Would you pay to fly F?

[JohnM]

Qsuites is actually the J product and they are fantastic. For us there is the added bonus that they fly out of Canberra with a brief stop in Sydney, so no worries about connections. Coming back was even better - no going through immigration and customs in Sydney and having to check in luggage again and get the bus to domestic. Brief break in the international J lounge in Sydney then back on the plane and go through customs and immigration with about 15 people. . For us it’s worth giving up F for that convenience and the Qsuites product was so good we really didn’t miss F.

I'm taking advantage of QR flying out of CBR on a QSuite bird to start my 2020 DONE4 from there on 1 May. Agree that I certainly don't miss QF F when QSuites J is superior in a lot of ways.

(Heads up for CBR AFFers: I'll be in CBR 29 & 30 April.)

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Have bought cash F fares on many occasions... but, you'd be nuts to buy them ex-AUS.

Try ex-NZ or ex-Asia.

 

[JohnK]

There's no value in paying to fly First. Or even business.

Happy to continue searching for economy bargains although February trip prices have me stumped at the moment.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Have bought cash F fares on many occasions... but, you'd be nuts to buy them ex-AUS.

Try ex-NZ or ex-Asia.

I always knew I had a crazy streak

 

[The man with no name]

There's no value in paying to fly First. Or even business.

To you.

it appears there are people here that have enough resources at their disposal that they value spending money on J/F over being miserable for 24 hours in cramped economy.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

The thought of paying $18 -$20 thousand for First as against about $7 K for Business is quite some jump.

18-20K is unnecessary. Singapore and Lufthansa First class combo can be yours in the 11-13K range. best of both worlds with suites from Australia to/from Singapore and Lufthansa first class with their first class terminal and cars to and from the plane for your Europe flights.

QF F - unless you get a $9999 special - not worth it. It is a (very slightly) upgraded business class in everything but the bed and the F lounge(s).

Also keep an eye out for the BA specials - but a return J class and get upgraded to F one way 'for free'. While BA F is probably the world's best business class, it can be pretty good value.

 

[Forg]

There's no value in paying to fly First. Or even business.

Disagree. On the Business thing. Not having your knees jammed into the seat in front with all the pain/discomfort & circulation issues involved, being able to actually see either the IFE or your own entertainment or read a book, being able to actually sleep, having a toilet you don’t have to queue half an hour for, having a shower halfway there ... these are things that’re 150% worth paying money for, long haul.

 

[mrsterryn]

There's no value in paying to fly First. Or even business.

Happy to continue searching for economy bargains although February trip prices have me stumped at the moment.

I think for me the distance is what ....makes my class preference
Economy is if under 9ish hours and with a comfort seat so I don't have to feel like I am encroaching on someone else's space/seat
Once over 9 hours I do prefer premium or business. Sydney to Tokyo not a drama in premium economy especially when in the back row , no one pulling on the seat or to consider when the seat does it's slight recline
However once passed that time frame I definitely want business. Sydney to LAX is a miserable long flight in economy .
First is fun if there is a good deal or just wanting to try a new carrier

 

[Forg]

^ ”Fun” - that’s a good way to put it!
Materially it offers almost nothing useful over J, but it’s certainly a feelgood thing.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Nope, not F. J yes.

 

[JohnK]

Disagree. On the Business thing. Not having your knees jammed into the seat in front with all the pain/discomfort & circulation issues involved, being able to actually see either the IFE or your own entertainment or read a book, being able to actually sleep, having a toilet you don’t have to queue half an hour for, having a shower halfway there ... these are things that’re 150% worth paying money for, long haul.

Spend ~$2500 on 3 economy seats to Thailand or ~$10000-$12000 to fly business.

I'd rather suffer for those 2 x 9 hour flights than the perceived comfort that business may provide.

P.S. I did SYD-BKK in First and BKK-BNE in business. I was still tired at end of each flight and the circulation in my legs wasn't great. The benefits are very marginal.

