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

[oz_mark]

My international travel is always self paid flights. The plane flight is just a means to get there. My holiday starts when I/we arrive at our destination. Always travel international in the economy cabin.

My holiday starts at the bar of the departure airport - but economy travel for me.

 

[extracta]

I usually buy DONE4s

What is the advantage of this?

 

[gumpy]

What is the advantage of this?

16 flights in J for the cost of approx 3 SYD LAX J legs.

Travel in comfort where you never dread the next upcoming flight.

Gives you access to lounges for all your transits.

Guaranteed gold status by the end of it if you push it to the extreme you can get platinum though i'm not a fan of this because you need to enjoy the travel not to fly for the sake of flying.

You can try out J for a whole bunch of different airlines.

edit: you don't get lounge everywhere actually... in the US and UK they don't seem to let you into the lounge on a J domestic ticket.

 

[tuapekastar]

edit: you don't get lounge everywhere actually... in the US and UK they don't seem to let you into the lounge on a J domestic ticket.

But hopefully, at least going East to West, you've hit Gold prior to getting there, and get access by dint of that.

 

[gumpy]

But hopefully, at least going East to West, you've hit Gold prior to getting there, and get access by dint of that.

Very true

I think DONE4's would be my favourite thing in the world... A ticket to see the world in comfort.

And towards the end of your trip you can apply for an upgrade into F QF A380 with the points you've earnt along the way... seriously it's the best thing ever... if you have time.

 

[drron]

What is the advantage of this?

A DONE4 costs less than QF J return to JFK.And for travellers such as us means more parts of the world we can visit.
And I find it easy to requalify mrs.dr.ron as a WP on a DONE4.Just use your 6 sectors in the USA-just over 1200 miles each=720 SCs-more than half way there.

 

[flyman]

it seems that i have created a monster in this thread.

I wonder what the responses would have been if the title had been "Why fly first class? I don't see the value?"

Flyman

 

[MEL_Traveller]

it seems that i have created a monster in this thread.

I wonder what the responses would have been if the title had been "Why fly first class? I don't see the value?"

Flyman

That's easy I don't think First class is about 'value' - it's either a lifestyle choice, or your company is paying.

 

[Alanslegal]

That's easy I don't think First class is about 'value' - it's either a lifestyle choice, or your company is paying.

or when flying First class is cheaper than flying economy .... think US Airway miles promotions

 

[ericvp]

Business class is great when flying long distances like flying to europe definitely saves you a day and you feel less jetlag
however within australia or to NZ/ Fiji benefit is minimal.
eric

 

[fiscal]

Why not add my 2cents - I am getting older and a 14 hour long haul cripples me, and I get over tired from lack of sleep. The planes are always full these days, so economy is not nice at all. It would take me a day at least to recover.

Full service business class is vastly over priced, so I can only use that when I have ample FF points.

The alternative, which we have used and found very affordable, if you can book far enough in advance to get the cheapest rates, is Air Asia X. I just want the bed. I have my own media players(power is included by the way), and I can order simple food items as required, but most of the time I sleep and arrive with the ability to walk of the plane.

Thank goodness there is at least one Low cost long haul business product that I can access from my front door, but sadly only goes north, and not east.

Going to the US in September, and ended up buying Y+ on Qantas, as J products on "reliable" airlines were out of my resource league, but I dont think I will get much sleep even if I do get a little bit more recline..

 

[TheFergus]

coupled by pax needs, preferences, and of course sheer SFSC madness.

I note pax has a very handy tip to it's un-shortened version - how terribly civil. If only every other acronym of this post had the same, I'd have some idea of what was being articulated!!

Back on topic - I'm surprised more don't fly First. I hate business - it's just like economy but a bit roomier. On a 380, it's like a factory floor or a 1960's typing pool. It's over populated and the service staff spread too thin.

First does seem to me to be a larger step up from Business, than Business is from Economy, yet a much smaller percentage in dollar terms. So bang for buck, in my mind at least, way better.

 

[significance]

I can't afford J, but I do use points to upgrade long-haul flights when I can. Quite simply, it's the difference between arriving after a night's sleep with a little jetlag and arriving after having missed at least one night's sleep, with jet-lag on top of that. I can't sleep in Y. With OTC sleeping tablets, I can doze a little, but not nearly enough.

