Are flight upgrades worth it to you?

[Dopplerineffect]

If you are not rich earning a modest income with a bit of play money. Not talking about the super rich.

Going away with my friend soon,looking at flights it is 2k more for first class ( I know can usually be 10k) then premium economy is another 400. She wants to go premium.

I have flown both but think its a waste for 10 hours but then when stuck in the cattlle market. I have regretted it. However it is only 10 hours.
Aghhh its a waste isn’t it?

I unintentionally booked seats with extra leg room (lots of it) & fancy foot rests on an Air NZ flight - it was still Economy, but cost maybe $30 each (can't remember - not much) to book these. I wanted seats nearer the front of the plane as we had a very tight connection & had to get through passport control so needed to leg it ahead of the crowd. We ended up in Sky Couch seats and this was an unintentionally excellent move - lots more space. Would be well worth looking to see if your flights have anything similar. Still the same crap food though

My tactic for long haul is to try and pay for exit row seats. It doesn’t always work but one flight we had back from Hong Kong, we paid around £80 for exit row seats and we were just behind premium economy which looked rubbish in comparison. It is a bit of a gamble though. I’d never pay for first unless I was significantly more wealthy. I might do it once for the experience but the extra cost is so high, I’ve never considered it before. I’d rather have 5 star hotels, private transfers etc for the holiday than luxury plane travel.

I fly home regularly and always buy an economy seat if paying cash. I then upgrade with points, often at check in, so end up flying business. I will use points to buy a seat in business and just pay taxes in cash.

I fly to Manchester so don't fly with BA. I actively avoid them because of their dishonest business practice of eliminating flights to airports outside of London so they can push for another runway.

What points are you using to upgrade at check in?

I've never flown anything but economy and it would never occur to me to do so. It's just a journey. I'm only interested in the destination.

The people who use points don’t you either need to fly regularly or spend thousands on credit cards to accrue them?

I wouldn’t upgrade for short haul. But I plan to on our next long haul holiday. The couple of times we have been long haul we haven’t upgraded but the last time was hell so will definitely do it next time.

The thing with flying in a ‘better’ class is that it isn’t just the time flying that counts its all the time before and after the flight too.

We often fly first as my DH gets upgrade vouchers so we pay for business then use the vouchers to fly first. It is still expensive but for me it means that I spend the months leading up to the flight looking forward to it rather than dreading it. It’s good fun and becomes part of the holiday rather than a simple logistics exercise. Then when you get to your destination you feel well rested which impacts hugely on your first few days of holiday. I can fly to Australia and feel perfectly ok - a little out of sync but not tired. I couldn’t do that in economy.

Obviously it would be a complete waste of time spending money to upgrade if you couldn’t afford it. For me it worth it. I’d rather go on one long haul trip first or business than two or more in Economy.

BTW I don’t upgrade for shorthaul unless there is a good deal.

Missbrick1 everything goes on the credit card which is paid off straight away and gets us a cheap (just the taxes to pay) first class flight every few years.

I’ve been to Australia 4 times, 3 times in economy and the last time at Christmas was business class.
It was a once I a lifetime treat but it was totally worth it for the experience. The lie flat bed meant I was able to get some sleep, chauffeur driven limo, fast track check in& security, the luggage allowance, the lounge access, bar on the a380. Everything about it was fab and if money was no object I’d do it everyday time but sadly that was it.

bimbo, would it be very rude of me to ask how much you paid?

Crikey! This is a whole other world! I can only dream of flying anywhere anything other than economy!

I did a 12 hour flight last month. DH was adamant he wasn't upgrading anything. The temptation to just upgrade myself to extra legroom and leave him to it was huge, but I did actually upgrade us both to Premium Economy with legroom.
Turns out he was rather grateful.

All well and good having extra money to spend at the destination but if you're feeling shit from the flight it's not as good.

Yes, unfortunately do have to spend into thousands on credit card.

