Long flights life hacks

[marko]

Can you think of another service with millions of customers that, if you want the top tier, you pay 6 times more, and we are talking thousands more?

Ever tried a presidential suite at the Four Seasons or St Regis? It's like a really nice, 5 or 6 room apartment. With room service and a fantastic view.

The price makes that first class airline ticket look like chump change.

 

[FD1000]

Is it used by many? How many people fly in 24 hours in first class to Chicago, Atlanta, NY, and LA compared to your example.
Flying FC is a common use, the suite isn't.
Soon you are going to post that s flight to space costs millions.

 

[marko]

Is it used by many? How many people fly in 24 hours in first class to Chicago, Atlanta, NY, and LA compared to your example.
Flying FC is a common use, the suite isn't.
Soon you are going to post that s flight to space costs millions.

You asked about what top tier services that are $6X. That's one example.

I think you'd be surprised how "common use" those suites get. That's why they can get $10k a night: supply and demand.

 

[Jerry1]

FD1000 and Marko. This site wouldn't be the same without thread drift, but it might be time to wrap this one up.

 

[rodi]

That's wonderful! Would you mind sharing what brand of roll-aboard luggage has replaceable wheels that can be field serviced? That's a huge travel hack.

Not Brett, but I'll give you my answer. We bought a pair of Briggs and Riley baseline EU carry on size , 2 wheel (not spinner) about 20 years ago. They were more expensive at the time but have held up beautiful. The B&R warranty/guarantee is literally lifetime repair. So far we had one repair needed. The handle got bent early on when the bag got dropped down a flight of stairs when the handle was extended. They replaced and repaired it for free. This was when the bag was about 7 years old. Briggs and Riley are definitely more expensive but they are very good quality with a guarantee they back.

 

[bmcgonig]

I think if I didn’t fly business class on international I wouldn’t fly at all. Certainly not to Asia …so the choice for me is business class or don’t go.

 

[USGrant1962]

Back on topic, my biggest travel hack is to search and search and search, well in advance, for premium cabins. And don't be afraid of obscure airlines. We found Washington DC to Cairo round trip a couple of years ago for about $2300 in business class on United. And last year did Washington to Jakarta for only about $1900 in business class on Saudia Airlines.

 

[walkinwood]

Back on topic, my biggest travel hack is to search and search and search, well in advance, for premium cabins. And don't be afraid of obscure airlines. We found Washington DC to Cairo round trip a couple of years ago for about $2300 in business class on United. And last year did Washington to Jakarta for only about $1900 in business class on Saudia Airlines.

Do you use google flights or do you go to the airline sites for your repeated searches?

 

[zangbao]

Do you use google flights or do you go to the airline sites for your repeated searches?

This is what I do. Google flights first then to the airline sites. I search months out for international trips I know in advance. I used to be tied to one airline for miles but now I only consider cost especially for premium cabins.

 

[FD1000]

Google is a good site, but skyscanner is better. Over the years, most of my best prices came from there.
Skyscanner is also better on rental.
Many times I get hacker prices for both.

 

[brett]

When we flew 17.5 hours SFO-Singapore we originally booked economy. Business was very expensive.

Two or three weeks prior to blast off United came back with some sort of auction or lower price (cannot remember which).

Upgrade to business sleeper seats was much less than the original price difference at bookig. By a few thousand on a one way. We jumped on it. We can do 10 or 12 hours of economy going to Narito no issue but not 17.5.

This was four years ago Not certain if United does this anymore.

 

[sengsational]

One hack is to reverse the search by putting your destination as your point of origin.

You might find other airlines that fly a route that you could make work, but that would never come up in a search. For instance, maybe a foreign carrier with good rates flies to a city you could hop over to. You would probably need two tickets, but it might save a lot. Using that technique, I found business class seats that were less than half the price of flying out of my home airport. The one out of my home airport still had a plane change, and long layover, so equivalent to the pair of flights I cobbled together.

 

[USGrant1962]

When we flew 17.5 hours SFO-Singapore we originally booked economy. Business was very expensive.

Two or three weeks prior to blast off United came back with some sort of auction or lower price (cannot remember which).

Upgrade to business sleeper seats was much less than the original price difference at bookig. By a few thousand on a one way. We jumped on it. We can do 10 or 12 hours of economy going to Narito no issue but not 17.5.

