Is it Worth it to Fly Business Class on a Fishing Trip?
As we learned from Seinfeld and Bridesmaids, there is a clearly-delineated caste system separating those in first and business class from the rest of the plane. While those up front luxuriate with lie-flat seats, ice cream sundaes and premium liquor, those in the cattle car in the back just have to suck up the pain of living with a rapidly decreasing number of benefits.
If you’re someone who travels enough to earn consistent upgrades, or earn enough miles to always go in business/first, what I’m about to write may not apply to you. Nor does it apply to those with enough discretionary income to just default to higher priced tickets. There may be other classes of people (e.g., the morbidly obese or those with other medical conditions) who have no choice but to spend more for the bigger seat. The vast majority of travelers don’t fall into any of those camps. Many of us scrimp and save not only to get the time off to travel, but also to make the most of it. That means we have to make choices. In most cases, I’d rather splurge on a luxury like a helicopter ride to a glacier to go dog sledding versus a more comfortable seat for a midday four-hour flight. I’d rather go economy class on a 10-hour flight than not go at all. However, there have been a few situations where I’ve felt that the upgrade was worth the extra dough.
Don’t assume you’re going to get upgraded because you ask nicely, because you’re well-dressed, or because you’re on your honeymoon. The days of those angles working to get a better seat are largely over—the airlines need to incentivize you to spend more, and they’ve developed rigid upgrade policies, so it seems they’d rather let those seats go empty than give them away. Therefore, if you want to maximize your travel but spend your money judiciously, you may have to make some tough choices. Here are the factors that go into my calculations:
When is the flight and how long is it?
Of course, not all flights are created equal. Some are longer, some are shorter. Some are in the middle of the day, some are overnight. A 6 hour north-to-south flight can keep you in the same time zone while a 6 hour east-to-west flight can mess up your sleep schedule. While I have no hard and fast rule about the length of flight that makes me likely to consider an upgrade, on anything less than four hours it’s unlikely to make sense given my current budget. Absent some mathematical mix-up, it seems to me to be like throwing money away. There’s also the matter of benefits – if you upgrade for that short hop from DC to NYC or Atlanta to Shreveport, you’re really not getting anything for your money – maybe a slightly bigger seat, an ability to board earlier, and sometimes a free glass of alcohol. On puddle jumpers in particular, the ROI is next to minimal.
For a 10 hour flight across multiple time zones, or two flights totaling more than 10 hours, on the other hand, there may be substantial benefits. Same with a redeye from California to the east. Of course, if a thousand dollar flight escalates to three thousand, it still may not be worth it, but if it means being refreshed for an important meeting or being ready to fish the next day on a short trip, you have to figure out what works for you. If you can get restful sleep in a sardine can, you might want to save the extra bucks for more tackle or a replica of the trophy fish you’re about to catch.
If you’re considering the upgrade as you check in, check whether the flight is going to be full. If sleep is your primary concern, having a row to yourself (AKA, “poor man’s first class”) may be every bit as good as sitting up front.
In some cases, it may make sense to buy the more expensive ticket for one leg of a trip but not for others. It’s not always possible, or cost-effective, but it should be a consideration if you’re trying to find the perfect intersection of comfort and cost effectiveness.
What are the perks?
Other than more comfort, what are the advantages of an upgraded ticket?
Well, one is more and better food. As noted above, if you’re going to be asleep the entire time, you may not get much value out of this perk. On the other hand, if it saves you an expensive airport meal or two, or you intend to drink yourself silly on a flight, it can pay off, especially when combined with other savings.
Another perk sometimes might be an amenity kit. On Qatar Air flights in business class we received pajamas and upscale toiletries. At retail, they might’ve been quite costly, but realistically there was no savings there, since we otherwise wouldn’t have bought them (and wouldn’t have known the difference).
One valuable perk is lounge access at your departure point and during layovers. If you have a lengthy layover you might even have access to a sleeping pod or showers to refresh yourself. I’ve found this to be quite valuable, although you should note that some credit cards give you lounge access regardless of the class you’re flying, and that you may be able to purchase lounge access a la carte for a reasonable fee (far less than the difference in ticket costs). At some lounges we’ve visited, like the Qatar Lounge in Doha, or the Virgin Atlantic Lounge at DC-Dulles, the meals have been exceptional, while at others, like American in Miami or Oma in Mazatlán, there has not been much in the way of a spread or a menu, let alone luxury.
Luggage allowances are another perk that come with upgraded status. Again, the savings over paying for bags a la carte needs to be put into your calculation as to whether it makes sense. If you get two free bags versus paying $30 for your first and $40 for your second, make that part of the equation. And remember – if you otherwise wouldn’t have taken two bags, it’s not really a savings. One situation where business class status did make a difference was several years ago during a seasonal “luggage embargo” to Mexico where friends were told that they could not check a full-sized fishing rod tube at any price with their economy class ticket. When they upgraded to business class, it was checked for free. Otherwise, they would’ve had to leave their tube behind.
Finally, as you make these calculations in your head of what is worthwhile for your particular situation and bank account, make sure that you are comparing apples to apples. The quality of the business class experience on a short hop on a regional carrier differs from that of a cross-country trip on a legacy US carrier, which differs from that on (for example) Emirates or Etihad going across the pond.
Frequent Flier Miles
Even if it otherwise makes sense for personal reasons, it may be tough to convince yourself to upgrade on an intercontinental flight where an economy ticket is $1,000 to $1,500 and a business class ticket costs $4,000 to $5,000. The difference in the fares, especially for a couple, will pay for a lot more vacations and tackle. Even though frequent flier miles are a form of currency, and as such should be treated like money, it is somehow easier to spend them freely than it is to spend cash.
