Business Classes all the same?

[SOPOOR]

Was wondering if people can give me some insight,

ok, so im no way wealthy in any case, actually my last years taxable income was $15k, and this years is the same,

Whenever I travel overseas, I look for the cheapest one usually on special via jetstar, I usually am concered about price so if I have a 5 hour stopover it doesn't really concern me

I would generally rather do 2 economy trips instead of paying for 1 business class,

some may call me a tight butt

anyway, that being said, I ve just come back from overseas using jetstar and from what I gathered business class or whatever its called now, just seemed like larger seats and food/drink included, with not much difference.

and I would looooove to experience business class!

my question is are all the airlines business class liek this, someone told me qantas business class is very good,

Fortunately for me, due to running my business a while back I have approximately, 500,000 QFF points,

I am thinking of buying a cheap flight and upgrading to business class using my points
however, being the El cheapo that I am, I want to really appreciate and enjoy business class,

What would people recommend??

Would people recommend that I dont bother with jetstar business class and only upgrade for qantas or emirates or some nicer carrier?

I also don't feel its worth doing business class for a short trip, maybe 8hours plus?

also do people recoomend that when I book, its better to book a long single flight instead of 3 short trips to truly appreciate business class

Ive been told first class has a buffet set up at the back of the section

Maybe im too elcheapo to apprecaite it

or Should I do the ultimate elcheapo thing and pay for economy and somehow try and convince checkin staff to give me a free business class upgrade, which seems to happen to all my friends except me!

 

[opusman]

I would advise against it. Once you go forward it's very hard to go back

 

[simongr]

The range of business class between carriers is almost as great as the range on carriers themselves. Qantas have 7 different business classes at least:

Skybed Mk2 on the A380 - lie flat
Skybed mk1 on the A330 - sort of flat (I separate this out as I feel very different on the A330 to the 744)
Skybed mk1 on the 744 - sort of flat
Dreamtime on the 763 - like a recliner
Millenium on the 763 - like a recliner that doesnt recline much
Millenium on the 737 - like the 763 but in a single aisle configuration so again feels different to the 763
Convertible on the 734 - just dont even think about it

So that is just your first consideration - which business class are you talking about?

 

[Alanslegal]

and I would looooove to experience business class!

...

I am thinking of buying a cheap flight and upgrading to business class using my points
however, being the El cheapo that I am, I want to really appreciate and enjoy business class,

What would people recommend??

Would people recommend that I dont bother with jetstar business class and only upgrade for qantas or emirates or some nicer carrier?

Not all business classes are made equal! They may share the same name but some of the actual products vary quite alot.

If you really want true business class where you get nice flat seats, meals served in proper chinaware, PJ's even .... then forget about spending any points on JQ business class (which as you mention, is an oversized economy seat with less people in their cabins).

With 500K points you can experience quite a few real business / first class segments, or even a quasi-RTW oneworld J award for 280K with 5 stops, upto 16 segments / 35k miles. You can experience quite a range of business products out there.

Say for example you did a quasi-RTW, such as a straight forward SYD-SIN (QF380) SIN-LHR (BA CW) - LHR-JFK (AA 777) JFK-HKG (CX) HKG-SYD (QF 333) which will cost 280k but at least all the cabins are real business cabins. You can add more sectors to include other business cabins but that's up to you.

 

[Stephen65]

Jetstar's international "business class", which they call Star Class, is basically the same as flying domestic business class on Qantas when it comes to seating but not as good for food or entertainment. So while it's a lot more comfortable than flying at the back of a Jetstar plane it's not comparable with international business class on quality airlines. I think its a waste of QFF points to fly Star Class on JQ when you could use the same points to fly real international business class on Qantas.

 

[SOPOOR]

hmmm, thanks for your responses everyone

just shows that I know nothing about business class

Travelling business class has always been a dream for me,

a way for me to feel like royalty (don't laugh)

anyways, in terms of getting value for points

with the points I have

a few have mentioned longer trips with multiple stop overs,

is this the a better way to utlise points eg Aus to Thailand to HK to UK? all in business class

I assume that would be far better then doing say

Aus to Thailand, Thailand to Aus, aus to UK, Uk to aus? effectively making it two trips

sorry for the dumb questions, as the terminology for the locations and sectors I dont understand

 

[Alanslegal]

For eg. Sydney/Melbourne to Singapore/Bangkok/Hong Kong one way is 60,000 points (classic award).

Sydney/Melbourne to London is 128,000 one way (classic award), so a return becomes 256,000.

At 256,000 I'd be tempted to just pay an extra 24k and go around the round, so from London then to the USA then to Australia (via Asia optional).

For a quick business class taster however, I'd hop on an QF A380 to Singapore and fly back a few days afterwards.

 

[docjames]

Alanslegal beat me to it - with that many points sitting there, i'd be looking for J classic around the world award (you could do 2 persons probably just depending on your exact amount of points).

In the way no two cars are the same, no two J seats are the same! Nor the service, nor the lounges etc etc.

