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I flew business class with BA five years ago as it was cheaper than economy on my usual airline at the time (EK) - mainly as it was a last minute booking. I fle
by fyfy18 6y ago
I flew business class with BA five years ago as it was cheaper than economy on my usual airline at the time (EK) - mainly as it was a last minute booking. I flew two intercontinental legs (Middle East -> Europe -> North America) and both aircraft were on old 747s that looked like they hadn't been cleaned for a week or more. The infotainment system felt just as old, with a choice of maybe 20 movies on the 8" display where the touch screen barely functioned. The lie flat bed wasn't bad (they had an interesting layout where one seat faces foward and the next faces backward), and the food was just regular reheated meals with slightly nicer silverware than economy.
Now I understand some other airlines have better offerings than BA, and if you fly first class (I think for the same flight it was roughly 8x more) it's going to be a different story, but at the end of the day you are still just flying A to B.
The best part was probably the lounge where I had the connection, but I only had 1 1/2 hours so didn't get to experience it much. However it wasn't really much more than a 4* hotel buffet.
If I could afford to drop $20k to fly first class whenever I feel like it, would I? Probably. Do I feel like I'm missing out on anything by not doing that? Nope.
How much more is it to fly in a private jet? I feel that would be a different story, given you can schedule it so it picks you up whenever is convenient for you.
- gruez 6y ago>How much more is it to fly in a private jet? I feel that would be a different story, given you can schedule it so it picks you up whenever is convenient for you. In a recent hn thread about private jets, someone was saying that unless you go all out on a private jet, the experience is almost certainly going to be worse than flying commercial. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23732841 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23732841
- chrissnell 6y agoThis, definitely. I've flown Emirates A380 first class a few times and done the onboard shower thing. You're drinking $1500/bottle booze and taking a shower on a plane. You're not going to do that on a private jet unless you're the cofounder of Google or an oligarch or a head of (a large) state. ...but, for about $3000-5000, you can experience this on a transatlantic flight. Where else can someone in the upper middle class save their pennies and get to live like royalty for a day? It's a pretty amazing thing. Well, it _was_ an amazing thing. It's possible that the era of showers and A380s and maybe even international first class as we knew it is gone forever. Here's what you could get for $3000 if you are ready to be flexible on travel dates and have a knack for obsessive pouring-over of schedules: https://flickr.com/photos/69697531@N00/sets/72157706663987055 https://flickr.com/photos/69697531@N00/sets/7215770666398705...
- alasdair_ 6y agoWait, transatlantic first class is only $3000? I paid that for my last (allegedly “premium”) economy ticket on virgin to heathrow. I’m missing out.
- TheOtherHobbes 6y agoLHR to JFK is $3k to $20k. Usually you'll be lucky to get a $3k flight, but they do exist.
- seanmcdirmid 6y agoFirst class is on the way out on many international routes since all the demand and money is in biz class. Ya, you can get your own private cabin with big screen tv and full sized bed (on a Singapore 380 if they still fly those), but most aren’t going to pay for it and are flying on an upgrade (business class is full, bump someone to first!). Business class is nice because you can sleep on a lie flat, which is the only thing I care about on an 11 hour flight.
- dzhiurgis 6y agoWith Qatar you now can get your own suite in business. Personally I hope I'll never have to fly across planet in economy, but also wouldn't mind flying in bunk bed either. It's sitting up for 26-30 hours or so that kills me.
- seanmcdirmid 6y agoI used to take hard sleepers across China with that theory, but two and a half days between Urumqi and Shanghai is still a struggle. I imagine kiwis and Australians have to suffer this much more than us northern hemisphere folk, I hardly ever have to suffer a flight that is longer than 11-12 hours for one leg, and business class is expensive if I’m paying myself.
- Scoundreller 6y agoI’m looking forward to configurations where you can book a coffin to sleep in for 6 hours on your flight once at altitude.
- dzhiurgis 6y agoAir NZ announced theirs right at the start of the pandemic. 6 bunks are not going to be enough for 300-400 passengers tho.
- stephen_g 6y agoI haven't flown BA long haul (in any class) but unfortunately from what I hear they are generally not very well regarded for any of their products (especially premium) and haven't been for quite some time.