I am of two minds about this. On the one hand, the airlines seem to constantly be devaluing the value of miles, so it makes sense to spend them sooner rather than later. On the other hand, when I know I’m likely to have a long haul trip in the future that would otherwise be painful to pay for out of pocket or suffer through in economy, I enjoy setting a mileage goal for myself and then getting the flights that I don’t want to pay for.
The best way to do this is with a credit card strategy, as outlined on websites like The Points Guy. Even if miles are generally worth one to two cents each, if you get a sizeable sign-up bonus and run much of your shopping through a dedicated portal, you can effectively create a valuable arbitrage. Those cards may get you additional benefits (like a free checked bag) that may factor into your decisions as well.
It may be tempting to “round up” your ticket from economy class to business class if it’s the difference between 30,000 miles and 45,000 miles, but remember that those extra 15,000 may come in handy at some point in the future, too. Also, remember that you may still be responsible for taxes on frequent flier tickets, and they can vary greatly depending on the airline and any layover points. British Air, for example, is known for adding heavy costs onto “free” tickets that transit through certain stopover airports.
Our upgrade experiences
While we experience the vast majority of our flights from the back of the plane, we have on occasion benefitted from upgrades and upsells. Here are some of those experiences:
Brazil: Coming back from our 2012 trip to the Amazon, my brother—who travels extensively for work and has hundreds of thousands of miles across multiple airline loyalty groups—was kind enough to upgrade us on American Airlines. The flight departed after midnight, and we fell asleep immediately for the five-hour hop from Manaus to Miami. This plane did not have lie-flat seats or anything very special about the accommodations. We did sleep comfortably, but Hanna was mad she missed the meal service. If we had to pay for this with our own money, I probably would not do so, because while it was a generous gesture on my brother’s part, it didn’t get us much.
Africa: On our 2016 three-week trip to southern Africa, we saved up 150,000 American Airlines miles each and used them for round-trip business class tickets on Qatar Air. While we didn’t have enclosed “apartments” like on some Emirates flights, we had our own “pods” with entertainment systems, on-call meal service, amenity packs and oversized bathrooms for our use. We had use of the Virgin Atlantic lounge (where I had a great Thai meal) at DC’s Dulles Airport, the Qatar Air lounge in Doha (luxurious, but a bit overwhelming), and another lounge on the way home in Johannesburg. We also got a pretty cool deal on our way through Doha, where we had a long layover – for a nominal fee, our business class tickets entitled us to expedited clearance through customs, an entry visa, a ride to a downtown hotel and a hotel room. That gave us the chance to briefly explore a city that we might never otherwise visit, and I’m glad we took advantage of it. When we arrived in Johannesburg after who knows how many hours of traveling, I was completely refreshed. In fact I commented to Hanna that I could have turned around and done the same route in reverse right then and there. After a stressful few months at work, the flight to Africa was like a mini-vacation of its own. Totally worth the pre-planning and the miles.
India: When Hanna vacationed with my family in India we made the decision that she’d purchase a business class ticket with cash rather than use miles or pay cash for an economy ticket. The decision to upgrade was based on several factors: (1) She was traveling alone; (2) she had layovers of several hours both coming and going in countries where she did not speak the dominant language; (3) it was a lengthy trip, with a time difference between the start point and end point of 10.5 hours (that’s not a typo); and (4) while the cost difference between economy and business was substantial we can afford it, and the rest of the trip was paid for by my family so we felt that she could splurge. For practical reasons, it turned out to be a good choice, as she arrived abroad after everyone else and was able to immediately get into the swing of things. An ancillary benefit was that because she paid several thousand dollars for the ticket, and put it on an airline credit card (where the spend was multiplied when it was converted into miles), she earned enough miles/credits that she was upgraded on several subsequent trips on that airline over the next 12 months.
Real life examples where it’s not worth it to us
Panama: We are headed back to Panama in November and we are fortunate to have a number of direct flight options on Copa that take about 4 hours. The departing flight leaves at 10am, and the returning flight leaves at 6pm. We probably won’t sleep on the former, but we might catch a few winks on the latter. We’ll have plenty of time to get meals at the airports and destination sites without upsetting our schedules. The only downside is that we may have to be in the Panama City (PTY) airport for five or six hours on the way home, so lounge access might be nice. Right now, an economy class ticket on our preferred Copa flights is $720, including one bag. A business class ticket is $1,112, including two bags. We only intend to take one bag apiece – a suitcase for the two of us (laundry is done every day) and our soft-sided Yeti cooler to bring home tuna steaks. At a difference of $392 apiece, in a time zone only one different than our own, it’s not worth it to us. That extra nearly eight hundred bucks buys a trip somewhere else or a lot of tackle (and we might be able to buy a one-day pass to the lounge for $50, if we decide that’s worth it).
Mazatlán: Many of our friends who join us in our two- or three-times-a-year trips to Lake El Salto and Lake Picachos fly business class most times, whether through status or by paying extra out of pocket. We’ve decided it’s not worth it for us, and I think the only time we’ve gone to the front of the plane was one time when Hanna was able to get a ticket for a low number of frequent flier miles and an economy class ticket was not available through that same route. Looking at our intended dates for January 2022, for which we have not yet bought our tickets, our preferred itinerary on American Airlines (the best and essentially only option) is $638 in economy and $1,426 in business class. Even though we’ll have to pay for our one bag apiece each way ($30x4), that still doesn’t make up the delta of $1,576. None of the four flight legs is over 3.5 hours, and we’re average-sized people. It may be worth it to some, but I know that after the fact that I’d be kicking myself for spending the extra on something so ephemeral.
Again, this is all a matter of personal preferences, values and wallets. Do what is best for you, but consider everything involved in making your choice. It’s not a science, and we generally reach decisions that work for us. Your choices may be different, and that’s ok as long as you know what you’re bargaining for.