A RTW you could max out the segments and experience multiple Js.

eg.
SYD-LAX (A380 QF)
LAX-JFK (AA transcon - may even ticket into F if you can get the right flight).
JFK-random US destiantion-JFK (again AA and try to score a 738 or MD80)
JFK-LHR (BA transatlantic)
LHR-EU (BA short haul - pretty terrible but worth the comparison)
EU-HKG (CX long haul J)
HKG-SIN (CX short haul J)
SIN-Aus (QF 380, 744 or 330 depending on destintions)
If you flew into PER, you'd even get QF J PER-SYD on either 330 or 763.
You could get short haul by leaving ex-SYD at the start and connecting to MEL (QF93 to LAX).

A lot will depend on Classic award availability, but you could have a play online and see what you can come up with.

 

[SOPOOR]

ahh thanks everyone

I need to educate myself with royalty

one thing I do always ask is that all those people who get access to lounges with showers, food, drinks, tvs, massages

are they part of business class or just business class in transit or for high flyers only,

as I was in singapore recnetly in transit and it was very envious especially when I had a 8 hour stop over!!!

 

[Stephen65]

If you are flying international business class then you will get access when departing or transiting to the business class lounge of the airline you are departing on. All you need to do is walk up to the lounge and show them your business class boarding pass for the departing flight.

PS: AFAIK free massages are usually a First Class benefit which you only get in First Class lounges not business class lounges, but you're otherwise right about the showers, food, drinks, TVs etc

 

[SOPOOR]

The range of business class between carriers is almost as great as the range on carriers themselves. Qantas have 7 different business classes at least:

Skybed Mk2 on the A380 - lie flat
Skybed mk1 on the A330 - sort of flat (I separate this out as I feel very different on the A330 to the 744)
Skybed mk1 on the 744 - sort of flat
Dreamtime on the 763 - like a recliner
Millenium on the 763 - like a recliner that doesnt recline much
Millenium on the 737 - like the 763 but in a single aisle configuration so again feels different to the 763
Convertible on the 734 - just dont even think about it

So that is just your first consideration - which business class are you talking about?

wow! didnt know this at all

to be honest, as long as I get a reclining seat that I can stretch my feet out, a bit like a pod, that would be enough

then forget about spending any points on JQ business class (which as you mention, is an oversized economy seat with less people in their cabins).

I assume JQ stands for Jetstar/Qantas,

sorry, am real newbie when it comes to anything business/first class

.... then forget about spending any points on JQ business class (which as you mention, is an oversized economy seat with less people in their cabins).

100% agree with you, paying dbl or triple or quadriple just for a larger seat and food/drinks inclusive is not worth it even to me

 

[SighMN]

If you are going to be flying in the premium cabins and spending the big bucks or using hard earned miles, then it really pays to have a lot of knowledge about each airline's product. The way airlines are going nowadays there is an arms race in business class which means airlines are constantly trying to one up each other for the best product. I remember back when BA and virgin atlantic introduced their angled lie flat beds in business. Back then business class cabins hardly had much change for years other than maybe increased leg room, increased seat width, and some better entertainment options. After the bed entered business class, it was basically no going back and business class has been constantly changing at an ever increasing rate.

Here is a categorisation of the current business classes:

Top Tier
---------

-Seats that convert into fully flat beds. (better beds are ones that are convered by folding the seat down so that the sleeping surface is different than the sitting surface)
- On demand eating (i.e. ordering meals on the AVOD system etc) throughout the flight
- Large (13-17 inch) LCD screens that are usually touch screen with extensive on demand movies, tv, and interactive games
- High quality dinnerware/china
- Relatively good wine/champagne lists (sometimes they will have non-vintage well known champagne brands)
- Lounges that include buffet food with complimentary wine/champagne/spirits.
- Most seats have access to the aisle
- Inflight amenity kits especially with overnight flights

Medium Tier
------------

- Seats that convert into flat beds, but are at a slight angle
- Some flexibility in eating options (i.e. quick 3 course dinner after take-off)
- Medium sized LCD screens with sometimes AVOD systems, sometimes just multiple entertainment channels
- Middle quality dinnerware/china
- Average wine/champagne lists
- Lounges that include snacks such as peanuts, vegetables with dips, free softdrinks, but premium champagne/wine is at a negligible fee or available with vouchers given by airline
- There are often middle seats with no direct aisle access
- Low quality amenity kits, and or no amenity kits


Low Tier
-------------

-Recliner type seats with limited seat pitch and width
- No options with meal service
- Small LCD screen with no on demand services or passengers are given personal dvd players
- Plastic dinnerware/low quality china (some have paper or plastic plates)
- Low quality wine lists, usually serve sparkling wine
- Low quality lounges with usually no availability of food, free soft drinks and paid alcoholic drinks
- Seats with no direct asile access (747 configuration likely 2-3-2 on main deck or even 3-3-3)
- No amenity kits


Now a lot of airlines have services that span all three tiers, but the business classes of the world's best airlines usually have or are transitioning to most things on the high tier list.
So no, not all business classes are the same. So that's why its really important you do your research and know about the product before you book!