Poll:Air Travel

[Chuckanut]

I've toyed with the idea of booking Business Class a few times but have not sprung for it yet. I keep thinking that for the price difference I can get myself a much nicer room/cabin/apartment at my destination and that will bring me far more comfort and pleasure than 8-10 hours in a bigger seat.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

Premium Economy, but I voted Coach since there's no choice for that.

 

[Vacation4us]

I'll be testing my 70+ yo body on coach very soon.
East coast to LAX 4H 45M
Layover 2H 50M
LAX to Guangzhou 14H 50M
Layover 2H 45M
Guangzhou to Kunming 2H 25M

As always on long flights, every few hours, I carefully walk up and down the aisle, find an open area and do various exercises and stretches, all to keep my circulation flowing. Hopefully, my body will successfully survive this long coach flight.

On our honeymoon to Thailand we met a couple late 70’s were the gentleman bragged about his $600 tickets from LAX,yet he spent the entire vacation barely able to move because his back was killing him.

It was an eye opening experience. We usually fly coach but we saw the value of business class on this trip.

We are flying to Tahiti in August coach 8 hours non stop. It will be a test of my endurance. My a** is already hurting just thinking about it. I see some business class in our future.

 

[marko]

On our honeymoon to Thailand we met a couple late 70’s were the gentleman bragged about his $600 tickets from LAX,yet he spent the entire vacation barely able to move because his back was killing him.

It was an eye opening experience.

This was a turning point for my company. Many years ago we had an old-ish (50?) guy who flew coach to Japan. He did something to his back getting off the plane and had to be med-flighted back home. He went to a Japanese hospital that seemed to have made matters worse.

He never worked (or walked right) again.

After that, any flight over 5 hours was deemed First/Business.

 

[DFDubb]

I've toyed with the idea of booking Business Class a few times but have not sprung for it yet. I keep thinking that for the price difference I can get myself a much nicer room/cabin/apartment at my destination and that will bring me far more comfort and pleasure than 8-10 hours in a bigger seat.

It's quite the opposite for me and we've made the switch to only flying biz/1st. I'll gladly stay at a lesser hotel/AirBnB to make the airfare more palatable. I can very easily leave my hotel room or change from laying to sitting to laying again while inside. There is simply no escaping an uncomfortable coach seat until your at your destination.

It also seems all common decency and respect for fellow man gets checked with the luggage when people get on a plane. It seems to bring the absolute worst out in humanity and sitting up front largely insulates you from it. Except of course once at the gate and all the riff raff races to try and beat biz/1st passengers off the plane. Spoiler alert, it's an unspoken rule that at least one passenger in the last row of biz/1st will stand in the isle to allow us all the time we need to deplane w/o everyone from coach trying to bulldoze us off.

 

[marko]

I It seems to bring the absolute worst out in humanity and sitting up front largely insulates you from it. Except of course once at the gate and all the riff raff races to try and beat biz/1st passengers off the plane. Spoiler alert, it's an unspoken rule that at least one passenger in the last row of biz/1st will stand in the isle to allow us all the time we need to deplane w/o everyone from coach trying to bulldoze us off.

+1
But on European and many Asian flight arrivals you debark from the center door and the flight attendants stand blocking the coach aisles so that First can get off first.

 

[braumeister]

He never worked (or walked right) again.

After that, any flight over 5 hours was deemed First/Business.

There is also the well recognized DVT issue (Deep Vein Thrombosis) where sitting cramped into a coach seat for hours can result in a most painful blood clot in your leg that can even become much more serious if you're not lucky.

That underscores the need to at least get up and walk around from time to time if you know what's good for you (despite the disapproving looks from some flight attendants).

 

[Big_Hitter]

There is also the well recognized DVT issue (Deep Vein Thrombosis) where sitting cramped into a coach seat for hours can result in a most painful blood clot in your leg that can even become much more serious if you're not lucky.

yep - had one of those - it really hurt!

 

[Fishingmn]

We travel coach.

I do travel hacking credit cards a little which has netted a number of free trips to Europe.

This fall for the first time we did spring extra for the coach seats with extra leg room on our way to Athens (long flight from Chicago).

