I flew Upper Class/First Class on Virgin from NY to London and paid a bit more than $1200 for the on

I worked for a brief time for a lawyer in London named Randolph Fields, who was co-founder of what became Virgin Airlines, among a lot of other things. (He died aged just 44, I was sad to learn, in 1997.) He was a guy simply busting with life, when I knew him; a very smart and I think a kind man underneath all the rich-guy mucho-macho posturing, fond of fast living and poker.
As they designed their new airline, Fields and Richard Branson worked through zillions of maddening details, from buying their first plane (a complicated affair) to applying for routes to developing all the new amenities they d be offering. Fields was very pleased with the name they d chosen for their First Class service: Upper Class. At one point he asked us minions what we thought airline mileage credit card the name of the Economy service should be. I piped up immediately: Working airline mileage credit card Class.
Fields was just appalled. I insisted: What?! Come on. It s Class, and it is Working, that is the perfect name! I couldn t imagine why they thought it would be okay to have Upper Class without Working Class, as if one didn t require the other. I suppose in their minds it was amusing and flip to have Upper Class: a lark, whereas to point out explicitly that Economy fliers were Non-U would be calling too much attention to the weird divide between First Class and Economy, a chasm that has only grown deeper since those days: the real-world illustration of inequality that takes place in the narrow walkways of airplanes airline mileage credit card hundreds of thousands of times every day.
There is something inherently degrading about the existence of first class air travel, whether you are sitting in it or having to walk through the rows of plush well-appointed seats to the more-cramped, less-reclining ones behind. Once in a while, in passing airline mileage credit card through to your own humble seat you might catch the eye of one of the Upper Class. More often, they avoid looking at you. Or when you yourself are occupying a First or Business seat through luck or extravagance, that is uncomfortable in a different way; maybe you don t look up from your mimosa, either.
Unless you are fairly wide and/or fairly tall, those few inches of extra room won t make much difference, you re going to be stuck there and uncomfortable no matter what; why pay hundreds or thousands of dollars more simply to emerge five minutes earlier from an airplane that is, with any luck, landing at the same time for every passenger? Not that I m opposed to luxury, in its place. But when what s on offer appears largely to be Superiority For Hire, it seems ridiculous, contemptible even, like the privilege queues on offer these days at theme parks. Contrary to what the marketing juggernaut would like us to believe, you can buy superior things, but you can t buy superiority for yourself, airline mileage credit card not with any amount of dough, and the more you spend the less you will succeed.
The silliest part of the whole business is that those who habitually fly first class are liable to be far more concerned with their own low status relative airline mileage credit card to those who wouldn t be caught dead flying commercial than they are with the fate of the Economy traveler. The system, like the larger one enclosing it, seems designed to promote aggrieved and uncomfortable feelings.
First class has always been absurdly expensive, but before the advent of frequent-flier programs, it was far more common for the average person to be bumped up, and therefore it seemed less immediately exclusive. If the plane was overbooked, for example, you might easily score a first class seat, particularly if traveling alone. Certain airlines were more lenient about this, and there were also a lot of wheezes for standby tickets at cut prices and whatnot. If the ride was very bumpy the stewardesses as they were then known would bust out the booze and give everyone free drinks. Air travel was just goofier, and messier, and seemed quite a bit less Us and Them.
From time to time there have been attempts made to provide reasonably more egalitarian, comfortable, cost-effective air travel—some of them very successful. I am still mourning airline mileage credit card People Express, a most efficient and pleasant means of getting from Los Angeles to Newark in the 1980s that was run roughly on the Freddie Laker model. You paid for a ticket in cash, on the plane; they d come around with a little cart and collect your dough after takeoff. There was no first class, and they didn t serve food. The cheapest flight on that route was a red-eye jammed with mostly young people and it was cool as anything. This, too, was capitalism, just practiced in a very different way. People airline mileage credit card Express died because they diversified into separate classes. It started with their flights to London. They jettisoned their pricing model—which was very reminiscent of Jet Blue s—to chase greater fares, then had to sell, merge or face bankruptcy.
And now we learn that today s best airline, the once-invincible JetBlue, whose equal seating airline mileage credit card was to my mind the best feature of a generally excellent product, will be offering first class service beginning late next year . JetBlue believes it can beat other first-class coast-to-coast prices. Well, certainly they can . But then what?
