Hi Everyone,

I haven't been on the Forum in a while, been working lots of overtime to pay for our trip.

We are getting to the financial planning part of a 3 week trip to Italy in the fall. I am in favor of spending the extra money on a Business class seat for the transatlantic flight. My husband wants to save the money.

Who's with me on this? What is the best airline with the best business class comfort for the most reasonable price?

If you have FF points, or credit card rewards points, you might be able to buy a coach ticket and then upgrade. This is much cheaper than buying a business class ticket. The downside is that there is no guarantee that you will be able to do the upgrade; the number of seats is limited. There is usually a combination of miles and money.

I'm no expert on comparisons, as I just did this for the first time on a Continental flight between Newark and Tel Aviv, round trip, this past spring. It was WONDERFUL! I'm trying to do it for my trip to Italy in October, but have so far only been able to upgrade on the eastbound leg.

If you do an advanced FIND on "upgrade" and "flight", you will see some recent discussions.

I'm with your husband on this one. I just priced the difference between economy and business on my favorite airline. For the $1500. difference in fares, I would much, much rather have 15 terrific meals with wine in Italy than fly in comfort for - what is it? - 8-10 hours.

My favorite airline? Swiss International. Punctual, courteous, free drinks and wine, free luggage (which I understand is a disappearing breed on US carriers). I'm tall and I can cross my legs in economy on Swiss - even if the idiot in front of me has his seat fully leaned back.

If you can fly through the UK, BA World Traveller Plus is a superb compromise: as good as most business class but far, far cheaper.

We fly out of San Francisco. The last time we flew economy to Europe, my back went out on me. Not a good way to start a holiday. That was a few years ago.

Since then we have flown Club World on British Airways. The seats convert into cots - no back problem. Plus service have always been great.

It all depends, I guess - business class is indeed wonderful but that's a lot of money you can spend on other things, or save for a future trip. Once, Continental had an amazing business class sale and I was able to get a round trip to Norway for 1500 dollars, which was about 600 dollars more than economy. That was totally worth it - and the best part of it was to look forward to it! No more dreading the flight. But sales like that are rare, I have never seen one before or after.

So I guess I would say, go for economy, unless you have some specific reason, like a bad back, that makes even more uncomfortable, or you can find a great deal.

Way back when I was a road warrior and not a B&B owner, if I could get the route I would always use Virgin Atlantic upper class. It used to be the same price as other airlines business class and was nearly the equivalent of other's first class cabins, plus wonderful service, eat whenever you like, open bar, and massage service and the best lounges. But I haven't flown for years so don't know if the others have caught up.

Sometimes--but nothing to count on--you can pay to upgrade at the time of flight. In 2005 I did this. It cost $500 which was well, well worth it and thousands of dollars less than buying business straight out. I read recently that this can still take place if there are empty seats. The article said you need to ask as it is not information freely given by the agent.

Otherwise, if you can use points, do so. The difference in how you feel when you arrive is monumental--almost no lost time due to jet lag, etc.

Does it say something for the various factors to consider here that both young Jane and I are women of a certain age.

Margaret, I agree. BA World Traveler makes an amazing difference and the price is good. MayK

quote:

Originally posted by MayK:
Margaret, I agree. BA World Traveler makes an amazing difference and the price is good. MayK

I used British Airways World Traveler Plus (which is like premium economy) and it was worth the extra cost last summer from Toronto to London and then World Traveler from London to Copenhagen. We booked 11 months prior to the flight and paid a reasonable price. Later the price went way up.

The only thing I didn't like was what happened with the seats...when I booked it I was able to choose my seats, meanwhile the airline changed the seating policy and switched our seats (no notification).

Then we did our check in online and were able to switch back to the seats we wanted.

And to our surprise on the second leg of the trip (London to Copenhagen), the seats on our boarding pass were given to someone else at the gate and we ended up sitting behind them. They move the barrier between business and economy right up to flight time.

Anyway, I still say BA World Traveler Plus, is worth the extra cost, and I believe you can upgrade with ff points to BA World Club.

quote:

Originally posted by Marian:
Does it say something for the various factors to consider here that both young Jane and I are women of a certain age.

And what is that? I have always heard that one is only as old as one feels--or as young. I have not aged a day since 1985.

Consider it like getting an extra day in Italy. You will arrive rested and ready to holiday on the first day instead of feeling like you just want to go to bed.

Ok to stir the pot and get instant critical response, with your 8-10 hr flight times you really have no idea of long distance flights. Once you have made flights of around 23 hrs as from Australia to Europe then you know about long distance. (I feel the claws coming out about now).

Yes I know that economy is cramped and a pain in the backside but you can only justify full fare business if -
1. You have a medical disability
2. You have an excess of gold bars in the bank
3. you want to upstage the neighbours again.
4. you have excess frequent flyer points - then you are excused

If it costs me an extra $1500 each, that is $3000 for my wife and I, boy could I have a fantastic time with that in Italy.

If you can get a low cost add on as suggested above then go for it otherwise
have your husband hire a gondola for 24hrs. You may never know where the passion may lead. Hay mum was I conceived in a gondola?

when I complained about our economy fares we were going to have to pay for europe a friend "voluntered" two business class seats on Iberia.