This was four years ago Not certain if United does this anymore.

Reminds me of an old hack that I don't know still works. On business travel to UK I used to book economy and upon arrival at the airport they would offer Business Class for something like $500 or $700. Megacorp would pay for that. So you may be offered deals at check in if Business isn't full, but that is very last minute and random so don't count on it.

This is 10 years ago when Business Class to UK was generally $5K.

 

[brett]

Not Brett, but I'll give you my answer. We bought a pair of Briggs and Riley baseline EU carry on size , 2 wheel (not spinner) about 20 years ago. They were more expensive at the time but have held up beautiful. The B&R warranty/guarantee is literally lifetime repair. So far we had one repair needed. The handle got bent early on when the bag got dropped down a flight of stairs when the handle was extended. They replaced and repaired it for free. This was when the bag was about 7 years old. Briggs and Riley are definitely more expensive but they are very good quality with a guarantee they back.

We both use Eagle Creek 38L international size soft carry on rollers. Mine is 14 years old. Only service was WD 40 spray on the rollers or brushing out some pebbles. I could easily replace the in line wheels myself if needed. My spouse's is the same...only 8 years old.

The bag weight is/was important to us because many of the domestic and regional carriers in Europe and SE Asia limit carry on to anywhere from 6-8KG.


Luggage guarantees are great if they happen in a city or close to home. Not very good in the middle of a trip when we might find ourselves other sorts of places that we tend to frequent. Ours came with a lifetime gty but I believe that Eagle Creek has changed hands so I have not idea if the gty is in force. Not that it matters to us. Our selection criteria were bag weight (a biggie for us), zippers, rollers, pull handle, fabric.

Both are like new after many trips. So they should be too because neither bag has ever been checked.

 

[Out of Steam]

I have taken either an overnight flight to Europe or an eastbound red-eye across the US around 25 times, and have spent a total of about three hours asleep on those planes. I'm otherwise a good sleeper, but think it's about being on the plane generally. I suspect that a business class seat would just help me be more comfortable while awake.

My only premium economy flight ever was a westbound flight from London to DC, about 10 years ago, I believe on British Airways. Don't know how we got those seats but I was flying more often back then.

 

[Out of Steam]

I think if I didn’t fly business class on international I wouldn’t fly at all. Certainly not to Asia …so the choice for me is business class or don’t go.

I decided on our most recent European trip that DC to Frankfurt was my limit in economy class. If I ever cross the Pacific, it will be at least premium economy or I'm staying home

 

[CO-guy]

We both use Eagle Creek 38L international size soft carry on rollers. Mine is 14 years old. Only service was WD 40 spray on the rollers or brushing out some pebbles. I could easily replace the in line wheels myself if needed. My spouse's is the same...only 8 years old.

The bag weight is/was important to us because many of the domestic and regional carriers in Europe and SE Asia limit carry on to anywhere from 6-8KG.


Luggage guarantees are great if they happen in a city or close to home. Not very good in the middle of a trip when we might find ourselves other sorts of places that we tend to frequent. Ours came with a lifetime gty but I believe that Eagle Creek has changed hands so I have not idea if the gty is in force. Not that it matters to us. Our selection criteria were bag weight (a biggie for us), zippers, rollers, pull handle, fabric.

Both are like new after many trips. So they should be too because neither bag has ever been checked.

We have the same bags.... except ours are 19 years old

 

[FD1000]

We bought a simple and cheap 22" carry-on from American Tourister at Walmart more than 20 years ago, and we still use it. This (link) shows the set, we bought just the 22".
Never lubricated the wheels. Some airlines set the limit to 6-8 kg, we don't care and hardly ever pay for the extra weight.
Last March when we were in Australia, the flight was so cheap, we knew they would look for extra weight, and why we paid $15 extra. The luggage was still heavier than what we paid for, but they told us to move on.

 

[brett]

We bought a simple and cheap 22" carry-on from American Tourister at Walmart more than 20 years ago, and we still use it. This (link) shows the set, we bought just the 22".
Never lubricated the wheels. Some airlines set the limit to 6-8 kg, we don't care and hardly ever pay for the extra weight.
Last March when we were in Australia, the flight was so cheap, we knew they would look for extra weight, and why we paid $15 extra. The luggage was still heavier than what we paid for, but they told us to move on.

