Busy business class lounges can ruin the appeal. Photo / 123rf
In this week’s Travel Hot Take, travel writer Tiana Templeman explains why springing for business class flights to Europe is never worth the cost.
If you’re someone who always flies business class for European holidays, you can probably stop reading now. For the rest of us who dream of flying in the pointy end while our credit card quivers in terror at the exorbitant cost, this story is for you.
My husband and I had always fantasised about living it up on a business class flight. I’m guessing you have too if you’re like us and usually fly economy. A few years ago, we finally did it, spending thousands to upgrade to business class at check in.
If we were going to splurge, our wedding anniversary flight from Singapore to Rome via London on a well-known airline seemed like the perfect time. The trip got off to a great start with Champagne, canapes and five-star service in the classy airline lounge, but things went downhill when we got onboard.
Perfunctory service, a broken seat and some pretty ordinary meals made our coveted business class experience memorable for all the wrong reasons. The only consolation was that upgrading at check-in was far cheaper than purchasing two business class airfares outright.
During the mediocre flight, we consoled ourselves with the thought that, at least there was the luxurious flagship lounge we could spend our long London layover in. Alas, in reality, arriving at an airline’s hub during peak hour meant queues for the showers, no spare seats and a bevy of business travellers inhaling the buffet.
At least we got to enjoy this prime business class perk. If you’ve got a tight connection, your flight arrives late or you’re so delirious from lack of sleep you can’t find the airline’s lounge facilities, you may not even get to the lounge. Fast forward a few years, and this nearly happened to us in Doha on another business class flight.
On that trip we discovered that a business class ticket might entitle you to a lie-flat bed, but these don’t magically guarantee you a good sleep. No one on our flight got any rest due to a distant hurricane creating unstable air conditions.
Mere minutes after the crew had prepared our lie-flat beds and we relaxed into their blissfully horizontal embrace, the turbulence began. As the bouncing increased, the seat belt sign illuminated and 30 minutes later, we were hanging onto our beds to stop us bouncing out of them.
There was no sleep to be had as we rode our comfy beds like they were bucking broncos, trying to hang on and snooze simultaneously and we arrived in Doha looking worse than our passport photos. We were so delirious from lack of sleep that it took us an hour of wandering around the gigantic airport’s multiple levels before finding the business class lounge.
We had booked that flight as the aircraft had a Qsuite business class cabin. It was fabulous. However, not all business class seats are created equal, even if you fly with the same carrier. If there’s an operational issue and an airline switches planes, your business class cabin could look a lot different to the one you booked.
Of course, I’d never turn down a chance to fly business class, whether it’s by “bidding” for an upgrade last minute or using loyalty points. However, paying $5000 or more for a plane ticket is a waste of money, no matter how promising the perks. It’s smarter to sign up to an airline’s frequent flyer programme and go on holiday more often by travelling economy.
On each of those much cheaper flights, you’ll be earning frequent flyer points that can be used to book a business class ticket for (almost) free one day. Sign up for a points-earning credit card and suddenly paying for the grocery shop or tank of gas starts feeling a little more fun.
When you’ve only shelled out a few hundred dollars in fees and taxes for a business class airfare that usually costs thousands, you’ll be raising your glass of pre-departure Champagne with a smile. And you’ll be beaming (and hopefully sleeping) all the way to Europe.