Why fly business? I don't see the value?

[ozmille]

Care to share?

The one I have been doing for the past 4 years works very well for me. QF/BA companion J class from BRU to OZ/NZ for AUD7200 (NZ marginally cheaper via SYD). No restrictions on travel time as long as I class is available. Compare that to a BA Y class I did SYD-BRU-SYD a couple of years back that cost me AUD7100 for the two of us shows me that it is better to book ex EU.
I also subscribe to the QF UK email and they have some pretty good deals ex UK as well. Usually the F prices are the same as J prices ex OZ...

-edit-
just did a search for 2 pax ex FRA next month and it is about 4500 each... I would say keep an eye out on European websites
Colleague just booked a ticket IST-AUH-SYD-AUH-IST with EY in F for AUD5000
-edit-

 

[bobbyjo]

Your income may not be high enough then. Would you bother to evaluate the price difference between 2 cheese burgers and a quarter ponder at McDonald's and try to decide if one is better value than the other? I wouldn't as it is not worth my time to consider something so immaterial.

I don't eat junk food, but I'm pretty sure that the difference between the two meals would never be $6K; depends if you like value for money or not, it's the same tin can, but the mark up at the front end of the can is huge. I agree, with the proposer, it doesn't matter what you earn, you are just going from A - B not buying the plane.:!:

 

[Maca44]

I fly J Class (and sometimes F) because I can. I have worked the past 45+ years, with the last 10 years averaging 80hrs per week in my own business, and think I deserve it. I mainly now travel internationally for pleasure, and J/F is where the pleasure begins for my trips. Some people might consider it a high price, but I look around and wait for the good fares before booking and it would surprise some people just how minimal the difference is between some Y and J fares.

 

[rhjames]

Long haul business trips with company paying have always been business class (J) - that's justified if I fly to Europe for a couple of days meetings. When I'm paying, I can't justify the additional cost. However, I have used FF for premium economy, and paid for business on a good flight package. For example, a couple of years ago, I paid $4,500 for Sydney/Europe return with Qantsa/SAS - Sydney/Bangkok Y and Bangkok/Europe J .

Last month I did a similar trip on economy, with Qantas/Finnair, and it wasn't too bad (I did manage good seats - emergency exit on long haul, and stopover in Bangkok). I certainly couldn't have justified business class cost. I would avoid long haul on some of airlines, where leg room is limited.

One other reason I sometimes consider business or PE - I had a DVT when I flew business Sydney/Turkey via Hong Kong for 2 days. I don't want to go through that again. If I can get it in J, Y must be a higher risk.

 

[Masonic Phantom]

Hi All
I have always wondered this - why do so many people fly self-funded business long-haul when it costs 3 x or more the cost of economy?

I am a high income earner yet I still fly economy because I consider the cost differential between economy and business to be poor value relative to other areas of life e.g I'd rather buy more expensive goods / other services (e.g $6000 saved on a return flight to UK goes along way to eating out or better hotel, kids school fees etc)
- am i just being cheap or am i missing something?

I've travelled business when work has paid and do enjoy the better food/legroom but for me (being only 5ft 7ins) the legroom is not a massive deal and I can easily listen to audiobooks/read to kill the time in transit

are the people that self fund business travel just very wealthy, misguided or what?
or are there actually very few self funded business travellers out there?

is it because the self funders are all using FF points? but even then I would use FF points for economy flights so that I could travel more or is it a lot more efficient use of FF points to go business?

thanks for any insights

Flyman

I think you summed it up ...... CHEAP.

M.P.

 

[benmay]

I'm with SkyRing on this. There are plenty of people I know who pour thousands every year into restoring cars, or buying boats they'll never use or what not. I find it as a hobby and to enjoy it.

As Qantas would say, enjoy the journey, and being in J allows you to enjoy the journey, not just the bit in between the flight back and forth.

I also fly MOST of my domestic routes in Y - IE, BNE-SYD or SYD-MEL or CBR-BNE etc, as they're all about 1hr flights and J isn't really that much value (unless someone else is footing the bill ;-))

Further, I'll try do JASA's where possible to foot the upgrade bill, and this has been funded from my usual spending and or domestic travel

NOT TO SAY that I DONT fly, y'know, Virgin or Jetstar in Economy sometimes, when they have insane cheap tickets, heck, I can sit in cattle class for 6hrs if I'm getting to Hawaii for $280 each way return!! ;-)

 

[clifford]

heck, I can sit in cattle class for 6hrs if I'm getting to Hawaii for $280 each way return!! ;-)

I think you'd need to be in the Tardis to get to HNL in 6 hours (takes an ordinary person 9-10 hours in an airplane).

As for me, I travel to Europe regularly, and I like to break my my journey up into fairly small chunks. I can't handle 14 hours in Y class.

I fly MEL-SIN (typically via JQ), SIN-DXB-FCO via EK, no sector being more than 8 hours, and at a total cost of less than $2,000 R/T. Quite civilised, and I bank the $6,000 I would have otherwise put down the toilet (or spent on a J class ticket).

With the status I have, I get access to J class lounges, and also exit rows for free. So why blow the extra thousands for a few cheap thrills in J for a few hours? Doesn't make sense to me.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

not forgetting with the US airways deal you can fly pretty much anywhere in the world for about $1650 in business class plus a couple of hundred dollars in taxes max (except london). plenty of availability on just about any dates you want.

