Athena53

Yes, it does make a difference. DH got spoiled when we upgraded with miles a few times! I think it was the endless supply of Bombay Sapphire (he never overdid it) and the ice cream sundaes. At one point, though, after a flight to EDI in Coach, he concluded that it was really getting too hard to recover from being cramped up in Coach- he was over 70, over 6 feet tall and had a creaky back. So- we cut back our TATLs but after that they were all in Business Class. He was 15 years older and I learned early on that as you age, you can still travel but you might need more expensive services (taking a private car from the airport instead of public transportation, getting a hotel very close to the action or at least to the nearest subway, etc.)