Anyone ever fly FIRST CLASS...what are the peasants missing?

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Tabris

Member
Mysterious said:
Can you please expand more on this "upgrade" thing? How much would a economy+upgrade cost as opposed to first-class off the bat?
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There's a couple levels of upgrades assuming you bought an economy fare:

1) When checking in, if there's available seats in first class, it will prompt you whether you would like to pay to upgrade.

2) When checking in, and you have status (usually 25k miles in a year+ for first level), you can place yourself on a standby waiting list for upgrades. If there's any available seats in first class (wasn't bought by everyone), they will upgrade you on a Status Level + First Come basis. When you're at 25k miles, you are rarely upgraded, but when you start hitting 50k+ mile statuses it happens quite a bit.
 
T

Tabris

Member
Ollie Pooch said:
Do US airlines not serve alcohol to economy passengers? In Aus you get complimentary beer and wine on domestic flights, budget carriers excluded. I never realised how lucky we are...
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You have to pay. Except for getting a pop, water, tea, or coffee once, everything costs money in economy on US Carriers. Even snacks.
 
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Tabris

Member
The best parts are probably the seats and the food/drinks... but the smug satisfaction you get from looking down on the peasants in coach is pretty great too.
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Actually now that I think about it, this is my favourite part. When I'm sitting in first class, watching all of the people head towards their economy seats.
 
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Goodacre0081

Member
glass floor jet

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/virgin-launch-new-jet-see-through-1795500

Virgin-Atlantic.jpg
 
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nOoblet16

Member
I've never flown first class but I've flown business class with Emirates. It was nice seats that could recline and become completely flat, unlimited drinks, big screen, bigger selection of movies, seats with massagers, restaurant quality food...etc
 
P

Pochacco

asking dangerous questions
Why (how?) would one get upgraded for free? It's happened to me before, but I don't know how.

One time, I was flying from Delhi to Vancouver (30+ hour trip door to door) and as I was boarding my 2nd of 3 flights from Munich to Montreal, the lady at the gate said, "I like your smile, step aside, we're going to upgrade you". I'm not sure if (1) the economy was overbooked, (2) they felt bad for me because of my crazy 30+ hour journey, or (3) she really did like my smile *wink*, but I'd love to get some insight in hopes of reproducing something like this!

I've also seen other people get upgrades by simply asking for them. One time, I overheard some dude telling the gate lady that he was a surgeon, that he was flying overseas, and that he needed to perform surgery the next morning and wanted to be well-rested... so he got an upgrade. Not sure if he was lying (why would he not have been bought a first-class ticket?), but it worked!
 
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Aquamarine

Member
Tabris said:
Actually now that I think about it, this is my favourite part. When I'm sitting in first class, watching all of the people head towards their economy seats.
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You should fan yourself with hundred dollar bills and snicker as they walk past you.
 
P

Phat Michael

Banned
Never been anything but economy, however in a couple of months I'm flying business in an A380 to Taiwan for work so that should be fun.

The best part of first/business class are the lounges before you take off. I love having access to those when you travel with someone rich.
 
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Mysterious

Banned
Tabris said:
There's a couple levels of upgrades assuming you bought an economy fare:

1) When checking in, if there's available seats in first class, it will prompt you whether you would like to pay to upgrade.

2) When checking in, and you have status (usually 25k miles in a year+ for first level), you can place yourself on a standby waiting list for upgrades. If there's any available seats in first class (wasn't bought by everyone), they will upgrade you on a Status Level + First Come basis. When you're at 25k miles, you are rarely upgraded, but when you start hitting 50k+ mile statuses it happens quite a bit.
Click to expand...

So with 2, is it cheaper than 1 for the upgrading?
 
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MedIC86

Member
Pretty funny, i remember an AMA on reddit about a guy who had won millions in the lottery and liked traveling a lot. He said at one point he basicly stopped flying first class, he found it to be a waste of money.