 

[Pukka]

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

Buying Economy seats with FF points is not good value compared to Business. I fly to LHR from Sydney a fair bit with Virgin. Its 180,000 for upper class and i think 130,000 for cattle class, yet the fares about 3 x economy. No comparison. I always used to say I would never pay for Business but if I have to I do, the only time I don't is if I have the wife and kids with me then it gets a bit pricey and you have to draw the line somewhere.

 

[psi999]

Thought I would chuck my 2c in here.

I only travel for holidays so simply cannot justify the price of Business (once i factor in my wife’s fare) BUT also not interested in long haul in Y (once and never again).

So the strategy I employ, being that I travel for pleasure only is to restrict legs to around 10 hours – generally on the cheapest fare or combination of fares that will get me to my destination (I have many points spread across many programs ).

A recent example of this strategy is booking on JQ’s 2 for 1 promotion SYD-HNL ($550ea return), stopping for 3 days then continuing onto mainland USA (SFO) on a Delta ($280ea return)…. And upon return another 2 days in Honolulu on return to Australia.

So that’s $830ea return SYD – SFO with inbound/outbound stopovers in Honolulu November this year (picking up DJ points on Delta as well).

The combined $1700 saving we made over the best discount Y fare we could locate at the time certainly has gone a long way to seeing us at some pretty flash hotels.

So if you have the time (non business related travel), keep an eye on red hot specials and keep the legs to 10ish hours Y isn’t particularly a bad thing.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Going to the US in September, and ended up buying Y+ on Qantas, as J products on "reliable" airlines were out of my resource league, but I dont think I will get much sleep even if I do get a little bit more recline..

How did that compare with the ~$3000 return business class on Air Pacific?

 

[Jocelyn Mewburn]

Hi All,
Being quite tall, I love the extra room and comfort of Business Class travel, not to mention the added perks such as less time booking in etc. However, the cost is usually beyond me now I am retired. Premium Economy is a great alternative if one can't afford Business Class fares as the extra room is great and quite comfortable - though bring on the beds!!!!
Just a gripe - I think the idea and practice of having a faster lane through Customs for Business and First class travellers is rude, and VERY UN-AUSTRALIAN!! Surely having lots of money does not place one ABOVE all other travellers!!! NOT NICE!!

 

[possum FF]

I'm one to save money for something else. I'm happy enough to be seated with the herd for a limited amount of time. A do a lot of long haul & you really just need the mind set.
I have always reckoned that most in the pointy end are upgrades, staff or passengers being paid by the firm or rock stars. The only people I know who pay the extra from their own pockets need the extra leg room or need to have their egos stroked.
Just check in online early to avoid a middle seat.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I'm one to save money for something else. I'm happy enough to be seated with the herd for a limited amount of time. A do a lot of long haul & you really just need the mind set.
I have always reckoned that most in the pointy end are upgrades, staff or passengers being paid by the firm or rock stars. The only people I know who pay the extra from their own pockets need the extra leg room or need to have their egos stroked.
Just check in online early to avoid a middle seat.

if you are going to say that passengers in biz or First class are needing their egos stroked... this post and others like it just sound like sour grapes!

when will people understand that there are those who are not 'saving' any money at all by flying in economy?

I bet any money that if everyone could afford to fly First class (that is, money was not an issue), they would. If First class ceats were the same price as economy, everyone would sit in First.

It was only because people couldn't afford First class that airlines introduced 'tourist' class back in the 50s.

 

[jamesatfish]

Just a gripe - I think the idea and practice of having a faster lane through Customs for Business and First class travellers is rude, and VERY UN-AUSTRALIAN!! Surely having lots of money does not place one ABOVE all other travellers!!! NOT NICE!!

What I think is VERY AUSTRALIAN is the fact that at SYD the express line at immigration (if not at customs) is located to suit Duty Free purchasers. That is, buying a cheap bottle of Bundy Red on the way home will drop you right into the express pass / SmartGate queues, as if that was some kind of Australian way of sorting incoming travellers into classes.