Comments on: Flying First Class: Worth the miles/money?

By: randallshirley

randallshirley — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:50:34 +0000

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

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Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:56:05 +0000

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By: Sue Frause

Sue Frause — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:38:05 +0000

You guys are good … all great tips/advice from seasoned travelers. Thanks!

By: scottnatlanta

scottnatlanta — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:06:44 +0000

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

By: randallshirley

randallshirley — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:01:53 +0000

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

By: Sue Frause

Sue Frause — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:22:24 +0000

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.

By: Dawn Reiss

Dawn Reiss — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:55:56 +0000

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.