Do you fly first class?

Do you fly first class on the airlines?

  • yes, if it's available I book it.

    Votes: 14 12.5%

  • I don't book it but I usually get upgraded due to my status/miles/good looks

    Votes: 22 19.6%

  • I book main cabin and try for an upgrade even though I don't have "status"

    Votes: 22 19.6%

  • never. Always coach. I like to sit next to screaming kids and the like.

    Votes: 54 48.2%
  • Total voters
    112
I generally fly coach except on Virgin America. With Virgin I either book First straight away or do a upgrade 6 hours prior to the flight for a low fee.
 
Domestic I fly JetBlue. There is no first class (only a few planes have them) I have a really good experience with them.

International, it depends on the situation because Aeroflot is actually nice with economy seating but I would prefer first class on such long flights on other airlines.
 
Z06_Mir said:
FWIW I wouldn't book first (Delta One, for our international stuff) if I was able to go where I needed to on Southwest. But alas, no WN for KRAP and absolutely no Allegiant for Mir.
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Ditto. I try to fly Delta except when I'm working for Southwest and it's in the contract that we have to fly their airline. But as a thank you for the loyal flying, Southwest will let me get on the plane in the first group of 60.

I've flown Delta a lot and I think they have so many people in their program that it dilutes the program. Despite flying 2-4 legs almost every week, I was getting an upgrade less than a quarter of the time. If you're not one of the sales guys who fly to 7 cities a week, you aren't high enough on the list to get it.

I really need to get Air Flynn up and running...
 
Most of my travel these days is for work and they book the tickets, if business class is available an reasonable they will book it but usually it is a seat in the back of the bus with the drunks, whores and bad parents demonstrating their laziness by having their kids run amuck.
 
I generally fly economy, except if it's an international flight and on the company ticket, in which case I go business class (normally Cathay Pacific.) The difference between business and economy is huge, but the difference between first class and business isn't much.
 
I pay the $12.50 extra to be in the first or second herd of cattle to board Southwest so I can get a window seat, but that's the end of my Upgrayedd.
 
I can't afford to fly First Class AND own (part of) an airplane! I actually try my best to avoid commercial air travel at all costs, even if it means flying my airplane further than makes practical sense. When I am forced to fly commercial, I usually try to fly SWA. I try to avoid the legacy carriers when possible, and I'll take Greyhound or ride a bicycle before I ever set foot on another Spirit airplane.
 
I normally cannot fathom spending thousands or even just a few hundred dollars just to sit in a slightly more comfortable seat for a couple hours.

The one time we did something like that was to go from Economy - Premium economy on Virgin when we went to Australia. Mainly just so for the long haul my wife and I didn't have to contend with a third passenger getting up all the time. That was quite a splurge for us.

If it's a $200 upgrade for say a 3 hour flight, that's ~$66/hr. Would I work for $66/hr? Heck yes I would... so why wouldn't I be slightly less comfortable for 3 hours to save that much.
 
cowman said:
I normally cannot fathom spending thousands or even just a few hundred dollars just to sit in a slightly more comfortable seat for a couple hours.



The one time we did something like that was to go from Economy - Premium economy on Virgin when we went to Australia. Mainly just so for the long haul my wife and I didn't have to contend with a third passenger getting up all the time. That was quite a splurge for us.



If it's a $200 upgrade for say a 3 hour flight, that's ~$66/hr. Would I work for $66/hr? Heck yes I would... so why wouldn't I be slightly less comfortable for 3 hours to save that much.
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Pilots are cheap.

;)
 
Nope I'm the guy who flys southwest coast to coast for 280 bucks round trip. I'd never pay for 1st class. Plus its a bus just nap for 3-4 hours and your done. granted i'm 6,4 so its not uber comfy but still pretty chill and I'm not exactly swimming in cash to drop a grand on airfare.
 
Once, years ago, my wife was going to Scotland and had booked her coach ticket. Being the generous and magnanimous person I always am, I called the airline to upgrade her to first class. They told me the price difference and poof, the g&m in me suddenly became p&f (practical and functional). The sales rep said the price difference was $8,000.00 and was a bit annoyed when I asked to be read the number again, in case I had misunderstood.
 
For my first marriage honeymoon, British Airways upgraded us both to business class for a London->Johannesburg flight.

For my second marriage honeymoon, same flight, but British Airways didn't upgrade us, but instead assigned my wife and I each a row of 4 center seats in economy. (To the consternation of the other passengers in economy who thought about switching seats after takeoff).

I must say I far preferred the 4 middle seats to the business class upgrade.


Similarly, last year on a SEA->NYC trip, we bought 3 seats between my wife and I in JetBlue's "Even More Space" area.

It worked out MUCH cheaper than buying 2 first class tickets on Alaskan, and you get much more space than in first class - at least compared to U.S. domestic first class.
 
Cpt_Kirk said:
I usually dress appropriately and it's given to me.
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Yea. Whenever I travel, I don't necessarily dress up, but I don't look like a bum either. DL (and I'm sure every other airline) has non-rev etiquette and what to do and what not to do.
 