Amex has introductory offers, I think the BA card needs a £1000 spend within three months for 10000 miles - that will get you either two europe trips for £17 or four for about £30. You do then collect as you spend, but it comes out as thousands to make a further difference.

I also just put absolutely everything on the card, including the trip.

For me I can book flights last minute no fuss. I once missed a flight at London City, I was there in lots of time so got distracted by whatever I was doing and there are no announcements there, so I realised last minute and rushed but was too late. I literally saw them take my bag off the plane lol!

I went on the wifi, put myself on the next flight an hour and a half later, it was the same gate same place same everything, cost me £20 instead of the £300 it would have cost to get home otherwise.

I've also booked a flight in the car on the way to the airport:)

AirFrance (plus all their partner airlines), it's how far you go/how many flights you take. Can only use your own, not everyone in your group you've paid for unfortunately, but if you do two reasonable long trips a year you will have more than enough to be up to making the experience a bit more comfy.

I agree with the not worth it for short haul flights, unless you want the extra baggage or have so many hours in the airport that you'd like to use the lounge and play the how much free food can I eat/free booze can I drink/how many magazines in languages I don't speak can I collect and how many mini cans of diet coke can I hide in my handbag and still seem classy on the outside. 22 is my record:)

I wouldn’t spend it but I’m a bit tight with things that to me have no value.

We flew BA economy to Antigua last year, and were upgraded to premium economy on the way back. I would have been so disappointed had I paid as (for me) it was was less comfortable than economy because the arm rests were fixed down. This meant I could raise them and get my feet up.

I fly long haul a lot and sometimes bump myself up to business if it's an overnight flight and I have to go straight from the airport to work; but that's about guaranteeing a flat bed not more legroom.

If going economy, I always go into a lounge as it's going to be mych more tolerable after a few glasses of pre-emptive fizz.

..doh...'couldn't' get my feet up as the armrests were fixed.

We mostly fly BA and upgrade to Club with Avios or Companion vouchers when we can.
I'm not a fan of PE and wouldn't pay for Club with cash.
If someone offered me £1K to miss a night's sleep I'd accept so that's how I view paying to upgrade.

I’ve pmd you stately

That's a good point Rogers... missing a night's sleep for £1K.

Me too. I'm a dreadful sleeper anyway and have done night duties so would go for the £1K and no sleep!

For me, 6+ hours = business.

But I can afford it, have good credit cards that give me good miles, and am a gold member so get reduced upgrades or priority for upgrade.

I’ve done PE and totally not worth it.

Short haul 2-6 hours, business if it’s a good deal.

However I’m soon to be on flight nr 47 in the last 12 months, so I spend too many hours on planes or in airports to be uncomfy.

DH and I went to Barbados with BA and paid £250 for extra legroom seats on the exit row. We were the first row behind premium economy and we had more legroom than those seats, and we didn’t have to disturb anyone when we wanted to go to toilet or have a walkabout. Premium economy was an extra £500, it didn’t seem worth it.

I used to do economy to Japan (12 hours) and I'm one of those who can't sleep sitting up, and I have long legs. It was hell and I always felt crap for the first few days due to no sleep, jet lag, aching body etc. My bum actually gets extremely painful after a few hours in economy! Then I'm having to try and wriggle around in a tiny seat to keep the pressure off my bum! Not fun!

Now I always go business. Yes the flight cost is £1000 approx, more total, so £500 each way. For me it's totally worth it. I get to recline on a comfortable seat, eat decent food (couple of glasses of wine!), then I lie down to sleep. I get there feeling totally refreshed and ready to start my holiday. Yes, the extra money could be spent on other things but having a few extra days holiday where I don't feel crap (plus not having the dread of the return flight home) is the best use of the money for me.

It was a once I a lifetime treat ... Everything about it was fab and if money was no object I’d do it everyday time but sadly that was it

I find that's the only trouble with having done it once for a special occasion - it ruins you for everything else!!

It was the same as when I booked a very special cabin on a cruise which was also going to be "the only one" ... trouble is, I was looking into the next while I was actually on the thing