Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who waits until about a minute before the gate closes, and then hustles aboard and takes whatever business class seat is empty. The flight attendants never ask to see his ticket. Not saying I condone this, but if you want to try business class it's not that hard...

Hahah, your friend is completely full of shit. I work in the industry. They load enough meals for the exact # of Pax - it's a cost saving measure - the manifest is printed out and given the the head purser on all flights, domestic and intl. They know precisely how many seats are taken, where and by whom. training and policy is to greet by last name. In fact, if you pay close attention you'll even notice they sometimes start asking for food preferences in what looks to be a random order (I.e some couple in row 5 before row 3, but after row 7). It's because they know your status and they usually will start with the most senior to ensure they don't run out of that persons preference.

Also your friends strategy would fail miserably on international flights where 1 or 2 seats are generally reserved for crew rest but aren't in any way labeled. He'd AlWAYS find empty seats and promptly get booted - probably from the plane.

This industry standard stuff. Your friend needs to tell better lies.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who waits until about a minute before the gate closes, and then hustles aboard and takes whatever business class seat is empty. The flight attendants never ask to see his ticket. Not saying I condone this, but if you want to try business class it's not that hard...

Your friend is lying. Flight attendants check the manifest very closely, especially after September 11 and especially on international flights and will boot you out of an empty seat, especially in a premium cabin.

Agree. The stewardesses greet you shortly after takeoff and say something like "Mrs. Smith, what entree would you like for dinner." They know who is supposed to be sitting in each seat.

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who waits until about a minute before the gate closes, and then hustles aboard and takes whatever business class seat is empty. The flight attendants never ask to see his ticket. Not saying I condone this, but if you want to try business class it's not that hard...

Your friend is lying. Flight attendants check the manifest very closely, especially after September 11 and especially on international flights and will boot you out of an empty seat, especially in a premium cabin.

I have a friend who waits until about a minute before the gate closes, and then hustles aboard and takes whatever business class seat is empty. The flight attendants never ask to see his ticket. Not saying I condone this, but if you want to try business class it's not that hard...

Anonymous wrote:Sadly I have never flown first class. Trying it once would be fun. For those that fly a mix of coach vs first/business, do the upgrade amenities really justify the cost difference? Having never flown first/business I don't have first hand experience in the differences. Is the major difference just seating space?

I fly a mix of coach and business for my office. Have lots of miles on United, so coach is economy plus. Honestly, that's good enough for me for any day flight, regardless of length. But I am an average sized 5'5" woman. Even economy plus is cruel for someone who is 6'4" or taller.

The food is better in business class, but hardly worth the extra dollars. Where it really pays off is on overnight flights where there is a time zone difference like Europe, and even more so for Asia or Australia. The seats fold down into something quite bed like and you can actually get quite a good sleep, important if you need to be on the ground running with business when you arrive.

This would be far less important to me on personal travel, but as I get older, business seats look more and more attractive to me. If I had huge amounts of disposable income, I would certainly choose it for any overnight flight.

Flying coach tonight to Europe.....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We fly business for our home leave every two years - family of four!

Yes but the bank or IMF pay for that..... It's not personal travel.

New poster here. Yes, the IMF/WB pay for business class for home leave, but you don't have to use it. My family always flies economy and saves the 20k difference (for 4 people).

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I remember when it was first class or unrestricted business class at the IMF for home leave eons ago. People would save the money and put additions onto their houses with it. I found it especially irksome when it was the support staff who did this, which is my own prejudice, and being American.

Sadly I have never flown first class. Trying it once would be fun. For those that fly a mix of coach vs first/business, do the upgrade amenities really justify the cost difference? Having never flown first/business I don't have first hand experience in the differences. Is the major difference just seating space?

Flew first class direct on United from Dulles to Honolulu for vacation travel. Coach was $1078. First class was $1650. It's a 10 hour flight. I did pay for the First Class ticket and it was worth every cent to me.

Normally, I can't justify the added expense of business class, but since the price difference was pretty small, I went ahead and did it. They had lay flat seats and it was really nice to have the added space.

I make $200K