I’m planning a trip down under, flying from Heathrow to Sydney. I’m considering flying business class as it comes with a lie-flat bed. Obviously, it costs a lot more, about $6-7,000 more. I have the money but I’m not rich by any means. Has anyone flown long haul business class before and do you think it’s worth the extra $?
Few tricks of the trade. Stick with economy but book your flight extra early and choose an exit row seat so you can stretch your legs fully. Eat a nice big meal at the airport and take onboard some of your favorite snacks. That way you won't feel half starved from eating only the airline food. Final trick, try to not sleep for the 24hrs before your flight. That way you'll sleep like a baby and the 17hrs will fly by. See what I did there? Lol
If a question 'is it worth it' comes into your mind, you probably shouldn't be considering business class. As the name implies, it's for busiess, ie is written off as expenses. Or, you are really rich and those 6-7k are peanuts, not smth like your monthly to weekly income. Or, you upgrade with points.
Heathrow to Sydney is probably British Airways. Their economy class is what someone like Delta would market as comfort or economy plus. So you'll probably be fine. I've never flown 17 hours myself but did a lot of trips between Russia and California which are in 15+ hour range with one stop, Moscow to LA nonstop used to be 12-13 hours. After a while you develop your flight routine. Mine consists of two parts: nutrition and medication. Nutrition is, you have to hit the right balance. Digestion will be disturbed by breaking your daily schedule, so try to counter that with eating 'safe' foods moderately rich with fiber so that you have less poop issues; same with hydration, hit the right balance - drink more than normal as the airplane air dries you, but not too much as having to pee too often in the plane is uncomfortable to say the least. 'Medication' - use sleep support of your choice. Alcohol is not a good idea as hydration is already difficult even without it; cbd/thc gummies work great but make sure you don't get in trouble if they're illegal in any of the countries you visit (or accept that risk).
Just yesterday I flew Duluth-Minneapolis-Amsterdam-Berlin and hardly even noticed the longest (8h) leg of the trip as I slept the whole way. Can recommend.
I’m planning a trip down under, flying from Heathrow to Sydney. I’m considering flying business class as it comes with a lie-flat bed. Obviously, it costs a lot more, about $6-7,000 more. I have the money but I’m not rich by any means. Has anyone flown long haul business class before and do you think it’s worth the extra $?
Few tricks of the trade. Stick with economy but book your flight extra early and choose an exit row seat so you can stretch your legs fully. Eat a nice big meal at the airport and take onboard some of your favorite snacks. That way you won't feel half starved from eating only the airline food. Final trick, try to not sleep for the 24hrs before your flight. That way you'll sleep like a baby and the 17hrs will fly by. See what I did there? Lol
Depriving your self of sleep for close to 48 hours because this is what you are doing (the 24 hrs that you mentioned) + time of travel ( you will not be able to sleep on board unless you have an entire row to yourself.) By the time you get to your destination, you will be wiped out and you will take many days to recover from jet lag and exhaustion. Why bother...
I've been lucky to have flown many long haul flights in business, although I've never paid for it outright (except for a canceled trip a few months after the pandemic started), as I've used miles (either fully or as an upgrade to paid Econ). This was a hobby and never from work. The problem is once you've experienced it, it's going to be painful going back. To me it's worth it, but it's gotta be a "good deal."
One way SYD-HAN-LHR on Vietnam Air lie-flat can be had for $2,145USD on many dates, which isn't horrendous. I'd investigate miles getting you there (or econ/prem econ). You can also look out for deals in Flyertalk premium fare deals. Great deals last briefly, so it's a matter of being patient but alert.
I am seeing 2+ week trips from London to Sydney (LHR-SYD) round trip in business for around £2750 (verified - $3,400). That's pretty darn good, but is it worth it over the £700 I'm finding for Econ?
If a question 'is it worth it' comes into your mind, you probably shouldn't be considering business class. As the name implies, it's for busiess, ie is written off as expenses. Or, you are really rich and those 6-7k are peanuts, not smth like your monthly to weekly income. Or, you upgrade with points.
