The changing demographics of business class

[Mattg]

Probably won’t come as a surprise to many on here, but the average person travelling in business class is apparently now younger, and less likely to be male or a corporate traveller. The article also notes that there are now more children and families in business class, and speculates as to the reasons.

Have you noticed this shift over the past decade or two?

How business class has changed since flat beds first appeared

As the gender, age and type of person travelling up the front of the plane evolves, interesting new patterns are emerging.

www.afr.com

 

[Hvr]

I wonder if AFF and similar sites have shown people how to acces business class travel through points?

 

[SeatBackForward]

I wonder if AFF and similar sites have shown people how to acces business class travel through points?

I think the airlines themselves (pointing the finger firmly towards QF here) have promoted the idea that business class travel using points from everyday spending is is possible. Now how many *actually* get it is a different question, but the promotion itself will be a factor.

 

[levelnine]

From the last time I read the stats on travel patterns a few months ago, my understanding is that business travel has not recovered to its pre-pandemic levels, but premium cabins are fuller than they've ever been. That's the driving force behind the changing demographic — fewer business travellers.

What have airlines done to capture a broader audience? Aggressively push paid upgrades & discount paid fares when cabin loads are looking light.

Delta has been the leader in this space:

Fifteen years ago Delta Air Lines filled 92% of its first class domestic seats, but only 6% of passengers were actually paying for the product. Today that number is 75%, a massive shift.

 

[Ade]

Very good article and thank you @Mattg for this thread.

I wonder if AFF and similar sites have shown people how to acces business class travel through points?

I think AFF (and similar websites) have transformed from catering to/made up/contributed by of FF type individuals (that earned and burned points as a consequence of their frequent flying) to everyday type individuals that earn FF points (and want to enjoy the premium products). The ability of websites (such as AFF) to able to feed the knowledge in ways the Joe Public can consume is amazing. I have friends that check AFF (or similar websites) and ask me questions/clarifications etc.

In addition, people's spending capacity has increased - in the sense that people are willing to spend good/hard-earned money towards enjoying luxury and convenience. I know families (with kids) that fly J, even if it is 5x expensive that flying Y. Kids are getting used to the idea of flying J/F from a young age and I think that also changes the kids' thought process - not sure how impactful these will be in the long run.

And as @SeatBackForward mentioned - airlines also play a huge role in this. In addition to airlines, banks, credit cards, home loans etc are marketed as an opportunity to fly premium by earning airline loyalty points by using their financial products. I vaguely remember a fin product, in one of their ads mentioned "fly Sydney to Los Angeles in fully lie-flat business class for as little as $200" or "treat your loved ones to a first class to DXB from $300" etc ... The idea of such promotions is, I believe to trigger the curiosity whereas the reality could be different. I think people got hooked and a decent portion of those got hooked are able to realise their dreams (and get to write about it in socials, which then makes others have FOMO).

I also believe that peer influence plays a role - A few of my close mates have been influenced by the amount of travel that I do and the cabins that I fly. This is a point of discussion almost every time we catch up. I offer my knowledge and I'm happy for them to use it as they see fit. I do note that there are things that I keep high level (fight club rules) and give them as much information as they'd be able to process and take forward.

This is a big thing in my immediate friend and business contacts circles. I was talking to someone in the mortgage industry and he was keen to fly his family of 4 ADTs to EU in September using QF/Amex points, which is all good. But he is QF NB and is unable to find seats. I explained how the CR system worked and he was not happy. He then said "So does this mean, I can't get 4 seats to EU in business anytime I want, even if I have 800K QF points" and I had to "Not always and not during school holidays".

I also think the decoupling of product offerings from J/F to bring down the cost and make it accessible for every section of the population is also a great thing. For instance, having to ability to not pay for lounge access and bring down the $ - why not - people are gonna buy that if the $ comes down. Also note that for a family of 4, that could be significant savings.

