Most you've ever spent on airline tickets

[SecondAttempt]

The AMEX platinum card, which costs ~$600 a year still has an international airline credit where you get a free ticket for a paid ticket. I have never used this because everytime I have checked the paid ticket was way overpriced. But if you value flying business or first class it might offer options. A few years ago I priced out a trip to Africa and Amex wanted $9000 business class for two people from US west coast with the platinum benefit. Best coach I could find was about $3200 each so the extra for business class would have been $2600. Not something worth paying to me but maybe of interest to others.

 

[RetireBy90]

DW manages our travel and manages to upgrade to first most of the time after purchasing economy seats. At first it was infrequent using points then she managed to snag for $50 upgrade fee. Now days it is more expensive but given I'm not happy with the passenger in front of me putting the seat back in my lap for 2-3 hours or more, it is worth the cost.

I did a flight from DC to Korea when I was in the Army and you better believe I ended up with the cheapest seat on the flight. Something like 10 or 12 hours with 3 stops (although I didn't have to change planes). We are taking a trip to Australia and New Zealand in March. Another very long flight but we were able to get business class seats. No reason to start and end the trip tired and irritated.

Enjoy the upgrade. If you can afford it why not. I don't spend just to spend but then you can't take it with you so might as well get some enjoyment.

 

[NW-Bound]

Most airlines have removed their First Class service and just upgraded their business class service. You should shop around for deals. We are leaving in three weeks for a trip to Europe and we paid $2962 each for business class with lie flat seats from LAX to GVA with a stop at YUL on Air Canada. Last November we paid $2832 for the same departure and destination airports but on Air France Business Class. If you book last minute those same seats will cost $5K-$7K. The most we have paid for business class was $4200 each return but that was many years ago. Plan your trips ahead of time and book at least 3-4 months in advance for the best deals. Also check for premium fare deals (first/business class) at this site.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/premium-fare-deals-740/

Yes, people may not notice that few airlines have first class anymore. On the other hand, business class is now as nice as first class used to be.

We will be leaving in early Sep to go to Europe. At the time of booking, the prices were comparable to what you paid:

Coach: $800/seat
Premium economy: $1600/seat (which I bought)
Business class: $3000/seat

We have not overcome our frugality to splurge on business class seats, even though we could easily afford it. And we flew business class when travel for work or when we could get free upgrade, so know how nice it is.

"Conscience is the part of you that hurts, when the rest of you feels so good" -- Anon

The last few years, I made $200K-300K each year just from selling options as a pastime. Quicken shows that cumulative since I started to track expenses, we spend more on gifts/donations than we spend on travel.

Yet, when it comes to airfare for ourselves, I figure that if I can get 80% of the comfort by spending 50%, then premium economy is a better deal.

Well, I will have to see if I can really get 80% of the comfort.

By the way, I looked on seatguru.com to see that the AA and BA planes on my trip all have more business class seats than premium economy seats. For examples, BA 777 has 219 coach seats, 40 business seats, but only 24 premium economy. That's interesting.

 

[Magus]

Premium economy is basically domestic business class. Pretty good value most of the time. International business class is basically international first class of old, most do not even offer first class anymore.

 

[Chuckanut]

Enjoy the upgrade. If you can afford it why not. I don't spend just to spend but then you can't take it with you so might as well get some enjoyment.

I've starting to bend in your direction. Over the past few years I have helped my children get a leg-up on some rather costly things in life (housing and education mainly). I feel very good about doing that.

But, it's time to spend less on them and more on me. Dad's body gets a bit achier every year, and certain things I formerly enjoyed are no longer on the table. No more boulder hoping through the Apennines. So, I often enjoy the more subtle and casual pleasures by taking more time to do the same amount of stuff. Or I add in a last minute item I did not know about when I left home. All that costs $$'s. Even a [-]cheapskate[/-] LBYM guy like me can only squeeze a buck so far.

 

[athena53]

International business class is basically international first class of old, most do not even offer first class anymore.

I was once "operational-upgraded" to First between London and Chicago- flying in paid Business Class. This would have been AA/BA over 10 years ago. Apparently they had empty seats in First so they kicked me up to First and then gave someone else my Business Class seat. Fine with me.

Space was slightly larger. There was a small cabinet down by my feet so I could store items and not have to get them out of the overhead when I needed them. Food slightly better but stretched out over multiple courses that took too long. (You could request that it all be served at once but I wanted to test the whole experience.)

Nice but I would not have paid to upgrade from Business to First. I think most airlines got rid of First Class because business travelers were their bread and butter and most bean counters wouldn't allow "First Class". "Business Class" just sounded more sensible.