 

[foxfirev5]

This was a turning point for my company. Many years ago we had an old-ish (50?) guy who flew coach to Japan. He did something to his back getting off the plane and had to be med-flighted back home. He went to a Japanese hospital that seemed to have made matters worse.

He never worked (or walked right) again.

After that, any flight over 5 hours was deemed First/Business.

This rings a bell. My personal policy was that I would not travel in any manner or stay at a hotel that was not what I would do with my own money or equal to my own home environment. Simple and never questioned by executive management.

 

[athena53]

On our honeymoon to Thailand we met a couple late 70’s were the gentleman bragged about his $600 tickets from LAX,yet he spent the entire vacation barely able to move because his back was killing him.

Something similar got DH and me into the Business Class habit. He was 15 years older, over 6 feet tall and had a creaky back. We flew in Business on transatlantic a couple of times and then, after a Coach flight to Scotland where it took him a few days to get the kinks out of his body, he said he'd really rather not fly long hauls in Coach anymore. DH had very modest tastes and was not a complainer, so I took heed. We took fewer trips and I made very careful use of airline loyalty programs, but the long hails were all in Business Class after that. He's gone now but, between the business travel I did, which permitted Business Class on transatlantics, and the travel I did with DH, I'm hooked. Since I'm now traveling solo, it costs only half as much. Who knew?

 

[Souschef]

I have attached the first page of one of our trip stories with a very large annotated picture of what British Airway Business Class seats are like.
A bonus is that you can use the BC lounges which are quite nice and quiet. You are also escorted to the gate.

 

[USGrant1962]

Coach domestically and to the Caribbean. But going to burn a bunch of Megacorp-generated frequent flyer miles going first class to Hawaii (from the East Coast) in December

 

[marko]

IMO In many ways, First/Business is now what coach used to be.

The service, quality, food and room still exists but now it's only in F/B. And if you think about it, in relative terms the price of First is about what coach used to cost way before everybody and his uncle started flying.

Flying in general used to be for those who could afford more rather than driving/train and now, First remains that way while coach has deteriorated to the equivalent of Greyhound. I'm old enough to remember relatively decent hot meals and free drinks in coach instead of a bag of chips and a coke for a 5 hour flight.

I think my point is that the old 'enjoyment', quality or comfort of flying in the 60's still exists but it's been moved--at the same relative price--to up front.

 

[Independent]

IMO In many ways, First/Business is now what coach used to be.

The service, quality, food and room still exists but now it's only in F/B. And if you think about it, in relative terms the price of First is about what coach used to cost way before everybody and his uncle started flying.

Flying in general used to be for those who could afford more rather than driving/train and now, First remains that way while coach has deteriorated to the equivalent of Greyhound. I'm old enough to remember relatively decent hot meals and free drinks in coach instead of a bag of chips and a coke for a 5 hour flight.

I think my point is that the old 'enjoyment', quality or comfort of flying in the 60's still exists but it's been moved--at the same relative price--to up front.

Good point.

When I was a kid, my dad would have loved to fly but couldn't afford it.
Now, I can afford coach, but not first class.

 

[audreyh1]

I agree that it is a good deal. I fly Premium Economy to Europe and Economy Plus domestically. I've flown domestic first class once from my small regional airport, through Atlanta, to NYC. My fare class for that trip did not get me access to Delta's lounge in La Guardia I have never flown better than PE to Europe and I won't go to Asia until after I retire when I can stay on that side of the world for longer than a week.

I use Google Flights to search for the best deals, but set some limits around total travel time and layovers. Since I'm still working, my travel dates are not very flexible, but I generally look for a PE fair that is roughly twice the price of cattle country. We stay in Airbnbs so I can afford to splurge a bit on airfare and I'm 6'2", so I find economy to be intolerable for more than a connection flight. I've looked at some exit/bulkhead rows in economy and I think I could sit there too, but I enjoy the other perks of PE. My most recent trip was with Air Canada and I enjoyed zone 1 boarding and priority baggage handling. It's the little extras that I'm currently working for

The day after I reserved our business class tickets, the prices on the economy fare jumped such that the ratio of first/business to economy plus dropped to 1.65x! I’ve never seen the ratio that low.

