We are talking about the airport parking lot, since we're looking out of First class windows?

Our Majesty QueenOfCoach.. she sets the example of what Royal Highnesses set. Don't pay for First, let others put you up there!:)

Thank you, thank you. (royal wave)

In real life, our new/old governor Jerry Brown is flying Southwest:

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-02...,5269316.story

"Not only does Brown fly commercial, but he flies coach..."

My wife and I fly from the east coast to Europe once or twice a year. The last time we flew coach (JFK-FCO) was four years ago and we vowed never to do it again. The cabin was filled with groups of high school students and they were carousing the entire flight. I have a hard enough time sleeping seated upright but this time it was impossible. I know they were good kids excited by their trip abroad but this was just too much. From that time we vowed to always fly at least business, even if that meant we had to pay. When you fly up front the vacation begins when you enter the plane and ends when you step off the plane at home. Travel becomes part of the vacation, not just an ordeal to be endured.

Great Philosophy
 

This is a great motto. I agree with it wholeheartedly.

You'd happily pay for business class. But would you pay for first class? Looking now, JFK-CDG Mar 3/9 to 3/16 is $3300 on Air France. This is reasonable. An expensive fare, no question, but anybody who makes a nice income can easily affor this.

However, the same flight in first class on Air France is $14,300. The OP is asking for payin for internatinal first class, which obviously is much more expensive than business class.

In this case, would you pay the $11,000 difference to ride in first versus business class?

I have an interesting take on this.

Yes, it certainly is a luxury and I would venture to guess a large portion, if not a majority of those people in first class are only there because of miles transfers from credit cards or other elite flyer programs.

Now consider this. If someone offered you a job of flying to different parts of the world, on super long flights in coach, but it pays say, $40k a month in salary, would you take it? If you're in coach, but you can afford first, imagine you're simply "being paid" to fly coach. $8k is an absurd amount just to lay down for a few hours. I doubt too many people are paying it and those that can afford to, I would imagine, would rather fly private jets.

And more to think about, if someone paid you thousands of dollars to fly coach, I bet you'd do it! There are some real "big shots" here on FlyerTalk no doubt, and I'm not putting them down, but I doubt anyone here is willing to turn down, say $5k for a few hours work of sitting and doing nothing (unless you're a billionaire, which I doubt any of us are).

I'll never pay for F or J, even if I win a lottery. I've been on FT all these years. I learned how to fly up front, long haul, without paying.
There is a reason why I'm addicted to collecting miles. Just so I can spend it.

+infinity. ^

And if I had a similar net worth as Kobe Bryant, the only time I'd pay for F is if I needed the EQMs to retain status. :D

I just flew international F for the first time in January, and no, I didn't pay cash. It was a *A award from US for PHX-NRT. UA's 747 suite on the international leg; ANA and SQ didn't have availability in F.

It was 120K miles for the ticket vs. 60K for Y and 90K for J. Since I had the miles, I went for it to try it out. It was only double the Y miles anyway.

Cash prices were quite another matter -- $1K for Y vs. $4K for J and $12K for F. If the cash price were double the Y fare like the miles were, then yeah, sure. Even if I had the money, though, I don't think I'd pay twelve times the fare.

Perks are more space, 3 FAs for the 12 seats, more space and fully flat bed, better food, and a private F lounge and arrival lounge.

I have actually paid for J once (a deeply discounted Delta I fare to Moscow). That's probably as far as I'd go out of my own pocket. You still get lounge access (though not the super-special F-only lounge), priority boarding and baggage*, much better seat, better food, and free booze. For me that's good enough.

*Though arriving in NRT, my bag came out near the end, despite having the red *A PRIORITY tag on it.

Nice
 

Great attitude. It is very refreshing to see! ^

I agree. And even if people have lots of money, spending it on things like ferraris, piagets, suites at the Ballagio, and F class international plane tickets is eactly how they go bankrupt. Mike Tyson is a prime example, and there are countless number of other athletes (on VH-1's specials of athletes who go bankrupt) who spend money on things like international F plane tickets who go bankrupt. So I think C is a very reasonable thing, especially if it is deeply discounted. But paying full F fare (like $14,000 for a planet ticket) is a whole other story.

I'll pay for international F if the price is reasonable. My last trips were Munich to Bangkok in F for 2,400 Euros round trip and I have a trip coming up to Australia via Thailand at the end of the week for 5,400 Euros round trip.

I'll be happy to fly to the US on UA E+ but regular Y on other airlines is just too tight for me. Personally, I think 5,000 Euros for F between Munich and Sydney (40 hours in the air round trip) is a steal and well worth it.

No, we've never paid for first class in a three class aircraft. Business is just fine and the premium for first isn't worth it to us. In two class aircraft we'll pay for the better class, which goes by different names for different airlines. These are typically priced similarly to business class in three class planes.

:D.. Don't forget the bow!

^. Why fly first when you can take two trips on two different airplanes. You arrive the same time as First or Business sitting in Coach. Big deal, you get off the plane a few seconds faster, but it seems to me that those who ride first or business gets on the plane first, so the time spent on the time is the same. Absurd to pay double the price for a little bit more leg and elbow room.. shows us how spoiled we are in North America when people are dying of hunger, and all we care about is whether we ride on a bigger seat in an airplane.

Plus, the luggage doesn't get to the carousel any faster because you're on First.

There is a reason why people who are rich or wealthy or well to do get there in the first place.. They don't waste money on needless things.. Even Bill Gates and Warren Buffett will ride coach, no problem.. Even if you can afford it, you target spend on some nice things, but those who accumulate money has unbelievable savings habits, and don't waste money all over the place.