Is Business Class worth it?

Is Business Class worth it?

Samuel Potter is in a ponderous mood, and also had a bad flight recently, so he’s wondering: Is it worth the extra cash to travel Business?

February 22, 2011 3:20 by Samuel Potter

Flying Business Class is not cheap. Of course, for the advantages it offers – more space, better service, and so on – that’s to be expected. But the difference in rates between economy and the next level up are often staggering. We’ve written before about an acquaintance at an airline who told us it’s cheaper to hire the whole jet than to buy 20 tickets in Business.

A quick online check on Emirates, as a taster, reveals that on a randomly picked Dubai to Heathrow flight, an economy ticket will set you back AED 2465, and a Business ticket on the same flight is AED 13205. That’s more than five times the price.

Kipp supposes that the reason prices are so high is that companies are less likely to flinch at the cost than individuals, and maybe they can deduct it from their tax in some countries. Or something.

The question is, is Business Class it worth it? Does it eliminate many of the biggest annoyances of air travel? For instance, in our poll last week we asked, what annoys you most about air travel? The results are in, so let’s see if travelling Business would help alleviate some of these complaints…

The biggest group of respondents said lack of space was the biggest annoyance (34 percent), and Business can certainly help with that – more legroom, bigger seats, wider aisles. It’s practically heaven in comparison to cattle class. Next biggest complaint? The cost, which 24 percent of you are frustrated by. Well, sorry, Business Class is only going to make that worse – much worse, as we have seen. You’ll just have to stay in economy and use the flight time to figure out some sort of home handy craft that you can sell at market to make some of your money back.

Security checks are the third biggest annoyance (16 percent), which are unavoidable, unfortunately. But in some airports, travelling Business means you can miss most of the queues. Also, at the other side, you have a nice comfy lounge to enjoy, which will help you forget all about it.

Number four most annoying thing: Other people’s kids, with 10 percent of the vote. Now, Business can help here, since more often than not the average family won’t be traveling on the business buck, so they won’t be in Business Class. Only the very wealthy families would shell out for that, and they’re kids are likely to be called Tarquill or Rupert and have a nanny keeping them in check.

Final two complaints: Jet lag (4 percent), and the meals (2 percent). Again, Business can’t help you much with these, except to say that, having a decent stretched-out sleep might help combat jet lag, and on some airlines they do a pretty good job of special catering requests for Business passengers. Could be worth your while, I suppose.

Conclusion: It’s a lot of money, for a little advantage.

What do you think? Is Business Class worth it?