JetBlue has already gone that way. Perhaps one of the nicer things was the boarding order was done by rows. None of this, we d like to welcome our first class, premium club, diamond club, business club, bulkhead club, and one and one until the plebs can board. NOW with their preferred seating, and getting to board before everyone else, it s starting to feel more like the other commercial airlines in the States.
I liked People Express, but on the old Eastern shuttle, between New York and DC many times a day, you would just show up at the gate, no reservation. Around 30 minutes before departure they d count noses, and if there were more than one plane s worth of people they would bring up a second airplane at the next gate over. Once you were in the air, they took your credit card.
I don t know about proper First Class but isn t almost everyone airline mileage credit card who flies Business or higher usually flying on someone else s dime? I shudder to think that there are actually significant numbers of people spending thousands upon thousands of dollars of their own money to sit a nice chair for a few hours and eat food that they would send back if they d paid $20 for it in a restaurant.
@stuffisthings I ve only ever flown business when paid for by my company (which in turn bills my airfare to clients) or by paying airline mileage credit card with miles. But I always thought that business class was for the white collar, flying-on-someone-else s-dime set, while first class (on 3-class planes) was for actual rich people paying airline mileage credit card their own way. Maybe I just imagined, but none of them ever looked like they were working, or ever worked in the first place.
@Astigmatism How much does Biz class actually cost, when companies buy huge blocks airline mileage credit card of tickets, have embedded travel agency employees in their own companies, etc. Obviously it costs more, but as much as it would if you just walked airline mileage credit card up to the desk and paid for it?
@SarahHeartburn The cost and quality airline mileage credit card difference between first and business, or whatever they are called, is not often that high, and if you travel frequently it s easy to bump up with miles or a bit of extra cash (esp. if you already have status ). It really depends airline mileage credit card on the carrier and the route.
In any case, I think most people at my workplace would give up the business class seats they are entitled to on long flights for the opportunity to fly on foreign carrier. Thanks a lot, Fly America Act!
ETA: To actually answer your question, the savings is not as significant as you might expect. airline mileage credit card We spend millions on airfare every year and our travel agent can rarely beat the most cursory Internet search. Also, a lot of business flights end up being pretty airline mileage credit card last-minute.
@stuffisthings I had a friend who worked at Northwest Airlines who would bump me up to First Class when there was an available seat. It was always a surprise. To be in your early 20s, earning 10-grand a year to have a flight attendant look at your ticket and say you ve been upgraded to seat 1A , was pretty awesome.
I actually pay for business and first class regularly. Many times it is only marginally airline mileage credit card more expensive than coach. I assume the ticket prices are primarily driven by whether there is a business airline mileage credit card demand for a particular ticket.
I flew Upper Class/First Class on Virgin from NY to London and paid a bit more than $1200 for the one way ticket. Which is really not that much more than they regularly charge for coach. It was 4th of July weekend and I assume there was no business demand.
It was worth every penny. Fully reclining bed. Amazing food. Free pajamas. Big pillow, duvet, etc., etc. Never arrived feeling more rested. But I admit that other times of the year it is cost prohibitive.
airline mileage credit card No there isn t. It s absurdly airline mileage credit card expensive, but it isn t degrading. I won t fly across an ocean in steerage, which means I travel less frequently but better. Your attitude airline mileage credit card towards business airline mileage credit card class may be because you re American airline mileage credit card and used to the crap that US airlines serve up as first class, but I guarantee that business in Singapore or Turkish Airlines or even Air Canada is a whole different world.
There s nothing degrading about British Airways business class when you are on a 10-12 hour flight with kids. It s awesome. They have room to play and sleep and the attendants are generally very helpful airline mileage credit card and nice and the food is often good. But US carriers do suck. They think all the unpleasantness can be bought off with a terrible warmed up cookie. First class is for chumps though. The wine is better but you have to deal with asshole captain of the universe passengers who have no regard for fellow travelers.
I pay because I don t want to sit next to you Maria. You may smell of wildflowers and be utterly charming, but I don t want to spend 5-14 hours watching you snack, read, watch TV, snore or anything airline mileage credit card else.
I love communal tables at a restaurant, because I know its only