 

[SeatBackForward]

This is a big thing in my immediate friend and business contacts circles. I was talking to someone in the mortgage industry and he was keen to fly his family of 4 ADTs to EU in September using QF/Amex points, which is all good. But he is QF NB and is unable to find seats. I explained how the CR system worked and he was not happy. He then said "So does this mean, I can't get 4 seats to EU in business anytime I want, even if I have 800K QF points" and I had to "Not always and not during school holidays".

Yeah that's where I think the promotion made by the airlines it outright misleading. The perception becomes that just having enough points automatically ensures they can spend them as and when they see fit. The reality is far from it. The airlines never actually say in all that promo material "Conditions apply, availability is limited and your chances are better if you actually have status not available from points alone.

 

[SydneySwan]

When I was a regular intercontinental flyer in J from 1996 - 2008 I was generally surrounded by fellow businesspeople. Now as a retired self-funded boomer in J I find myself generally surrounded by fellow boomers, especially couples. Most families in J seem to be South-east Asian, at least on flights to / from SE Asia. The decline in business travellers is very noticeable.

 

[drron]

We first began flying paid J (points or cash) in 1996. There were couples of our vintage I was 50) then and some older couples certainly not all business travellers. We do notice more couples of our vintage now but definitely more younger folk and families.

However I don't think you can just blame the airlines and their loyalty schemes for this. Same is apparent in fine dining restaurants for example. Definitely in hotels but that may be at least in part be due to their loyalty programs.

The biggest change I have noticed is in individual behaviour. When I was young we followed some rules such as in Sydney walking on the left. But I always gave up my seat on public transport for the elderly and women -even those just a few years older than myself - As well as opening doors for the same demographics.

Now when I hold open a door for a younger woman I am more likely to be abused than thanked. not uncommon is a comment such as I am able to do that myself to which I reply Sorry but i mistook you for a lady.
On trains and busses it is extremely rare for a younger person to offer their seat to us. More likely on entering a train or bus a younger person or child will push past us to get to the empty seat first. This occurs in Asia as well. In fact probably a bit worse there.

So I think the major problem is that more people are likely to put their own interests first and couldn't give a fig for others discomfort. Just an aside My sister flew QF LHR-SYD eaarly last week. She was upgraded to first. She sat across the aisle from VH. She was the second person to use the lavatory. The first was a young woman. When my sister got there the loo had not been flushed and water all around the basin.

So flame away.

 

[Pushka]

Article is paywalled and even a ladder isn't helping.

I'm not sure if it's as marked as I'm presuming the ariticle is referring to. When we used to travel at the back of the bus a few years ago, I was amazed, shocked, jealous of the family groups travelling in J. Now, with people having access to their super I'd suggest it's older couples lashing out. People I'd never expected to travel in J are doing that. The article might be referring to this but I can't read it anyway.

 

[blackcat20]

Article is paywalled and even a ladder isn't helping.

I'm not sure if it's as marked as I'm presuming the ariticle is referring to. When we used to travel at the back of the bus a few years ago, I was amazed, shocked, jealous of the family groups travelling in J. Now, with people having access to their super I'd suggest it's older couples lashing out. People I'd never expected to travel in J are doing that. The article might be referring to this but I can't read it anyway.

https://archive.md/pGXPp

Ah yes I see what you mean...

 

[levelnine]

The full article is woefully bad.

The evidence that there are fewer men in business class is an anecdote from a friend of the author, the statistic that there are more women in executive positions these days, and the fact that there's some division within Flight Centre 'tasked with catering to this new generation of diverse business class traveller'.

 

[SYD]

There’s a bunch of inconsistencies.

Yes. Premium cabins are chokers (I actually put it down to a post Covid thing - more space per human).

Yes. It does seem more diverse than it was 20+ years ago. But not new.

BUT, J airfares ex Oz across ALL carriers are still well above precovid numbers. If business pax were flying less, you’d expect fares to drop a little to fill those seats? The slow return of Chinese airlines probably contributes to the Asia/Euro fares staying high. Doesn’t fully explain transpac fares. It almost seems like cartel behaviour that all of them are making hay while the sun shines?

