I found it rather humorous, and remember, the ad - and TED - is aimed at the leisure flyer heading to the US for some fun. Not the business traveller on a $10000 paid F fare who will be working on the plane going over, working off the plane while at their destination, and working on the plane going back.

And yes, those folks do exist (and they probably fly STAR) and yes, there gonna get "screwed" because they can't sit in First once they hit LAX. And no doubt UA will watch their revenues and if they plummet too much, will add a few mainline flights back that connect to the internationals - and set NF to 0 to ensure that the $10000 paid F folks get those seats before the $100 1Ks going down for the weekend.


Of course, with the kinda money, hire a limo in LAX and be driven, which would give you even more time to work and in a better environment then domestic First (since you can really spread out).