maccoinnich

Life doesn't have to be a perpetual casual Friday.

Lockz

I wore a new suit home to surprise my girlfriend (at the time) that I was coming home from a month-long trip a few days early. It was tough, but CX F helped so I could hang it up, and showers at HKG and JFK along with an overnight in SFO meant I could take it off and wash up a bit. It was all worth it in the end, and I didn't have to worry about packing it.

Artpen100

For me, it is about (1) the packing, and (2) the extra pockets. The goal is to make travel as easy as possible.

Internationally or domestically, I am usually on business, in a field where wearing suits is still common. The suit I wear on board (tie in pocket) is the one I do't have to pack or worry about not having if my luggage is delayed. I may have an extra pair of underwear and a shirt in my carryon for the same reason. You only have to have the airline lose your luggage on a business trip once to learn this lesson.

Even when not on business, I will often have a sport coat. I like having lots of pockets for my phone, the charger, my passport, some other papers, the boarding pass, guide book I never got to looking at till I got on the plane, earphones, trail mix, maybe a waterbottle stuffed in a pocket. It is really handy. Maybe I'll put it in the overhead after I board , or wear it if it is cold. In winter, I may do that with my overcoat as well.

By the way, I have most of my suits, sport coats and slacks made in Hong Kong and Thailand. They are all good-fitting and very comfortable, much more so than off the rack here in the US. Shirts are cotton and loose at the collar. All that helps. Though I will change into the PJs or shorts and t-shirt if sleeping on an overnight flight if more than 10-12 hours or so and I know I will be waking up in plenty of time to leisurely change back. If I plan to be getting off the plane a few minutes after waking up (flights into CDG, for example), I stay dressed.

dhacker

I find that many people wearing suits are, in general, arrogant, judgmental, bores. How about you?

Amelorn

A suit in business class screams "middle class functionary."

Today's money (especially my younger generation) favours casual designer clothes. The two predominant styles I see up front are preppy (chinos, OCBD shirts, etc) or urban chic (jeans, proper shoes instead of sneakers/trainers, a button down shirt).

I do in fact change into pajamas for long flights, and yes, I bring my own. My ralph lauren PJs are far more comfortable and a higher quality than what I'd get onboard. There are times and places for a suit. A 14hr TPAC isn't one of them.

icarusKiD

I'm wearing a blazer and jeans for a minimum. My left inside jacket pocket is perfect for ID and boarding pass. I keep everything in the blazer pockets so it all goes in the TSA bin at once.

pittpanther

I'm not any less comfotable in a suit than I am in a sport coat, than I am in jeans, than I am in sweats. Perhaps your suits or dress shirts don't fit?

I would be quite UNcomfortable wearing pajamas in front of a dozen strangers on a plane.

bazers

Years (and years) ago I did it hoping for an upgrade. That really doesn't matter any more (neat and clean, yes - jacket and tie, no).

pinworm

No, it's not uncomfortable. I wear the suit beacuse I am either going to a meeting upon landing, or just got out of one..in either case I had no time or place to change.

Besides, right or wrong, rational or not, I get treated better by all staff/agents/ga/fa/stranger I encounter while wearing the suit.

FlyerTalker68098

And sadly I don't have any of today's money which is WHY I can't get away with the more casual look.

I'd wear a suit on short flights and just the jacket on longer flights to avoid having to pack it and take up room.

quick_dry

I don't dress like 'todays money' (I'm 33 but pass for early 20s), but shorts and decent tshirt are comfortable to wear and I'm flying to get to a sports competition not a business meeting so no need for a suit. I find I get excellent service up front, no different than anyone else, sometimes better

MetricFlyer

I sat next to a Chinese communist in business class on a TPAC CX flight. How did I know that? He was wearing the standard communist dark grey uniform during the entire 14-hour flight. (funny enough, as a communist, he was wearing a $20,000+ Omega watch that I happened to like)

Kagehitokiri

if not overnight, not necessarily that uncomfortable

some people dont have a choice, which is part of the point of having shower in EK A380 F

LaserSailor

I always wear Brooks Brothers to Asia. I've found you are treated profoundly differently based on this, especially if you have travel problems on the ground.

"Today's money is casual?"

Keep kidding yourself. Maybe in another 25 years, but right now the boomers are in the board room and looks matter.

Amelorn

J/F isn't the board room, and the boomers, having started to retire, aren't what I call "today's money."

See how many affluent millennials or even Gen X are suiting up in J/F. It's not a majority at all. I've struck up conversations with others around my age in J, and they are invariably in casual clothing. Of course, they've also been either in engineering or technology.

I will second your remark on Brooks Brothers though. Whenever I wore something from BB (their country club/casual lines), I generally have always garnered attention from the Japanese.

On many flights, I find the cabin temp warm or hot. My standard choice is usually corduroys or chinos. I am not a denim fan and abhor sweats. A worsted wool suit would not be fun.