Originally Posted by
vanillabean
I am not sure I would appreciate first/business class. It’s comfortable certainly, and the extra room is nice; I am six feet tall, the average height of men in say Holland, but somehow I’m just fine in coach. Being slim, I’m not impacted much sideways or forward.
Free drinks and various other perks surely come in handy too. But when I flew first class once in my twenties, the temptation of keeping the drinks coming may have caused some of my enjoyment to be blacked out.
Going to a good restaurant from time to time is worthwhile, as is in general going somewhere on vacation to unwind and being open to the world around you. Museums, taking a horse and buggy ride through the park, a really nice hotel.
But stepping up from economy on a plane? Is it any better than an airport lounge with the notable exception than alcohol is free? Even if I could lie down and sleep, wouldn’t I want to remember my time here? Is it unreasonable to consider that part of the fun?
You reach the gap in quality quickly; an upgrade tends to revolve around quantity. More legroom, square footage Vegas-style. And does more distance to your neighbor seat make the noise any less irritating when he rattles the entire inside of the bag for every potato chip that he picks up individually?
Like it is never going to stop. Or when he flips through a magazine one page at a time, trying to find something to read on the open page and yet at the same time have the fingers ready for the next. It’s unlikely that there’s a correlation between class and manners, or just that you’re more relaxed when your seating is more comfortable.
Maybe that’s what I'm afraid of now that my wife thinks it could be fun once again trying out first class. I’m sure it could be, hopefully. Stretching out and flushing all those years of cramped economy out of the system. Relaxing your muscles, getting the personal Pan Am experience by some pretty flight attendant. Wow, did I really say that? I must be dreaming!
I have nothing to whine about. We just got a chunk of free points due to some inconvenience that an airline’s delayed flight put us through. Which airline, do you think, should we spend the upgrade on? Air France, British Airways, Air Canada come to mind. Thank you very much.
i use my miles solely for ultra long haul business class, and it takes me 1.25-2 years to earn enough for one ultra long haul business class flight. the mentality is that: i seldom get paid j on travel, yolo, and that these redemptions are highest value.
this being said i have the same sentiment as you. i used to be an airline employee so travelling j isn't much of a novelty, and i am just fine for any length flight in y as long as i get boozed up and take 2-3 advil night with the meal. how you found less enjoyment in getting blackout in j is confusing for me, the entire point of flying in j is having someone facilitate you getting blacked out.
lately i've started questioning whether using my miles for ultra long haul j is the best choice...i mean i can have 2 long haul trips and a valuable intra-north america short haul redemption for the price of that 1 ultra long j. while deliberately dressing trashy, getting blitzed off raki on tk, and loudly laughing at some will farrell movie is neat, it's even more neat to get 3 trips out of my miles.
anyways the last redemption was for bae who never flies up front. that's most likely solely how i'll redeem.
anyways ac af ba are a terrible 3 options but not the most awful in the world either....can't get anything on br, nh, oz, sq, tk, os?