 

[Gumby]

I just looked at our tickets for our October trip to Egypt and Jordan. They are actually Lufthansa business class (Z), not first class. $4434 each, roundtrip from Hartford (two transfers) to Cairo and return from Amman. It is roughly a quarter of the total cost of our trip.

 

[NW-Bound]

I was once "operational-upgraded" to First between London and Chicago- flying in paid Business Class. This would have been AA/BA over 10 years ago. Apparently they had empty seats in First so they kicked me up to First and then gave someone else my Business Class seat. Fine with me.

Space was slightly larger. There was a small cabinet down by my feet so I could store items and not have to get them out of the overhead when I needed them. Food slightly better but stretched out over multiple courses that took too long. (You could request that it all be served at once but I wanted to test the whole experience.)

Nice but I would not have paid to upgrade from Business to First. I think most airlines got rid of First Class because business travelers were their bread and butter and most bean counters wouldn't allow "First Class". "Business Class" just sounded more sensible.

We flew business class quite a few times, all due to our megacorps. Only one time, going from Sydney to Auckland, NZ, we got free upgrade from biz class to first class on Qantas. Seats were a bit wider, but we are not big people, and reclined a bit more. They were spaced quite a bit apart, but there were no dividers for privacy. About food and drink, I don't recall it being too different than biz class on the same Qantas 747. Food on airplane is not my priority, as long as it does not make me sick. All I want is to be able to recline and go to sleep.

Yes, it would have cost 2x. I guess if I were rich, I would pay anyway to get that extra bit more.

And more, when we disembarked, the stewardesses held off the biz class passengers so we could get off first. Yep, that's the privilege of the "elite class".

PS. The first class section on all airplanes is towards the nose, so that when you enter the plane you turn left. All other passengers turn right. This means that first-class passengers are not bothered by the riff-raff trudging by your seats, like biz class passengers have to endure.

 

[sunnysideup]

If I gave you the percentage of SWR you might think we’re crazy. We have a huge vacation fund that we put together prior to retirement. It’s basically separate from all our other expenses. We hope we stay healthy enough to spend it all.

So I agree with the person who said it doesn’t matter what percent it is, is it something you can afford…

We probably fly 2 to 4 times a year. We generally only fly a max of three or four hours in coach. On rare occasion, we have flown in coach longer, but I think we’ve gotten spoiled now.

Once we were really lucky when flying from Newark to Heathrow on a daytime flight, the airline offered us a really reasonable upgrade price from premium economy. (DH is tall). We snapped up that offer so fast and it was so nice, with the added benefit of getting a fast pass going through customs and immigration Heathrow. The lines were about two hours long and we blew right through. It was worth every penny just for that….

Everything else for us is done in business class. Sometimes we are lucky enough to use miles and not have to pay at all, especially when we take American, who actually lets non-high-milers use their miles to get budiness class seats. just a couple bucks for taxes. However, we have an upcoming bucket list trip to Australia, and the business class seats were insanely expensive. We’ve never paid as much for any tickets as we’re paying for this trip. But it’s worth it because it’s a once in a lifetime trip and when you’re traveling over 20 hours it’s nice to have a life flat bed so you can relax and sleep.

If you can afford it, don’t feel guilty. You only go around once.

 

[marko]

Yes, people may not notice that few airlines have first class anymore. On the other hand, business class is now as nice as first class used to be.

Many airlines just decided to rename their First Class to "Business" because many companies will pay for Business but not First.

(I was fortunate that my company paid for either and actually preferred that we flew First...it was an image thing for us)

 

[athena53]

Once we were really lucky when flying from Newark to Heathrow on a daytime flight, the airline offered us a really reasonable upgrade price from premium economy. (DH is tall). We snapped up that offer so fast and it was so nice, with the added benefit of getting a fast pass going through customs and immigration Heathrow. The lines were about two hours long and we blew right through. It was worth every penny just for that….

Oh, yeah. That's even better than lounge access! Some airports have priority security lines as well.

If you can afford it, don’t feel guilty. You only go around once.

I agree although I've mentioned my decision to skip Australia/NZ. Last I looked I think it was $8,000 and that was 4 years ago. When it's gotten to the point that one RT to Australia costs as much as two to Europe, I'll take the latter.

 

[FIYes]

Okay, I’ve been asked nicely not to respond to this thread since I don’t fly business class. But like almost all threads on this forum there is a bit of drift.

We have taken a couple of transatlantic, repositioning cruises to get to Europe. They were great. I hope to do this again. Of course, this is a slow way to travel, but we are retired. Yeah! It really makes the journey part of the reason to travel.

