Over the years, my opinion about flying business class from the East Coast to Europe has evolved. On our first trips, we flew economy class—back when I’m pretty sure it was still called “coach.” What did it matter? We were young and just thrilled to visit London and Paris.
Discovering Points and Miles
I eventually learned about points and miles, which opened up new travel possibilities. Our first major redemption was a business-class flight to Japan with lie-flat seats. Since then, we’ve flown in business class to Australia, Japan and Singapore. But when it comes to Western Europe, we’ve questioned whether the extra cost is worth it.
On one occasion, we even chose a longer route home from Paris, connecting through Houston, just to secure a lie-flat seat. Looking back, we wonder if it would have been better to take a more direct flight home to Florida, getting us home a few hours earlier but without the extra comfort. Sure, lie-flat seats are nice, but are they worth the premium on a five- to eight-hour flight?
Recent Premium Economy and Economy Experiences
In recent trips, we’ve opted for premium economy and even economy on shorter transatlantic flights. We flew premium economy to London on Virgin Atlantic, returned from London in Norse’s premium recliner seats, and took an economy flight to Iceland with Icelandair. Given the flight durations, we didn’t mind skipping lie-flat seats.
The Dilemma: Miles vs. Comfort
Now, as I plan a trip back to London this fall, I face the same debate: splurge on business class or stick with economy? Economy flights are incredibly cheap, sometimes as low as 20,000 miles, whereas business-class seats start at around 100,000 miles.
And then there’s the added frustration of British Airways’ hefty surcharges on award tickets. These fees can make using Avios or AAdvantage miles a poor redemption choice.
Is Business Class Really Worth It?
Even with a stockpile of miles, spending significantly more for business class feels like a big decision. The flight is too short to get proper sleep, and if I’m going to be tired anyway, I could book a hotel room upon arrival rather than pay for a lie-flat seat.
What’s your approach? Do you book business class for shorter transatlantic flights, or do you find economy sufficient? Let me know in the comments!
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
4 comments
Easy: short people to econony, tall people to business…. 🙂
Wanted to take advantage of low Virgin Atlantic premier award sale to London. But the fees are just too outrageous.
Good observations! I often ask myself: do I want to spend an extra $700-$2,000 for a special meal and bed for 7-8 hours? I do not that level of resources. Recently I choose Premium Economy that offers a nice meal and comfortable seat for far less. The best deal is to use miles for the PE upgrade, carefully selecting the route or time of flight that maximizes landing that upgrade. For those longer flights 12-15 hours, I have opted to use miles for the upgrade, and pay the $450-$550 copay for Business lie-flat seat and special meal. If the Business upgrade does not clear, the copay is refunded and I am enjoy the PE service.
Same quandary here. Now that I’m in my late 50’s, being 6’4″ with 20″ wide shoulders and weighing a lot more than I’d like I try for business where feasible on any flight over three hours. Sometimes though, business just isn’t worth it. Last month my wife and I flew back from Amsterdam and business class awards were 100K+ per person. I just couldn’t justify that so I got premium economy seats at 45K each. My wife also said that using points to buy a cheap middle seat would also be acceptable. That helps when coach tickets are a screaming deal but you want a little more space.
As always there are variables. For us, the empty middle seat on flights to Europe may become our standard way to travel since business & first class saver awards are becoming increasingly scarce and pricey. For Asia, I want a lie flat seat though since 14 hours in coach is rough, middle seat passenger or not.