Unlike most people in the miles and points community, my experience in business class and first class seats is very limited. I’ve never made an award redemption in business class, and I’ve only paid cash to fly in business class once. (The one time was on a long flight to South Korea when the fare was very similar to economy. This was before lie-flat seats were a big thing).
I’ve always taken a more practical and conservative approach to using miles and points. Mainly, it’s because I have five people in my family. We fly a few times a year, and earning the miles for business/first class flights all the time is just darn near impossible. I’ve written essays about flying in coach. My family happily flew 17 hours in coach to Australia in 2019. There is no doubt that I’ve been quite vocal about how I stick to flying in economy class.
Well guess what? Times and circumstances change. I just made an award redemption for my entire family in business class to Europe (see separate post here). Why the change of heart?
Comfort is Becoming More of a Priority
As I get older, I must admit that it’s not as easy to get comfortable. As a kid, I could sleep on the bare floor with no pillow. Now, I need the mattress and pillows to be just right.
My knee starts to ache if I sit for too long. On my recent flight to Mexico on Sun Country Airline, my butt hurt due to the thinly cushioned seat. And that flight was only 2 1/2 hours! Getting older sucks.
Time is Fleeting
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few years, it’s that time is fleeting, and the future is not guaranteed. Both of my parents passed away. The pandemic wreaked havoc on most people’s lives. Trips were cancelled, people died. Crazy, crazy times.
In addition, my oldest son is getting close to leaving the nest. He will be off to college in just two years. My vacation time with him is limited. Soon we’ll be traveling as a family of four, and then just two.
Long-haul business class is something I’ve been curious to try. If not now, then when?
We Have the Miles and Points
When the pandemic forced us to cancel our trips last year, we gained the gift of time to earn more miles and points. After a bit of a dry spell with new credit cards, my husband and I have had a flurry of approvals over the last 1.5 years. We’ve both been approved for United cards (2 for my husband, 1 for me). I got the Chase Ink Cash and the Chase Sapphire Preferred cards. We both got Alaska Airlines cards. Our bonuses totaled over 500k miles and points!
Money Isn’t as Tight as It Used to Be
When my family first delved more deeply into the miles and points hobby, money was pretty tight. I had quit my corporate job, and we were adjusting to one main salary. At that time, if we couldn’t get there on miles and points, we wouldn’t go.
But now, money isn’t quite as tight for us. My husband has changed jobs and earned a promotion. We’ve almost paid off our mortgage. If we use all of our miles and points for this trip, we can likely save up to pay cash for the next trip.
Bottom Line
Obviously, I don’t have to justify my travel choices to anyone. But, I like to keep it real on this blog. For this particular trip, we’re splurging big time. I hope to splurge on premium economy for the return flights or maybe more business class seats if the availability works out.
Does this mean we will be flying business/first class from now on? Heck no! My next flight is booked on Spirit Airlines. I still don’t think the splurge is worth it on shorter flights. But I reserve the right to change my mind.
PS–My husband thought I should really name this post “Why I’m Planting my A$$ in Business Class”. It’s catchy.
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Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
It’s a cost vs value equation for me. The value of arriving to my destination with a happy back,butt and knees is priceless . I’d rather economize on my hotel room, I’ll be out most of the time anyway.
Welcome to air travel being part of the vacation (maybe the most enjoyable; being in a lie flat on a plane never gets old) instead of something to dread. I was an economy flyer for all my life until I decided to pay for Norwegian Premium and come back on a Lufthansa Business Award. Two other flights to and from EZE were on AA Business with a mileage and cash upgrade from paid Premium Economy 24 hours before the flight (would have paid same to upgrade from economy but we could risk economy on a long flight). Covid interrupted travel but all transatlantic and above flights will be business. If I can’t afford to pay cash or don’t have the points/miles, I won’t go. The ease and comfort of lie flat and the lounge/boarding/amenities is just too wonderful to go without.
You’re right. Life is short. Nothing is guaranteed. One illness or disease can mean years of interruption in traveling. It’s smart to do things while we have jobs, the market performance is strong, our index funds and FAANG/tsla stocks are doing well, and we are healthy. If our financial situation takes a turn, that is when to cut out travel. Excessively saving and forgoing great experiences while we have the income/assets to support it is not the way to live.
I hope you enjoy the experience with your family. Putting aside your travel blogging, it’s easy to reduce the trips you take and make the ones you do better quality than traveling stressfully.
@Jackson Thanks, I’m really looking forward to those lie-flat seats!
Good for you.
Have reached an age (including the requisite aches and pains and 2.5hr backside) that for any flight over 4 hours I’m going to try like heck to sit up front and for anything over 6 I HAVE to sit up front. Would rather travel less and be comfortable doing it.
@Paul v I totally understand!
I think I like your husband. Yup, “Why I’m Planting my A$$ in Business Class” gets my vote. But even without that title, it’s a great explanation of your thinking. Nice writing once again. Have some great flights!
Thank you @Enjoy Fine Food!
My husband and I had a chance to fly business class a couple of times before we had two children who also required paid seats. It sure is nice!!! Now i just feel happy to book 4 tickets for (almost) free in economy, especially with all the dynamic award pricing going on these days!
@Tammie The dynamic award pricing is definitely making things more challenging. I’m an award stalker though and I’m determined to make it work somehow.
Definitely has to do with all the reasons you listed and if you can afford it than do it! I never would have paid for a preferred seat, would have been happy sitting in the back but with American especially using miles I’ll pay extra for the seat. Live your best life now!
@Boonie Yes! YOLO!
Funny because I’m heading in the opposite direction. I just took my last trip to Europe three weeks ago in business. Maybe not for the last time but won’t be doing that for a while. My wife and I have a two year old and flew business to Asia, Australia, and Europe probably a dozen times over the last 6 years. Mostly using miles but a couple times with cash. Now that we have another child on the way we decided business class just isn’t feasible given how often we travel. Back to economy/premium it is! It was a great ride while it lasted but in the end to travel to far off destinations is the dream and we still will do that…just not in as much comfort.
@Tom I totally understand your position. Once more family members are in the picture, it’s hard to come up with that many miles all the time. I’d rather have more travel than better seats. My family’s travel has slowed down quite a bit with my oldest now in high school. Congrats on your upcoming new arrival!
@Tom I totally understand your position. Once more family members are in the picture, it’s hard to come up with that many miles all the time. I’d rather have more travel than better seats. My family’s travel has slowed down quite a bit with my oldest now in high school. Congrats on your upcoming new arrival!
Definitely enjoy!!! I joined the miles/points hobby back in 2012 because money was tight yet I still had a travel bug.
I’ve always thought flying in economy makes one appreciate business/first class even more. Nowadays I prefer to fly economy to the destination and fly premium on the way back.
@Joey I was going to book economy going and business flying back, but I couldn’t resist these non-stop saver awards when I saw them.
I agree with you. I have a trip to Scotland coming up in 2022. I looked for awards flights early and was only able to book the flight TO Scotland. When I looked for the return flight 2 weeks later, Saver Business Class popped up. OMG. I ALMOST cheaped out but then I went for the upgrade. In April my husband and I spent 4 nights in St. Augustine, FL. Hired a car service to pick us up at the airport in Jacksonville to take us to the hotel and return us to the airport. So Great not to have to worry about driving. And 4 nights parking at the hotel would have cost almost as much as the car service.
@Hilde So glad that some saver business awards popped up! That will be a nice splurge. And the car service sounds nice too. I try to avoid renting a car whenever I can.