We have been weighed (and occasionally sized) countless times in Australia, SE Asia, and Europe. On domestic and regional flights. The one exception in Europe seemed to be Aegean/Olympic. Not so on the big international flag carriers though.

On one of our last Oz flights, Brisbane to Hobart, Jetstar had an agent at the boarding gate. He had a small scale and a portable credit card machine! He walked around eyeing people's carry on bags and then 'invited' them up to the scale. When he finished at our gate he went over to another gate close by to do the same to those customers.

On our HK Airways flight Bangkok-HK the agent weighing my spouses bag asked her to put her purse on the scale with her carry on bag!

 

[Koolau]

We have been weighed (and sized) countless times in Australia, SE Asia, and Europe. On domestic and regional flights. The one exception in Europe seemed to be Aegean/Olympic.

On one of our last Oz flights, Brisbane to Hobart, Jetstar had an agent at the boarding gate. He had a small scale and a portable credit card machine! He walked around eyeing people's carry on bags and then 'invited' them up to the scale.

On our HK Airways flight Bangkok-HK the agent weight my spouses bag AND asked her to put her purse on the scale with her carry on bag!

Was she required to comply? I've not heard of that yet. We fly mostly United (all USA) and I've NEVER had a carry-on even questioned (size or weight).

 

[brett]

Was she required to comply? I've not heard of that yet. We fly mostly United (all USA) and I've NEVER had a carry-on even questioned (size or weight).

Yes. This is very common. We have never had a carry on questioned in NA or on international flag carriers. But airlines outside NA do have different rules.

So...when we pick up very inexpensive flights from Thailand to Australia, Malaysia-Australia, up charges for carry on weight, bags, in flight meals, seats, etc. is a big part of the margin.

We paid $190. for a Krabi, Thailand to Gold Coast, Australia flight on Scoot (Singapore AIrlines) 11 hours or through SIN. Slightly more, $240 on a Jetstar Kuala Lumpur-Gold Coast flight. $25 on a Palermo, Sicily Vueling flight to Rome. These airlines need the revenue that those add on fees bring in.

 

[FD1000]

In Aus it was Jetstar. All the passengers in the cheap seats had to weigh all their luggage. I happily paid in advance another $15.
In NZ, Jetstar did nothing.
I'm just amazed how cheap the domestic flights are in NZ and Aus. We paid for 3 flight about $70-80 and $110 from Adelaid to Cairns. The only nonstop flight on that day.
We got tickets for $40 -120 in Europe for 2-4 hours of flight. We don't need anything; just fly the bus from point A to B.
We never had questions on major airlines

 

[brett]

In Aus it was Jetstar. All the passengers in the cheap seats had to weigh all their luggage. I happily paid in advance another $15.
In NZ, Jetstar did nothing.
I'm just amazed how cheap the domestic flights are in NZ and Aus. We paid for 3 flight about $70-80 and $110 from Adelaid to Cairns. The only nonstop flight on that day.
We got tickets for $40 -120 in Europe for 2-4 hours of flight. We don't need anything; just fly the bus from point A to B.
We never had questions on major airlines

We find regional carriers in OZ and in SE Asia, and in Europe to be very inexpensive. We have flown a lot of AirAsia and Jetstar flights. More than we have NA flights.

On our trip to Vietnam, the Jetstar flight from Saigon to Da Lat was not much more than the bus fare. About $20. as I recall. The bus would have taken 9 hours or so. It is not so uncommon for us to find that rail fares in Europe are more expensive than air fares on certain routes.

 

[Koolau]

In Aus it was Jetstar. All the passengers in the cheap seats had to weigh all their luggage. I happily paid in advance another $15.
In NZ, Jetstar did nothing.
I'm just amazed how cheap the domestic flights are in NZ and Aus. We paid for 3 flight about $70-80 and $110 from Adelaid to Cairns. The only nonstop flight on that day.
We got tickets for $40 -120 in Europe for 2-4 hours of flight. We don't need anything; just fly the bus from point A to B.
We never had questions on major airlines

Low prices sound great.

I like "paying for services used" but I hate the nickel and dimeing like weighing purses.

 

[USGrant1962]

Flying from Grand to Little Cayman on a Twin Otter they weighed all luggage and handbags. We were allowed to total the weights between DW and I, so if one was over and one similarly under you would be OK.