Lordosis style poll: First class?

[8arclay]

We have a four hour domestic flight coming up with a lap toddler. First class upgrade is $350/pp. Very tempted to upgrade.

NW >1m
Income >1m

Yes.

[Tangler]

We have a four hour domestic flight coming up with a lap toddler. First class upgrade is $350/pp. Very tempted to upgrade.

NW >1m
Income >1m

Yes. I would do it. 4 hours is a long time. I would probably do it for any flight with a toddler. I would even consider driving for shorter distances.

[Nysoz]

I would personally pick never I’m a cheap rascal, but I’ll probably loosen the purse string at closer to $10m because my wife would want to.

I’ll gladly pay for upgraded seats though.

[Megalops]

if you travel internationally in my experience the re entry covid test is let’s just say not generally up to standard protocol. They don’t want to keep you where you’re at typically. It’s bad pub and no one is happy. Going through the motions. Fine with me.

Friends we know just got back from Egypt. On the way out Covid tests were $25, or you could just buy a negative test for $100...Everyone paid the $100 w/o thinking twice.

[billy]

Chase and a few other credit cards transfer 1:1 with united. So for any long flight (over 4 hours), I check to see if points are worth it, or if the price difference is worth it. Gotten free upgrades a few times also (precovid when flying a lot for short vacations with wife)

[Lordosis]

Friends we know just got back from Egypt. On the way out Covid tests were $25, or you could just buy a negative test for $100...Everyone paid the $100 w/o thinking twice.

Glad to see the system works!

[MaxPower]

Glad to see the system works!

It’s a dumb, outdated rule at this point anyway. When I went to Peru in October, the lady doing our test at the hotel for our return flight back to the States brought two certificates for each of us—one for a negative result and one for a positive result. They weren’t messing around. Fortunately we were all negative. Or maybe they just charged us the “negative result” price.

[Kamban]

Almost all tourist destinations in Europe have done away with any COVID tests on arrival. No PCR or antigen tests. A few want vaccination pass/ cards to enter but many have even discarded that - Norway, Iceland and Sweden and many other smaller European nations.

Yet like a dinosaur USA is wanting a stupid negative antigen test in entry, which has no value at all. As shown above, you can purchase a negative test in many countries. And with the number of COVID cases here and the public just weary of the numbers, what difference does that test make. A better option is a vaccination card, if we have to choose one requirement for entry.

The people at the head of TSA and our transportation cabinet secretary are both stupid and idiotic. We are always the last to close the barn door after the horse has bolted and the last to open any shut doors. I don't see it improving any time soon.

[Kamban]

I find that first or business class upgrade is not useful if the flights are 4 hours or less in duration. I am not even sure if any food is given out any more with the upgrade. Very few vegetarian options are available in coach class for purchase and we tend to eat before we board.

The true value is in flights to Europe and Asia. But unfortunately the airlines also know that and hence they jack up the upgrade price of business or first to >4-6X the price of coach. The food options are pretty much the same for us on these fights in coach vs business class. I prefer to spend the money at the destination and rough it up for the flight. I will consider upgrading to premium economy since the only thing I truly need is leg space.

[Lordosis]

Expense is just one of the issues. Flying is getting to be more and more of a hassle. With a large family it can be very expensive. and the cost difference between driving and flying is huge.

Being in a car for 12 hours with kids blows but;
so does being in a plane for 2 hours
Layovers or transfers
navigating and sitting in an airport for 2 hours
another hour traveling to the airport
anything you need to do at the destination Rent a car, get bags, etc.

This is if everything goes as planned and you do not get delayed or cancelled.

There is no argument for longer distances but I am at the point that anything under a 10-12 hour drive is not worth flying to. I might even extend that to 24 hours except time off becomes the limiting factor.

[xraygoggles]

First class has the best r/r for international flights, when the luxuries are worth the price for the long overnight trip.

Might also be worthwhile for trans-continental flights too, but I haven't paid to upgrade on those.

[Shant]

We have a four hour domestic flight coming up with a lap toddler. First class upgrade is $350/pp. Very tempted to upgrade.

NW >1m
Income >1m

I would upgrade to a seat for the toddler.

[White.Beard.Doc]

We have a four hour domestic flight coming up with a lap toddler. First class upgrade is $350/pp. Very tempted to upgrade.

NW >1m
Income >1m

I would definitely spring for a seat for the kiddo. That is quite a generous income, unless you live in San Francisco. Having the child on your lap for the entire flight can get pretty tiresome for both you and your child.

Do you feel first class with a toddler on your lap is better than economy or economy plus with an extra seat? If there are three of you, would you consider 3 seats in economy plus over 2 seats in first?

My spouse and I sometimes reserve 3 seats in economy plus for the two of us, particularly if the best scheduled flight is on JetBlue with no first class.

[Urojet]

I'm curious, does anyone flying with an infant feel bad about upgrading to first class? I feel like one of the benefits of upgrading (or of the free upgrade, as is the only way I end up there) is that I'm less likely to listen to a kid crying all flight. I feel like if I forked over $10k I'd be pretty bummed if then I couldn't sleep because of a baby crying.

[White.Beard.Doc]

I have another question. At what net worth would any of you consider flying private? As in NetJets?

I have never tried it; I am too cheap.

As I mentioned before, I am still fare hacking, but now my fare hacking is for the cheapest, best business class flights to some far flung, international destination. I am headed to Europe soon to ski the glaciers in the Alps. I got a direct United Polaris suite round trip for 3k.