A few years ago I had a business trip to Tokyo and had business class seats there and back. Going there, all was fine. I had no issues. Coming back I got my boarding pass and went through security and all was good when I got called to go see the agent. The agent told me there was a problem with my ticket. She said it was the wrong booking code and I should never have been assigned a business class seat and asked me how I had managed this. I was completely dumbfounded and explained my company had bought the ticket and I don't know the details other than it was a business class seat. She again pressed me and said someone had incorrectly assigned a seat in a section that the ticket was not actually good for. I tried calling someone back at my office but the time zone was not cooperating. The agent said I'm going to have to kick you back to coach. I then kicked up a fuss "What do you mean? I bought a business class seat! You can't do that!" and after a few minutes she said okay they'll give me the seat.

Later when I got back I spoke to our travel coordinator and told him what had happened. He grinned and said "It usually works!" So I said "Hold on, what do you mean it usually works?". This is when he admitted that there was a loophole they had been using for this particular airline where they could somehow force a seat to be preassigned in business class even though the ticket had the wrong code and was not valid for business class. :lol: I told him very clever but don't do that again with me. It is a good thing I didn't know otherwise I would never have had the balls to kick up a fuss about being possibly kicked back to coach.
 
New York to Tokyo would be horrible in coach. Especially these days.

Back in the '80s I worked for a company that merged with a Japanese company. They sent a team of technicians to Philadelphia to get training on our systems. When they went home to implement those systems they requested I go with them to assist. I had never flown internationally before. The Japanese company bought all the tickets. Mine was either first or Business (not sure 30 years later) but when we boarded, all the Japanese techs went back to coach. I asked why and they said when Americans fly coach to Tokyo, they are useless for about three days. The Japanese fit fine into those coach seats. And that was back before the downsized coach seats so much.

Six weeks in Japan and I learned how to order beer and ask where the toilet was.

narchee said:
A few years ago I had a business trip to Tokyo and had business class seats there and back. Going there, all was fine. I had no issues. Coming back I got my boarding pass and went through security and all was good when I got called to go see the agent. The agent told me there was a problem with my ticket. She said it was the wrong booking code and I should never have been assigned a business class seat and asked me how I had managed this. I was completely dumbfounded and explained my company had bought the ticket and I don't know the details other than it was a business class seat. She again pressed me and said someone had incorrectly assigned a seat in a section that the ticket was not actually good for. I tried calling someone back at my office but the time zone was not cooperating. The agent said I'm going to have to kick you back to coach. I then kicked up a fuss "What do you mean? I bought a business class seat! You can't do that!" and after a few minutes she said okay they'll give me the seat.

Later when I got back I spoke to our travel coordinator and told him what had happened. He grinned and said "It usually works!" So I said "Hold on, what do you mean it usually works?". This is when he admitted that there was a loophole they had been using for this particular airline where they could somehow force a seat to be preassigned in business class even though the ticket had the wrong code and was not valid for business class. :lol: I told him very clever but don't do that again with me. It is a good thing I didn't know otherwise I would never have had the balls to kick up a fuss about being possibly kicked back to coach.
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JOhnH said:
New York to Tokyo would be horrible in coach. Especially these days.

Back in the '80s I worked for a company that merged with a Japanese company. They sent a team of technicians to Philadelphia to get training on our systems. When they went home to implement those systems they requested I go with them to assist. I had never flown internationally before. The Japanese company bought all the tickets. Mine was either first or Business (not sure 30 years later) but when we boarded, all the Japanese techs went back to coach. I asked why and they said when Americans fly coach to Tokyo, they are useless for about three days. The Japanese fit fine into those coach seats. And that was back before the downsized coach seats so much.

Six weeks in Japan and I learned how to order beer and ask where the toilet was.
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I did Johannesburg to NY with a stop in Dakar in coach. It was awful. I also did LA to Sydney and back in coach. I didn't get much sleep on either of the flights
 
jordane93 said:
I did Johannesburg to NY with a stop in Dakar in coach. It was awful. I also did LA to Sydney and back in coach. I didn't get much sleep on either of the flights
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That's nothing I've done Johannesburg to Miami NON-STOP back in the day :eek: coach of course.

It's easy when you're young though. In fact it is required. You need to pay your dues young man! :yes:
 
I'm planning to do Denver to Johannesburg sometime next year. I know there are no non-stop flight. I'm contemplating where I want to connect and on what airline.
 
Everskyward said:
I'm planning to do Denver to Johannesburg sometime next year. I know there are no non-stop flight. I'm contemplating where I want to connect and on what airline.
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Having done this trip a great many times including going the wrong way around the world :D through Kuala Lumpur, my recommendation is to go through Europe. Stop in London, jump on the tube and spend a few hours in London then grab the overnight flight to Johannesburg. And use a non-African airline (British Airways if going through London)...
 
narchee said:
That's nothing I've done Johannesburg to Miami NON-STOP back in the day :eek: coach of course.

It's easy when you're young though. In fact it is required. You need to pay your dues young man! :yes:
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I pretty much stayed up the entire way from Sydney to LA. Then had to do LA-SLC, then SLC-NY. That was a long day.
 
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