Mark and I went on the first of several honeymoons last December. I found a one-way flight for $240 from SFO to Tahiti and built the trip around that. Did you know that French Polynesia is only eight hours away from San Francisco? Yeah, me neither.
So, French Bee is a low cost carrier and flying with them comes with risks. About an hour before we were scheduled to leave for the airport, they delayed the flight…by 23 hours. That adjustment meant we would lose our day in Tahiti. Boo.
Please believe me when I say that this trip started out really cheap. $240 for an eight-hour flight is insane. Then we had to buy flights from Denver to San Francisco and back ($79 each; also reasonable). Then we had to find flights to and from Bora Bora and Tahiti ($368 each).
And then, your girl made a mistake. We bought an extravagant flight from Tahiti to San Francisco. This eight-hour chunk of time cost us $1,930. Each. Eeek! We might have flown business with the lay flat seats and the pods and the amazingness.
And you know what? Something inside of me broke. The one aspect of traveling that was less than ideal was always the flight itself. It’s hard to get comfortable. You feel a little like cattle. There’s not much room. I absolutely hate when I’m done eating my meal and need to wait twenty minutes for the flight attendants to clear it.
But flying business class seats completely eliminated those inconveniences. We didn’t have to wait in lines. We used the lounge before the flight that we wouldn’t otherwise have access to. I could eat on the plane whenever I felt like it. And yes, the flight attendants spirited away my tray as soon as I finished eating. It was glorious.
I’m ruined.
I spend way less than I’m “allowed” to spend each year per the four per cent rule, like, half. The power of compound interest made the amount a smaller percentage of my net worth. At what point can I say that business class is a reasonable regular splurge that makes my life so much better?
Because, in my opinion, upgrading on a flight is the ultimate splurge. It’s such a big reach financially for such a short amount of time and it’s really, really hard to justify.
But, oh, what a luxury. Being able to lie down in the air is a real treat when the flight flies overnight.
Since that Tahiti to San Francisco trip, we’ve flown business class once more going to Africa. Denver -> Istanbul -> Accra and back. It cost $3,000 round trip per person. For just about forty hours of flying.
I flew business class when I worked as a lawyer. We also flew business for our wedding to Cancun. It’s so hard going back to economy because, in my opinion, paying the extra money absolutely makes the trip at least three times better. The flight and the airport and the hours logged become an enjoyable part of the vacation and not something to just get through.
We’ve decided to take far fewer trips, but spend out on the trips we do take. So, my answer on how I justify business class seats really depends on the price. If it’s three to four times as expensive as economy class, I would consider it. If it was ten times more expensive than economy class, I probably wouldn’t. I could also see myself building trips around good business class seats that I find and then flying economy for the shorter legs.
This goes against my brand, but I do love this luxury. Don’t come at me. Travel is the only thing I spend money on.
My thoughts exactly. We only started flying business after I became 60. There is no going back. It is very difficult to justifie the cost, but I’ll never fly coach again on flights >5 hours. It’s’a gift I give to myself. And I like it.
I’m wondering if they purposefully make flying so horrible that more and more people pay extra for business/first class. I haven’t flown for over four years and don’t miss it. Train journeys across countries are a lot of fun.