s0ssos

I think most businesses think that way, J is necessary for a well-rested employee, F is absurd.
The people I met upfront in F I presume were pretty high up, given the price.

However, for those talking about how much money a person earns, I think it is easy to split it up into 2 categories
People who look for deals and people who don't. Because people who don't simply are not the kind of rich people I know. Rich people are generally frugal, from my experience. They don't like wasting money. And when it gets you there all the same ...

Then you can split up why people look for deals. As someone said it takes skill, it is a challenge, exciting, etc. Some people look for deals because they need them to fly business, and some look for deals because that is the only way they feel the value proposition is good.

darthbimmer

I agree it's useful to group people as bargain-hunters vs. not. And though I definitely know many affluent people who are bargain hunters, I also know wealthy people who think nothing of the cost difference between coach and first class flying-- including a few who, arguably, should care given their finances.

I'd divide wealthy people among those born into wealth versus those who worked their way into it from modest means through skill and perseverance. The latter, self-made wealthy absolutely had to be bargain hunters at one point, before they were wealthy. They often retain the habit even when the amount of savings they can eke out has become inconsequential to their budgets. Those born into wealth never had need to develop such a habit.

s0ssos

I agree about the classification of how one obtained wealth. I would further divide it into people who "think" they worked their way into wealth and those who feel it was just handed to them on a silver platter.
Many people think they worked really hard (a certain person whose name begins with "T" for example) when others would say it had been given them. So there really isn't a correlation.
And then maybe there is also the aspect of whether one feels they "deserve" the luxuries of life. Just because one has money doesn't mean one thinks one deserves to get it all.

SJWarrior

StartinSanDiego

I was just thinking the same thing. I think it's called the 3 Generation Loop... Grandparents earn it, kids enjoy it, grandkids spend it away.

rbwpi

Serious, except for the comment about Go Fund Me, that was in jest.

emma69

Sadly I don't earn 10 times that, but flew paid F last week. It was only around $200 more than the economy ticket. Now on another route that might be $2000 more or $10,000 more and I may or may not pay it. It comes down to priorities. I have friends that pay four figures for a handbag, others who buy the latest electronic gadgets. I never do that. But I will pay a bit more for some flights, sometimes.

Jimpster

To give a salary VS business class fares comparison, I am fine paying up to 125% of my net monthly salary on private flight tickets in J/F if the travel time exceeds 4 hours and if the airline/aircraft type/hard product are good. I'd rather save up and have an extraordinary travel experience rather than save on flights and spend the cash on fancy car rentals or else.

I love aviation and I am happy to financially contribute to the health of airlines I value (remember economy long-haul is poorly if not non-profitable). I also feel nostalgic of the times where flying was special, when everyone would dress up to fly. It kinda depresses me to fly long-haul in an economy cabin where everyone is in tracksuit and publicly trim its nails around.
Business class fares seem less costly to me than any Y fare with a packed cabin.

A few examples that were totally worth it :

- United Polaris / B787-10 / Europe - USA (8+ hrs)
- Turkish Airlines / B773, A333 / Europe - Asia (13+ hrs)
- All Nippon Airways / B789 / Europe - Asia (12+ hrs)
- Qatar Airways / B788, B773, A346, A333, A350-900 / Europe - Middle East, Asia (6 to 12+ hrs)
- Singapore Airlines / A388 / Europe - Asia, Oceania (13 to 28+ hrs) - [paid 12 000€ on a BRU-ZRH-SIN-AKL-SIN-LHR-BRU trip to New Zealand in F and never regretted it]

A few examples where I felt I lost money :

- Brussels Airlines / A333 / Europe - USA (8+ hrs)
- Air Canada / B789 / Europe - USA (8+ hrs)


Having flown several short to medium-haul aircrafts in J/F (LX, SN, LH, TK, UA, TP, AC,...) I would not recommend paying the extra cash if the flight time does not exceed 4 hours and if the plane is single aisle (poor J hard product).

For business trips, I am fine flying economy if everyone else sits in Y.
If my boss would fly himself in J/F while the rest of the team is in Y, I would probably not join and let the boss know my point (if a leader thinks his comfort is more important than the one of the people he works with, then something is really wrong).

On the other end, it already happened that I got upgraded on work trips where everyone else is booked in Y. In these cases, I would usually offer my J seat to other people travelling with me who have no previous experience of flying premium or who have specific conditions (pregnant, very tall or broad, recently divorced or depressed, etc.)