I also looked at flying out business/first for the overnight leg, and returning premier for the international daytime flight, and economy plus two other legs. But it was only $330 per person cheaper, so why bother? Too bad I didn’t check that a few days ago as it might have been much cheaper. Google Flights does not handle these mixed class options.

I haven’t tried to use points for the business class upgrades, because we would each have to pay $500 each way, and then we would just be waitlisted. Our status is not that high - it’s easy fall behind in the upgrade queue. Just pay a little more and you’re guaranteed a spot. But I do sometimes notice that only half of business class is assigned right before an international flight, so it does sometimes seem like half the folks got there vía last minute upgrades. On the other hand, if seen other international flights where business class was already full or close several days ahead of the flight.

 

[athena53]

IMO In many ways, First/Business is now what coach used to be.

The service, quality, food and room still exists but now it's only in F/B. And if you think about it, in relative terms the price of First is about what coach used to cost way before everybody and his uncle started flying.

Totally agreed and the flying public brought it on themselves by picking the cheapest flights. Airlines cheerfully complied and the quality of the experience plummeted. I'm somewhat grateful we can choose to go cheap or "buy back" some of the niceties. I really didn't need Business Class on my last trip- a one-hour flight between Des Moines and Chicago in a Regional Jet with my 5-year old granddaughter, who actually fits in a Coach class seat.

 

[zippy2020]

Gee, I remember when flying was fun! When airlines competed with one another to have the "most legroom in coach!" When you could head for the airport and your biggest worry was finding parking near enough so that you could get to the airport 15 min before your flight took off and still make it through the terminal.

LOL how times have changed!

The planes are increasingly uncomfortable:

If Your Future Flights to Europe Feel More Cramped, Here’s Why
The new Airbus A321LR could fundamentally change trips across the Atlantic—they could cost less, but at the expense of valuable seat space
From WS Journal 12June2019
(subscriber access only: https://www.wsj.com/articles/if-your-future-flights-to-europe-feel-more-cramped-heres-why-11560331803?mod=hp_lead_pos8

"....How long will passengers sit in a small, tightly packed airplane? Soon, the answer from airlines will be: longer. The new Airbus A321LR—a single-aisle, narrow-body jet—adds 800 miles of range. It’s poised to shake up trans-Atlantic flying, opening up nonstop flights between smaller cities and letting discount carriers drive prices. "

Summary of article: small and cramped (think: the 757, but with bigger overhead bins and LED lites, better pressurization); longer flying times and more flights will continue pressure on coach seat pricing.

++++++

We like driving trips, although we don't take as many as we used to. We travel to dine out, and are always searching out new restaurants and revisiting previous favs. So we are probably not your usual travelers.

 

[Global Wizzo]

Travel Options

I finished working with 20 years of 150K miles a year and 145 nights a year in hotels. We still like to travel. Cabin depends on price, distance and airline.

This will be my last year as a Diamond with Delta. That has been nice since that gets me and DW economy comfort at no cost at booking and frequent FC upgrades domestically.

I looked at a points ticket from the east coast to SYD. 650K or more in Delta One. Just flew that service to Singapore and the aircraft with the mini cabins are nice and there is enough foot room with the lie flat seats to not wedge my feet. Unlike the older configuration. But 1.3 million miles is not something I’d spend for that. Especially as a few years ago this was 160K miles each.

So what I do now is a mix. Canada in Jan was coach upgraded to FC. China in Feb was EC. Italy in
Mar/Apr was coach on Emirates and that service matches EC on a lot of other airlines. Apr to Copenhagen was EC.

Singapore was upgraded to FC one way and EC return. 30 hours enroute each way. Delta was running a four class service on the ATL-NRT 14 hour flights. Delta one/FC, Premium Economy, this is pretty much what the old Business Class was. Foot rest and more recline, Comfort Plus, coach with a little more leg room, and Main Cabin, coach with no leg room.
Aug will be a Bangkok trip. This one is Emirates coach, but Emirates lets you break up the trips in Dubai at no cost and at other points for a minimal charge. The US carriers typically charge individual flights if you try to layover and break a trip. So we will spend two nights in Dubai going and about five coming back. I’ll do something similar for the Christmas/New Years Sydney trip.

