Business Class Airfare tips and tricks?

[Jerry1]

Have you ever tried buying two seats in economy? Tell them your size dictates the need for two seats. I know it won’t change the legroom much, but it will at least give you some room to shift around and not have someone right on top of you.

Interesting. While not ideal, that might be worth looking at. Sitting "side saddle" a bit into the second seat would probably help.

It depends on the airline, but I've read this is no guarantee. Passengers can get asked to move and give up the extra (paid) seat if the airline deems a need. I wouldn't try this on an airline I didn't have some status on. I'm sure we've all checked in and found our carefully selected assigned seats got swapped before we boarded.

I don't think there's any real trick other than stalking prices. But it would help to put all your eggs into one airline, to accrue status faster rather than spread it around.

I think the “trick” is to work with the airline directly. I haven’t done it, but I know a person who has to have two seats (very large person). She calls the airline and books it directly. I think at some level, this is like an ADA issue and I don’t think it’s that easy to just take the seat away.

 

[athena53]

I think the “trick” is to work with the airline directly. I haven’t done it, but I know a person who has to have two seats (very large person). She calls the airline and books it directly. I think at some level, this is like an ADA issue and I don’t think it’s that easy to just take the seat away.

I'd checked that with American for a different reason: when we feel it's safe I'll be flying with my 2 granddaughters from Des Moines to Chicago and I want to reserve all 4 seats across. You do have to call them directly- it can't be done on-line. I haven't tried it yet and I'm Lifetime Gold on AA so I hope they wouldn't try and stuff a standby in the paid-for empty seat.

I agree with the earlier poster about overnight stays en route- now that I no longer have to count my vacation days I frequently stay overnight on the way rather than hop onto a connection once I've crossed the Atlantic. It really helps.

 

[SecondCor521]

OP, I know you said you didn't want to be a reward chaser, but one trick that might work for you is to pay cash for a coach seat and then use miles to upgrade to business class. I'm told this is a more efficient use of miles than just buying the business class seat completely with miles, and may be a good compromise for you.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Thanks for all the replies to my original posting. There's been some helpful tips to check out.

I'm working this week on exploring an itinerary for a trip to Switzerland. I'll keep your tips in mind when I go to book airfare.

 

[athena53]

OP, I know you said you didn't want to be a reward chaser, but one trick that might work for you is to pay cash for a coach seat and then use miles to upgrade to business class. I'm told this is a more efficient use of miles than just buying the business class seat completely with miles, and may be a good compromise for you.

Will any airline guarantee it at reservation? I did that a few times on American and it was always up to them to decide whether or not they had the seats available at the last minute (I assume that anyone willing to pay Real Money or the full point value for the seats had priority). The only time it actually came through was in October, 2001 from Newark to Edinburgh. Yeah, I know why.

 

[SecondCor521]

Will any airline guarantee it at reservation? I did that a few times on American and it was always up to them to decide whether or not they had the seats available at the last minute (I assume that anyone willing to pay Real Money or the full point value for the seats had priority). The only time it actually came through was in October, 2001 from Newark to Edinburgh. Yeah, I know why.

I've no idea. I've just read about it; never done it myself. I prefer to Scrooge things and sit in economy, but I'm an average size male.

My impression was that you could buy the upgrade with miles any time between buying the original coach seat and the time of flight. And if you did this upgrade, it'd be just as though you paid cash for the upgrade or bought the business class seat originally - you'd have a seat assignment ahead of time. The key thing is that for whatever reason the redemption rate on points used this way is better than average.

This idea is different from a status upgrade, which as you point out is last minute and depends on relative priority to paying business class customers. ("Status upgrade" meaning in this context someone who gets bumped up to business class because they're a frequent flyer and there are empty business class seats on the flight.)

 

[PaunchyPirate]

Will any airline guarantee it at reservation? I did that a few times on American and it was always up to them to decide whether or not they had the seats available at the last minute (I assume that anyone willing to pay Real Money or the full point value for the seats had priority). The only time it actually came through was in October, 2001 from Newark to Edinburgh. Yeah, I know why.

Correct. On American, which is the airline I fly most often, it is not guaranteed at the time of booking. It goes into a "request" process and there are all sorts of factors that go into whether it gets granted. Perhaps the most important one is that they limit the number of upgrades on flights. Not just to the number of seats available at the time.

I probably wouldn't risk this approach for fear I will still end up in the economy seat. But if I'm desperate, I'd try.

 

[Koogie]

On the occasions we've flown in the front seats, the majority of times it has been either as a gifted upgrade from DW brother (he's a steward) or a gifted upgrade from the airline (we have airlines as business clients). So, no help to the OP unless he wants to marry into my family.... ha

For our honeymoon in 2016 however I wanted to make it a better experience for DW as her health is poor and long trips in cattle class are harder on her. We were flying Air Canada YYZ-CDG and back LHR-YYZ. Air Canada has a separate bidding website where you put in blind bids for an upgrade from cattle class tickets to biz class. The bonus was these routes had the "pod" business seats which are fantastic.

