My opinion about flying in business class from the east coast across the Atlantic Ocean has changed over the years. On our first trips, we flew in economy class which, at the time, I’m pretty sure, was still called Coach. What did we care about as we were young and were happy to be able to visit London and Paris?
Eventually, I learned about points and miles, and we flew to Japan in Business Class with a lie-flat seat. We’ve experienced flying to Australia and Japan in those seats, but we are unsure if it is worth the cost when traveling to Europe. On one occasion, we flew for a few extra hours to get a lie-flat seat from Paris, with a connection in Houston. We are uncertain if it would have been better to arrive home a few hours earlier by taking a flight to Florida.
Recently, we’ve flown to London in premium economy and to Iceland in economy on Icelandair, and for the length of the flights, we didn’t mind not having a flat seat for a few hours of sleep.
So now that we need flights to Spain for our Virgin Voyages trip, I’m having to decide if I want to splurge for business class fares or if economy seats will be sufficient.
My dilemma is that I transferred points from Bilt to Flying Blue/Air France with the recent promotion and now have a stockpile of miles. While business-class flights to Europe are expensive, economy flights are really cheap. In fact, flights from JFK to Paris in economy only would cost 20,000 miles each way per person. I could pay for our entire trip with the points I have from transferring points from Bilt with a 75% bonus.
It’s a 7+ hour red-eye flight from JFK to CDG, but I already know that neither Sharon nor I sleep well on a plane, even if it’s a lie-flat seat. The only flight we’ve slept for several hours on was on Singapore Airlines from SIN-SFO, and there’s nothing else to do on a 16+ hour flight.
So, should I book us an economy ticket for 20,000 miles or hold out hoping to find a business class ticket for more points and probably a worse routing? I already know the answer, but I’m hoping at least one other person out there who collects points and miles will agree with me that paying extra for a business-class seat to Europe isn’t worth it.
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17 comments
It’s a great and ongoing question. To be a little more fair to readers I might suggest listing the total cost in miles for each choice, else people are making guesses and judgements with some substantial puzzle pieces missing. The 20K to Paris sounds great. How much will it cost to get to JFK to make that Paris flight? Will you have to pay for a hotel? Stuff like that. Given the information you’ve mentioned it seems like you’re inclined to fly coach and ultimately if that’s what makes you happy, why second guess yourself? It’s one helluva deal, even with fuel surcharges.
The most restful flight are daytime JFK-LHR flights or other daytime flights, even in economy
Do you earn more miles yearly than you spend? Then definitely splurge. I sort of regret hoarding miles in the past. They will only devalue.
I agree that not hoarding miles is wise but spending miles hurts one’s ability to earn status. The pandemic broke the cycle. Not having status, I can now spend miles.
I’m that person! Between the noisy times of 90 min-2hr to serve dinner and the same for breakfast, there’s barely 2-3 hrs of quiet time to take advantage of the flat seat. The extra space is nice, but premium economy or exit row with status should be fine too. Clearly not worth 30-50k points extra each way, in addition to perhaps $100-200 in surcharges. I think 8 hrs is roughly the flight time where the extra points and money start to be in line with the extra comfort, although 10 hrs is for me the clear cut level.
SGN-SFO? What is SGN?
I enter unfamiliar airport codes into Google and out comes the answer.
Should be SIN (assume you meant Singapore). Sorry but easy to check that and lazy for an airline blog to post the wrong airport code
Yes, I did mean SIN for Singapore. While we did visit SGN (Saigon) on the same trip, it was an honest mistake. I thank everyone for pointing out my typo.
All right, I’ll jump in. I’m a very, very small time points collector, and there’s no way on earth I’d pay for mid-con US to Europe in Business. The points differential vis-a-vis Economy is just too shockingly huge. And, as you already point out, AF’s new 20,000 base price is a bit of a game changer; AA these days often charges 42,000 (round trip!), and $100 less in cash than AF. Plus, for some reason no one seems to have noticed the new AA Economy pricing, post so-called “devaluation.” My destinations are LHR and CDG.
To me it’s not worth it unless it’s a really good deal to most Western Europe locations from the east coast. If you allot it by time on a 6-7 hr flight by the time you are in the air and meals have finished and the wake you up for breakfast you are getting maybe 3-330 of lights off and for that I could probably sleep upright.
Paying for round trip Economy flights is a fantastic use of that Bilt rewards promo. Since you know you will not sleep well (including in a lie-flat Business Class seat), it is probably not worth the extra points for Business Class.
I say probably instead of definitely because I do not know how much you value the other benefits of flying Business Class. For example, a more pleasant boarding process; guaranteed room for your carry-on; a more comfortable seat; more leg room; better and faster service; better and more food/drink; easier access to a larger bathroom; more peace and quiet; and being first off the plane (and, possibly, first to Passport Control).
The final decision also depends on the difference in points, fees, and departure times.
I usually take an overnight flight from the east coast to Europe. For me it is worth the extra points for Business Class. I can sleep on a lie-flat seat (I take a sleeping pill upon boarding) and just ask the flight attendant to wake me an hour before we land and to serve my dinner along with my breakfast. That way I arrive reasonably rested and full.
I usually take a daytime flight to return from Europe to the east coast. I will not use the lie-flat seat to sleep during the day, and the other benefits are not important to me when I am heading home.
¡Buen viaje!
I believe the author is mostly wondering about the direct flights from the East Coast to Western Europe. Not to, let’s say, the 10 hour red eye from JFK to Istanbul (that’s in Europe too). Or even to a flight to Geneva, for example, via Dublin.
I’m flying transatlantic, with stop overs, quite often and the main difference is that if you fly overnight in business you won’t get close to fainting of exhaustion, even if you don’t sleep much. Is it worth paying 3x points for that? My wife says definitely, my teenager says that he “hates economy” and I say yes, if you have an easy way to get points.
@Jean – I assume you mean non-stop and not direct. You do know they aren’t the same thing right? If not do a little research so you use the correct term in the future
I fly Business Class to sleep. That is why most of my flights are at night…mostly to Asia where the flights are 11-14 hours so Business is a no-brainer. But if I had to fly during the day when I am not trying to sleep….Premium Economy if the number of hours is more than 5-6 hours, Economy if less.
My lean posterior (bum padding) is woefully insufficient for long haul economy class comfort so business class is the way to go for me.
God bless all those people who seem to be able to sleep like the dead from takeoff to landing. A lie flat seat doesn’t really help me sleep much on a plane, and I’m always lucky to catch an hour here or an hour there, no matter how long the flight. A lie flat seat might help it was longer and wider, and I had an anesthesiologist with me who could put me to sleep after the meal service.