When I was first traveling regularly enough to earn airline elite status, domestic first class cabins were only filled about 10% with people who had paid the fare to be there. The rest was award tickets and upgrades (and employees).
That means it was disproportionately middle managers – road warriors – not the rich.
To be sure, these aren’t people who are poor. Airline passengers in economy skew better off, averaging over $100,000 a year incomes. And corporate middle management gets paid reasonably well. Still, they weren’t shelling out for first class. And the business travelers who were often found themselves on corporate contracts where their companies were paying a significant discount.
Now, first class is often filled with people willing to spend an extra $40 getting priority over those very frequent flyers. Maybe that’s an extra 25% on top of their fare! But who winds up taking those seats, then, becomes more about what comforts they prioritize for their spending rather than defining rich versus poor.
Still, there’s common perception that the dividing line between first class and coach represents the difference between the rich and the poors, when the differences in passenger makeup aren’t nearly as stark. (Besides, the rich are often – though not always! – flying private.)
First class gets priority boarding usually. I wouldn’t board early – I’d rather be last – except to ensure I get overhead bin space. Still, since they’re given priority boarding, people think it’s special. They take their seats first, and on narrowbody aircraft usually watch everyone parade past them into coach.
- What are those first class passengers thinking about you as you walk to the back of the cabin?
- And what do those coach passengers think is going on when they make that walk?
Here’s a riff on the popular imagination:
I remember flying regularly as a pre-teen, thinking that I’d never be one of those people sitting up front! I’d never be able to pay for it, and even if I could it surely wouldn’t be worth spending for. After all, it was expensive and just a few hours. I was still small, so I didn’t think the extra space comfort was worth it … though I always held my breath hoping there would be an empty seat next to me.
That was at the dawn of mileage programs, and people forget that elite status didn’t start when miles did. (AAdvantage Gold was launched in 1982, before the program was officially declared to be more than a promotion).
The truth is that you don’t know anyone’s story. You can stereotype, and that may even be useful in the aggregate, but often doesn’t give you actual insight in the moment. I knew a man with a nine-figure net worth who used to stay in roadside motels to save money on vacation. Mostly he was trying to teach his son frugality, concerned that his ex-wife’s splurges needed countering. Just as it may be a first year consultant up front, it may be a centimillionaire in back.
And in any case, most people sitting up front are thinking about:
- their work
- their family
- their health
- all of the tasks they need to do, and whether to blow those off and just watch The Big Bang Theory?
In other words, everything except you. And those passengers walking by you if you’re sitting in first? Some of them may think they want your seat, but for the most part they’re thinking about finding their seat and don’t have but a fleeting moment to notice any single passenger in front anyway.
I’m wondering if I’ll get a PDB after a 3 hour flight and a tight connection. Currently batting below the Mendoza Line.
From Etrade.com: “First class is there to remind you you’re not in first class.”
Someone I used to work with had only ever traveled internationally in business class, paid by the company. For his first ever international leisure trip, he booked coach since it was his own money. I remember him telling me “I wonder what it’s going to be like to fly with ‘those people.'” LOL
Lol… This is what I think: I like to shell out the money for first on long domestic flights, like transcontinental, for extra comfort, then I feel sorry for everyone heading back to “economy.” But for shorter flights, i.e 1-3 hours, I save my money and fly in coach. Then as I pass through the first class cabin, I think why did they pay a lot more for a short flight? Or else maybe they got a free upgrade. (Since achieving elite status last year, I’ve been upgraded to first only once…on a one hour flight.) Anyway, I remind myself that I’ll be in first the next time I take a long flight.
I fly first class for comfort. I am built like a NFL linebacker – 6’3″ 240 lbs with broad shoulders. It is all about my comfort and the people next to me, coach is just too cramped for me. I am fortunate enough that I can afford the luxury. I don’t think anything about people who make different choices. I just pre-board and put away my one carry-on messenger bag, I rarely carryon more because I want to leave bin space for others, and mind my business while others board. Thinking about others who board would just be an exercise in projection.
On many of the ME airlines, the first class passengers have a separate tunnel and entrance (especially on the double decker A380s)
I’m usually falling asleep by the time anyone really comes through 🙂 I’ve had my best naps on planes
I don’t look at individual passengers. I look seats. If I walk past First I look at full vs empty seats and wonder if I have any remaining chance of an upgrade. Who is occupying First Class seats isn’t relevant. There’s not a lot to distinguish the 2 classes on US domestic flights so, as the article said, it becomes an afterthought pretty quickly.
“Centimillionaire,” that’s a funny word. It should be centamillionaire, but somehow the spelling with the letter i has taken hold here in the Colonies. The difference is quite a few orders of magnitude, lol
I would prefer U.S. airlines seat passengers in domestic first-class last.
Of course, doing so would require (a) flight attendants to police overhead bins, (b) first-class passengers on some airlines giving up the ritual of a pre-departure beverage and (c) airlines losing the soft-sell that comes when comes when economy passengers see fellow passengers sitting in the comfort of a first-class seat and drinking a stiff drink while they comfort the reality that awaits them: fighting for bin space or the armrest in a middle seat.
I’ve always assumed the airline wants economy-class passengers to see first-class full when the time comes for their boarding because empty first-class seats would send the message that first-class isn’t worth buying. Airlines don’t want the husband telling the wife, “See, honey, I told you first isn’t worth buying.”
That aside, I’m always surprised when I see a couple passengers in economy who obviously can afford extra-legroom economy or first-class but for whatever reason are flying in basic economy and are boarding last. I always wonder if they are cheap, don’t care, or had someone else book their travel.
What do we think in first?
“Don’t hit me with your overpacked carryon/purse/backpack/briefcase combination while you are not paying attention to where you are at at the moment, but straing to see which side of the plane 23F is on.”
You’re welcome.
Have a nice day.
There was one time where I noticed a sweatshirt someone was wearing. He actually sat right across the aisle from me so we could chat about it Other than that, I have never paid attention to anyone boarding.
That said, sometimes I feel a little bit guilty sitting in first, but hey, I’m there because I want to be there
If sitting in first class is so important to one work hard and either jet a position that allows first class travel or a job that pays you enough that you can buy a first class ticket or more increasingly pay the cash upgrade charge.
90% of the time, my head just has music playing in it. I’m not really thinking of anything, just gazing out the window and silently singing to myself.
My wife gets it fairly frequently as an upgrade due to her American status. If I’m on her booking I’ll get it. What I do is not make eye contact with those boarding afterwards. But pay for it? Nope, I didn’t even on a flight from Dubai to Miami. To my mind it just isn’t worth the expense.
I don’t care what they think. One time I took an hour flight from LGA – Montreal, I remember this lady thought she was royalty as economy passengers passing her.
I fly all classes, depending on which airline and the duration of the flight. I’m willing to pay more for comfort on longer flights and use my points for international. For anything that’s shorter than my commute to the office, I’m fine in economy.