Business Class 'short haul'

[Donewithitt]

DH and I are planning our holiday this year, no special occasion but feel like being a bit indulgent. Flight time is 8 hours, so not exactly 'short haul' but not long haul either. Is business class worth it for that amount of time?
We've done it 'super long haul' - and it's 100% worth it for 24 hours worth of travel.
But when we've been on multiple flights, when one is say 7/8 hours that flight everything has seemed a bit rushed with the emphasis being on getting the cabin to sleep. Which is fine when that's one flight out of 3, but if it's our only flight I'd like to enjoy it as part of the holiday.
Premium economy isn't available for the destination but feel that would be the ideal middle ground.
We've not flown this carrier BC before, but they get excellent reviews but for 3 times the cost I'd want to enjoy it.
We can either do a day or night flight too, so that would change the experience.

8 hours is definitely classed as long haul. What is the cost difference between economy and business class? Are you the type of people who sleep on planes, or enjoy “proper” dining with cutlery etc?

Personally I’d not be too fussed about business class on a daytime flight, as I don’t care about the quality of 1-2 meals overall, but I would totally consider it for a nighttime flight, as I like to sleep and arrive at my destination rested (more so if there is a significant time difference).

I’ve not had any “rushed” business class experiences but obviously it will depend on the airline and particular crew. I did once have an incredibly irritating Emirates 7 hour flight where they served dinner, turned the lights off for two hours, woke everybody up at 3am local time (both departure and destination countries) to serve breakfast - and really shook us all until we were up and taking the trays from them, bizarre situation… then they turned the lights back off and let us “sleep” for the 2 hours that were left. Needless to say, nobody could properly rest anymore… So in this situation I wouldn’t have cared what class I was in as it was just rubbish overall, but 99% of the time crews will plan their services properly so that everybody gets a nice rest in between and it doesn’t feel rushed.

I know it's not short haul, but our normal business class flight experience is 12-24 hours. So this is slightly different.
I'm happy to sleep, but I'm also happy to snack and drink wine watching movies. So pleased we can pick either day or night flight, maybe one day one night.

It's definitely worth it for 8 hours, if nothing else for the extra space you get!

We don’t do it for under 10 hours, but then would go in PE for 8 hours. I wouldn’t fancy sitting in economy for that long.

Where are you going? Is there another carrier you could use?

I flew in economy 8 hours last year and whilst it was fine for me, my 6ft dh was pretty uncomfortable. Airline matters though, Virgin has shorter seat pitches than many so that was part of the problem

It's long haul. Of course it's worth it, the plane presumably is a decent size to have a proper business cabin?

Does the airline offer Premium Economy? If so, that might feel more proportionate for an 8 hour flight.

Of course that’s long haul and as such will have a proper business class cabin with lay flat seats etc. Definetly worth it when I’ve done it.

It's with Singapore, so fully flat bed. No PE option sadly.

I do long haul a lot and don’t really count 8 hours - trans Atlantic- as long haul. 24 hours I go Business. 8 hours premium Economy unless there’s an overnight flight - then Business can be worth it. But the amount of sleep you get is not great for the money spent.

It’s a pity that the airline doesn’t do premium economy - you get more space and quiet.

The main drawback of Economy is the queuing to board, and the sharing of lavatories with too many people. You notice how thoughtless and selfish other people can be when you’re so crowded.

If it's the same length as a work day and I'm eating more than one meal on there it's long haul in my book!

Regular traveller to the states here. Always used to fly business until 3 years ago and compared insisted on economy. Economy for 7 to 10 hours was awful, so agrees premium economy which is OK for that amount of time.

Difference in price is 700 versus 2k

Singapore Airlines business class is great, I’d certainly stump up the extra for an 8 hour flight.

I think we are going to do the day flight out and then the night flight home. Getting the best of both worlds

On Singapore, definitely worth it, not sure if the route/plane you are taking but I have flown a good selection with them and not all business class seats are equal.
I find their service excellent but it takes time so if you want to eat then sleep it can take up to 2 hours before they are done and the cabin settles to sleep. However I am the person who likes to sleep on any flight, daytime or overnight.

Not travelled Singapore but I'll often do PE daytime and business back if it's over night with other airlines. What's their economy like? If it's as crap as others I'd do Business

Going to book today - can't wait !!!

I remember your other thread!! How was it resolved re maintenance?

Flights are booked 🤩

£700 v £2000? Absolutely not. I've flown business and First many many times. It's great yes but at no point was it worth an extra £1200 of my money especially for an 8 hour flight.

Probably just me. All my flights in premiium classes are paid for by work or though Airmiles and my flights tend to be ultra long haul. So much more I could do with that money.

I'm jealous! Enjoy