4 ms·

The folks who are in a financial position to afford private flights are the same folks to fly first class and use airline lounges. Both of them have gotten far

The folks who are in a financial position to afford private flights are the same folks to fly first class and use airline lounges. Both of them have gotten far, far worse since the start of the pandemic. Food and beverage options in first have been trimmed way back. I've been on first class flights with nothing but a pre-packaged ziplock bag with a bottle of water and bag of goldfish crackers offered in 1st. Contrast this to the pre-pandemic standard of pre-takeoff cocktails, full snack baskets, etc. Service is starting to come back, but I have not seen ground service (pre-flight drinks) since before the pandemic. A recent cross country flight offered nothing but a boxed sandwich in 1st, compared to full, hot meals pre-pandemic. Airline lounges have also had food and beverage options trimmed way back. Delta lounges had nothing but pre-packaged snacks for roughly a year. The lounges are now over-crowed with people that have finally earned status via credit card spend and extended status rules. All in all, flying is quite a bit worse for the first class traveler and I can understand their motivations.

jaywalk 5y ago
Nobody is going to feel bad for people flying first class and relaxing in airline lounges, but you're spot on explaining how those experiences have been diminished since Covid began. You used to be able to pick your hot meal the day before your flight, but now because I prefer to sit towards the back of first class I just have to hope that my preferred cold boxed sandwich is available by the time the flight attendant gets to me to ask what I want. And it's not like they're both good choices (to me, at least) with one being a decently nice sandwich with meat or fish, and the other being a vegetarian meal with fruits and nuts. I realize how petty that all must sound to someone who doesn't fly first class, but it's legitimately annoying.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  Many carriers used to take orders in FEBO order (from Front on Even flight numbers, from the Back on Odd flight numbers). Then some switched to an East-West or North-South order to determine front vs back for those who didn’t pre-select 24 hours ahead.
  - jaywalk 5y ago
    Interesting, I guess I never paid attention before because I always pre-selected. And since Covid, it's always been front to back on every flight I've been on.
simonebrunozzi 5y ago
I think that your comment is wrong on so many levels. Let me start. > The folks who are in a financial position to afford private flights are the same folks to fly first class and use airline lounges. Both of them have gotten far, far worse since the start of the pandemic. First, I'd like to know your source, because I've heard too many times that it's the opposite: rich got richer with the pandemic. Or perhaps you meant that both first and private got worse from a food perspective? Also, how can you focus on food and beverage to explain the rise of private aviation flights? You go from first class to private jet (5x to 10x the cost) just because you don't like a cold sandwich? Didn't it occur to you that perhaps private jets offer safer environment in a world where Covid creates so many issues? Or, allows infected people to travel despite their health conditions, and therefore it's the only viable option, despite being more expensive than first class? Reading about food and snacks, and seeing your comment as the first in the page, sounded really odd to me. Perhaps I'm missing something super obvious?
- sokoloff 5y ago
  I read it as the two things that got worse were "flying first class" and "airline lounges". The second paragraph talks about how first class got worse. The third paragraph talks about how airline lounges got worse. (My few anecdotes during COVID match this judgment.)
- bradknowles 5y ago
  The flip side is that private aviation has gotten a lot cheaper, if you’re willing to book a seat on a shared private aircraft. Old companies like NetJets still offer fractional ownership at good rates, but new virtual airlines have popped up that use services like NetJets for their aircraft and personnel, but sell the seats as if they were nothing more than a step up from first class. What I think the OP was talking about is that first class on regular airlines has gotten a lot worse, and the people who can afford to regularly fly first class can also afford to pay not that much more to fly on these new virtual private airlines.
wdr1 5y ago
> The folks who are in a financial position to afford private flights are the same folks to fly first class and use airline lounges. Not even close. The cost to fly private is significantly higher than the cost of flying first.

jaywalk 5y ago

Nobody is going to feel bad for people flying first class and relaxing in airline lounges, but you're spot on explaining how those experiences have been diminished since Covid began. You used to be able to pick your hot meal the day before your flight, but now because I prefer to sit towards the back of first class I just have to hope that my preferred cold boxed sandwich is available by the time the flight attendant gets to me to ask what I want. And it's not like they're both good choices (to me, at least) with one being a decently nice sandwich with meat or fish, and the other being a vegetarian meal with fruits and nuts. I realize how petty that all must sound to someone who doesn't fly first class, but it's legitimately annoying.

sokoloff 5y ago
Many carriers used to take orders in FEBO order (from Front on Even flight numbers, from the Back on Odd flight numbers). Then some switched to an East-West or North-South order to determine front vs back for those who didn’t pre-select 24 hours ahead.
- jaywalk 5y ago
  Interesting, I guess I never paid attention before because I always pre-selected. And since Covid, it's always been front to back on every flight I've been on.

simonebrunozzi 5y ago

I think that your comment is wrong on so many levels. Let me start. > The folks who are in a financial position to afford private flights are the same folks to fly first class and use airline lounges. Both of them have gotten far, far worse since the start of the pandemic. First, I'd like to know your source, because I've heard too many times that it's the opposite: rich got richer with the pandemic. Or perhaps you meant that both first and private got worse from a food perspective? Also, how can you focus on food and beverage to explain the rise of private aviation flights? You go from first class to private jet (5x to 10x the cost) just because you don't like a cold sandwich? Didn't it occur to you that perhaps private jets offer safer environment in a world where Covid creates so many issues? Or, allows infected people to travel despite their health conditions, and therefore it's the only viable option, despite being more expensive than first class? Reading about food and snacks, and seeing your comment as the first in the page, sounded really odd to me. Perhaps I'm missing something super obvious?

sokoloff 5y ago
I read it as the two things that got worse were "flying first class" and "airline lounges". The second paragraph talks about how first class got worse. The third paragraph talks about how airline lounges got worse. (My few anecdotes during COVID match this judgment.)
bradknowles 5y ago
The flip side is that private aviation has gotten a lot cheaper, if you’re willing to book a seat on a shared private aircraft. Old companies like NetJets still offer fractional ownership at good rates, but new virtual airlines have popped up that use services like NetJets for their aircraft and personnel, but sell the seats as if they were nothing more than a step up from first class. What I think the OP was talking about is that first class on regular airlines has gotten a lot worse, and the people who can afford to regularly fly first class can also afford to pay not that much more to fly on these new virtual private airlines.

wdr1 5y ago

> The folks who are in a financial position to afford private flights are the same folks to fly first class and use airline lounges. Not even close. The cost to fly private is significantly higher than the cost of flying first.