Article: Long-Haul Economy Class - A Valuable Reality Check

[drcam]

In the nineties and noughties, it was patently possible for even people on modest wages to fly in premium classes once in a while by manipulating credit card sign-up offers and airline bonus offers. However, devaluations, the trashing of reward availability and general stinginess and greed has made playing the points game a much less juicy proposition.

 

[Limewood]

IMO the number of points required for J seats now internationally on Qantas is about 4 times what they were pre-pandemic it's outrageous and something should be done about it.

 

[gilldo]

We never travelled overseas until later in life (I'm 57, and only went OS for the first time in 2017).
Since then we've had two long-haul trips and have another booked for this year. We hope to go next year too. All of the long-haul legs have been in Business on Classic Rewards. But one day I will run out of points to use, and I can confirm we are not able to afford Business.

Having flown a lot domestically, I can't imagine having to do long haul in economy. The longest economy leg we've done is 5 hours from ADL-AKL in a half-full AirNZ 787 and it was fine. But flying overnight on a full plane would be a different ball game, and I'll be avoiding it for as long as I can.

 

[Forg]

IMO the number of points required for J seats now internationally on Qantas is about 4 times what they were pre-pandemic it's outrageous and something should be done about it.

Are the premium cabins full regardless?

It’d be silly for airlines to be giving away free seats if they can sell those juicy juicy cash-cow seats & make that bulk bank off them … the front-end is where the majority of profit is for most airlines innit?

 

[jase05]

IMO the number of points required for J seats now internationally on Qantas is about 4 times what they were pre-pandemic it's outrageous and something should be done about it.

Award seats haven’t had a points increase for some time

 

[Beano]

I have to say that my Y travel is tempered by the prospect of time in an EK F lounge, and fast track/priority queuing. I use my points to reduce the cost of the airfare, particularly as Mrs Beano is also travelling, and anyway upgrades on points are less likely when using OW airlines rather than Q.

Mrs Beano has the same attitude as Mrs Forg so no problem.

 

[AbsolutelyAnything]

I have a spell of Y flights at present as the company is trying to reduce costs (I don’t mind too much as a shareholder).

I did QF81/82 last week, out was fine as I had a shadow next to me, back was a killer - 4 hours delay leaving and then delays inbound for SYD, we ended up having to disembark at the freight terminal. I did have a new Qantas recruit next to me so had some great conversations but very little sleep.

On Saturday I’m on QF11 heading out to Austin, again in Y but don’t mind that so much as I always try and stay awake as I find it easier to fit in to the destination time. However, I’m coming back on QF8 in Y which I’m not looking forward to and the points upgrade to J is just crazy (110k).

Budgets for travel improve after Feb so hopefully I should be back to PE at least with ‘cheaper’ upgrades to J.

 

[Berlin]

IMO the number of points required for J seats now internationally on Qantas is about 4 times what they were pre-pandemic it's outrageous and something should be done about it.

This is total nonsense, it’s exactly the same amount of points as it was pre-Covid.

There’s hardly ever any seats available, that’s true but why would there if airlines manage to fill their cabins anyway due to still lower capacity/ lots of penned up demand. I’m still optimistic that this will normalise again in the next two years or so, we will see.

 

[mel1]

Long-Haul Economy Class: A Valuable Reality Check is an article written by AFF editorial staff:

Long-Haul Economy Class: A Valuable Reality Check

As awful as it may be at the time, taking an overnight flight in Economy can be a good way to reset your expectations and remind yourself of how lucky you are to be able to fly up the front at other times.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

We have been fortunate enough to fly business for years (many on points) & appreciate turning left every time. On a recent Santiago - Sydney flight, Latam informed me 40 mins before departure that my seat didn’t recline & bs class was full. So I sat up the whole flight - yes, in a wider seat than economy, yes, with more room in front, yes, with better food. But no sleep at all and yes, it was cough! LATAM was very good however, in giving me a cash refund within 2 weeks.

Post automatically merged: Jan 26, 2023

We have been fortunate enough to fly business for years (many on points) & appreciate turning left every time. On a recent Santiago - Sydney flight, Latam informed me 40 mins before departure that my seat didn’t recline & bs class was full. So I sat up the whole flight - yes, in a wider seat than economy, yes, with more room in front, yes, with better food. But no sleep at all and yes, it was cough! LATAM was very good however, in giving me a cash refund within 2 weeks.

 

[SYD]

IMO the number of points required for J seats now internationally on Qantas is about 4 times what they were pre-pandemic it's outrageous and something should be done about it.

“Classic reward” seats haven’t changed - they’re just hard to find…

“Any seat rewards“ are variable and are just points equivalent of the dollar price, so yes they‘re following cash fares north and are even less value than they were Precovid.

 

[Fred Ettlinger]

Long-Haul Economy Class: A Valuable Reality Check is an article written by AFF editorial staff:

Long-Haul Economy Class: A Valuable Reality Check

As awful as it may be at the time, taking an overnight flight in Economy can be a good way to reset your expectations and remind yourself of how lucky you are to be able to fly up the front at other times.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

It’s easy when you know how to access all the relevant site offers. When you are old like me and not computer literate it’s hard if not impossible. One has to achieve a doctorate i flight bookings.
Fred

 

[Bjet]

That's an interesting article.

