Talk

Sounds to me she had little choice tbh

I think your DH is being unreasonable. Unless he was asked to pay for it it’s none of his business.

It’s come out of her savings for her spending money whilst back packing.

That's the answer, surely? She's an adult and has made her own financial choice. Up to her, I say.

Good negotiaton skills

It’s the cheapest upgrade she’ll ever have for the next few years anyway, until she becomes a frequent long haul business flyer :-)

I think the parents were cheap; they were the ones who wanted to upgrade in the first place. They're rich (according to you) and they charged your daughter a 'drop in the ocean' contribution. I think that was mean of them actually.

Total waste of money, she will regret it, but then she will learn

It will make a huge difference for a 14 hour flight - lucky girl!

She’s got a seat worth a few thousand for an extra £180. Sounds pretty intelligent to me.

I think the problem is that her friend's parents are subsidising it. This would make me feel uncomfortable.

How long is she backpacking for? Has she budgeted adequately? Is this £200 going to be noticeable?

Business class is great. My children haven't actually flown economy thanks to work / air miles etc. I can see why she'd like to.

I don't think she should but not because it's frivolous.

Good on her! Hope she enjoys it.

Good on her, might as well enjoy it if the alternative was to sit in economy whilst her friend was in business.
I think she might regret it when she's low on funds but she'll enjoy it so why not, it's her money.

I think the friends parents were mean too. I expect your dd was bounced into it a bit.

None of your dhs business as its her money and she’s an adult

Her choice

Good for her!

£180 for something that costs thousands. Sounds like a no-brainer to me.

Why are you proud, OP? You should be grateful to her friend's parents, surely?

Good for her. Subsidised upgrade, yay. I'd have loved to start off backpacking rested from a business class flight. I would 'waste' money on the odd treat, it keeps you going - 90% was shitty tiny dirty hot room, eating 10p noodles etc, the other 10 is necessary to not go insane.

I'm a bit worried that she will be persuaded into spending more than she is comfortable with on the rest of the trip, if the friend she is going with has more money. This could be just the start...

I don’t get being proud. It’s fine as long as she doesn’t then think it’s a valuable use of her holiday funds in the future because it’s so comfortable. It would be great to do a long flight business class certainly beats 27 hour economy flight solo with a 3 yr old changeling and 6mo waaaahh

She just needs to be careful this doesn’t set the tone for their holiday. My son and his (now ex) girlfriend did the whole backpacking malarkey for a few months. His girlfriend soon tired of the budget they had set themselves for hostels etc and constantly demanded up grades in accommodation, wanted internal flights instead of agreed trains and buses and fancy restaurants. We ended up subbing him an extra two grand just so he could keep up.

Proud of her in the sense that she had the gumption to stick up for herself and say no first of all. She’s saying this is her treat for getting into her university course.

I am grateful to the friends parents.

I can see both sides. Wow! Business class at 18, she'll love it and at that price too 👏👏.

Dad might be a little resentful if the money has been given by the parents. He might be feeling that she'll need more money now. Money can be tight. If they've helped her finance her trip he might be a little miffed.

Good for her! For a 14 hour flight I would kill to travel business class but my budget would never usually stretch that far!

Hmm, sounds a bit unfair from the parents tbh. I get that the paying £180 for something worth thousands thing. But if that's £180 off her back packing budget then it's not a small amount in itself. If they wanted her to travel business with their child they should have paid the whole thing or left her to her own plans.