Originally Posted by
rankourabu
I doubt any frequent fliers actually pay for first class tickets.
Frequent fliers are either
a) people who have their tickets paid for by someone else
b) people who know how to use the upgrade/point system to get into first/business class for free, and are very unlikely pay for such seat out of pocket.
Be careful with such assumptions. In a typical year I do around 25 flights, which I guess makes me a frequent flyer but not an extremely frequent flyer. They're all paid for out of my own pocket. I normally book business class (unless on a short haul flight and an LCC has the most convenient schedule), and use miles to upgrade to first if I feel like it. As hyderago says, the difference in price between business and first is not worth it for me due to the high level of comfort in business class. In particular, I do Europe <-> Asia or Australia a fair amount, and try to fly EK A380s when possible, where business class has the excellent T-shaped seats. If I was three times as wealthy, I'd probably just buy first class.