Heathrow to Sydney is probably British Airways. Their economy class is what someone like Delta would market as comfort or economy plus. So you'll probably be fine. I've never flown 17 hours myself but did a lot of trips between Russia and California which are in 15+ hour range with one stop, Moscow to LA nonstop used to be 12-13 hours. After a while you develop your flight routine. Mine consists of two parts: nutrition and medication. Nutrition is, you have to hit the right balance. Digestion will be disturbed by breaking your daily schedule, so try to counter that with eating 'safe' foods moderately rich with fiber so that you have less poop issues; same with hydration, hit the right balance - drink more than normal as the airplane air dries you, but not too much as having to pee too often in the plane is uncomfortable to say the least. 'Medication' - use sleep support of your choice. Alcohol is not a good idea as hydration is already difficult even without it; cbd/thc gummies work great but make sure you don't get in trouble if they're illegal in any of the countries you visit (or accept that risk).
Just yesterday I flew Duluth-Minneapolis-Amsterdam-Berlin and hardly even noticed the longest (8h) leg of the trip as I slept the whole way. Can recommend.
Could also be by Qantas or Emirates, Qatar, Thai, Air India, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, JAL etc not just British Airways. Many options with one stop...
Personally I prefer Qatar, Singapore Airlines, Emirates for business class.
I've been flying a lot for work recently -- one trans-Atlantic flight from Newark to Dublin, the rest intra-Europe -- and the business class seats I've passed have looked...kinda lame? Like, wider and with more legroom definitely but not an outright different experience. I got randomly upgraded to business class on a spirit airways from New Orleans to Los Angeles in January and that one wasn't much nicer at all, and you still had to listen to the annoying schpeals about how great spirit airlines is.
So I guess the lesson is, first check that the airline you're flying with really does have a much nicer business class experience.
Also, you can get access to really nice airport lounges just by getting the Chase Sapphire card -- the 'preferred' has a $95 annual fee and IMO, for all you get, it's a pretty good deal.
I don't know if this has been pointed out yet, but the OP probably works for an airline that is trying to gauge how much to charge for business class seats. Y'all have just provided them with a lot of data. In the future, say heck no you would not pay $X for business class. That will bring the price down.
I've been flying a lot for work recently -- one trans-Atlantic flight from Newark to Dublin, the rest intra-Europe -- and the business class seats I've passed have looked...kinda lame? Like, wider and with more legroom definitely but not an outright different experience. I got randomly upgraded to business class on a spirit airways from New Orleans to Los Angeles in January and that one wasn't much nicer at all, and you still had to listen to the annoying schpeals about how great spirit airlines is.
So I guess the lesson is, first check that the airline you're flying with really does have a much nicer business class experience.
Also, you can get access to really nice airport lounges just by getting the Chase Sapphire card -- the 'preferred' has a $95 annual fee and IMO, for all you get, it's a pretty good deal.
Ah IC the issue. Intra European business class seats and service are not the same as long distance international flight. Different as night and day.
Business class/First class in the USA except for transcontinental flights i.e. from Los Angeles/San Francisco to NYC are really economy service.
You need to take a proper international business class flight then you will note the material difference.
I don't know if this has been pointed out yet, but the OP probably works for an airline that is trying to gauge how much to charge for business class seats. Y'all have just provided them with a lot of data. In the future, say heck no you would not pay $X for business class. That will bring the price down.
That's not how airlines charge prices. They use revenue pricing models.
Used to fly east coast to the Philippines a lot, both on my own dime and on government contracts. They said I could upgrade to business class once because of the distance, it was nice and all, but when I saw the cost difference and realized it was coming out of the taxpayers wallet, I refused to do it again. A nice glass of wine and a couple inches bigger seat was absolutely not worth the thought of what that cost.
