Upgrading Seats on Long Flights Worth It?

[Sojourner]

Quote:

Originally Posted by younginvestor2013 I think Economy Plus would be nice with the extra leg room, but I am doubtful on whether or not I would be able to sleep well in the upright position.

If you take enough of the right kind of sleeping pill, you will be out like a light even in a cramped coach seat. I've found that a 3mg dose of Lunesta reliably does it for me. If I were you, I'd just go for the Economy Plus and then pop some Lunesta about 30 minutes into the flight. The economics of this approach are much more favorable, as Lunesta is typically no more than about $5 per pill. Ambien also works for many people and is even cheaper, but I've found Lunesta to be the superior zzz-drug.

[Amethyst]

I hope my question is appropriate for this thread. I've always flown coach for Uncle Sam, often red-eye to Europe. As tired as I get while traveling, I never had a problem falling asleep in the coach seat. But...the flight attendants kept waking up the cabin during the night, mainly to offer cr@p from the carts or get people to sign up for a credit card or something. Does this happen in upgraded seats, too?

[NoiseBoy]

@younginvestor

60,000 miles on United equals a free roundtrip economy coach ticket to Europe. Add fees and the economy plus upgrade and your airfare will be about $400 total. That is the path I choose for my trips to London and Paris. I really wanted to use my miles to upgrade to business class, but in the end I could not pass up the really low cost flights. OTH I think my cash cost to upgrade to business was higher than what you are seeing. $1,200 roundtrip to Europe in Business is a good deal I think.

[FIYes]

I have never upgraded, but as we get older who knows? So far, I have decided that I would prefer to travel twice (or more) as often than upgrade.

Last year, I did investigate upgrading for trip to China, but I was unwilling to spend 60,000 miles per person plus $1200 per person to upgrade. To put that in perspective, the per person dollar amount to upgrade was significantly more than the dollar amount per person that we paid, including tips, for our recent transatlantic cruise. The mileage cost to upgrade was twice the mileage cost for our return flight home from Europe following our cruise. The recent cruise and trip was a much more rewarding use of our travel dollars and miles than an upgrade would have been.


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[Big_Hitter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIYes Last year, I did investigate upgrading for trip to China, but I was unwilling to spend 60,000 miles per person plus $1200 per person to upgrade.

that's cheap compared to getting DVT in a leg, trust me

[FIYes]

DVT is a risk. That is why we always get up and move around on long flights. DH and I take a preflight aspirin. DH wears compression socks on long flights.


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[Big_Hitter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FIYes DVT is a risk. That is why we always get up and move around on long flights. DH and I take a preflight aspirin. DH wears compression socks on long flights. Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

it's a lot easier if you upgrade seats, JS, and worth the $$$ IMO

aspirin (which I can't take any longer since I'm on Xarelto after the DVT) and compression socks won't eliminate the risk

[manerac]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sojourner I've found that a 3mg dose of Lunesta reliably does it for me.

Yikes, that's 3 times the recommended daily dosage.

[FI by 2024]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivinsfan And last but not least 50Kin United miles might result in some nice free flights with a little bit of planning.so you have the original ticket cost, 60K in miles and another 1200 in cash, are there any United flyers here you know if this is a good deal?

I typically book my flights home for the holidays with United points. If I book early enough, I can get a cross country round trip flight for 25K miles plus the 9/11 fee. Meaning I can fly round trip for Thanksgiving and Christmas for 50K miles plus about $22. If I miss out on the economy saver tickets, I can still purchase one domestic round trip for that amount or like somebody said do a round trip to Europe for not much more.

If I were the OP, I'd use $400 to upgrade to Economy Plus on his original trip, then use his bonus miles + $800 to fund another trip somewhere with a friend or partner. I'm of the opinion that more trips is better than a few hours of relatively more comfort. But, everybody is different.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst I hope my question is appropriate for this thread. I've always flown coach for Uncle Sam, often red-eye to Europe. As tired as I get while traveling, I never had a problem falling asleep in the coach seat. But...the flight attendants kept waking up the cabin during the night, mainly to offer cr@p from the carts or get people to sign up for a credit card or something. Does this happen in upgraded seats, too?

