I swore when we paid the house off and we were completely debt free I was going to start flying first class and we did just that. We reached a point where aquiring more stuff just doesn't appeal to us that much. We'd rather indulge on the experiences. First class seats, ocean front room, high end steak house, etc.

Unless I'm taking Southwest for short hops to matches (because I'm flying with squadmates), I'll usually fly Business or First class...depending on what the flight offers.

My introduction to First Class was flying to and from the PRC to adopt my daughter. I can't imagine being on a flight for 14 hours in cattle class

Any flight over 4 hours means clicking on the First Class tab. Not only are the seats nicer, but check-in and TSA go much smoother.

I want to try Jet Blue Mint

I get to fly Business Class on flights over 10 hours and I travel enough to be high status on United for more than a decade. On domestic flights I usually get complimentary upgrades, but sometimes I use upgrade points. International fights less than 10 hours I use upgrade points. If necessary I can burn miles for upgrades (over 1.7M to spend).

So I rarely fly coach except on single cabin planes, or local flights in other countries that I can't upgrade.

Paying for it myself? Never had to except once or twice when I was short of qualifying points and needed to get over the top for next year's status.

I was upgraded to 1st Class by the agent at the waiting area desk. No charge. I was so excited but then I remembered it was only a 37 minute flight. Lol.
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I've always felt that business class was the minimum where they treat you as a person.

Best I've done was business class and that was on the company's dime. My wife accompanied me on a business trip and somehow she got first class tickets for the price of business or not much more.

For those who keep mentioning business class... is that a thing on domestic flights anymore? I don't think I've ever seen that on a single deck widebody.

-Rob

If I ever fly more than a couple hours that Delta One class sure looks tempting.

quote:

Originally posted by BurtonRW:
For those who keep mentioning business class... is that a thing on domestic flights anymore? I don't think I've ever seen that on a single deck widebody.

-Rob

Interesting question. Yes and no. It's kind of weird with some long haul equipment being/having been used domestically during covid, particularly if they have 3 or more cabins of service.

I flew MCO-OGG last year. The DFW-OGG leg was on a 787. I was upgraded round trip and got to experience the First/Business class cabin of the 787, which I'm pretty sure they dubbed as "business". Were it a 757 or 321, it would have been "first". Call it what you want, lay flat seats are the shit.

Most of what I fly these days is upgraded to First/Business based on status and it helps...A LOT.

I rarely fly anymore, but when I do it's got to be first class. At my age & girth comfort is very important to me.

I use a credit card for general purposes that yields airline miles so it's no skin off my nose to use up the points. I always have more than I need to pay for it.

Side benefit is when my wife needs to fly she'll do so with one of her daughters. I'll pay for their ticket as well because she needs the help. It's a win-win for all involved.

When I was working, I flew so much that I was almost always upgraded to first. Mainly Delta and NWA. I tried to avoid the stingy airlines, United and American as they rarely upgraded me.

RMD

I always fly First Class when I'm flying for pleasure, around 6 times a year or so, probably 8 this year.

It's very nice up there, tablecloths, real metal silverware, glass for your drinks, much better food than coach, and to partly compensate for your costs, free booze.

Years ago Alaska offered discounted First Class pricing at the gate if the seats had not sold. I remember one time they were offered at a price (cant remember) then later offered even lower as nobody was biting.

So one year, a Red Eye from Hawaii to San Diego, I took the available first class seat. I accepted the free drink, free movie player and was watching the movie when I realized I was the only one awake. Everyone else was sleeping, not taking advantage of the perks. Eventually I fell asleep and when I woke up the Attendant's were no where around for me to ask for some more free perks.

My advice is don't do First Class on a Red Eye flight

quote:

My advice is don't do First Class on a Red Eye flight

I had a wonderful and gorgeous view sitting in the nose of a 747 from DC to San Francisco. Fell asleep. Lol

quote:

Originally posted by urbanwarrior238:
Years ago Alaska offered discounted First Class pricing at the gate if the seats had not sold. I remember one time they were offered at a price (cant remember) then later offered even lower as nobody was biting.

