Do you guys have a “rule” for when a business class upgrade is worth it? Like a breakdown of $ per hour of flight time or % of regular ticket? If you can’t tell I am trying to justify this in my head lol
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Domestic F on flights longer than 3 hours, and lie flat for any intl flights is my general rule. Work backwards to find the cost from there
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@jananth1 has it correct, IMO. I find domestic F to be a nice convenience at relatively low cost on most flights I take. Intl lie flat is a must. I justify the cost by considering the trip starts and ends with the flights so I want to enjoy (or at least not hate) the flying part and arrive outbound and home reasonably well rested and ready to go.
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Agreed. I always say that domestic really has no first class, when people ask what it is like ha. You pay more to sit in the front, drink for free, and have a slightly improved seating environment. What @jananth1 is referring to with the lie-flat is the actual luxury IMO.
It’d also be interesting to know the context with travel discussion… i.e. how many boarding passes are being purchased. The “I fly first class all the time” when in reality it is on paid work trips, vs the family of 5 etc. where he/she is footing every cent.
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Even the “free” drinks get old. I’m not saying I always skip Bailey’s with my coffee, but I don’t usually want a drink at 8am and long flights are dehydrating. Assuming no lounge, a $28 cocktail at the airport bar before boarding had better Whiskey/Vodka/Gin than anything inflight for what it cost to sit up front, discounted or full F. The food has been straight trash since the pandemic, save for the cheese plate on Alaska (always preorder, and always the cheese plate).
There’s no measurable time savings sitting up front, even when status lets you board/deplane first and you carry-on, or your bags come off carousel first. A delayed air train, a stuck rental car gate, an Uber glitch will more than eat that away.
it’s comfort, space for you and your stuff, checked bags are usually included in the fare. If I can be more rested, have more space to stand and stretch during long flights — even in an exit row, mid-flight can be challenging on a single aisle aircraft.
If i’m flying coast-to-coast, direct, in a 737 - it’s probably worth whatever it costs.
I compare the total cost of the ticket I would buy with up-charges F would include to F. If Premium Economy + Seat + Checked Bag = $600 and F is $900 then it’s $300 more to fly F
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Good point. All of my travel is now leisure paid out of pocket. I constantly search for biz class bargains or patch together my own. Trip last month was DEN-NRT with one of my sons $4K for air. DEN-YVR on points with United so $50 or so in fees. YVR-NRT on ZipAir flat bed. United charges $12-20K DEN-NRT nonstop so well worth the detour thru YVR. Currently trying a new strategy - booked fully refundable economy DEN-AMS for later this year. Will upgrade to biz if I like prices or just refund ticket.
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Just got back from Europe, booked with Avios transfered from Amex with the bonus. Got to fly lie flats both ways on BA and American. The American product is definatly newer and nicer. Just rebooked for next summer
Phx-Pairs-Malaga on Air France in premium economy 70k Flying blue miles plus $181.50 in taxes
Madrid to LAX business- 76k avios plus $210.31 in taxes
I need to book the LAX back to Phoenix, but should be able to get a decent ticket using quantis for American.
146k points (somewhat less with the transfer bonuses) and $391.50 for a premium econmy/Business ticket west coast to Spain and back. Cash price would have been around $3800-$4k
If you are not using it, https://amex.point.me/ can be a big help if you are using their transfer partners to get routes and dates that work for tickets.
I was planning on driving to Palm Springs in a few weeks- but was able to snag tickets on American booked with Quantis for 8k points each way- much better than a 3.5 hour drive each way.
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Interesting. I feel like I got unlucky with the price range on my last international flight…I sometimes have to take the insane LA to Doha (Qatar) flight and feel like I am in a place in life to sometimes afford Business but pricing I was looking at was:
$1,650 Economy total from LAX to my final destination via Doha, but Business was costing $5,800 each ticket (only for the LAX-Doha leg)…I then thought about upgrading later, but the additional cost per ticket was $3,700 so basically the same as the original Business price offered. Just felt so hard to justify making the total cost go from $3,300 to $11,600…I was comfortable with doubling the cost (or even more) but this was like x3.5!
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Qatar
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Check your Chase cards (offer is on both of mine).
If I book an American Airlines ticket via Chase Travel, can I cancel the flights directly with AA for an AA trip credit that I can use to book something else later directly with AA? This is the only circumstance where I’d book a flight for myself via an OTA.
I’m asking because I got burned by booking a AA ticket through Capital One’s horrific OTA and having to cancel, and Capital One Travel holds the credit hostage. It’s a horrific mess when this happens.
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I had a terrible experience once with Chase Travel; will never ever use them again. Forgot if it was outsourced to Expedia or some major agent, but it was absolutely terrible. No help whatsoever
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Capital One Travel was also a nightmare on a canceled AA ticket, but for a United booking for my mom (later canceled) she ended up with a credit with United and that was very easy to use directly with United.
I was hoping to book something on AA using this offer – specifically with the intention of canceling it for a credit to use on something else later.
I buy a lot of domestic one-ways in the $300-500 range, and I’m changing bookings all the time. Imagine the agony if I hold my nose, buy a $600+ r/t, and then have to cancel and be stuck dealing with Chase Travel. Not worth $100 for sure.
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Same here
1234
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My horrific experience with Capital One on the AA ticket was 2+ years ago. United was…. well, she’s currently on the trip.
I wonder if the difference is the airline or a change in practice / policy… or… at one point I know AA rolled out some really unfriendly policies for travel agencies and were forced to roll them back.
Not sure. I did this with United couple of times, but last time around a year or two ago.
Just booked the Fontainebleau in Las Vegas for Sep 7th Sun-Tue $250 TOTAL with taxes and resort fees…had a deal in the rewards account so I took it… 2 night minimum stay-plus AMEX GOLD offer for FBleau spend $500 get $100 back-easy spend with a Steak Dinner haha BEST deal for FBleau I have ever seen…they’re hurting and NEED us there
I also, still have The Rio 4 nights Comped-only Pay Resort Fee $55/nt so may be back in two weeks or so
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Yes, vegas is hurting thanks to all of the winning that our country is doing the last 8 months. Lots of deals to be had there.
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Yes sir, if you have been there lately you can visibly notice the lack of crowds across all of it.
July saw a 12% YoY decline as the real economy continues to stumble, workers in housekeeping, food service and maintenance/landscaping have become scarce (along with the money they spend) and foreign travelers to Vegas have all but disappeared.
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It’s ok, though. There is no tax on their (non-existent) tips.
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…add to that the “REAL ID” and not many can fly there anymore, that’s a huge chunk right there
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