To book business class at 3 times the price?

[itshou]

We are planning super long haul as a family UK to AUS. Starting to think of the logistics of the flights, is business class really worth it at 3 times the price? Travelling with one teen. It's a frightening amount of money, but the only time we'll do this as going for an event. First world problems I know, but it's such a big trip!

If you're asking on here for advice, you can't afford it.

In your position it sounds like you already have significant savings and won't miss the money particularly - I'd do it.

Just a couple of hours kip can help so much with jet lag and general feeling rough when it comes to a long haul - so you'd be investing in a better start to your holiday as well. Airline business class seats vary in luxury but will all be better than economy, quieter, bigger, flat if you wish, no long queues for loo, no wait for a drink. If I could afford it I'd do it. Drink all the champagne you can!

You have obviously never flown first class or business. It makes a massive difference having a fully flat bed, food and drink on tap and great service.

I have just travelled to Joburg and back.. overnight. I am extremely lucky to have a best mate as a stewardess.. so bumped me to business both ways and I got a bed.. absolutely fucking luxury.. BUT if I had to pay and extra 2k not to sleep upright both ways .. then NO !! I can do so much other stuff with £4K !!

PE isn't an option, so few carriers do it and not on the route we want. Emirates PE Is nearly the same price as business with Qatar. We've all ready factored in the cost of a stop over and nice hotels etc - so this isn't going to eat into that budget. We have one big overseas holiday a year, and budget for that.
We are both fortunate to have good secure roles, we are pretty financially secure but after a tough few years work wise we just feel like going 'fuck it' and being extravagant. I just got a promotion at work which was hard earned so seems a nice way to mark it. Upgrading isn't an option, we either want to know we are doing it or not. Also upgrading 3 people is harder than 2 or 1, and we wouldn't put one of us in economy whilst the others did business. That's not what this is about!

See pre covid I flew Qatar business from Stockholm to Cairns ( aus) then Auckland to Ams for £1350 in business class. A380 with bar in Doha to Sydney leg.

So that was great value

I find most of my flight with Qatar tbh

Yeah, do it!
Am flying Upper long haul in the summer and am taking the 10 year old and 12 year old along with me. Is it a “waste” of money 🤷🏼‍♀️ but it’s spent now and I couldn’t go in Upper and put them in Economy.
My view was that it all goes in tax anyway and we might as well have some fun. I’ve blocked out what I could have spent the money on instead as you could go on like that forever..
Just book it and enjoy it!

Do it if you won't feel the money. They try and give me a lot of alcohol when I fly business but I don't drink that much so a lot of it is wasted on me. Food is average on Emirates I find. The thing that makes it worth it for me? The lie flat seat. I felt so much better coming off the flight.

I think it depends on your age. Maybe I could've done it when in my 20's but in my 50's I'd rather not go than do economy. My back couldn't take it so I'd be in pain.. not worth it.

Economy in long haul isn't the same as short haul flights and when we went to aus many years ago even we could watch films and get blankets and so on... haven't been recently so not sure how it is now . Might be worth pulling up videos on you tube of the airline and plane you might be flying to see what their different classes are like so you can compare. Lots of ppl do video's on this now.

OP if you have the cash and the extra £14k is a drop in the ocean then of course go for it! Value is in the eye of the beholder and for me I could do so much more with £14k then some additional comfort for 24 hours. The way I see it is if someone came to me and said 'hey I'll give you £14k to sit in a hard armchair rather than your sofa for 24 hours' I'd bite their hand off!

Having flown that trip hundreds of times in economy and business (and first) flying is a bit like camping.

Camping is never ever comfortable. The beds are always shite, the temperature is wrong, it's noisy, you are woken at stupid times, you are restricted in the stuff you can do and the food is never 'amazing'. Flying is the same even if you are in First!

You can make camping better with bigger tents and investments in beds etc but it's always still shite! Same with premium cabins! Even first class beds are narrow, hard, pillows are shit, it's fecking noisy and it's always too hot. Comparitively better than economy obvs but still it's never the epitome of comfort.

I would if it's affordable for you. You will hit the ground at both ends feeling so much better than if you'd flown economy and considering the jetlag involved that's worth a fair amount. If you fly back on a night flight it's nice to have a full day out then a shower in the lounge before getting on the plane etc. Extra luggage allowance might come in handy for bringing back cheesymite.

Obviously it's perfectly doable in economy and people have different priorities etc but if it's not going to materially affect your lives to spend this money on business class then go for it.

I would suggest you join a frequent flyer programme to at least get the points back from spending that kind of money though, and possibly look into booking via a miles earning credit card and paying it off is worth while. Headforpoints would be a good starting point, you'd hit a bonus requirement in one hit for a lot of credit cards.

Yeah....I am not saying OP should do it....just giving my thoughts

I've flown oz and nz to uk many many times and yes it is arduous

Depends how much £ you have I guess.

And whether you can sleep in economy. Of course you wont get a full 8 hrs but even 4 hours will take the edge off (something DH can easily do and I cant).

I have suggested to husband that he can sit in Economy but he gave me the 'look' so I dropped the idea! Actually its not all about sleeping. Just resting your eyes on a long flight in BC and not have annoying people around you definitely helps. My last Economy flight was truly awful. Sat next to a women and her child in a middle row of 4. She tried to move the armrest so that she could get into my seat as she put her child in her seat. She also reeked of BO. It was horrible but I realise I was just unlucky.

If your Qatar flights are on planes with Qsuites I would be even more inclined to pay for business.

The suites are brilliant and even more so when you're travelling as a couple or family. For a start if you have have 4 seats in the middle they make up into a sort of room, with you all facing each other for meals, etc. then the 2 seats which are closely adjacent make up into a double bed, with the other 2 as singles.

it still works fine even if there are 3 of you and 1 stranger in the group of 4 seats because you/they just leave the partitions up and the other person has a single suite, which is as they would expect.

I prefer the QS to first on most airlines under many circumstances.

@Tracker1234 sorry, missed this. It's BA. I know lots of people say their offering isn't great compared to some of the more luxurious airlines but as it's something neither of us have done before, I'm sure we'll enjoy the experience regardless ☺️

@Meggie2008 It will be fabulous!

I've been disparaging about BA compared to some others but, honestly, it's still fantastic; it's like comparing which 5-star hotel suite is best when the alternative is a Travelodge.

I would take BA business over many others, even if I'd prefer Qatar, Singapore, etc, if available on the route.