Sep Alaska is EC, Oct China is mixed FC and EC, Dubai in Nov is coach.

You can tell it doesn’t take much for us to get on a plane. Generally, we enjoy the travel and the hotels have to have a good Executive lounge. We don’t do Air BnB. Not my idea of a hotel.

I buy as many tickets for cash as I get on points. If I can find a really good BC fare, that’s a good enough reason to go. I consider 4K to Singapore a really good fare.

Won’t waste money on FC or BC to Europe when I can get good coach tickets for 500-600 RT.

We aren’t your typical tourist travelers. The Singapore trip was mainly to eat, sit around the pool and pick up a $100 watch for DW.

Some folks hate airports and airplanes, others like the RV, my only advice is to enjoy what you do and don’t spend more than you are comfortable spending. Enjoy life. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.

 

[athena53]

I looked at a points ticket from the east coast to SYD. 650K or more in Delta One. Just flew that service to Singapore and the aircraft with the mini cabins are nice and there is enough foot room with the lie flat seats to not wedge my feet. Unlike the older configuration. But 1.3 million miles is not something I’d spend for that. Especially as a few years ago this was 160K miles each.

Wow- and I thought AA was greedy. I had a stash of about 175,000 miles and had planned to use it in Business Class to Australia. It wasn't near enough. Later my brother, who undoubtedly has higher status on AA than my Gold level because he's still traveling on Business, blew 400,000 miles to get my SIL to SYD in Business Class when he had a conference there. I used the miles to go to India instead- only the flight from London back home was in Coach. Australia is off my bucket list.

 

[dm]

We rarely fly commercial. And when we do it’s generally on the cheap. The only time we fly commercial is when we have to be somewhere at a certain time. Or if it’s west of the Rockies. The wife does not like to fly over mountains in our plane.

Otherwise we just take our own plane.

This is the view last week on our return from New Orleans.

I don’t know why the pic is turned , but you get the idea.

 

[Souschef]

We flew from LA to New Zealand and Australia on Air Tahiti Nui.Not only was it the cheapest Air Fare, but we had to Lay over both way in Tahiti (Gee that was tough LOL). That way we broke the flight up into manageable segments

 

[Maidensong]

We usually fly Business for international, First for domestic because I need to be certain of having a plug in at my seat. I travel with a portable O2 concentrator and if I run out of batteries, I need another source of power if I want to stay conscious. Airplanes at altitude are the equivalent of being at an elevation of 8000 ft. I need help at that level. So grateful to be able to travel even if it means hauling a bunch of medical equipment with us.

 

[CaliKid]

I love economy plus and occasionally splurge for first. I really feel like the plus is a nice middle ground on most flights. More leg room without the "fancy" meal.

 

[shortstop14]

Even with my secure nest egg + 70 1/2 start of SSA payments, it's still painful for me to shake the lifetime LBYM mindset so I still fly using Spartan Coach. I'm going in a couple of weeks to China which I haven't done in 4 years. The flight will be an average of 25 hour

Pretty similar here. I don't think I've ever been in first class. Right now, I figure that flying coach gives us the opportunity for more trips every year rather than splurging on fewer. But I'm 5'10", and coach doesn't bother me. But I do work pretty hard to get a window seat (and an aisle for my wife), and I'd really try to avoid a long international flight in a middle seat.



Just got back from SE Asia: PDX -> SFO -> Shanghai -> Phnom Penh, and Bangkok -> Hong Kong -> SFO -> PDX. All in coach, and I didn't find it all that uncomfortable.



Domestically is usually Southwest, and I will pay the extra on longer flights to be earlier in the boarding line - I still sit in the back, but I know I get a window, and sometimes I'm lucky enough that no one sits in the middle. I also drive a lot of long distance domestically because I enjoy it.



But as the years go on and portfolio survival looks firmer, we might loosen up and travel a little more comfortably. We already tend to stay in nicer places than the old Motel 6 travel days.