In first class they ask you ahead of time if you want to be disturbed for meals etc. In economy plus they walk the aisles just like in economy.

[audreyh1]

Is upgrading on short flights worth it?

Well - if the upgrade to first class is offered cheap, there are some side bennies.

We were recently offered to upgrade the first leg for $69 and I took it because I was concerned about a shortish layover and needing to change terminals.

Well, upgrading just one leg gave us multiple free checked baggage for the whole flight, and group 1 boarding for both legs even though we are in economy for the second leg.

Just kind of a nice side effect of accepting the upgrade offer on one leg.

[Big_Hitter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Is upgrading on short flights worth it?

DFW to IAH - coach - $101 - first $183

I'll take first cause I'll be checking two bags. No brainer.

[bclover]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big_Hitter that's cheap compared to getting DVT in a leg, trust me

Not just DVT. I have osteoarthritis in the knees, seriously bad knees and for me and for me only, not arriving to my destination in pain with swollen joints is more than worth the upgrade price.

11 hours from NYC to Hawaii in coach put me under for an entire 2 days. ice packs and tons of anti inflammatory and I did get up and walk around.

[Big_Hitter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bclover 11 hours from NYC to Hawaii in coach put me under for an entire 2 days. ice packs and tons of anti inflammatory and I did get up and walk around.

at least you can take anti-inflammatories - I can't

[explanade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Just so you know, on United, $1099 is the most you should ever have to pay for economy plus seats for 3 to 9 people per year. That covers the subscriber and up to 8 companions on the same reservation on global flights for a whole year. https://www.united.com/web/en-US/app.../offerSep.aspx For two people it's $899. If you're flying lower 48 only, knock off $200 in both cases.

Might be worth shooting for Premier Gold. Have to spend $6000 in airfare though.

But you get other benefits.

[RunningBum]

I splurged on a first class upgrade from Chicago to Sacramento in June when I saw all the economy seats were filled. It was an evening flight, and I had a 3 hour drive after so I wanted some sleep since I knew it was going to be a really long evening. It turned out to work out great as we were stuck on the ground for an hour due to bad weather out west. I'd have been fuming in coach. Instead, I put on a movie and stretched out. I even had the seat next to me empty. Nothing special about the service, but even arriving an hour late I felt pretty good and the drive to Tahoe went well.


This has put me in the habit to check how much an upgrade will be, either at ticket purchase time or day of. Factors include time of day, tight connections (for early boarding to be able to make sure I can carry my bag on as well as quick exit), and how crowded the flight is--no sense paying extra for a wider seat if I could have an empty middle seat next to me in coach.

[Bestwifeever]

DS flew on Southwest last week and took an aisle seat. He said the woman in the window seat in his row told him he could put his briefcase under the seat in front of the empty middle seat as she had paid for two seats (and presumably for early boarding to get them together) for herself (no, she was not a large person--she just wanted the empty space next to her). He said he has seen that a few time on Southwest, that it's their "first-class" equivalent.

[Big_Hitter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever DS flew on Southwest last week and took an aisle seat. He said the woman in the window seat in his row told him he could put his briefcase under the seat in front of the empty middle seat as she had paid for two seats (and presumably for early boarding to get them together) for herself (no, she was not a large person--she just wanted the empty space next to her). He said he has seen that a few time on Southwest, that it's their "first-class" equivalent.

last time I saw that on swa there was a huge short dude taking up two seats in the first row - poor guy

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade Might be worth shooting for Premier Gold. Have to spend $6000 in airfare though. But you get other benefits.

I don't spend that much nor fly enough to get gold. I probably won't even make silver this year. I've never made status, so I just buy some of the perks instead.

[Texas Proud]

One of the big problems that I have is the cost difference...

When looking to go to Europe, the cost is at least three times and usually more... that is not worth it to me..

Now, I see some saying they could get it for $69 or so more... well, that would be worth it IMO...


Now I do not fly that much.... so I can live in the back for the couple of flights that I might have in a year....