Travel Upgrade? | Imamother

amother

Cerulean

Fri, Jul 03 2015, 4:49 am

I need to travel abroad however due to a health condition it's very difficult for me to travel Economy. I'd like to fly Business, however since our finances are tight I'm looking to do this in the cheapest way possible. Is there a 'cheaper' way to fly business? Am I better off booking Business right away, or is it cheaper to upgrade in the airport at the time of the flight?

Mrs Bissli

Fri, Jul 03 2015, 9:09 am

OP, are you flying domestic or international? Upgrade on long-haul international flights are much more costly and more likely to be unavailable. I agree the most cost effective way to fly business class is to use the mileage to upgrade. Though you need to be careful which economy class fare are eligible to upgrade this way--the most discounted farebase is often not eligible for this. Mileage doesn't have to be under your name (but belongs to one person, you can't patchwork multiple mileages) so maybe someone you know have enough mileages.

Mrs Bissli

Sun, Jul 05 2015, 7:25 am

then I'm afraid your option is paying for business class. Many airlines won't let you do stand-by upgrade
unless you have elite status in their frequent flyer programmes. You can usually buy miles so calculate
if it make sense to buy miles vs buying a business class ticket.

Many airlines have a sort of in-between class usually called Premium Economy.
They give slightly more legroom and wider seat pitch, would this work?
Premium Economy is definitely not like business class (where flat bed seats became the common standard) but definitely more comfortable than the regular economy, and considerably cheaper than business class.

Also I remember travel sections in general newspaper used to have adverts for discounted business class.
If you're flying transatlantic, Air India business class between JFK-London is often the cheapest (though you'll
still have 4.5hour flights from London if your final destination is Israel). Aer Lingus also used to have
slightly less expensive business class. Check to see if you can structure your itinerary with 1 stopover with
cheaper airliners (often emerging market carrier).

Mrs Bissli

Mon, Jul 06 2015, 12:32 pm

OP, I just remembered there is actually a low-cost business class airline called La Compagnie (sp?).
I don't think it's daily but they fly between Newark and London (Luton, LTN) and Paris (CDG).
If you're flying from/to Israel, there are flights between TLV-LTN (easyJet or El Al) or TLV-CDG.

Not sure if this fits your itinerary but maybe worth checking?

amother

Cerulean

Mon, Jul 06 2015, 2:22 pm

Thanks Mrs Bissli, La Compagnie is the cheapest but somehow I'm always hesitant to fly with 'unknown' airlines... Do you know anything about their service, or that of Air Lingus? I've travelled Air Lingus nationally before, but never trans-atlantic.

Mrs Bissli

Mon, Jul 06 2015, 3:54 pm

Very good point, maybe that's why I didn't think of this carrier in the first place. They are still flying, but statistics for low-cost, all-business airlines aren't that great, as Silverjet, L'Avion and similar ventures couldn't make it financially.

There are certainly things you can minimise the risk. I'd probably book them for flights in the next 2-3months but probably not if you're travelling much further away.

As with other start-ups with limited routes, I assume they're operating with minimum number of leased aircrafts. There aren't that many all business class configuration spare aircrafts, so if something goes wrong mechanically (eg bathroom light doesn't work), they'd have to cancel or delay flights. It's better if your schedule is flexible, and you don't have connection on either ends. That would be my main concern--heard a similar delays/cancellation with Silverjet. As an EU carrier, they should offer either full refund or re-book on a later flight in case of cancellation; necessary expenses (meals/phone/accommodation) in case of delays over 3 hours.

Most importantly, use a credit card to pay, and make sure you do have travel insurance.

Aer Lingus is perfectly fine, though I've flown only UK-Ireland. It's economy only, non frill for short-haul but has full service business class on long-haul. I'm not sure if they have installed flat beds (most likely yes, as they have become a standard feature.)