Business class travel - is it actually worth it?

[redutnrip]

I’m always amazed when travelling at the number of people who seem to afford to fly business for leisure. DH and I earn well but even paying for premium economy seems like a stretch.

We recently went to Joburg for a safari and direct biz flights were £3,500+ and yet the cabin was chokka?

It's generally great! I compromise with premium economy because.of costs.

Ive also wondered how so many people can afford it. Business travel? Expensed or offset against tax if self employed?

I've only flown business when there's an offer.

But fair enough if people can afford it as standard.

Depends how much money you have and how much you value having a nice flight rather than a tolerable flight. I wouldn't pay for business class because i'd rather spend the money on something else.

They're unlikely to be paying for it full price. If you travel for work, you clock up points. Most people I know who fly business, fly a lot.

I've flown business a few times but that's because my mate's a pilot. It's bloody lovely but I can't afford it myself.

I currently have a medical condition that means I can't be seated for that long so have told my employers I'm only flying long haul if they put me in business, which they've agreed to, as long as I can get it booked early enough that the flights are reasonable.

SAA business class used to be quite reasonable in price, especially compared with BA's Club World but I don't know how it compares these days.
They used to do cheap 'companion fares', for a second person doing the same journey. Might still be a bit cheaper as Club World is stratospheric.

If you can afford it then definitely yes.

I have only travelled business class twice and it's such a comfortable journey. You land feeling fresh and relaxed. I'm saving my avios for a business class flight.

I fly business class for work only, as they obviously pay and stipulate that for long haul we have to go business class.

If I fly business it’s due to work paying, or air miles.

I imagine most are similar!

I think a lot of people who fly business class are actually travelling for work, even if they travel on the weekend and are very casually dressed. There are always an awful lot of people on laptops.

FF points, business pays, or they can afford it.

Many people do last minute bidding during the check-in process which is why business is always full. If lucky, you can get the seat for £200-800 more.

Personally, I prefer business for short flights (ofter quite cheap even if you book directly) just for the convenience on the ground. You don't have to stress about getting to the airport earlier or being stuck in queues. Fast track security check or lounge access is worth everything depending on the airport you fly from.

It's also a surprisingly good hack when flying with children, possibly to the dismay of other business class guests. It really cuts out a lot of the peak stress points of being with kids such as delays, being stuck in line, whining, crying, hunger, thirst, lack of space etc.

It depends how much you earn.

I bloody love business class. I've been ruined by having it paid for by work, I can't bear economy long haul.any more. I can't afford business class myself though, sadly

Someone said to me would I accept £4k to sit in a narrow chair for 12 hours and yes, I probably would! Or I think well, I would have that extra money to spend on holiday. I still yearn for business class.

My most recent business class flight ( using points) was absolutely ruined by a group of very drunk loud women who just wanted ed to provoke a fight with the cabin crew. It was awful. A guy on his honeymoon told them he'd saved for years for this and they then just stared at him for the rest of the flight, shouting at him how sad it was they'd ruined his flight and laughing.

We have a combined household income in the top 1% and would still shudder at spending £6,000 for a couple of hours sleep

I have reached the point in life where I want to travel for pleasure but have no interest in spending 12-24 hours in a cramped seat in economy to get there.

I have done long haul on a variety of airlines in economy in the past but will now only fly short haul (max 4 hours), and even then I want up front seats ideally with extra leg room.

Up to 4-6 hours I am happy with premuim economy or at a stretch the extra legroom seats on a decent airline

After that I want a business class seat (lie flat for over 8 hours please).

We try to book as the flights are released so we get the saver fares or look for a bargin later on, I'm happy to fly on weekdays to reduce the cost.

It's only worth it if you're not paying. You're still sitting in a seat for hours, sleeping on what is effectively a camp bed and eating a (slightly nicer) ready meal off a tray. A lot of the nice bits about business class are the little touches like chocolates, an eye mask/pyjamas, face cream etc. You could bring all this with you and save a fortune.

I had a cracking sleep in business class, was far better than a camp bed.

Depends. The first time I flew out to asia (19 hours flightish) I went economy.

It was survivable - I just slept the whole way (frequent flier at some points of my life).

BUT I upgraded myself for the way back, and it was worth every penny of the extra 2k - much less queuing, actual bed, elbow room - turned it into something more like a weekend away than something to be endured.

And flying with the kids, my god it's better if you can afford the good tickets - no whinging about snacks and drinks, queuing for the toilets, it's just so much more pleasant - but obviously I weigh up the stress reduction against the cost.

If the flight is 3-4 hours or less, then I don't care though - even ryanair is OK for that time-frame

I willingly pay for BC seats as I can afford it. On a fourteen hour flight, it is absolutely worth it to me. After I reached a certain age, I decided to always fly BC. The customer service when you've missed your flight is exceptional. I was put up in a hotel and rebooked for free, even though the next stage of my journey wasn't with the same airline.

A lot of the nice bits about business class are the little touches like chocolates, an eye mask/pyjamas, face cream etc. You could bring all this with you and save a fortune.

Noo, that's not the nice bits at all - that's just a small goodie bag. The nice bits are having elbow room, getting food/drink whenever you want it, being able to get up and go to the loo without climbing over someone, not having to join the massive queue at checkin, and your luggage getting out first so you're already in the car when other people are still waiting at the carousel, having the lounge so you can just head there and chill rather than finding some over-crowded airport cafe.

An eyemask and tube of hand cream you'll throw away when you get home are the very least of it.

Not with our own money but subsidised with DH's FF points. We paid only the tax on long haul business flights for family holidays every couple of years pre COVID. Due to having a huge number of points, we were sometimes upgraded too (the system did it automatically depending on FF points i.e rewards the ones with the highest points on that flight.) We didn't waste them on shorthaul.
Elderly family relatives buy longhaul business class flights - if you can afford it, why not?

It's great but I wouldn't pay the prices. DH occasionally gets Business Class paid for. The uni he is teaching for twice this year booked business class flights for him. It's Japan, so very long flight. I visited on economy. It was fine, l thought the recline in the seats was a bit limited. I'd avoid BA for long haul if there's anything better.

Noo, that's not the nice bits at all - that's just a small goodie bag. The nice bits are having elbow room, getting food/drink whenever you want it, being able to get up and go to the loo without climbing over someone, not having to join the massive queue at checkin, and your luggage getting out first so you're already in the car when other people are still waiting at the carousel, having the lounge so you can just head there and chill rather than finding some over-crowded airport cafe.

Fair enough. Personally I find the food is still mostly shite, in fact one of my worst plane meals was on business. I don't go to the loo that often and I take carry on so don't have the check in queues or luggage carousel to deal with. The lounge is alright but often the food is still crappy or it's busy and I'd rather just sit in a nice bar/restaurant in the airport. Each to their own I guess!

Yes, as is first.

There are many older people who have inherited substantial sums several times over and it will be like2 months bank interest to them.

I have a friend like this in early 70s - ( and he also bought a house in early 80s for £70.000 ) that is now worth over a million too .

He flys to far east to see his son and family like this but only every couple of years.

@redutnrip we have assets of 1m but I still shop around for the cheapest flight. I only pay for one choice of seat after checking where the other seat is and if there is a seat available next to it. refuse to pay for two seats! I would rather have a good hotel for the stay than an expensive flight. free alcohol is no use to my tee total husband and I hardly eat on flights. I tend to sleep anywhere.