Thing is for me, first or eco class i dont see a problem. When i go on a plane (even long flights) i just sleep with my music on, no problem how i sit or whatever)
 
L

lewisgone

Member
I did a couple times when I flew as an unaccompanied minor (Air Canada), the air hostesses bumped me up for free, I think to keep an eye on me more easily. It was nice, but not worth the money unless you're extremely rich. I would rather suffer through a regular flight and save a ton of money.
 
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Tobe

Member
ive travelled alone since i was 11 (im 23) so quite a few times as a kid ive gotten upgraded to first class.

first time it was magical, it was a HORRENDOUS year, my dad past away in a car accident my brother and sister left to the us in search of a better future. and i was alone the whole yeah since mom had to work long hours.

so well she told go visit your aunt in jersey, i flew in continental airlines since my dad has some miles in his account so i used them. when you are a kid you are well you go through everything first since you are accompanied by a airline staff i think the name for kids is UM or something like that.

so you get through customs migration and everything first, boarded the plane (you board after first and business class) after that well the plane took off.

this was after xmas but before new years, i think it was december 27th of 02. 30 minutes or something into the flight they told that for a latte xmas present they had an extra first class seat. boy i was excited, i got food, unlimited sodas i nice turkey meal. wonderfull stuff directly to the newark airport. that was my best memory of first class tho.

last time i did was in 2012 boy was i happy to have miles for a first class ticket i did Orly-Barajas-Lima my connection from barajas to lima was a whooping 14 hours. thankfully if you have a first class ticket you are allowed on the vip lounges and shit. meaning free internet, haagen dasz ice cream(i dont get them here in peru), beds, snacks, jamon iberico (or serrano i dont recall) and of course showers. funny thing was that when i went in to take one hot water like ran out or something :( had my head covered in shampoo and had to take freezing water (it was winter).

the flight well everything nice but upon landing i saw the faces of the regular folks, it was like they wanted to kill someone 14 hour flight with little to no legroom :( that mustve sucked)
 
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cvxfreak

Member
Have flown in international business and first classes from time to time, most recently last March. The flatbed seats and better food ensure a good rest before landing. Not sure if it would ever be worth the cash to me, even if I ever became unreasonably wealthy.

The routes I've flown first class on are Manila-San Francisco, San Francisco-New York, and Tokyo-Bangkok. I've done business class on San Francisco-Tokyo, Los Angeles-Tokyo, Tokyo-London, Tokyo-Seoul, Tokyo-Taipei and Singapore-Tokyo. I've also done shorthaul business class on flights like San Francisco-Los Angeles, Los Angeles-Las Vegas, San Francisco-Dallas, and Tokyo-Osaka.
 
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B_Spooky13

Member
I think people forget the other perks of first-class.. The lounges in the Airports (in Detroit Metro it's called Sky Club). Free booze, fire place, free snacks, office area's to work
 
W

Whitechocolatekrispies

Banned
I've flown British airways club class about 5 or 6 times.

The actual seats are lovely as they can retract to a bed position. The service is nice and polite etc everything you would expect.

However, with BA at least, I found the food absolutely terrible. They try way to hard to be pretentious and it suffers for it. You can't serve microwave heated fancy food, it tastes like shit.

Then there are the other people you fly with. They are horrible horrible horrible people. Complaining about the most mundane things. Complaining about the temperature. Complaining about the sound. Complaining about the time. Complaining about their free champagne. Complaining about their view. Etc. Ergh I hate them.

Oh and you always get some nasty fucker from cattle class trying to use the nice toilets. Bugger off to the back you dirty peasants.
 
onken

onken

Member
Mysterious said:
It cost $7000 for an int'l first class ticket?! Is it usually that much?
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Yes expect 3x regular price for a business class flight, 5x for first class. I've flown business class a bunch of times but would never pay my own money to go first, just not worth it imo.
 
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mrklaw

MrArseFace
Never first, but business class is decent for long-haul flights. Mainly for the seats that fold flat so you can lie down and get some proper sleep. The privacy is good too - they're laid out so nobody ever has to step over you to get to the toilets etc.

Anything else is just a bonus. Nicer food - you get a menu and choose what you want, and it comes on plates rather than in a foil tray, and generally better service. Neither of which I'd pay for.