Those prices are cheaper than economy, it just doesn't make sense to fly any other way.

 

[rhjames]

not forgetting with the US airways deal you can fly pretty much anywhere in the world for about $1650 in business class plus a couple of hundred dollars in taxes max (except london). plenty of availability on just about any dates you want.

Those prices are cheaper than economy, it just doesn't make sense to fly any other way.

You must be talking about some special limited deals. I tried their site, Sydney to Rome (and others) business return. They start at $12,900. I tried their specials, but the only international I could find were from US to Madrid or Manchester, and no business class. What am I missing?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

You must be talking about some special limited deals. I tried their site, Sydney to Rome (and others) business return. They start at $12,900. I tried their specials, but the only international I could find were from US to Madrid or Manchester, and no business class. What am I missing?

have a look at this thread

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....rograms/us-dividend-miles-buy-gift-21844.html

 

[Skyring]

I agree, with the proposer, it doesn't matter what you earn, you are just going from A - B not buying the plane.:!:

Isn't that life itself? When you get to the end, you don't tot up what you've got and shout, "I win!!!"

You've got exactly the same as the loser in the rattley old Pintara who just headoned your Ferrari. They lay you out side by side in the morgue. No clothes, looking like ****, bits missing and no platinum credit card in your fingers.

What really counts is how you spend the time you get, and so long as I don't get Alzheimers, I want my lifetime of memories to be good ones. I want to remember my wife smiling at me over a glass of champagne, not haggard and grumpy after twelve hours in the cheap seats.

 

[ozmille]

What really counts is how you spend the time you get, and so long as I don't get Alzheimers, I want my lifetime of memories to be good ones. I want to remember my wife smiling at me over a glass of champagne, not haggard and grumpy after twelve hours in the cheap seats.

Exactly! Very nicely put Skyring. The Mrs. will enjoy her champers next week and I will the week after.

 

[dajop]

Whilst I enjoy business class travel, I feel a bit better on arrival but certainly not 4x better! I too have difficulty justifying extra spending to travel in business class, but it does depend on length of flight. There are some great deals from some parts of Asia where business class is only 50%-100% more than economy - that makes sense, as does using points for business class. But I just can't justify paying the typical 4x multiple, and also if getting a cheap business class fare means spending 20hrs travel time instead of 10hrs, I'd take economy.

There are also a whole raft of things I do to make economy travel better, such as trying for or paying for exit rows, aisle seats, looking for empty seats beside me, keeping hydrated, taking day flights, having good IFE (either my own or airlines) etc and frankly I don't feel that much worse than in business class, it's all in the attitude I have to the flight.

 

[rhjames]

For me, a lot has to do with the flight time. I can cope with 12 hours economy through the day, particularly if the entertainment is good. However, a red eye 12 hour in packed economy is hard work.

A test - imagine standing at the gate ready to board business long haul, and someone offers you $2,300 cash to fly economy instead.. It's not nice, but possibly one of the easiest ways to make $2,300. (Bangkok London Qantas). I think I'd take the cash every time, but that's just me.

 

[Masonic Phantom]

Exactly! Very nicely put Skyring. The Mrs. will enjoy her champers next week and I will the week after.

Skyring & ozmille,

Very well put....I could not agree more.

M.P.

 

[Moopere]

A test - imagine standing at the gate ready to board business long haul, and someone offers you $2,300 cash to fly economy instead.. It's not nice, but possibly one of the easiest ways to make $2,300. (Bangkok London Qantas). I think I'd take the cash every time, but that's just me.

Thats a nice analogy I must say. Still, I wouldn't take it.

But this is the whole sujective nature of the topic I suppose. Everyone likely has a price, at some point, almost everyone will say yes, for some it would be 1000$, others maybe 4000$, others more still.

 

[gumpy]

To the OP, i guess if he/she asked the question to the general public you'd get a very different answer. Most would agree that the business class value proposition is simply not there. Hey even the boss of Ikea flies Y.

To come to asking people at a FF forum that love this stuff or are even addicted to all this... =) Some people even see this as their hobby (I personally don't understand this) but yeah if it puts a smile on their face I guess who's the judge... Much better this than gambling etc...

 

[Awesom Andy]

A test - imagine standing at the gate ready to board business long haul, and someone offers you $2,300 cash to fly economy instead.. It's not nice, but possibly one of the easiest ways to make $2,300. (Bangkok London Qantas). I think I'd take the cash every time, but that's just me.

Only if an exit row seat is offered, and I can claim original routing credits.

 

[PineappleSkip]

it doesn't matter what you earn, you are just going from A - B not buying the plane.:!:

And food is fuel. And life is a waiting room for death.

I aim to enjoy the wait, eat the finest fuel I can, drink something refreshing during the occasional excursion in J, and be merry!

Cheers skip

 

[stryker]

I pay for my own J travel. I am not rich at all so I will travel less so I can afford the higher fare. When I go on holidays, I include the journey as part of the holiday experience. Some people will book a cheaper fare so they can spend more on the hotel or shopping at the destination. For me, the experience will be what I remember when I'm old and in my dotage .

Being old and grey myself, and a major frequent flyer with several airlines, I have to say that what you say is questionable (I would have said cough, but I'm not sure if that's allowed).

Who remembers the journey for God's sake? Get real and enjoy the destination (or just don't go).