Exactly the reason why I didn't bother to renew Plat this time. Dropping to Gold next month.....

its both $$$$$$ and time flying!

You can trade one for the other - spare a thought for the people who get Plat with mostly Y flying ;)

I have always felt that where our personal travel expenditure is concerned (ie not just leisure travel, but maybe business travel too if the business happens to be your own, and so it's yourself who effectively picks up the tab) it all comes down to perspective and the balancing of priorities. I guess at one point or another, those priorities have to be considered by all except the mega-wealthy who are fortunate enough to have unlimited funds with no compromise necessary.

I myself am happy to (or perhaps that should read prepared to ) spend money on premium cabins for anything other than short-haul. But even some of my close relatives see it as a waste of hard cash .....extravagant even in some cases. And I have a good friend dating back to my Uni days who has since amassed FAR greater resources than I have (or ever will), and for whom F class travel would be a very minor spend in the context of his total assets and lifestyle overall. However .....he only ever flies coach - as our US friends would say ! And, although he & I have never discussed our differing views on cabin classes in any real depth, I DO know that he considers his investment in land and bricks & mortar to be far more 'useful' for the long term than the highly perishable product and transient enjoyment of an airline seat which you only occupy fleetingly for a matter of hours.

Deep down.....I sense he's right and I'm wrong. But I also know that we don't always make our individual choices for wholly rational reasons.

I dunno subject2load, I think deep down you're probably right and he's wrong. What the point of having all that money or assets if you don't benefit from them? My father in law is like this, pots of cash and assets but never spends any money, never goes anywhere and if he did I guarantee it would be coach. Now don't get me wrong, his money, his life, his choice, but ifI've got the funds and can buy myself some comfort, I'm gonna buy that comfort.

Of course this explains why I spend more than I earn and I'm always short of cash......

Interesting comments there paule23, and I fully understand the general point you make.

Just to clarify my own post a little .....the friend I mentioned DOES spend money, he is definitely no miser - in fact he spends big time. Far more than I ever will be able to. He is very generous and hospitable. It's just that he doesn't see the point of buying a larger seat which takes you to exactly the same place as the cheaper ones. And in all honesty, I do come across many people who could very comfortably afford the front of the plane, but who - for whatever reason - just don't consider it important within the context of all their other expenditure.

I often wonder what a psychologist would make of it all .......

They would refer to research that shows that money habits are dominantly formed through childhood :D

From the point of view of the hospitality industry, there's no right or wrong answer - travel (and entertainment) is the ultimate discretionary spend and you start off from that basis when figuring out what people will pay for, and what they absolutely won't pay for. Cultural background and especially people's wealth journey (a euphemism for, how quickly did they become rich, and start off from the base line that people who are newly rich like to spend it) lets you tailor your product to the markets you serve. But never make the mistake that everyone in the same market thinks the same - I know lots of old money Europeans who love the EK bling :D Then again, I don't actually think the EK cabin is that bling - faux gold and wood doesn't count when you see some of the really "bling" stuff out there when you work in hospitality, so perhaps I have a different yardstick!

I also know people such as this - comfortable 9 figure net worth, always flies Y from Asia to the US. Always. He justifies this by saying the people in Y are more interesting ;) The rest of his family like to fly J as F is "too extravagant". And then on the other hand, there are those people who always save up for J or F on their once a year trip. Neither is wrong and neither is anything in between, when it comes to air travel, simply one's views on what is important. One person's "wastefulness" is another's "luxury".

I don't think he's right or wrong, or you either for that matter. It is all just personal preferences. At some point when either you or a loved one is faced with their own mortality (even if it is just a scare), you realise that life is short and you should try and enjoy what you have. And if travelling in style and comfort is what you want to do, then you should. Trouble is, once you've got used to flying in J long haul with a fully flat seat you can sleep in, it is really really hard to go back to Y.

Indeed! It makes you travel for the hell of it :D

I would tend to agree with your friends philosophy. Once you've done it a couple of times, you definitely wonder if it makes sense to pay so much for such a transient and fleeting experience, especially since its no different from your earlier one.

A lot of folks perceive that flying F means 'having arrived' / being extremely rich. So long as you can keep them separate, one should be fine.

Its not making me wealthier thats for sure but I enjoy it as does my wife - you only live once.

I'm in the camp of I'd rather not fly that fly Y for more than 4 hours.

I'm not sure if others feel the same, but I would quite intrigued to know the EK flying that you do in order to gain/maintain Plat. I achieved Gold last year and have just renewed again and all that flying was in Y on average at least once per month on varying stage lengths.

I'll do it later - need to look back and log on to my account. I very much doubt I'll renew plat as its all personal travel.

On the other hand, perhaps a list might be too much information for some.

I suspect most of us already have a more-than-adequate picture based on previous posts ......

THAT is a game changer.

Before buying our first J ticket, I spent much time in convincing my wife than convincing myself whether I can afford it :D. And not anymore..!!!

These days we set aside the vacation money first, and work out which amongst the three needs priority, i.e flights, hotels, shopping etc. So going into Dubai means, lot of shopping so will compromise on flights. Its 6.5 hrs in Y in A380. Really not very difficult. When travelling to South Asia, flights gets priority. You end up paying the same money as you will pay for Dubai. Plus, you get a chance to enjoy the lounges in transit.

In any case, nothing is right or wrong here, money is a relative thing.