So one year, a Red Eye from Hawaii to San Diego, I took the available first class seat. I accepted the free drink, free movie player and was watching the movie when I realized I was the only one awake. Everyone else was sleeping, not taking advantage of the perks. Eventually I fell asleep and when I woke up the Attendant's were no where around for me to ask for some more free perks.

My advice is don't do First Class on a Red Eye flight

They go up in the kitchen area just behind the cockpit and sit around and BS at night.

All you've got to do is go up there and ask for anything they have and they'll give it to you. Walk in slowly though, as they think everyone's asleep and if you go in fast it kind of spooks them.

I don't sleep on airplanes, don't know why as I love to fly but there's just something about it, the constant background drone of engines or something. I do watch movies and read books on my Kindle app though.

My wife and I fly first class. The first class seating on JetBlue lie flat and good for sleeping. Definitely much more comfortable than Cattle Class. Anyway, in the past we have purchased the extra seats in Cattle Class. Now that may be a lot cheaper than First Class, it is still not as comfortable.

When you get really serious, you start flying private… Haven’t been on a commercial airplane in four years.

quote:

Originally posted by Sclass:
I swore when we paid the house off and we were completely debt free I was going to start flying first class and we did just that. We reached a point where aquiring more stuff just doesn't appeal to us that much. We'd rather indulge on the experiences. First class seats, ocean front room, high end steak house, etc.

Exactly what we are doing. Good for you.

We started paying for first (sometimes called business) class when the covid travel bans ended.

Our world travels kicked into high gear in 2017 after 1) I retired and 2) we could make withdrawals from the RIA. We began flying coach, a couple years later we upgraded to premium economy. During covid we lost almost two years of traveling but saved a fistful of dollars. We now pay more to sit up near the pointy end.

We're up front from the first reservation, no last-minute possible upgrades for us or one of us. We've got lots of United miles, we use them for free flights. In first.

I've flown first class only twice in my life.

First time I was a lowly E3 coming home from W. Germany for the holidays, tried to catch a (free to me) aircraft outta Frankfurt, but kept getting booted to the next flight (single guy, no emergency, etc) until after a day of losing leave time I caught a flight on my dime. I got a bulkhead seat in coach (I'm 6'5", so that's very relevant) and nobody beside me. Fell asleep and an hour later was awakened by a flight attendant. She said there was a mother and child in the back and they were separated and the child was upset, asked if I'd be willing to swap with them. I agreed, and was led to the back to my new seat-in the middle of a couple obese folks and zero leg room. I just accepted the new seat anyhow, and settled in. About an hour later, the same lady came and asked me to please follow her. I was perplexed but obediently followed, and she led me up to first class, where she explained that she always asks servicemen to swap seats when needed, because they are usually pleasant about it. But she'd seen my discomfort, and spoke to the lead attendant. They agreed to reward me with the seat in first class. They then proceeded to bring me drinks and food until I had to almost literally beg them to stop. Still a great memory.

Second time, I went to Saskatchewan to deer hunt with a buddy, and he'd already booked 1st class, so I followed suit (very reluctantly). We had great service, as I recall, and the flight was much better than my usual experiences.

Other than those times, I always fly coach, usually begging the gate attendant for consideration on an exit row or bulkhead to help with the 36" inseam. Just too tough to pay 3-4x as much to get to the same place.

I did consulting for 3+ years, 2008 - 2011, usually about 48 weeks per year. Flew out Monday morning and flew back on Thursday evening. After about 6 weeks I started getting upgraded to first class. After 8 months or so I was upgraded pretty much every flight. When you travel that much it really does make it much better.

I got a different job when we had our first kid and I lost my status the next year. I only fly about once or twice per year now. I do miss the upgrades, but I enjoy going to my kids practices and other events much more than the upgrades!

I enjoyed the time I traveled, but I wouldn't go back. Whenever we fly it's 4 of us now, no way I could splurge for 4 first class seats!