Tell me about Business Class flights

[hillarypcof]

I am planning to surprise DP with business class flights on our upcoming holiday to Singapore (hoping to go next year - covid depending)
Preferably Qatar Airways as their service is incredible.
BA a lot cheaper and mixed reviews.

Are Business Class flights ever worth it? It would be around £6k just for the flights - would be a once in a lifetime experience, but equally could by us 3 more holidays in and of itself!

If worth it I will make some serious considerations, at the moment it is all just a potential - thanks in advance ☺

@Anne1958

Business Class is great, but it’s not £6k worth of great in my opinion

It’s always worth it. Getting off a flight after being in business class, from the moment your car stops at the kerbside outside the airport, is always worth it.

It's really not worth it for someone who like the OP would have to give up three holidays for the sake of taking one set of business class flights. Maybe for someone with unlimited cash or where work is paying for it it's worth it, but not for most people! Even if you had the flight from hell after a few hours it'd be just a distant memory.

I’ve been business class to Singapore on Etihad and Emirates.Emirates was much better. Picked up from the house in a limo. Straight through security. Boarding first and sitting with champagne while others board. Ability to shower and change in the lounges at Dubai half way through the journey. Seat that goes flat for sleeping. Much more privacy and space than a usual flight.
For long haul I would really struggle now to go back to economy

If I was struggling to afford it I would go business class on the way there. It becomes part of the holiday. Coming home is rubbish anyway and you are less bothered about the free champagne at that point .

It’s the difference between looking forward to the flight and dreading it.

Emirates business class is amazing, the kids still talk about it. I think I had a whole bottle of Cloudy Bay to myself.

I now have a limit of 6 hours for economy - anything over that and I cannot do economy any more.

It’s always worth it. I get the business check in lines, business baggage allowance, lounge and priority boarding anyway because I’m a gold member with my usual airline. However, for a long haul flight it’s definitely definitely worth it. The toilets are bigger and cleaner because there’s fewer people using them. No queue for the toilets - there’s usually the same number of loos for business as there are for economy. Any time dining (not to mention the superior food) is great - you can arrange to have your meal at the last possible moment before landing or whenever you want to fit in with your arrival time zone.

The cabin crew are much more personable due to the lower number of people. I once had a 14 hour overnight flight landing at 10pm Christmas Eve, and I spent most of it in tears for various reasons. They never mentioned it, but asked me whether I wanted small, large or medicinal measures of brandy, brought me ice cream at random intervals, and recommended their Disney classics channel. They make up your bed for you if you want (perhaps not on an indirect Qatar to Singapore flight - that’ll be 2x 7-8 hours), and bring you pajamas (again, I’ve not done Qatar business so maybe not)

Honestly, I find it gives me an extra day of my break. You arrive well rested, and you arrive home well rested. I’m a very regular traveler (pre covid 😢) and I often land at 5-6am and head to the office by 8:30.

Also chauffeur service at both ends helps lower the stress and consider that in the additional cost - if you don’t need to get taxis at both ends it can be expensive. Ok so Singapore airport isn’t too far from the city, but still, it’s costs that offset against the additional business cost.

It wouldn't be worth it to me. The flight isn't pleasurable even in business class so I'm not going to pay for an unenjoyable experience even if it is less shit than the alternative. I'd get far more pleasure out of spending that 6k in other ways.

Careful if you have any sort of dietary restrictions too, friend who is coeliac flew upper class with virgin but got given the same gluten free meal as economy.

I’ve got long legs and a bad back, so for me it’s the difference between walking off the plane in agony and walking off the plane refreshed. A bigger seat makes a huge difference and if have they money is worth every penny. I don’t care at all about any of the other perks.

We've done similar for next year, it's my 40th and I've always wanted to go first or business class.

We're going over to Miami for a cruise and I've thought sod it! We're going business class on the way out and premium economy on the way back. It's a lot of money, about £1200 each for the flights, but I figured we haven't spent any money on holidays last year and already had 2 cancelled for this year so why not.

It would be an extra £500 each to do BC on the way back which I decided was just too much but there may be a promotion coming up at work in the next few weeks and if I get it I think I'll do it. It's a bucket list thing for me. Though I am quite worried about flying economy after that though!

We are in NZ and pre Covid travelled long haul (usually Europe) once a year.

I’m hoping we can travel again in 2022 and am planning to book business for at least 1 of the two long legs. Previously we had started going premium economy (Air NZ) which was so much nicer - more room, better food, more attentive staff (understandably as they have fewer passengers to cater for!) - which was really helpful as we travel with our two small children. I’ve flown Air NZ business class with points but only NZ - Australia so have never had the full benefit of the lie flat!

When I was younger I wouldn’t have dreamed of spending the $$$$ on premium cabins but then again I remember flying Auckland - London direct and landing at 6am and going home for a shower and doing a full day’s work! Last time I travelled to London it took a good 5 days to recover from the jet lag and that was with a 2 day stopover in Singapore. Considering time is now a precious commodity when we travel long haul it’s starting to feel worth it to splash out on biz class for those 12+ hour legs if it means arriving feeling relatively normal.

Definitely worth it’s if flight is over about three hours.
You can get good, much cheaper deals if you are prepared to fly with less ‘usual’ airlines and have a brief stop somewhere. Personally, I like a quick stop to stretch my legs and even get a taste of fresh air.

Best deal I’ve had was with Finn air. Fabulous service. Good seats. Change in Helsinki, so long stretch for sleeping still. Love their cocktails. I was upgraded to Cathay first class on return leg and paid £350 for my inconvenience.

KLM also had very good service. I got a birthday cake and a bottle of champagne to take with me plus three of their little houses. Schipol is quite nice for a brief stop.

