Long Haul Travel...

mistercharlie

£1,500 to lie down for a few hours instead of sitting up?

Whitecat

mistercharlie said:

£1,500 to lie down for a few hours instead of sitting up?

And better food, better/unlimited booze, bigger TV, priority boarding, higher baggage allowance, preflight lounge access, arrival lounge access, sometimes other perks too.

OP: if it's an overnight flight it's especially worth it if you need to recover quickly - especially eastbound.

And if you're paying cash money I imagine the status miles will be good too...

Westbound flights to the eastern seaboard of North America are almost not worth it, but anything further afield I'd strongly consider depending on the situation.

crunchman

themeinside said:

Quick show of hands- I can just about afford to go Business Class on a deal for a very long flight, but it is a good £1500 more than the equivalent economy fare. Any insights? Suck up economy and buy an Explorer? Or make the pain of two long haul flights all the more bearable by being extravagant?

Tele rather than Explorer, but definitely go economy and get the guitar.

p90fool

Being 6'3" I really wanted an extra couple of inches of legroom on a flight to India recently, but it would've cost the equivalent of a used Harley Sportster, just to be a bit more comfortable for a few hours. 

There must be a market for a 200 quid legroom upgrade, without having to stump up for silly ego trip nonsense like champagne and vibro massage beds. 

I don't want to pretend to be Rod Stewart, I just want the distance from my seat back to the one in front to be a little longer than my thigh bone. 

Whitecat

p90fool said:

Being 6'3" I really wanted an extra couple of inches of legroom on a flight to India recently, but it would've cost the equivalent of a used Harley Sportster, just to be a bit more comfortable for a few hours. 

There must be a market for a 200 quid legroom upgrade, without having to stump up for silly ego trip nonsense like champagne and vibro massage beds. 

I don't want to pretend to be Rod Stewart, I just want the distance from my seat back to the one in front to be a little longer than my thigh bone. 

A lot of airlines now have a “Premium Economy” cabin which is basically exactly this. 

Danny1969

Cheaper load up on booze in the airport and buy a bottle for your hand luggage ... 10 hours in an alcohol haze is quite bearable

scrumhalf

Depends on the airline and how it configures its planes, but for £1500 I'd fly economy or premium ecponomy and spend and extra day sleeping before starting a "real" holiday.

jellyroll

For £1,500 extra I'd snatch their hand off to go business for that length of flight. 

Roland

mistercharlie said:

£1,500 to lie down for a few hours instead of sitting up?

It would be simple if that were the case. Depending on the time change you need to cost in the recovery time, for example hotel costs. Also, if you are using annual holiday allowance, you to decide what those recovery days are worth to you.

Zoolooter

An extra £1500 sound remarkably cheap for a long haul business class fight.

Roland

themeinside said:

We're talking about Auckland, New Zealand, so literally one of the furthest cities on the planet from ol' Blighty! Looking at options, going east is the most likely, with a stop-over of a couple of hours in Kuala Lumpur.

What about taking a couple of days between flights, and seeing KL or some other air hub city like Hong Kong or Mumbai?

octatonic

Fly out premium economy and back business and buy a MIM strat.

Nitefly

Interesting discussion, this.  I'm in the process of planning a trip to Wellington NZ early next year, to visit my daughter.

The plan is:

Fly Manchester - Singapore, stay 3 nights;
Fly Singapore - Sydney, stay 3 nights;
Fly Sydney - Wellington, stay 7 nights;
Fly Wellington - Adelaide, stay 4 nights;
Fly Adelaide - Ho Chi Minh City, stay 3 nights;
Fly HCMC - Singapore - Manchester.

I'm hoping the stay-overs will minimise any jet-laggery.

I sure as shit can't afford to do it Business class, so will have to fly economy (although I'm hoping for inside seats...)

ESBlonde

Priority boarding? Thats where you get on first and have to sit for even longer while the other passengers on the same flight board and settle down!

Jalapeno

Premium Economy is definitely worth it, especially if you have long legs like me. 

Business Class is ace but the cost is a lot - up to you - but being able to lie flat is a good thing. .....

Recently went to Oz by Premium Economy, worth every penny.

p90fool

Zoolooter said:

An extra £1500 sound remarkably cheap for a long haul business class fight.

It probably is, but if you put it in terms of paying £1500 to be a bit more comfortable for eight hours it sounds astonishingly wasteful, whatever your income.

munckee

Don't go, buy a custom shop!!

ftumch

Ive flown to NZ a few times, always cattle class. Although its not particularly comfortable id never consider paying that much for posh seats. Just suck it up, its only 24 hrs. I would highly recomend doing it in no more than two legs, 24 hrs is manageable, 30 is killer! 

jellyroll

p90fool said:

Zoolooter said:

An extra £1500 sound remarkably cheap for a long haul business class fight.

It probably is, but if you put it in terms of paying £1500 to be a bit more comfortable for eight hours it sounds astonishingly wasteful, whatever your income.

As opposed to paying £1500 for some wood.....

stickyfiddle

p90fool said:

Zoolooter said:

An extra £1500 sound remarkably cheap for a long haul business class fight.

It probably is, but if you put it in terms of paying £1500 to be a bit more comfortable for eight hours it sounds astonishingly wasteful, whatever your income.

To be completely fair, on this sort of trip, it would actually be paying 1500 to spend 2 hours in the lounge at(presumably) Heathrow with all the free high-quality food & drink you can manage, then board the plane first, maximising your time sitting in your comfy business seat. Then flying for 7 hours to Dubai/Qatar/HK/KL (or wherever) & getting off the plane first, sitting in the lounge there rather than on the concourse. Again all the free food & drink you fancy, plus comfy seats or even a shower and lie-down depending on how long your transfer is. Then again with the priority boarding, decent treatment and a half-decent night's sleep if you haven't already had one on the first leg and.or in the lounge, then getting off first which puts you at the front of the passport queue and usually getting your bag quickly and potentially spending some time freshening up in the arrivals lounge in NZ, and possibly even a free limo to your hotel, and you have half a chance of arriving feeling like a human being. 

And then all that in reverse on your way home. Plus extra baggage allowance and more airmiles, if those are relevant to your interests. My point is what you get with a Business ticket isn't just about extra legroom and a more comfy seat-pitch. 

I'm not going to tell people whether that's good value or not. I don't pay for upgrades unless they're VERY cheap, but absolutely do enjoy all those benefits with miles or occasional op-ups when available, and have an awesome credit card that gives me shitloads of miles and annual companion tickets. If I was a millionaire I'd never fly economy.