Beltway2A

I pay for domestic (US) F on occasion. It's usually on separately ticketed connections or visiting family, where the two major considerations are (1) increased baggage allowance and (2) free same-day confirmed changes. The value outweighs the cost (and the extra space is a bonus).

Artpen100

For international from the US, I will buy cheap business class or look for an upgrade with miles or certs. International economy was just such a hassle, so uncomfortable, and I had so many bad experiences that spoiled the trip, that I just won't do it any more.

For domestic US, economy is fine, but I will buy domestic first if it is cheap or use a certificate if I have one. More pleasant, better seats, but not an absolute necessity, so if I waitlist with a cert and don't get it, no big deal. One exception is when I or a family member absolutely have to get where they are going. Then I buy first to ensure better treatment in the event of IRROPs. Domestic first in the US is a better seat than in intra-Europe business, but the food is not as good as intra Europe business class.

evergrn

Interesting thread for me, especially since I'm torn up right now about whether to spend just the extra $300/person (over lowest Economy fare) for a family of 4 to fly Premier Economy on EVA Air. Actually, long-haul Y is pretty brutal and I can easily understand someone paying $500-600 more to fly PE. But to me, anything beyond PE (talking about CX, NH, BR caliber) is very nice, but non-essential, temporary luxury that I just can't justify paying thousands for out of pocket.

I'm talking international first/biz here. I'm just really surprised to see so many posters on this thread saying they pay for their international J seats. I've always assumed that >90% of F/C passengers are either upgraded, flying on miles, paid for by company, or non-rev. From SEA, the lowest fares to TYO/HKG are typically $700~$1300 economy, >$2500 business (mainland Chinese carriers excluded, since I personally avoid them). Fair to say the ballpark price difference is $2000. Unless you're extremely well-off, it's hard for me to imagine someone not being dissuaded from paying $2000 more to sit up front rather than the back for a mere ~30 hours over the course of a round trip. After all, the price difference between a night in Days Inn vs Fairmont Gold floor is only a few hundred bucks. And I'm someone whose back gets sore after every TPAC flight in Y, and I do know what it's like to sit up front because I have been upgraded on rare occasions with NH and UA.

aquamarinesteph

I will buy first class tickets for any domestic US flight of four hours or more. Flying internationally, I will buy business class. I can't see the point in paying more than that when business class seats/service will suffice.

Then again, I have never traveled in first class internationally. Perhaps I just don't know what I am missing.

xenole

The only times I've ever paid for first class are on AA flights within the US area and even then, they have to be cheap.

Booked BOS-JFK recently for around £144, which probably isn't as cheap as it could get for a 40 min flight (+taxiing around JFK for the same time) but it's an affordable way of experiencing the cabin and it helps with my status.

Do a few runs down to the Caribbean etc. When it's £300 for LAX-LAS-PHX-PHL-MIA-PTY or something similar in first/business, it's very lucrative for me. Would much rather have a number of flights that help my overall status than pay say 5-10x the price to fly direct.

Got a SFO-JFK flight coming up. Daytime flight so the £110 or so it cost in economy is survivable. No intention of paying up to 10x the price for business or first (some seats are selling for £1500-£2000+).

As for international travel, most of my F travel is using miles. No way I would justify paying £4k for a seat on a 12hr or so flight when I can fly economy for 10x less.
Sometimes I will pay for premium economy if well priced and perhaps upgrade to business using miles etc., but I'm reasonably OK knowing I've saved £1000s for the sake of a few hours of my life.
Whilst the option of a flat bed and some nice food and drink is good, I'll survive, and so do many others.

invisible

My point exactly - some people are willing to spend $3k-4k more for max 30h sitting in an flying aluminum tube and after arrival go and stay two weeks at Days Inn instead of Fairmont. Congrats to economists who last 100 years assumed that people are rational in ther decisions and only last decade they suddenly discovered that it is not the case.

But hey, everyone has their own preference and priorites. If not such people there will be no other airline except Southwest.

evergrn

Yeah it does seem that some FTers actually do this. It's hard for me to understand. I understand that it may be literally impossible to sit in Y for 10 hours if you're 6'5". In that case, I would pay $500-600 more for 38" pitch in a typical PE. Definitely not $2-4k more for J/C or F.

spideysense

I pay for J but always use miles for F. I have to buy 5 tickets at a time because I mostly travel with my family, so it does get pricey. I can afford it, but I think it's a waste of money and int'l J is almost as good as F now anyways.