I just looked up reviews and found this photo, I hope that's what we get!

You'll get a lot of comments on this, as there's a lot of personal value/subjectivity to it.

A couple of years ago, my wife and I made the "mistake" of trying Business class to Italy when Swissair was having a sale. That did it for us....I don't think we can go back to Coach for long haul flights.

Some things to consider: I never have been able to sleep in Coach. I can easily sleep in Business. When doing check in at airports, you can use the priority Business/First checkin lines, and often there's a Priority line through TSA. The new Terminal 5 in Rome has a really fast priority line for Business/First that saves a lot of time. These priority lines make security a breeze and you don't have to be at the airport as early. And don't forget the airline lounges along the way. You get access to a quiet place of refuge that usually has free food and drinks, and sometimes showers. It makes the airport waits actually a pleasure. Finally, if things go wrong with the flight or connections are missed, who do you think the airline is going to take care of first, Business or Coach? Swissair held a Zurich to LAX flight because some of their Business class passengers' connecting flights were delayed in getting to Zurich (and we were among them!)

Do you "need" Business class? No. Do you need to go to Italy for vacation? Also no. Do you need to stay in nice hotels versus cheap hostels? No. It's all about what you want to do to enjoy your time. I know people who simply figure in the cost of Business fare as part of the vacation requirements because it's important to them.

A word about costs. We've booked from the west coast of the US to Italy a couple times now in Business. If you book far enough out, and avoid obvious peak travel times, the cost is in the $3.5k range. But as you get closer to your planned travel date, the cost starts shooting up to the $8k range. Sort of nuts.

As has been mentioned, flying Business gets you where you want to go, coming and going, fully rested. It is like picking up some extra days.

In terms of which carrier to fly, you'll get an astonishing range of recommendations. If you go to airlinequality.com you'll find tons of passenger reviews. Personally we've flown Business in Swissair and American Airlines and our experience was that Swissair had much better seats, food and overall treatment.

I'd say it's certainly worth flying Business at least once as part of a life's experience. At that point you can decide if it's worth it.

quote:

Originally posted by Robert Rainey:
when I complained about our economy fares we were going to have to pay for europe a friend "voluntered" two business class seats on Iberia.





I just looked up reviews and found this photo, I hope that's what we get!

Robert:

My husband and I used FF miles for Iberia business class from Chicago-Madrid in May 2007. The flight was extremely comfortable, although I'm not sure if these are the exact seats.

We LOVED the choices of Spanish wines in business!!!

But in general can stand flying coach. I've flown business class a few times to London or Paris, always on miles. I love it, but I would never pay extra for the ticket. It's the least important part of my travels - I'd rather have the money for fabulous meals.

Joan

For me the business class or even premium economy makes the difference of enjoying a short trip or suffering. I swell badly on flights and have had a couple trips where I had to spend the first three/four days of my vacation, sitting or laying in bed with my feet high over my head to try and get the swelling down. My friends are off enjoying London and I am stuck in the hotel room or apartment because I really can’t walk. I do not sleep on a plane (after all the pilot might need my help, not I know anything about flying) and flying coach even without the leg/feet problem leaves me feeling tried for days. This is obviously a matter of personal choice, but for me that 11 flight, plus the extra hour or two with loading and hoping the plane actually leaves close to the departure time, is awful….I do hate to fly. But going in a more comfortable manner is a part of my vacation and part of my whole experience so I make the cost of the flight part of my saving plan.
Beth

I have flown business class on trips to London, Madrid, Sao Paulo and Helsinki, some of which were miles and some were purchased. I don't do it anymore. I found that I didn't sleep much in the larger seats, even with the extra room and more comfortable seats. I discovered Ambien several years ago and now I can get some sleep even in coach.

Bill

I side with those who would rather eat the fare difference in Italy and be squashed in coach for 8-10 hours. But if I can do it again, I will choose Austrian Air. I just flew from Vienna to Dulles on their Boeing 777-200 and their economy seats were MUCH roomier than any other carrier I have used lately (Lufthansa, United, Air France, Delta). I am 6ft 1 and my knees are usually smack up against the seat back in front of me before they recline. But on this flight I had a couple inches (inches!!) of knee room to spare, which has never happened. It was fabulous. I was in row 17. And I noticed no difference between their economy seats on their seat map or in person, so I don't think I lucked into "economy plus" or anything.

Okay I'm sick of the airlines so here is an alternative for you thinking outside the box take a ship across. Leaving from New York take the (Cunard) Queen Mary 2 across for 6 sixes of cruising to southhampton england then stay a while and take it back. I tested just to see if this would work. Here is what I found:
Queen Mary 2 5/8/09 to 5/14/09 from New York to Southampton england.
Than 5/25/09 to 5/31/09 from Southampton england to new york.
Your inside early booking rate per person would be $1345.
Total cost for two $5,380 both ways is pricey however you are relaxed all the way and the food is great. Think of it for around the price of Business class you have food, entertainment and you have already started your vacation the minute you board the ship. Plus no jet lag. However, if you get seasick this may not work.

I'd rather suffer in coach for 10 hours and then celebrate in style in Italy for 3 weeks. One never really savors a long flight but one can surely savor a fabulous hotel room with a view.