Our longest economy class trip was nonstop Hong Kong to Chicago. I had a middle seat in the middle section in the back of the plane. While that flight portion of the trip wasn’t fun, the trip itself was great and I am so glad that I was able to take it.

 

[anothercog]

One reason I'll never visit Australia and NZ is that last I checked Business fares (2019 when I was going on a cruise out of Hawaii) it was extortion. I'm thinking it was $8K round trip total for mainland to Hawaii and then Hawaii to Australia. Could I do it and pay the bills? Yes, but it just doesn't seem to be a good use of my travel $$. And I will NOT fly that route in Coach.

I "blame" my late husband for getting me hooked on long-hauls in Business. He was a man of very modest tastes but over 6' tall with a creaky back, and 15 years older. I flew a lot on business and we used points to upgrade once on the way home from Scotland. After that it was hard to go to the back of the bus so we traveled to Europe a bit less often and I was a wizard at accumulating and using airline miles and we flew Business Class.

I made a half-dozen trips to India on business and the first time the Chief Actuary allowed anyone willing to fly Coach to stay overnight at company expense in London, Paris, Frankfort.. your choice. I chose London and it wasn't too bad. Business Class was better. A coworker who later flew a nonstop from Toronto to Delhi in Coach because Business wasn't available said it was "brutal"- and he was short.



Nah, DS and DDIL are VERY frugal. DS says whatever I leave behind will go straight to the 3 kids.

When the youngest (currently 3) is a bit older I want to take the family to Costa Rica. They'll be in Business whether they like it or not.

When I do retire I think I would like to try repositioning cruises to get to far flung places. There is 21 day cruise from San Francisco to Sydney Australia that is less than the cost of a business class plane ticket.

 

[Souschef]

The last time we flew to Australia, we used Air Tahiti Nui and laid over in Tahiti both ways. When boarding in Tahiti, forget that 3 hour bit. The airport only has 4 gates.

 

[skyking1]

When I do retire I think I would like to try repositioning cruises to get to far flung places. There is 21 day cruise from San Francisco to Sydney Australia that is less than the cost of a business class plane ticket.

I just did a deep dive in repositioning cruises, thank you. This is a terribly good place to hang out
I did not find your SF to Aus cruise, but countless others.

 

[anothercog]

I just did a deep dive in repositioning cruises, thank you. This is a terribly good place to hang out
I did not find your SF to Aus cruise, but countless others.

Check for “World Cruises”. You can just do certain legs of the trip. Hope this link works. https://www.cruises.com/sc.do?d=02/07/2023&d2=03/01/2023&i=931697&c=18&v=569&utm_medium=comparison_engine&utm_source=cdot-cruise_critic&utm_campaign=meta_comparison

 

[OldConch]

Do you mind sharing what service ? Thanks.

Scott's Cheap Flights - elite, and Straight to the Points. We've had each for about 6 months and I've booked 5 r/t flights across the Atlantic with one in the books and 4 upcoming.

 

[OldConch]

I just did a deep dive in repositioning cruises, thank you. This is a terribly good place to hang out
I did not find your SF to Aus cruise, but countless others.

If you're looking at cruises, VacationsToGo.com is a great resource. I found the SFO to SYD 21 day cruise using "San Francisco" as departure port and "transpacific" as the region. BTW, that leg of the cruise appears to be sold out for 2023.

 

[Scrapr]

Scott's Cheap Flights - elite, and Straight to the Points. We've had each for about 6 months and I've booked 5 r/t flights across the Atlantic with one in the books and 4 upcoming.

Does Scott's search Business class too? Or just Economy?

 

[OldConch]

Does Scott's search Business class too? Or just Economy?

Business and first if you pay for the "elite" membership which is $199/year. Sounds expensive but I've already found 2 r/t across the pond for $1,750 and $2,000. The $2k is for 15+ hours of flying each way and includes lounge access in Istanbul. Economy tickets on this route are normally about $1200.

As another poster mentioned, first class on long haul flights is becoming increasingly rare. Most premium cabins are now a mix of business and premium economy.

On Scott's Cheap Flights, you list your home airport in the settings. I live in Eastern Washington so I choose my airport and all of the major hubs I'd take a repositioning flight to get to: SEA, DEN, SFO, LAX, SLC, PHX, DFW, ORD, and JFK.

 

[NW-Bound]

Many airlines just decided to rename their First Class to "Business" because many companies will pay for Business but not First.

