When does it make sense to fly first – or business – class?
Growing up I was a frequent flyer, with divorced parents living on different coasts. I remember thinking as a pre-teen that I would never fly first class, because I wouldn’t be able to afford it but even if I could it surely wouldn’t be worth it spending that sort of money for a few hours’ comfort?
That was before frequent flyer upgrades were really a thing, and I had no idea that people would sit up there for less than the headline cost.
- First class even domestically used to be several times the cost of coach.
- A combination of lower-cost airlines with premium cabins and technology advances in how airlines sell tickets began to bring down the cost, but consumers aren’t always conscious of this shift.
- People think that first class is expensive – and much more expensive than they’re comfortable with.
‘What net worth is needed to fly first class?’
My net worth is over $22 million yet I still can’t justify paying extra to fly first class. Am I crazy?
— CRECashFlowGuy (@cre_cashflow) December 7, 2024
My grandparents wouldn’t fly in premium cabins. They grew up in the Depression. They had plenty of money, but it was simply outside the bounds of acceptability for them to even be thinkable. Once they reached a certain age they just wouldn’t travel. The last trip they took was to my wedding, and I redeemed their Membership Rewards points for the tickets.
Their son moved to Australia when I was five. He and my aunt had kids there. But when my grandparents were too old to travel there in coach, they stopped going and that meant they wouldn’t go. I redeemed my miles for first class.
However this mindset no longer makes sense (and for them, I’m not sure that it ever did, they had the money and more time with family – grandkids! – would have been worth it).
- Domestic first class often isn’t that expensive. When you factor seat fees and bag fees, sometimes first class can be cheaper than coach plus add-ons. Delta plans to change this by adding costs to premium cabins.
- Airlines sell buy ups for as little as $40. Long haul business class might be just $299 rather than thousands. Airlines moved from offering upgrades to frequent flyers to taking ‘tens of dollars’ from anyone for seats not being sold at full price.
- There are business class deals, and British Airways has the AARP discount stackable with 10% off from Chase. Business class may still be expensive, but can be less than you think.
- And that’s without getting into opportunities for redeeming miles, especially if you’re flexible. If you’ve got a ‘$20 million net worth’ and a business (this individual says they’re co-owner of a $100 million real estate portfolio) then there’s probably enough credit card spend to earn top tier status with an airline as well.
Airline first class hasn’t been for the wealthy in 40 years. Domestically, it went from a place filled with upgraded upper middle class middle managers to a place filled with people who have $40 or, sadly, people who have $40 available on a credit card.
Whether or not first class is ‘worth it’ depends, of course, on how much you value it and on your available funds but the modest increment means the extra cost is frequently easy to justify.
Of course airline first class is no longer as nice as it once was, either. When I first started getting upgrades lunch on a non-premium cross-country flight might be steak, and a coursed affair. Now it’s considered an upgrade that Delta is investing in serving Shake Shake. But it’s still more space, a bigger seat, and for now includes bags and seat assignments.
The $22M guy who can’t justify paying extra for First Class needs to be reminded that ‘There Is No Luggage Rack on a Hearse…’
I’m sure his heirs would be happy to inherit his fortune, but he certainly can’t take it with him.
Before I retired 20 years ago I was a frequent road warrior, and while never paying Delta (as million miler) for first class I got upgraded 75% of the time. In those days, $25 was enough to buy an upgrade on AirTran (preferred over Delta as they flew to Midway).
Now I pay for all my flights with points: first or business for long haul flights, but usually coach for domestic. I fly Delta only via the Virgin partnership.
And I have given up on AA forever.
This is why I follow sites like yours Gary. I live to finding and taking full advantage of the ‘deals’ — 30K AA points for Flagship First lie-flat JFK-LAX. SOLD! It’ll be a 6AM flight on a random Tuesday, because otherwise that’s a $1,500 out-of-pocket expense. Or, pushing those Delta RUCs to ‘maximum overdrive’ paying $150 for Economy to get Delta One lie-flat with a cash-price of $1,850. Or Fifth Night Free on award stays with Hilton and Marriott in the Maldives or somewhere else that’s nice. It feels like you are getting away with something, but you are still playing by the rules. Is this what tax loopholes feel like for the super rich? Which reminds me, great redemption for that IHG Kimpton in the Caymans.
This is EXACTLY why everyone needs to stop chasing status. The ONE loyalty benefit (upgrades) that FF’s value the most are now being sold for scraps. The most frequent fliers now happily PAYING for what was once FREE. Game over. Airlines win. Loyal foolish fliers lose.
There is a consumerist “new money” aspect to some of the folks paying for first class, especially domestically. Of course someone with an 8 figure bank balance can spend $40 on an upgrade. But I definitely get the sentiment the guy worth $22 million.
If 90% of the first class seats are bought and paid for these days and it keeps climbing, take upgrade benefits off the frequent flyer program. The only thing FF gains you is a free bag and a way to board faster when you have a bag to put up top. When I want to fly up front, I pay the extra money. Usually if you are flexible on time of day, you can get it for about $100 bucks more in my experience. I no longer have loyalty to any program after gaining 1M miles on Delta and United. I just pay for the experience I want. No more guessing.
“Airlines moved from offering upgrades to frequent flyers to taking ‘tens of dollars’ from anyone for seats not being sold at full price.“
Frequent flyers are also welcome to purchase discounted upgrades. Upgrade purchases even accrue Loyalty Points now with American as you know.
I’d be interesting in hearing more about the stackable Chase and AARP business class discounts. I don’t have either, but I’d sign up if worthwhile
Upgraded upper middle class middle managers… is this the final form of a mid-2000’s alt band name?
