[NTarrant]

Too bad for you Becky

[Saffjoyfox3]

Business is invariably more then sufficient, especially with a flat bed, and there is a limit to how much food and wine you can consume especially if you’re working soon after you arrive. Business also fits in with clients’ expectations and they’re almost always footing the bill. Very few cIients would be willing, or happy, to pay for First travel on a regular basis.

Flying First on BA for me is usually through getting great prices in their sales (and accepting the inability to change the dates), getting the one way upgrade when buying a flexible club ticket, involuntary upgrades or the 2-4-1. I have only paid for First on BA, LX or EY when on personal trips on a few occasions as a special surprise. It’s always a delight to fly that way though!!

I have though done a number of long haul trips in economy or premium economy (or a mix of the two) when I’ve had to and with a good seat choice in advance, and use of lounges at either end, it’s been fine.

[RichHI1]

BeckyBoop – 14/02/2012 11:43 GMT
I agree it would be interesting to hear from those who do not have the option of comfortabel travel.
I would suggest there are two importnat issues we need to consider here:
1) How often do they fly? Doing a LHR-JFK-KHR trip once every 3 months is one thing, commuting LHR-EZE every 10 days for lfying LHR-FRA 3 times a week is another.
2) How old are they? When I was 21 I could put up with no sleep for days on end and turning right held no issues for me. Now I have seen too many summers it is a very different story.

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

Becky

When you get a bit more life/work/travel experience, you will understand where NTarrant is coming from.

At the moment, you being unconvinced is on a par with me being unconvinced that Hawking understands quantum physics.

[RichHI1]

DoS, brush up on your Schrödinger! 🙂
Becky, would it help if they wore red shoes 🙂

[lloydah]

I agree with Saffjoyfox3, get the sales prices and it makes the journey so much more comfortable – mentally as well as physically. I am in a small co. – fine arts – the budget allows for some F, some C and some Y travel. More Y than C means a decent F flight. Budgets only stretch so far. For leisure Mrs L and I go F with sales fares when they are offered and have found them to be cheaper than WT+ at times. As for being insecure. Rubbish. Feeling a bit of pampering now we’re both arriving at retirement age is very nice but doesn’t make me insecure.

[Papillion53]

RichHI1 “I agree it would be interesting to hear from those who do not have the option of comfortabel travel.”

My DH regularly flies to the US on business and each calendar year until he does 4 return flights, they book him in Y. After that it’s C. I think this travel policy is really bad as it’s a long way from Scotland to the US and stuck in Y is no fun and I do notice a difference when he comes home – it takes him longer to “recover” when he had to fly in Y. So he usually tries to get in the 4 europe flights before he has to do a US but this year he didn’t manage that. He just hopes for a relatively quiet plane so he can at least have a bit of space.

BeckyBoop – it’s all very well when you’re young and in love (it’s Valentine’s day after all! ;-)) but when you get a bit older my darling comfort is what it’s all about. And being able to hit the deck running i.e. going straight into meetings/training courses off the flight, and if you’re knackered after a bad flight then you’re never at your best.

Referring to our Oz trip later this year, there is NO way I would do that in Y and I am not one of those who can afford to buy F tickets but would rather save (and spend money in tesco and on the DH’s Amex card!LOL!) to get the trip we want and fly in comfort. As lloydah says “a but of pampering at a certain age is very nice”.

I can remember when I was younger I used to look longingly through the blue curtain and say to myself “one day, one day ….”. So to all of you who are fortunate enough to travel F and C all the time without a second thought – you’re very lucky and that is said without any cynicism, but there are lots of us who can’t afford or are given that privilige as routine and there will be many like me down the back in Y today who are saying to themselves ” one day, one day …..”. We’re not all the great unwashed! ;-):-)

[millionsofmiles]

I personally had introduced only Y-class flights in my departments. After a period of six months, we dropped it. Why:
– we threw away a substantial part of tickets due to last minute changes in projects and by customers
– often the reissue/change of tickets at the airport didnt work due to time constraints

Results:
– the total of tct cost went up around 20%, but no more hassle

– a lot of European trips were bundled with long distance C, and the European flights issued with YY in the carrier box, so we could use any carrier, we paid full fare IATA price (eg: KUL-FRA-HEL-ARN-MIL).

This way , the very expensive European trips were for free, in some cases we even threw away the long distance part, if routing permitted

[BeckyBoop]

Bil Gates and a load of other billionaires flys economy!!

http://www.amazon.com/Business-Masterminds-Gates-Robert-Heller/dp/078945159X

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/05/1081017064144.html

http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/14/billionaires-frugal-money-personal-finance-thrifty-billionaires.html&sa=U&ei=PVs6T5LUEsHX0QXR_7mzCw&ved=0CDEQFjAI&usg=AFQjCNHz59fOEZIpL8bsK7DaEwEPwStTPg

These guys are not getting any younger!!

xx

[Henkel.Trocken]

If my PA had as much time as BB to post on this board I would be concerned about how much work was being done and whether they were needed or not.

I’ve always thought Bill Gates to be a rather sad character.

The posts remain remarkably similar in tone but not grammar to another poster as others have highlighted before.

[craigwatson]

Henkel – “The posts remain remarkably similar in tone but not grammar to another poster as others have highlighted before” im not sure how this adds anything to the discussion.

Why are people so concerned with who is who? This is all starting to get a bit childish.

Almost every topic there is someone expousing the same or similar to the above.

[Henkel.Trocken]

craigwatson – 14/02/2012 14:22 GMT

im not sure how this adds anything to the discussion.

Quite.

What were you intending to add because I’m having difficulty seeing it?

There is an antagonistic nature to both posters which I and I think many others can live without.

[craigwatson]

If BT were to ban antagonistic posters at least half the regular members here would be banned at one point or another.

[Swissdiver]

All: Do you think it is fair to say that the MAIN reason we (if possible) fly business class on long haul flights is the seat, the rest (food, IFE, …) being only nice add-ons?

[RichHI1]

Swissdiver In my most antagonistic fashion, I agree 100% as per prior post and same applies for First.

[Author]

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