If the author has just rebadged a UK or US article (which is VERY common in travel journo world ), then some of it may not translate well….?

As for FF seats - there aren’t as many as pre-Covid, so that’s not the answer! Some airlines are releasing seats at short notice but how many families with small kids can fly next week? None?

Upgrades are probably one of the reasons. Combo of high fares, lower business PAX means some lucky people win the upgrade lottery?

I’ve done a number (too many) QF J flights SYD <-> CGK in the last 2 yrs. When booking (using QFF points - one of the few reliable routes), the cabin is empty and stays pretty empty up until about 2 wks out. The flights are usually full in J. That could only be paid, points and OpUps?

I couldn’t read the article but you wonder how long the journo has actually been flying?

 

[RooFlyer]

I wonder what the age of the article writer is? And I wonder if it’s not entirely business Cabin passengers getting younger, or the author getting older - sort of like the old saying that you know you’re getting old when the policeman look young.

 

[CaptJCool]

QF Domestic J fares came down substantially in August (2023?) And have stayed down

 

[SYD]

QF Domestic J fares came down substantially in August (2023?) And have stayed down

But lie-flat seats (the topic of the article) are few and far between now on domestic sectors.

I presume the article is more about international flying?

 

[clifford]

Have you noticed this shift over the past decade or two?

Not really. Perhaps 50 years ago.

I'll check it out on my next flight in an hours time (CX TPE to HKG).

 

[Mattg]

I wonder what the age of the article writer is? And I wonder if it’s not entirely business Cabin passengers getting younger, or the author getting older - sort of like the old saying that you know you’re getting old when the policeman look young.

The article author is in their 50s, as revealed in this part:

Another significant change up front is that it’s no longer all about “business”, despite the category name. An emerging cohort is willing to pay or burn miles to go up front simply because they view it as a life experience that they have earned. I see this frequently in my own early-50s age group.

Often women, this type of luxury traveller works hard and has grown-up children. They have enough in the bank to treat themselves to greater comfort – or they are into their 60s and 70s, and their adult children are flying them in style to visit the grandkids.

I presume the article is more about international flying?

Yes, seems to be.

 

[VPS]

I have just flown from London Gatwick to Malta and it’s half term in the UK, which means most kids have a week off.
I flew British Airways and there was six rows of J seats and I think well over half of those had children in them.

It could be parents of business travellers and have got lots of points.

 

[SYD]

I have just flown from London Gatwick to Malta and it’s half term in the UK, which means most kids have a week off.
I flew British Airways and there was six rows of J seats and I think well over half of those had children in them.

It could be parents of business travellers and have got lots of points.

I flew BA LGW to Malaga 6 wks ago (I think school was already back but I didn’t really see who was sitting there) but there was 14 rows of Club on the A321 (55 Club PAX!)

My first row whY seat kept getting pushed back as I could see the curtain moving back prior to checkin…

 

[WilsonM]

I'd note that the marketing about flying J/F is probably more the affiliates (websites, blogs, banks etc) rather than the actual airline - most of the Qantas marketing seems to be about the lowest point costs, so they advertise Y (i.e. from 14,400 points to ZQN). Websites like AFF do play a role in making Business Class more accessible - Qantas often purports the value of C+ in Y and gift cards/toasters instead of J flights.

But the younger generation is definitely more attuned to these opportunities, which the internet and social media have played a large part. Although many of my mates aren't looking for J, they're just looking to save. I think it's generally a result of a trend that prioritises experiences over savings, for both younger and older people.

The article spouts a bit of hogwash when talking about gender and age though - it has very limited data, and the small amount they do put forward kinda seems irrelevant - as a counter to the 50% increase over 8 years, as of 2024 only 30% of executive roles in the ASX300 are held by women. So of the 12 J seats on a QF 737, you might see 1-2 more women than 8 years ago? Jesus. Not exactly huge change. (https://44137160.fs1.hubspotusercon...s_Research/Research_Census/CEW-CENSUS2024.pdf)