IIRC, I bid C$1000 per person on the YYZ-CDG leg and C$1200 per person on the LHR-YYZ leg. Successfully in both cases. The CDG flight was about 1/3 empty in the front seats so I suspect I could have bid less. The LHR flight was packed.

Perhaps that might be of some use to the OP since I am sure if AC has this system there must be other airlines that do.

 

[Unpaintedhuffhines]

Correct. On American, which is the airline I fly most often, it is not guaranteed at the time of booking. It goes into a "request" process and there are all sorts of factors that go into whether it gets granted. Perhaps the most important one is that they limit the number of upgrades on flights. Not just to the number of seats available at the time.

I probably wouldn't risk this approach for fear I will still end up in the economy seat. But if I'm desperate, I'd try.

I have a lot of experience here.

The airlines will confirm and guarantee at time of booking, if (and it is a very big if) they have reward seat availability. So, they may open up 2 or 4 or 6 reward seats on a new flight, but in order to snag one of those with miles (whether an upgrade or just using miles for the whole enchilada), you have to get there first. For popular routes, that means booking on the day it is available which I believe on American is 330 days out. If you don't snag one of those guaranteed seats (reminder: they are super limited), then you are rolling the dice. Upgrades rules are based on a lot of factors, so even if you are Platinum and you get on the list 6 months ago, an Exec Plat can jump ahead of you at the last minute. I use Expertflyer to see seat load (how many business class seats are available to determine likelihood of an upgrade), but at the end of the day, it's too stressful for me, so I just buy the dang business class ticket and be done with it.

 

[walkinwood]

On international flights, try Premium Economy (term varies between airlines). This is not the "more leg room seat" in the front of Economy, but a different class of seating. The seats are like the ones you have in "first class" on domestic US flights. The cost is a lot less than business class.

 

[RunningBum]

I always check my flights on seatguru.com to check the legroom and width of seats to see if it's worthwhile to upgrade. They also flag the bad seats--near the lavs, no recline, misaligned window, and oddities like the first seat after first class if first has 1-2 seating. If you're in the aisle seat behind the last 1 seat row in first class you will get bumped by half the people boarding, and when they wheel the cart past you.

 

[Sojourner]

Thinking outside the box a little, one thing I haven't seen mentioned is using some basic "pharmaceutical therapy" to make sitting in those cramped economy seats much more bearable. I personally rely on alprazolam (generic Xanax) to help me tolerate long cross-country flights or red eyes. And on long-haul international flights I take some generic Lunesta or Ambien to help me sleep for multiple hours. These drugs are highly effective, very safe, and readily available with a prescription from your doctor.

Honestly, taking moderate amounts of anxiolytics or sleeping meds makes pretty much any flight more pleasant, IMHO, regardless of your seating situation. I certainly would not want to be without them on longer flights. Give alprazolam a try on a few flights, at least, and you may find to your surprise that those premium economy seats are good enough on most flights... possibly saving yourself thousands of dollars a year!

 

[athena53]

Thinking outside the box a little, one thing I haven't seen mentioned is using some basic "pharmaceutical therapy" to make sitting in those cramped economy seats much more bearable.

It all depends on what aspects of the flight make it unbearable. If, like the OP, you're just too big to fit into an Economy seat or you have back problems that are exacerbated by the cramped seating, something to relieve your anxiety won't help much. I had a coworker who swore by Xanax- she was otherwise a very nervous flyer- but seat size wasn't an issue for her.

 

[FIYes]

I tried the “use miles to upgrade” once. It was going to take a boatload of miles which I had and was willing to spend. However, it was also going to cost and additional boatload of money! We ended up staying in economy.

I have used the transatlantic cruise option and recommend that. I hope we will be able to do this again in the future.

I am following this thread hoping to pick up some good ideas. Those long international flights are very long. OP, at your size, I can see that economy would be extremely miserable.

 

[Souschef]

The other plus that has not been mentioned is the Business Class Lounges at many airports.We fly BA and their partners, and the lounge at LAX is very nice. We get there early, have a light snack and a glass of wine, and relax until boarding time.
When we flew to Buenos Aires, we had a choice of American through Miami (which is a zoo)from LA, or LAN Chile through Santiago, which is a shorter flight. LAN had a Business Class lounge in Santiago, which was pleasant while we waited to board our flight to BA.

 

[f35phixer]

Pirate, have you thought about a transatlantic cruise, then you have much smaller flights to get where you want?? They are pretty reasonable and probably LOTS cheaper then biz class seats.

whoops just saw green egg ask the same thing.

 

[Freedom56]

The other plus that has not been mentioned is the Business Class Lounges at many airports.We fly BA and their partners, and the lounge at LAX is very nice. We get there early, have a light snack and a glass of wine, and relax until boarding time.
When we flew to Buenos Aires, we had a choice of American through Miami (which is a zoo)from LA, or LAN Chile through Santiago, which is a shorter flight. LAN had a Business Class lounge in Santiago, which was pleasant while we waited to board our flight to BA.