Every time I've flown business it was an upgrade by the airline though - my company would never pay for it these days, and I couldn't justify the cost myself.

I can't imagine what benefits First Class has over business though
 
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Phat Michael

Banned
onken said:
Yes expect 3x regular price for a business class flight, 5x for first class. I've flown business class a bunch of times but would never pay my own money to go first, just not worth it imo.
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yep that sounds right - my annual ticket Dubai - Perth - Dubai is 11,000Dhs return for economy and 35,000 for business class...so seems about right.

If i had more money id perhaps pay for business, but never first class. id rather that money go on the hotel room or holiday itself.
 
P

Phat Michael

Banned
B_Spooky13 said:
I think people forget the other perks of first-class.. The lounges in the Airports (in Detroit Metro it's called Sky Club). Free booze, fire place, free snacks, office area's to work
Click to expand...

yep. the one i stayed in at Heathrow (i wasnt flying first but got in the lounge) had showers, free food, booze, massages, charging stations and nap areas. was amazing.
 
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mrklaw

MrArseFace
one thing was nice flying business on Virgin coming back from New York to London. It was a night flight, so in the lounge they gave you the option of a meal in the lounge, so you could go straight to sleep when you got on board and didn't have to wait until after the in-flight meal.


Business class is also a handy thing to use frequent flyer miles on. Eg on British Airways, if you buy a normal flight using miles, you still have to pay tax which often is as expensive as a normal ticket, so it isn't value for money. Better is to buy an economy ticket and use miles to upgrade it to business. No extra tax to pay and you get a ton more value out of it.
 
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cartoon_soldier

Member
Flew first class Chicago to London and then London to India. Better food, better drinks, flat awesome beds, soft sheets, lot of room to get work done, excellent stuff in lounges before take off.
 
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Noisy Ninj4

Member
First class is alright on domestic flights, but really not worth it for the most part. As mentioned, it is far nicer for international flights. Being 6' 5", any time I've been in business/first class (and they have been few) it's been for the purpose of leg room or just because of a free upgrade. There is, however, a 3rd option that is less glamorous but provides all the legroom comfort you need.

Bulkhead/emergency rows provide immense amounts of legroom for minimal cost if you can reserve them early enough. Last time I did something like that, it was an extra 10% for the reservation. That's a bargain to avoid destroying my kneecaps for 10 hours. As long as you're thin enough to fit in coach class, you're golden.
 
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SlickShoes

Member
My mother in law flies to Australia to visit her daughter a couple of times a year and when she has enough air miles upgrades she flies Emirates and it looks insane.

We are flying out for my sister in laws wedding later this year and the basic flight was £2000 each return, to go business class was going to be £5000 each. First class costs even more.

It's so far out of reach I will personally never be able to do it unless I win the lottery, I'd much rather suffer economy for a day and have enough money to go on an entire other holiday.
 
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catmincer

Member
I've done business class once. Was a free upgrade on a 3 hour flight with aerolineas Argentina. They are awful and it wasn't much better than economy. I've also done premium economy on Air New Zealand which cost me about $200 more. It was definitely worth it for a 13 hour flight from Beijing to Auckland. Better food, wine, service and faster to get off/on.
 
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Templar Wizard

Member
I am on the JAL 777 to Tokyo tomorrow and there is NO WAY I wouldnt fly business class on that bird.
For anything over 4 hours, the upgrade is worth it, for 8+ hour flights its a neccesity
 
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TxdoHawk

Member
Barrylocke said:
I've had the opportunity to fly it a couple times. The perks are pretty nice, but I'm not sure if it justifies the price.
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That's what I've gathered from my time flying. There is no way the service justifies the exorbitant cost over a normal ticket...unless the amount of money they're asking for is chump change to you, which is intentional by design of course.
 
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AMUSIX

Member
If I'm flying domestic, then coach is fine (sometimes ill spring for the coach+ thing that some airlines do for more legroom) but the domestic first/business class is a minor bump up from coach. Absolutely not worth it.