(I was fortunate that my company paid for either and actually preferred that we flew First...it was an image thing for us)

My megacorp was chintzy. I don't know at what employee level they would allow better-than-coach for all travels (VP?), but I had the usual limitation of biz class seat only for flights lasting longer than 6 hours. You could have a long flight, but if it is broken up in legs shorter than 6 hours, down to coach you go. And they did not let you book your flight. They did it for you to make sure you would fly coach.

And here's how cheap they were. When I presented a technical paper at a conference in DC that was organized by a big international industrial aviation society, they only allowed me to fly there the day before, then presented the paper and flew back the next day. They did not allow time for me to listen to other presenters, or to socialize with them.

Moreover, no taxi from airport to/from the hotel/conference center. If I did not want to take the metro, I would have to pay out of pocket.

That was it. No more papers presented for the company. And I have to add that they expected me to prepare the paper and presentation material on my own time, and not on company time. Did this extracurricular get me anything wortwhile?

I now discover in retirement that spending the time selling stock option contracts brings much more money per hour and is also more satisfying. Way more rewarding in both financial and mental aspects.

PS. And these guys still contacted me as of a couple of years ago to come back to help. I would want no less than $1000/hour for consulting, which they of course could not pay. So, I just ignored their emails.

 

[skyking1]

thanks oldconch. we are ticketed up for now, there is a one way redeye for DW from SEA to probably EWR in November. I will get to searching for that one. We are otherwise not travelling for a year or so till we get the house built and retire.

 

[explanade]

I paid like $5100 or $5200 for business class to Australia in 2018.

That was around 5-5.5% of my total spend that year.

My strategy, including when I was working, was to fly coach and accumulate miles and redeem once a year for international business.

But redemptions became harder.

Last few years, I've been buying international biz for almost every trip, usually in the range of $2-4k.

Before the pandemic, there were many sale fares to London in the $2-2.5k range and I would buy 3 of those a year and buy separate tickets to get to other places in Europe.

Once in awhile you still find deals. In June 2021, I flew on a $1700-1800 ticket to Barcelona and bought a separate ticket to France.

Ever since, all business class are more in the $4000 range and they appear to be the same for next spring and summer so far. Now that everyone wants to get back to travel, airlines see plenty of demand and price accordingly.

My annual travel spending had reached 30-35% of total spending and I was spending 1-1.5% of my assets each year, not withdrawing but spending the dividends and cap gain distributions. No pension, no SS and no RMDs yet.

I don't want to leave money on the table so I probably need to increase my spending if anything. Well that was the thinking until the market downturn but even after the market downturn, I could increase my annual spending at least 30-40%.

Yet I still balk at fares which are say $4500 instead of $4100, probably more out of habit.

I also question hotel spending when the quality seems poor. My budget has gone up there but for example, Banff models and lodges which have poor reviews but charge $400-500 or more a night.

 

[explanade]

We are leaving in three weeks for a trip to Europe and we paid $2962 each for business class with lie flat seats from LAX to GVA with a stop at YUL on Air Canada.

I've flown AC but through YVR, never the east coast of Canada.

One thing is that you are flying 5-6 hours to YUL or YYZ in a 738 without lie flats for a business fare.

Through YVR, it's a 2-3 hour leg from SFO to YVR and then the long haul is either LH or AC.

I'm in MileagePlus so now they offer you more points for status flying AC than UA itself. Or at least that was the theory when they introduced the new schemes right before the pandemic and we never had a full year under this PQPs.

So I've looked at flying AC but a lot of their TATL is through YYZ or YUL and you're flying a 738. Sometimes they have 787s for the transcon with lie flats but most of the time they don't.

I also redeemed an MP biz award in November to BNE for like 180k miles. On AC's own program, the miles required were much higher.

 

[rodi]

We are traveling biz class to Peru and out of Ecuador - but that was booked using travel credit that was one way premium economy Milan to San Diego on a canceled trip. (We had planned a spring 2022 trip to take a reposition MSC cruise to Italy, then return premium economy. MSC canceled the cruise. We repurposed the return flight credit to these business class open jaw tickets.)

We are currently pricing tickets for a planned trip to Italy in spring 2023. Current pricing is $1k for coach, $2k for premium, $4k for business, $9k for First... I will pay $4k/pp if I must - we can afford it... but have not pulled the trigger for the tickets... hoping there will be a dip in price. I check about 1x/week.

To the OP's metric.. Our budget it about $100k/year. so $8k in airfare is a big part of our budget. (We have income streams beyond withdrawals -so not doing SWR). But we budgeted for travel in our annual budget. If it gets too much, we'll downgrade to premium... but for now, biz class is it.

That said - I'm frugal enough that I am still hoping for a 'deal' on the biz class seats.