First class to Tampa?
 

We're flying STL to TPA for a special occasion. Would like to fly first class. I've read on here how many of you feel about domestic first but is one airline better than another for this route?

Would you just buy the ticket at it's cost now or purchase upgradeable and hope it works out?

Others may see it differently, but given the similarity in domestic F offerings, I think the airline that does it better on this route is the one that does it cheaper. No idea when you're flying, but I plugged some dates in September into ita and see there are many round trips on Delta at $631. I don't think you'll see prices much lower. Buying the ticket at a price like that is probably a better deal than trying to upgrade, if you have no elite status and would have to pay a copay in addition to using miles, all to go on a waitlist that may not clear.

I suppose that my reaction would be to select the most convenient non-stops (if there are any), then comparing pricing between Y and F. Often (and STL's increasingly limited service and the higher prices flowing from that as time goes on), the cost/benefit of the price difference would outweigh the perceived benefits of First Class on that short a flight. On the equipment likely to be encountered and with the limited services for F pax, getting there and back quickly would mean a lot more to me than a 'cheap' F ticket requiring me to change planes in ATL, etc..

Personally, that flight would be too short for me to justify buying F outright. I would take an UG if offered due to status with the airline. I doubt I would spend the money or miles on an UG myself, but it is your choice and if you have the means, then by all means. Just make sure the flight is not broken into multiple flights on commuter jets.

Tampa International is by far the BEST airport I have ever been at. There are many things to keep you busy while you wait for your flight. There are many good restaurants and shops. The airport is rarely crowded and the design is great. Tampa is a great city with a great airport but one thing which goes to the negative is their limited non stop destinations and you've to wait for baggage.

(1) If you're dead-set on F and don't hold a high-tier elite status, you'll almost certainly need to buy it confirmed. There won't be no-status upgrades available. If you *do* buy it confirmed, as pinworm suggests you need to make sure that F is really offered on all segments. No legacy carrier flies nonstop STL-TPA that I'm aware of. That means you'll be on four very short segments. The smallest RJ's don't have an F cabin at all.

(2) My personal opinion is that this route isn't remotely worth spending money, miles, or limited upgrades on for F. Even if you fly four mainline jets, you're going to get 1 drink per flight, 2 max, and not really any kind of "first class" ambiance. You'll get a bag of pretzels per flight, most likely.

(3) If you hold no status on any carrier, I'd fly the Southwest nonstop STL-TPA. If you want, price the coach nonstop, price the F ticket (it'll end up being about $275 vs. the aforementioned $631 for the September example), buy the coach nonstop and think of something MUCH more interesting then a few pretzels and four beers to spend $700 on. When in doubt, nonstops beat connections. When you hold no elite status on any airline, Southwest's system is far better than a legacy. (If you do hold a status, I'd still buy a coach ticket on your preferred airline - even if your upgrade odds are low.)

(4) printingray is absolutely correct: TPA is a nice easy-to-use airport. I used to fly there often. I was always willing to pay a premium to use it vs. MCO, although the prices were usually about the same. Since a lot of travel portals have "surrounding airports" options, make sure you're selecting TPA and not an MCO itin that happens to be $20 cheaper. (Assuming you actually want to be in Tampa.)

It's impossible to answer the, "is it worth it" question. Only OP knows how much a given $1 is worth to him in personal situation.

But, that said, there are many opptunities where a FC seat can be obtained through discounted FC, -UP fares and the like. Often for not much more than even certain discount Y seats.

Best thing to do is to look at the range of fares and figure out what the differential is to get you into F and then whether it's worth it to you personally.

On that route, I'd pay $150-200 extra for F. But, that's me.

Since it is a relatively short flight, I say save the money and splurge on some amazing restaurant. You'll get much better food than anything they are going to serve in domestic F.

+1! The Tampa area has some great places to eat! :)

Yeah, take the $700 you'd save in Y to Bern's. Allocate $300 to steaks, caviar, and Scotch. Allocate $400 to wine. Get a tour of the wine cellar if you can...easily the most amazing working (restaurant) wine cellar I've ever seen.

Their most expensive bottle in the cellar when I was there in the late 90's was a $10,000 Bordeaux. It was stocked specifically for the Boss, inside a small cage within the wine cellar that also held a few other high end wines, Scotches, Armangnacs, etc. - he ate there often when the Yankees were in town for Spring Training.

I had a similar decision to make today, O/W from ORD to BOS in November. Coach is $100 while First is $228. For me, the $118 is worth being up frong, however for a 2-hour flight, I'm sure the extra $118 could be better spent elsewhere. I figure I could easily spend that for a different date and be in the back though.