Few tricks of the trade. Stick with economy but book your flight extra early and choose an exit row seat so you can stretch your legs fully. Eat a nice big meal at the airport and take onboard some of your favorite snacks. That way you won't feel half starved from eating only the airline food. Final trick, try to not sleep for the 24hrs before your flight. That way you'll sleep like a baby and the 17hrs will fly by. See what I did there? Lol
Depriving your self of sleep for close to 48 hours because this is what you are doing (the 24 hrs that you mentioned) + time of travel ( you will not be able to sleep on board unless you have an entire row to yourself.) By the time you get to your destination, you will be wiped out and you will take many days to recover from jet lag and exhaustion. Why bother...
If you have an exit row seat as I mentioned you wont get disturbed by people next to you trying to get past you to get out. Also having a big protein rich meal shortly before boarding will help put you to sleep quickly. I've managed to get a good solid 10hrs sleep on 15hr+ flights several times doing this. When you arrive at your destination just add an extra 2hrs sleep time to your first nights sleep and you're good to go. It's worked for me. It may not work for everyone.
Depriving your self of sleep for close to 48 hours because this is what you are doing (the 24 hrs that you mentioned) + time of travel ( you will not be able to sleep on board unless you have an entire row to yourself.) By the time you get to your destination, you will be wiped out and you will take many days to recover from jet lag and exhaustion. Why bother...
If you have an exit row seat as I mentioned you wont get disturbed by people next to you trying to get past you to get out. Also having a big protein rich meal shortly before boarding will help put you to sleep quickly. I've managed to get a good solid 10hrs sleep on 15hr+ flights several times doing this. When you arrive at your destination just add an extra 2hrs sleep time to your first nights sleep and you're good to go. It's worked for me. It may not work for everyone.
It is your lived experience, so there's that. Just never worked for me before I was able to afford to travel in a class of service to my liking.
Even though you may be seated in an exit row, the row of seat is still part of an aisle and will have people hitting the aisle seat as they move to and from galley or on their way to the bathrooms. The only way you do not get disturbed is if you are in the middle seat or in the window seat.
Based on the config of the aircraft, you are sitting next to another person or usually two others. While you may be able to stretch your legs out, you are still attempting to sleep sitting up - an abnormal position to sleep in; combined with stopping yourself spreading into the other person's space as your body relaxes... then jerking awake often as the person pushes you or you jerk awake as your head falls to the side or back or down - there is no resting... No thanks. I see no point to putting oneself thru such torture.
Bask Bank gives 1 mile per $1 on American for deposits. I have $100,000 stored there, gets me 100k miles per year. I use those to upgrade all my flights, usually just to economy plus. Came back from Paris yesterday via Philly, 8 hours in an exit row (would have cost about $150 to upgrade), miles covered it. I just can't see paying extra for business class, and it doesn't seem that American allows you to move up to a different cabin on international flights with miles (you can do it on flights within the USA). Though, longest I usually fly is 8.5-9 hours.
Just do the math. It's what, a 20 hour flight? 7000 divided by 20.... $350 bucks an hour. Would you sit your ass on an economy seat for $350/hr?
That's really not the way to look at the cost. Many times when I flew to Europe from the W Coast or to Asia I would only be there for 2 days. Sometimes getting arriving in the afternoon and having to present or meet the next day. I counted on the flight time to sleep and/or work. I could not count on that in economy.
Flying back I would arrive in the afternoon and have to be in the office the next day, or on another flight. So calculating the additional cost has to factor in the effect of lack of sleep or lack of productivity.
But even on a purely pleasure trip the overall experience can be greatly enhanced and that can't really be quantified. It probably makes for a lot more memorable honeymoon to fly in relative luxury rather than remembering what an ordeal the 15-hour flight was. I remember my kids being really excited to sit in the first row of a 747 in first class. It's something they remember about a trip. It's really a trade off of cost against the entire travel experience.
It also depends upon which airline you fly. American carriers are generally not up to the standard of other international carriers. In the case of the original poster, since he is flying from London to Sydney he has quite a few options. Emirates, Etihad, Qatar, & Singapore always rank very high in the quality of service they provide in Business Class.