- I prefer to have three seats/lots of empty seats in Y when there is no school holidays or it is on Tues/Wed so that I can lie down/sleep on three seats and also three PTVs (one for movie and another one is flightpath map) at the same time. It's much better than business class haha.
- I like to meet and talk with seatmates.
- Fly on a new aircraft such as 787 and A350. If you fly with them, you won't feel that it was a long time to get there. When I flew from SCL to MEL for about more than 13 hours, I could not believe that it was such a short flight time! Maybe it was because of the wide seat and more spacious between two seats. It was the most comfortable plane I have ever had.

 

[Melburnian1]

When I started long-haul travel, obviously in Y, in-air hours were a pain that one found ways to get over. When you start to fly J, it is immensely better, but then you have another load of issues. Yes, you may have a lay-flat bed, etc, but it is truly not that comfortable. Your expectations have shifted from sheer survival to an enjoyable sleep. And no matter how fancy, even the best first class seats do not offer a rest experience better than you can get at home on single mattress on the floor...

I find it far easier to sleep in a sleeping berth on almost any train worldwide than in J on an aircraft.

By plane, there is too much lighting, even if one succeeds in obtaining a window seat in the middle of the J cabin, as far as possible from the noisy dunnies, and galleys where crew incessantly talk.

The annoying joins in J seats are reduced if the airline provides a reasonable 'mattress topper'.

On trains, the track quality matters but since most main line railways have thermit welded rails, there are long distances between joints so you never notice it. Plus there's just something about a train's motion that is quite conducive to sleep. In contrast, I find the noises on aircraft do the reverse, though at least with J one isn't down the back.

Provided rail conductors switch off lights at a comfortable hour such as 2130, travelling by rail sitting up (especially in a first class seat) can also not be too bad: way better than a Y seat on aircraft and sometimes just as much sleep as in a J seat by air. Surprisingly, on the 40 year old XPTs operated by NSW TrainLink (Sydney to Melbourne/Brisbane/Grafton City/Casino) the lights seem to be turned off at that hour (not 2230 or 2300 as they once did) and not switched on until 0600 or after. There are few lights to annoy, just underfloor guidance light, and conductors mostly walk through quietly at night. Usually in first, most passengers are well behaved and do not talk at night. Of course, you can be unlucky.

 

[drcam]

I have had some of the worst sleep on the XPT sleeper from Melbourne to Sydney and this was when I had a compartment to myself. I invariably woke up at every station. I'd rather fly in Y

 

[Forg]

Only tried sleeping on a train once … Berlin to Paris.
No more sleep there than in J … so much stop-start-stop-start, so many differing noises, so much being chucked around!

Dunno about a comparison to flying in Y though, at least there was no pain from knees being crushed by the reclined seat in front.

 

[Buzzard]

Excluding domestic travel, it's been over 20 years since I've had to fly cattle class.
Unfortunately +1 will have this experience again next year when we fly to India and home from Singapore.
We have found a package holiday at an exceptionally good price that includes return flights, an escorted 7 day land tour of India plus a domestic flight, then a cruise from India to Singapore.
Having spoken to the TA, any deviation from the package takes the sheen off the advertised price. +1 and I thus spoke about the holiday and came to the conclusion that we either suck it up and do it or we stay home. We have decided to do the trip and in some ways it might actually do us some good by making us appreciate the pointy end rather than perhaps taking it for granted.

 

[lepetitprince]

I have been fortunate enough to fly J (mostly on points, sometimes on cash) the last few years. Recently, in December, we went on a holiday overseas - MEL - KUL - BKK. It was a late decision, so flights were full (we anticipated that flights will be full given first fully open school holiday season). It was busy everywhere - airports, check in, customs, passport et cetera. We only managed to get Y tickets (family of 3). I have to say that it was not bad as likely although J was an 'alternate reality' for us, somehow haven't completely gotten used to it! We all slept solidly both ways. Y is nothing like J; any day I would prefer J, but unlike some here, I wouldn't say it triggered anxiety or PTSD and such like and am still alive!

 

[DeltaBega]

Long-Haul Economy Class: A Valuable Reality Check is an article written by AFF editorial staff:

Long-Haul Economy Class: A Valuable Reality Check

As awful as it may be at the time, taking an overnight flight in Economy can be a good way to reset your expectations and remind yourself of how lucky you are to be able to fly up the front at other times.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

Very good article - I agree with all you wrote.

 

[yarrabett]

This article and its comments are all very interesting and potentially very helpful. But as a relatively new member to this forum I can barely understand most of the comments as they are full of acronymns and abbreviations. I've guessed what 'J' , 'PE' and 'Y' mean, but there are dozens of others glibly rattled off that I don't know the meaning of. Is there a glossary somewhere of all these terms?

 

[Forg]

^ It gets better, abbreviations ‘round here have different pre-existing meanings elsewhere too.