Flying First Class: Worth the miles/money?
Sunset at JFK. Photo by Sue Frause.
I depleted my American Airlines miles to fly First Class one-way from Seattle to JFK. Was it worth it to gobble up 25,000 miles? Definitely.
The reason I’m flying one-way is I’m headed to Halifax, Nova Scotia. After spending a few days in this Atlantic Canada city, I’m off on a ten-day, cross-country train adventure on Via Rail Canada. I’ll be blogging along the route, which will include overnight stays at Fairmonts in Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa and Toronto.
But back to First Class. One of the perks is seeing the people walk through the cabin on their way back to Economy, all wondering why WE are there and they’re not. After getting over my smugness, I enjoyed a glass of orange juice, followed by drink orders (Bloody Mary for me) and then a warm washcloth for the hands. Brunch orders were taken, a choice of corned beef hash with scrambled eggs or cereal and yogurt. Oh, they also used our names: “Ms. Frause, what would you like for breakfast?” Nice touch.
I chose the corned beef hash, which was accompanied by a warm biscuit and jam, and a fresh fruit plate of cantaloupe, strawberry and slices of kiwi. I contemplated another Bloody Mary, but had water instead. Then it was free earphones for the movie (Into the Storm, a ho-hum HBO movie about Winston Churchill); warm, freshly baked cookies about 90 minutes before our arrival at JFK; and sparkling water shortly before landing. Best of all was the oversized, roomy seat with lots of leg room.
It was well worth the 25,000 miles.
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Having never flown First Class, it’s always seemed like a bit of a dig to “average” travelers. (Picture 6-foot woman in middle seat on ridiculously long flight to Bangkok. Why? Because they ran out of space.) Most people fly Coach. While I’m happy you had a great experience up in First, it would be nice if the airlines started treating the rest of us with some respect and dignity. I turned my airline miles into magazines. I felt like it was a better bargin compared to what was being offered. Especially with American and United.
I’ve flown First Class/Business several times before when the airline upgraded me for no particular reason (no, they didn’t know I was a travel writer). And once I paid extra to be up front. I agree, being stuck back in coach/economy sucks. My last trip before this I was jammed into the back row of Southwest Airlines (and the seats are smaller in that row), right in front of the lavatory. I don’t think it’s about respect/dignity, it’s about $$$. As far as turning miles into magazines, I hope you didn’t resubscribe to Gourmet! Sadly, the future of magazines is not looking so rosy right now. I’ll continue to upgrade to the front of the plane whenever I can by using my miles … with all the flying I do, it’s a nice treat now and again.
Sue: I never feel domestic First Class (or biz class) is worth using my miles. Flights are rarely more than five hours, and I can easily handle a coach seat for that long.
I think we’ve all duped ourselves into thinking those hours on the plane are too important–we’ve given them too much weight in the overall travel experience.
Miles are worth somewhere between 1 and 2 cents, and generally the best use of them is to acquire a DOMESTIC ticket that would normally be very expensive. For example: round-trip from Seattle to Newfoundland would likely cost you close to $1,000; but it would only cost 25,000 miles–a mile dollar value of about $500.
There is often a misperception that saving the miles for international travel is a good idea. I rarely think so. If you can buy a ticket from Seattle to London for $600, or use 60,000 miles ($1,200 value) for the same ticket, obviously the cash ticket is the better value.
Like first-class upgrades, mileage tickets in general are misunderstood by the average traveler. The airline marketers generally do a brilliant job of making us think we’re getting more than we actually are.
Randall
http://www.randallshirley.com
As someone who has flown ATL/LAX more times than I can count, it is beyond worth it for me to upgrade…and many times you can find a coach to first fare (QUP used to be one of them) that are still less than full coach. Also its worth checking out what aircraft goes when. My last trip to LAX I was on a 777 that went on to Sydney Australia so it was one of those seats that go flat (and I slept the whole way to LAX). None of the other planes making that trip had anything close to that
You guys are good … all great tips/advice from seasoned travelers. Thanks!
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BTW Sue and readers–I’ve done the same train journey you’re taking, only took it the other way. I had to distill it into 1,000 words for a publication I was then editing. The result (and some pics) is here: http://www.randallshirley.com/blog/?p=237