I purchase revenue first class seats more often than not. In the years when my children were youngest (and I wasn't flying), I lost my status on airlines, and it appears status has become less valuable wrt upgrades anyway. As we begin to travel more, and I have four tickets/fares per trip, I'd like to know if there are best practices to purchasing first class fares. Do they follow the same pattern as economy - i.e. mid-week pricing is best, or is there something else to consider? I haven't noticed the fares fluctuating much. Better to buy economy and hope for a first class offer?

We mostly fly UA since we fly out of SFO.

Any tips are appreciated.

I would say that the most important thing to do is spend twelve months or so watching the airlines that you might like to fly like a hawk.

You will then know how they price their first class tickets on-peak, off-peak and in sales. You will also see when and on which routes sales tend to happen. Set up an Excel model to analyse the trends and patterns.

It might not help for this year's holiday, but for the next and subsequent years it will save you a lot of money, so much so that it is probably worth the effort.

dear trickless, you buying F tickets Sfo to LAX, or even NYC, or sfo to CDG or tokyo, and the like. there is an order of magnitude of difference in treatment and price

I usually pay them.

Following the fares is something I've tried to do lately - but keeping closer track of them is great advice.

@slawecki - Mostly looking at travel to EWR/PHL but also CDG/FRK and TYO. Recently booked OGG. Plenty of other US destinations as well.

I didn't know if there was a body of advice already out there. I didn't find anything with search, but it's not a straightforward thing to search. As far as just "paying" them, that's what I've been doing, but I figured with 4x the fares, it would be worth my effort to pull those fares down a bit. Especially the C1-C2 ones.

how about looking out for mileage sales and getting the tickets through redemption.

if the timing works out could be a great deal.

Check this FT on a regular basis...
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/premium-fare-deals-740/

I don't know what price point you're talking about for discount first, but it might be in the realm of making it worth buying miles in bulk when you can.

If you're really buying full fare first 4x, some of the pass products might make sense. AA Airpass or United's version of the same, if they didn't kill it.

For international long haul, first class is becoming largely irrelevant on most carriers (especially United) -- a flat bed business class seat is quite good.

For domestic to NYC from SFO, consider the new flat bed seat service on Jet Blue. It's often priced at half as much as on United. For other domestic and short-haul international (like Canada), I don't see much advantage in paying a premium for F, it simply doesn't get you significantly more comfort.

Thanks again for the responses. All good tips. I have restructured my credit card situation to take better advantage of my spend. I will definitely back out what I'm spending on discount F and see the cost would be for purchased miles. Generally that math hasn't worked out when I've eyeballed it, but that probably warrants a second look.

Domestic fares aren't usually markedly more than economy, or they'd be a tougher pill to swallow. Generally in the realm of 2x. International is more like 4x, but I'm more motivated on those trips.

I was totally unaware of Pass Plus (United's AAirpass equivalent), and have brought myself up to speed on what's publicly known about it. I'm going to reach out them for more detailed information. The upside to a program like that is that we're likely to travel more, given the up front costs.

And, of course I will always remain comfortable with the economy option.

Thanks again.

I buy my F tickets as I am guaranteed a seat. I don't have the stress of worrying if I will be upgraded or tickets will be available when I want them. I can also go on whatever airline I want.

In Australia using a credit car incurs a 2% surcharge. So by not paying by credit card and earning points I save 2%. I also get a 'cash' price which saves. I figure I put some of that towards my airfares.

I myself have not found a formula for buying premium tickets cheaper on certain days. I find prices are higher on airline websites. I like to google First Class Specials or business specials and there are websites that lists all the offers. I'll then use that info when booking with my travel agent. (Once I've decided to go away, I don't want to do all that kind of stuff. It's like having an assistant do it!).

http://www.united.com/web/en-US/cont...s/default.aspx

Requires $25,000 deposit for personal accounts. You get a 20% discount on international F class fares. Which are, looking at the route I use, about 10x the cost of economy. and 3x the cost of business. That's before the 20%.

Just to follow up to this after some research (for future readers).

If you're already willing to spend on premium cabins, mileage cards (or cards that transfer miles, like CSP or SPG AMEX) are a great value. Miles rapidly become worth more than 5% if this is your usage.

PassPlus personal is also a great option. $50k appears to get you GS, and that reflects $12.5k pp for a family of four. If that's already being spent, it winds up being a significant set of benefits, plus the discounts on airfare, and if you want to chance it, a decent chance of upgrades.

+1 on Jetblue's Mint products. They are newer, better, and cheaper than UA's.