After having flown int'l F so many times using points, I'm kinda numb to it. The food costs less than $100, and I spend most of my time watching movies. That isn't worth an additional $10k RT. I can life flat in a comfortable J pod and eat pretty much the same food (sans $20 caviar) and watch the same movies on slightly smaller screens.

Fraser

US Domestic: I'd say 95% of my US travels are paid FC. My company pays for it on my occasional work gig and on my personal travels the difference in price isn't that huge. The other 5% is when JetBlue's timing works better and I'll book Even More Space on their single class aircraft

International: I have paid for revenue F several times in addition to doing a oneworld Explorer in F a while ago. It's not my default choice but if the price makes sense I will do it. Normally on the shorter TATL flights I do though upper deck business class is perfectly enjoyable!

deniah

*PE either not available on many routes, or their premium is more than just $500-600.

*still dont have space to scatter personal belongs around - chargers, cables, phones, laptops, etc

*in a j/f pod im still using every cubic inch of available volume. in a luxury hotel suite, im still spending 90% of time on the bed, and 10% in the bathroom....

...the dining table, the couch, the branded lotions and other beauty "products" - its all wasted amenities and furnishing that literally goes untouched.

so long as the other hotel option offers a clean bed and a functional bath, anything beyond provides very very marginal value

xenole

Well, I've had a few paid for business flights or first class redemptions and stayed in $45 a night hostels straight after.

I've stayed in a few fancy hotels and to be honest, most are gimmicky, you end up just using them for a shower and sleeping half the time, and never go near their overpriced spas etc.
Might be different if I had a girlfriend in tow, but for single person travel, all I want is a bed and somewhere to shower.

I've got a trip to Boston coming up later this week and arrive around 8:30pm (quite often arrive at 10:30pm from London). Looked at the airport Hilton for the night and it's around £266 and other hotels aren't cheap either.
Not a chance I'm paying that so I'll pay around £40 to stay in a hostel a couple of blocks from Boylston Street / Boston Common and maybe an Uber both ways for $40 inc. tip. 1/4 of the price, better location, and I don't end up paying $$$ for the room I'm only going to be using for a few hours.
(if you fly BA Club World, you're in a cabin with up to 70 others, possibly lying next to a stranger, all of you sharing 3-4 toilets, so what's the difference in spending a few $/£ to stay with maybe 3 others in a hostel room?)

Some flights from say BOS-LHR are, with favourable winds, less than 6 hours. Complete waste paying for F on something like this when, taking meal service etc. into account, you may get 3hrs sleep. I could get a couple of weeks in a Hampton or something for the same price as someone might be paying for those 3 hours.

But each to their own!

Artpen100

I get international upgrades with certificates or miles about half the time, and find discount business class for about $1.5K - $2K more than economy RT the other half. But I also view it as insurance that the trip will be productive and pleasant. I have had personal travel international economy trips that were so bad they spoiled the vacation, and business international economy trips where I was so tired that I could barely function the next day. So saving $1K -$2K on a trip is a false economy to me. Though I would never pay $6K for retail business class, and never had to.

Also, I tend to go cheap on hotels. Pretty much all I care about is location. I just don't spend much time in the hotel. But that also seems a very personal preference.

Annalisa12

We were going on.paid for SQ Suites but couldn't get a taxi from airport hotel and a shuttle came along so we jumped on it. I laughed to myself when discussion began about cheap airfares and taxis being too dear by the backpackers on board. Super luxurious way to start a 5 star trip lol

rankourabu

My spreadsheet keeps a breakdown, travel during my 20s and 30s, ever since becoming a member of FT 16 years ago.
363 flights up front (40%) 815062 miles up front (47%)
INTERNATIONAL FIRST 38
DOMESTIC 'FIRST' 137
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS 188

Elite upgrades/cert upgrades 110
Reward tickets/mileage upgardes 176
Paid tickets 62
Opups 15

So overall, 40% of my lifetime flights are up front, but only 6.7% are paid.
I can easily pay, and a total of zero flights out of my 917 are work related, heck, any fool can pay for premium class, but why pay, when business/first is so easily obtained for free? Isnt that what this site is about?

Jeannietx

We reached an age a few years ago when I decided no more coach. I buy F.