P.P.S. Similar argument on whether $500/night hotel room would provide a better experience than a $100/night hotel room. Of course it would but it's not worth spending that money unless I had money to throw away.

I've managed to get a $100/night hotel room for ~$75/night in February and paid for 11 nights. The cost does add up and with falling AUD and cost of airfares and golf increasing we may have to reduce to 2 overseas trips this year which is not desirable trying to manage working life another 10-12 years.

I guess we all value things differently.

 

[get me outta here]

I travel in F reasonably often courtesy of the wonderfully nice people on here sharing the good news on point redemptions and how to get them. My fav at the moment is SQ. I'd happily go into F on QF if I could ever get a seat. I'd never pay for F unless I won the lottery, I can do much better with my money.

 

[CaptJCool]

It’s definitely about the journey not the destination...

Having paid $5000 and $10,500 for family trips to USA, I CAN SAFELY SAY THATS a current QF F sale fare, but now paying for one, is doable....

Cheapest F airfares to Australia ex-stockholm, (sometimes Oslo or Dublin) around $8,500 return after FX Fees.... J return as low as $2,800 return
And even at that price I wonder the value.....

Partly done as I had enough points for a one way EK F TO EUROPE so figured I’d run ex-Europe..... the other suggestions ex-Asia or elsewhere do require re-positioning costs - nevertheless some dirt cheap Y to Bali or other ports (plus a night or two accommodation) is superb even if it’s a fraction of the overall cost

I’m not especially inclined to pay again. But heck with a low mortgage and ample cash, I may buy myself a free flight one way or the other !

 

[earlyriser]

Technically, I have paid for F as part of the CX error fare that popped up 364 days ago between Vietnam and the US. I found it to be magical, but the only noteworthy differences for me between that and J were the caviar and the access to the F lounges which included private dining. Spa treatments would have been nice, but our connections weren't long enough in HKG. We received personalised service, but it wasn't dramatically better than solid J service.

I would like to do F with Qatar or Emirates at some point, but for now, I am more than happy to fly J.

 

[Lemon_Party]

There's no value in paying to fly First. Or even business.

Happy to continue searching for economy bargains although February trip prices have me stumped at the moment.

Unless my financial circumstances increase significantly I’m in the same camp. I fly J and F as much as possible, but all with points. Paying $10k-$20k on flights per person for a holiday is nuts to me unless our income was truly exceptional.
Business class is probably the minimum level of acceptable comfort to fly In long haul, but I’d rather save $9k and slum it if it’s my money. If I earned $400k a year different story but until then...
If I’d had a small casino win like the OP and it was big enough for a first class ticket I’d be looking at a proper investment.

 

[Forg]

The longer I go after a flight in economy, the more I consider economy.
If I’ve flown economy long-haul within, say, a year, the lingering memory of the horror and the pain sticks with me & I’m paying the extra for Premium at the very least. But there’s just the two of us for a holiday, it’s not as bad as paying for kids as well.

 

[UP4014]

The people I know who fly first do pay for tickets from their own pockets. ( other than those I know via AFF!)

 

[Berlin]

I've done a couple of times. Of course, I try to rather use point upgrades and have done so many times but I've also paid F outright if the deal was good enough... EK F a couple of times to get their fabulous shower and once on AA I remember when the fare difference to J was really really non substantial and I needed every status mile I could get...

Would seriously consider outright paying for SQ F some time in the future too and would have zero bad feelings about that.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Lufthansa and Swiss Air have first class return from Stockholm to Asia for around €2650, or AUD4200 (return). At that price F is well within reach.

 

[mrsterryn]

I just caught QF17 Syd to lax and was seated in economy.
I have to say it was much better than I expected.
Reclining wasn't an issue which was nice
Leg room not great
The most noise came from FAs rather than the passengers
I did have a shadow and it stuck. So two passengers in the three seat row
I am fat and I did fit in the seat.
I still have first for May and pleased as a very long flight. Economy maybe occasionally on the cards