Any international flights, however, I always fly first or business. Simply could not handle 10+ hours in coach. From the airport lounges, the ability to lay down, the better food (though there's always too much of it) and, most of all, the quiet, it's more than worth the additional cost/miles.

And if you want the best first class, fly the Asian and middle eastern airlines. Though I still think the best meal I've had in first class was from Pan-Am.
 
EviLore

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Miles are your friend. Look at a sample American Airlines schedule:

NYC --> Tokyo, first week of August

Economy ticket: lowest fare $1750. Can be booked with 32,500 miles ($0.05/mile value)

Business ticket: lowest fare $5000. Can be booked with 50,000 miles ($0.10/mile value)

First class ticket: lowest fare $13,000. Can be booked with 62,500 miles ($0.20/mile value)


Now keep in mind you can buy 71,500 miles from AA for $1500 ($0.02/mile actual cost), or get tens of thousands of miles from various credit card sign-up offers and reward programs.

When booking with miles you don't get access to all of the potential seats, but even 2-3 weeks out you can still book that $13,000 fare successfully with miles that can be bought for less than the regular price of the economy ticket (or, preferably, generated at no cost).
 
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Crazymoogle

Member
You need big bucks to fly to Asia on biz or 1st though. 1st would make the whole trip much more bearable but given a choice between $1500 or $10 grand+ (a random search on Expedia suggests 12-18k), I'll save my money.

Dem 380 coach seats are pretty nice though...
 
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BertramCooper

Banned
Only first class domestic. If you fly American, you quite frequently get offers to upgrade to first for about $100 when you check in at their airport kiosks. Every so often I take them up on the offer. Overall, it's fine. Seats are obviously far better than cattle class, complimentary drinks are nice, and the food is usually decent.

Never flown first class international, though I'd love to someday. I've got a shitload of Starpoints from my Starwood Preferred Guest AmEx that I might convert to miles at some point, and then potentially use them to upgrade a flight on my next international trip. (Though I'm about to adopt a puppy, so that's probably not going to be for a while.)
 
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greatestjediever

Member
I've occassionally got bumped to first-class after buying a coach ticket when flying domestically (when I used to fly every week for work). It's nicer, but really not that nice. You pass the seats on the way through to the back, so you should have a sense of what size the seats are like. It's larger, but its not like you have the entire row to yourself or anything. They do give you free meals, but its still airplane meals.

I haven't flown first-class or business on international flights though. I would imagine the difference between coach and those seats are quite a bit better.
 
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Slayven

Member
RangersFan said:
Everything is "free" for one, you don't have to pay anything for movies or food. Seats are bigger. You are boarded and depart the plane first as well.

I once sat next to John Lithgow on JFK to LAX way back in 2007. He took a dump in the first class shitter that stunk up the front of the cabin.
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That is now my favorite celebrity story.
 
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mclem

Member
I've never paid for first class but I have been bumped to it once on a transatlantic flight; on Virgin, as it happens. It's seriously cushy. Meals were actually presented on plates with cute dinky little airplane salt and pepper shakers. My Mum - a nervous flyer - had a massage! Legroom was pretty massive, too.

...that's about all I can remember. I'd love for it to happen again.

(It's worth bearing in mind that on Virgin longhaul flights, meals and movies are free anyway, so that wasn't a perk of the trip)
 
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Incognito

Troll
I remember growing up and traveling with the parents. They would fly in first class and board first. Meanwhile, my brother and I somehow always ended up in the last row near the bathrooms. SMH.
 
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Pickman

Member
EviLore said:
Miles are your friend.
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This, a thousand times over. Get a miles reward credit card, use it for making only purchases which award maximum miles, and pay it off each month before it starts to accrue crazy interest. You were already going to pay for those services regardless, but now you're also getting the added benefit of airline points. Make an email account through google that you plan to associate only with your accounts, and point all the junk and promotional emails you usually never sign up for at it. 2/3 of that will be stuff you don't care about, but other times it'll be promo codes where if you dine out 10 times at certain restaurants, they give you 10,000 free miles and stuff like that.

You'll be able to fly first class/business pretty often.
 
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