I think if I was wanting to feel special then I’d probably stick with Singapore Air. Slightly more expensive than the one-stop, but very nice.

I’d not usually choose BA, to be honest. What I insist on is a 1:2:1 configuration, as I don’t want anyone climbing over me, nor do I want to have to climb over someone else. It must be full flatbed too.

BA Business is, for experienced travellers, crap. For novices it still feels like a treat.
I flew long haul (12 hours) on BA and upgraded with points to business. my husband hadn't been business before and just loved it.

Qatar is better if/when you change at dohar (warning:they may have changed it) but you board the plane from the lounge. So you pop down your champagne, board, then pick up another

If you go BA some tips:
Check your plane on research best seat positions.
dont waste your time trying to get a complimentary spa treatment I haven't managed it in 6 years.
Go early and enjoy the unpredictable quality of the BA lounge.
When you board ask the attendant to hang your coat. They used to do it as standard now you have to ask...😑
Order a "specialist meal" this will mean you won't have to deal with the fact your preferred menu item isn't available. again. (Fun fact: I got an extra 150,000ish avios in 12 months because I complained every. Single. time this happened... because I want the steak and because cooked fish on a plane is shit whatever class you are in.)
As soon as the seat belt light is off go find the snacks/mini fridge. They never have enough stock take chocolate mini spirits whatever -do it pre meal.

I fly for work and so have done a lot (imo South african airlines was the worst, crap food and the attendants were absolute cows)

It does help with jetlag but money is a factor. We shop for deal and tend to trade off cost/benefit of flights vs accommodation vs activities.

I think post Covid flying will generally
Be more expensive in that we won’t see big discounts on economy class travel but I am hoping that the reverse might be true for business travel - the airlines might sharpen their prices a bit as business travel takes longer to come back to more Covid levels so they need to fill those seats

Is this wishful thinking? 😂

I have been fortunate to have travelled in business class on Qatar, Etihad and Emirates (380) to Asia and Australia. Service/seating was excellent on all but flying out of Manchester Qatar have the poorest lounge experience, this was last year, but the Middle East airports and lounges are very good. If we go to the states Virgin PE is fine if direct, hopefully you will be able to plan and book later this year.

If you can afford it (but which I mean, without going without anything else), then go for it. It IS nice to fly business class. You can more space, more privacy, more comfort and better food - so what's not to like? But if you have to scrimp and save and go without another two holidays just to afford it, don't. In the end, it still gets you there in the same time, it just costs more!

I know you’re talking about a once in a lifetime trip, so I don’t mean to sound preachy. But it’s worth bearing in mind the carbon footprint: As the attached link shows, this is estimated to be 3 times greater than economy for business class and up to 9 times greater for first class

www.airportwatch.org.uk/2013/06/new-norwich-airport-flights-revealed-for-winter-2010/

[quote Honeywort]I know you’re talking about a once in a lifetime trip, so I don’t mean to sound preachy. But it’s worth bearing in mind the carbon footprint: As the attached link shows, this is estimated to be 3 times greater than economy for business class and up to 9 times greater for first class

www.airportwatch.org.uk/2013/06/new-norwich-airport-flights-revealed-for-winter-2010/[/quote]
There might be some truth in those claims in that article but I'm not sure of how they are rationalising:

"but there is often a lower load factor (the proportion of seats occupied)",

that's a function of the route itself and /marketing, it's not an inevitable consequence of there being premium seats..

... as for

"they can take on more luggage (meaning more fuel has to be used to transport it)."

Well they can in theory, but from what I've seen over the years business/First Class passengers in general don't tend to travel with large amounts of hold luggage, they become very expert at travelling light - especially the business travellers.

As an experienced business traveller (not a 'novice' ) I have actually like BA. Out of Emirates, BA and Virgin who I fly with most I find it hard to pick a clear winner:

Virgin - lovely bar - though not so good if your seat is next to it and you have to listen to people drinking all night, best club lounge at Heathrow, annoying seat that you have to get up and fiddle with to make it into a bed. Good food and drink options.

Emirates - great if you are travelling alone as your little compartment is very personal; not so great with children owing to reduced visibility. Find seats uncomfy when made into a bed. The stop at Dubai from London makes for a terrible night's sleep when travelling beyond this. Cabin crew more standoffish. Food often disappointing. Separate bar that's away from the seats (hooray)

BA: best most comfy beds, annoying seat layout (thank god it is changing). Great if travelling with partner / friend as you can take the middle seats, wind down the separatinog screen and not feel isolated. Lovely crews if you get the older, long term staff - nothing is too much trouble. Best on-board food.

Business class flights worth it for night fights imo not s day flight

I thought Qatar motto was Well fly you there, then dump you there.
Well that’s what they done to us last year.
Then after cancelling our return flights started flying again and increased the price x4. They are lowlife scum will never fly with them again.

Used to travel business class all the time with work. I’d never spend my own money on it unless it was for a mega long trip, such as Australia, where the flat bed really comes into its own. Otherwise it just isn’t worth that much for a few hours in the air however nice the seat and the baubles.

If you've got any sort of mobility or health issues that might be exacerbated by a long haul flight in economy, BC is definitely worth it.

Short haul BC not worth the money. Long haul, I think it is. Make sure it actually has a flat bed. A few carriers still have some not quite flat beds which are a nightmare as you just end up sliding down into a puddle on the floor all night. Also look for aisle access. Different carriers use different configurations, and some of the older ones you have to climb over your neighbour still.

BA business class isn't very good, though I think they've introduced an upgraded version on some routes. You need to pick the flight very carefully though as some mean climbing over neighbour.

Singapore Airlines is excellent. Their A380 Business Class was the best I've been on.

Food is variable. I tend to lose out a bit as a vegetarian.
Business Class lounges make the start of trip a lot less stressful.