Growing up in the 1970s we flew coach but it was a totally different experience. People didn’t look like slobs and acted appropriately. Nice meals were served. Middle seats often went empty. Airports were fun.
If that was the experience today I’d be flying coach. Being sandwiched in between slovenly, unbathed grossly overweight people ain’t my thing.
The airlines game is great.
OPM flyers are not allowed to buy First due to travel policies
They are however allowed to pad their “spend” by buying expensive economy. Since its not their money, they have no qualms padding said “spend” to pursue “status” that makes themselves feel important, airlines raise higher end economy prices.
This leaves domestic First sold at just slightly higher prices than OPM economy, leaving “road warriors” (stupid name) sitting in the back
In Oct, I flew Delta 1st class for the first time. I will never fly any other way again. Bigger seats, delicious meal, leg room, 2 free checked bags. Was worth every penny. For my return trip, decided to stay an extra night, last minute. I happily ponied up the change fee. That being said… if I thought I could upgrade for $40, I wouldn’t risk it. My flight was full both directions. I would have been stuck like Chuck, hoping to snag the upgrade.
It’s psychologically difficult for people who have spent a lifetime diligently saving to switch over to parting with it. At some point you need to do the math, divide your mass of money by the number of years you likely have left to live, and that even if the worst happens can never run out. I always pay for first class seats now, and for splurge expensive hotel rooms and suites. Money is no object. Even if my net worth drops by half and I need extensive nursing home care toward the end I can never run out. You can’t take it with you and I have no heirs worth leaving anything to. They have ignored me for decades. Why would I want to give them anything?
I can remember booking international first class flight with delta, flying once with Korean Air and once with Singapore Air, for about 90,000 miles each. Currently, I have been trying to book an award Business class flight to Sri Lanka and made the mistake of transferring 200,000 AX miles to Etihad before knowing the final cost. Which wasn’t reasonable. Cannot transfer miles back to AX or for matter anywhere else. Seems like I need to go back to school in order to learn current strategies!
This article reminds me of the situation 40 years ago. I was fresh out of college, traveling quite a bit for my job, and based in Minneapolis, MN. Frequent Flyer programs were just getting going, and some airlines were less prepared (with infrastructure) to support them than others. They also weren’t much into yield management back then either. Average load factors were around 65-70%, so you rarely got stuck with a center seat except on holidays.
I was flying Northwest Orient to places in North Dakota quite a bit. I think they were competing against Republic on the North Dakota routes, because they dropped the “walk-up” fares to around $75-$100. (Fares on Republic from MSP to South Dakota were much higher. NW didn’t fly there.) I also remember at the time (a few years before the Republic merger) the smallest plane NW had for these flights was a 727.
Northwest was offering First Class on these flights for an extra $20 over the coach fare. It was a no-brainer just for that, but oddly, most passed it up. (Perhaps because of those low load factors back then, coach wasn’t so cramped and uncomfortable.) Yet it got even better. “Free Flight Plan II” was the NW frequent flyer program at the time. Because of a lack of computer infrastructure, it was segment-based (not mileage-based). You had to hand in a coupon from your “account”, along with the red-carbon ticket at boarding to get credited for flights. You’d get booklets of 10 coupons. When you completed 10 flights, they’d send you a voucher for a free domestic round trip. Or, you could save the vouchers and combine them for bigger awards, like international destinations. Obviously, this structure favored short-hauls and connections.
Airlines normally gave additional credit for flying first class. Because of the structure of the program at Northwest, they couldn’t easily add fractional credit like +25% or +50%, so they just had you hand in two coupons for each flight in first class. Effectively, double credits AND first class for $20 on these North Dakota flights!! What a deal back then.
About a year later they switched to a mileage-based program, and put out a new mileage-based award chart. I remember during the transition they valued these 10-flight award vouchers at 20,000 miles. I took the top award with a friend in 1985: 140,000 miles (7 award vouchers) for a free first class round trip for two to Asia. You also got four free nights in a swanky hotel and a free one-week car rental with that award, and the flights were easy to book (little or no capacity restrictions.) This example shows how much miles and awards have devalued over 40 years.
I got one of those Delta Amex platinum cards, that includes the benefit of upgrades subject to availability. In about ten flights, I’ve received exactly one upgrade, on a 2-hour flight. So many people have that card now, I’m usually like #30 on the upgrade list.
I don’t care enough about sitting up front, or liquor, or boarding early, to pay extra for first. For me the most useful feature was “sky priority” baggage, because I could show less than 60 minutes before departure and check a bag.
If you asked me to justify my F/J expenditures over Y+ or PE, a fair judge would suggest I’d failed. But, there I go reducing the money charities will get on my death. If I had a travel partner, I’d insist we guess the over/under on attempted upgrades. You’re hopping on a 319 with 8F and 120Y, will there be more or less than 30 people stuck on the upgrade list when F is full?
The paid upgrades can be a value now that the airlines charge for “extras” as is pointed out, but less so for frequent fliers.. The sad thing is that those cheap upgrades actually “cost” frequent fliers more because we get seat selections, free bags, free food, etc in economy due to our status. So, it is less appealing from a value equation to pay for the upgrade. So whether intentional or not, the airlines are appealing more to the less frequent traveler with this approach. Just my observation.
Why mislead readers with $40 for 1st class title?
In reality it’s an upgrade, most likely from a paid economy, BUT NOT a $40 ticket to J. You have to know it as an airline expert, apparently Gary prefer gossip over facts. That’s why I rarely read your blog anymore, but used to be a follower for some years…
Gary – please improve! Don’t just go for the clicks, keep your reputation!