seats have all been sold out and I got lucky. It was trans-pacific international flight betw Asia and East coast. So, I took this chance to use a flat bed from the time I was allowed to adjust the seat until flight attendant woke me up cuz we were arriving (basically slept almost 10 hours straight, and did not get any food/drink service). The best trip ever as my jet-lag was soooo minimal.

This is exactly why its worth putting in the effort to get a bunch of points and miles- getting that good sleep on the plane makes a huge difference with jet lag and enjoyment of an overseas trip.

I have flown domestic first class a few times and it is nothing to write home about. I typically fly business class internationally.
One time I was bumped to first class. There were only 3 of us in the whole cabin and the food was wonderful. You have more privacy than in business class which is great for an 8 hour flight.

We are flying back from our vacation this year in first class. We don't do miles/points/etc. But we did plan well in advance.

The economy / main cabin was $250. It was $90 per person to upgrade to economy plus. We had a tight connection in OHare, so I wanted to be near the front of the plane. However, after I saw that First Class was around $420 per person (or not considerably more than $250 + $90 + $90), I just bought us First Class tickets. It's easier to decide to spend the extra money when it's 2-3 people than a family of 5.

PP above, I must add. It was work trip so company paid for, I believe, full price business seat.

My first and only time flown in 1st class was my business class ticket bumped to 1st class after business seats have all been sold out and I got lucky. It was trans-pacific international flight betw Asia and East coast. So, I took this chance to use a flat bed from the time I was allowed to adjust the seat until flight attendant woke me up cuz we were arriving (basically slept almost 10 hours straight, and did not get any food/drink service). The best trip ever as my jet-lag was soooo minimal.

Anonymous wrote:I know very few people who have flown first class. I looked into for our honeymoon and I couldn't stomach the price.

OP here. This is the primary reason I haven’t. Couldn’t stomach the cost either. Travel for work, but only a few times per year. Not enough to pay the difference.

It's great if you're not paying for it.

Business class is 80% as good for half the money, roughly speaking.