Agree... The Star Alliance Lounge at LAX is prenominal and the One World lounge is nice too. But for food and drinks, the top prize goes to Virgin's lounge in terminal 2 LAX. All food is made to order and better than many restaurants. The Virgin Lounge at LHR sets the bar pretty high and has the same made to order food menu.

 

[Sojourner]

It all depends on what aspects of the flight make it unbearable. If, like the OP, you're just too big to fit into an Economy seat or you have back problems that are exacerbated by the cramped seating, something to relieve your anxiety won't help much.

True to some extent, but anxiolytics do help in almost any circumstance where one feels mentally or emotionally "uncomfortable". They don't reduce the physical sensations of pain, but the OP did mention how a big part of his issue is his social distress over how his size affects people in adjacent seats. In my experience, something like Xanax helps tremendously in easing those kinds of worries. These drugs bring on a mild but quite noticeable feeling of calm and tranquility, and at slightly higher doses (for me at least) induce some level of drowsiness. All those things are bound to be helpful to OP, to some degree.

 

[Amethyst]

For longer flights, no question; too old to bother with coach. We are thin, so coach is fine for shorter travel.

I guess my question is... do many of you just pay for business class because you want it bad enough and can?

 

[Freedom56]

Aside from more legroom, better seats, food, and drinks, people in business class in general are less likely to disrupt a flight. After what I have observed on the six domestic flights I have taken over the past year, there is no chance that I would ever fly coach. There are too many mentally unstable people in this country and airlines have been dealing with them over the past year and it's getting worse.

 

[athena53]

There are too many mentally unstable people in this country and airlines have been dealing with them over the past year and it's getting worse.

Well, anyone who's taken Psych 101 knows that if you take a bunch of lab rats, crowd them into a small space and don't feed them enough, they'll start biting each other. Don't know how much worse it would be if the rats had to wear masks.

The other plus that has not been mentioned is the Business Class Lounges at many airports.

Ah, the lounges. I LOVE the lounges. When I flew to Edinburgh in late 2018 I took United and got entry to the Polaris Club in ORD. Wow. I was actually glad that I'd scheduled long layovers in both directions. On the way home it was heaven to take a shower and brush my teeth, then enjoy a glass of wine and some really good food.

Two caveats- first, I'm not sure how lavish the lounges are post-COVID, and be careful about lounge access rules. AA lets you use the Admiral's Club if you're in Business Class on International flights- except that certain airports in Mexico (I was flying in and out of San Juan del Cabo), don't count.

 

[Freedom56]

Well, anyone who's taken Psych 101 knows that if you take a bunch of lab rats, crowd them into a small space and don't feed them enough, they'll start biting each other. Don't know how much worse it would be if the rats had to wear masks.

That must be it. They stopped serving food and drinks in coach. Meanwhile in business/first they give you a boxed meal and all the beer, wine, soft drinks, and spirits you want which must anger the "lab rats" even more.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I’m the original poster. I’ll add one suggestion that I’ve looked at several times, but never implemented yet.

Iceland Air flies from a few North American airports to Europe. Most (all?) of their itineraries stop in Reykjavik, Iceland on the way over the Atlantic. This makes for a more pleasant Atlantic crossing by breaking it up into 2 segments (I.e. less continuous time crammed into a seat on a plane). They will even let you spend multiple days in Iceland before continuing on to mainland Europe.

With Iceland on my list of desired travels, One of these days I may take advantage of this allowable multi day layover on my way to Europe.

Without Iceland, I usually start my itinerary research with flights into Dublin, which is about the closest city you can get to from northeast USA. Then from Dublin, I look for a lower cost airline on to my final destination on the continent. I’ve done this twice so far. One time I spent a night in Dublin and once I just laid over for a couple hours. This approach also usually costs me less frequent flier miles that a direct flight all the way into the continent somewhere.

 

[sunnysideup]

I’m not sure if anybody else suggested this, but doing the transatlantic cruise one way, and flying first class/business class the other way, AND buying your air tickets through the cruise line.

We have cruised several times in Europe, and we’ve always bought our business class tickets through the cruise lines. They often have ridiculously reasonable airfares for overseas flights. They can be more than 50% lower than the publish fares based on their contract. And depending on the cruise line, you don’t have to pay for the flight until you pay your final payment on the cruise. We have twice cruised across and flown back….and it’s been wonderful. Cunard and Viking got us very good fares.

If you don’t care about which airline you take, you can see what I mean about how good the fares are. We usually stick to the star alliance, but even their fare might only be $100 more round-trip than American Airlines or British Airways, which turned out have the best fares.


To answer your first question, however, we do pretty much always travel in business class for any flights over four hours. We can afford it, and at this point in our lives it’s so nice not to be overcrowded and fighting for luggage space or over armrests or whatever…

 

[athena53]

With Iceland on my list of desired travels, One of these days I may take advantage of this allowable multi day layover on my way to Europe.

I LOVE Iceland- have been there twice and it's a easy flight form Boston. One caveat- the airport is actually Keflavik and it's a bit of a haul into the city, but they have decent bus service.