First class is $40? How airlines made luxury travel affordable – and almost no one noticed it
When does it make sense to fly first or business class?
I was a frequent flyer from an early age, as my parents were divorced and lived on different coasts. As a pre-teen, I would never fly first class because I wouldn’t be able to afford it, but even if I did, it wouldn’t be worth spending that kind of money for a few hours of comfort. , I remember thinking. ?
That was before frequent flyer upgrades really became popular. And I had no idea that people could sit there for less than the headline cost.
In the past, first class was several times more expensive than coach in Japan.
The combination of low-cost airlines and luxury cabins, as well as technological advances in the way airlines sell tickets, have begun to bring costs down, but consumers are not always aware of this change.
People think first class is expensive, much more expensive than it actually is comfortably available.
“How much net worth do you need to fly first class?”
My net worth is over $22 million, but I still can’t justify paying extra to fly first class. Am I crazy?
— CRECashFlowGuy (@cre_cashflow) December 7, 2024
My grandparents didn’t ride in the premium cabin. They grew up during the Great Depression. They had enough money, but it was outside their tolerance and not even considered. Once you reach a certain age, you stop going on trips. The last time they traveled was for my wedding. I redeemed their Membership Rewards points for a ticket.
Their son immigrated to Australia when I was five years old. He and my aunt had children there. But when my grandparents got too old to travel there by bus, they stopped going. I exchanged my miles for first class.
But this idea no longer makes sense (and for them, I don’t know if it ever was, but they have the money and deserve to spend more time with their family (grandkids!) There must have been).
For 40 years, airline first class is no longer the preserve of the wealthy. Nationally, it has gone from being a place for upper-middle-class middle managers to being a place full of people who have $40 or, sadly, have $40 to spend on a credit card.
Whether first class is “worth it” depends, of course, on how much you value it, and the funds available, but the modest increase often means that additional It means it’s easier to justify the cost.
Of course, airline first class isn’t as great as it once was. When I first started getting upgrades, lunch on non-premium cross-country flights might have been a steak or a multi-course meal. Now, this is seen as an upgrade that Delta is investing in its Shake-Shake offering. But it still has more space, bigger seats, and for now includes bags and seat allocation.
