On this blog, I primarily review first and business class experiences. However, that’s not to say that I always fly in a premium cabin. A reader recently asked me how often I actually end up flying in economy, so I want to address that in this post…
Continue reading: How Often Do I Fly Economy? My Strategy…
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I think many people who fly with any frequency have a similar approach.
Personally, I am perfectly happy in Y for up to 4 hours at a time and will only pay nominal amounts extra for a higher class of service unless I need the status points/miles. For sector lengths around 4-8 hours, I'll weigh up the options- if I'm not in a rush, I will typically buy a Y ticket with a connection around the midpoint of the journey, if I need to get somewhere fast I'll likely look for a redemption or perhaps a deal in premium economy. If it's 8+ hours, I will do my absolute best to avoid Y, even if it means taking a positioning flight and/or paying a decent premium (but not thousands extra).
What I won't normally do is go out of my way for a better premium product. If I'm flying FRA-PTY and I can choose between business class redemptions involving FRA-JFK on SQ then JFK-PTY on COPA and FRA-AMS-PTY on KLM, I'd go for KLM without a second thought even though they're far from my favourite airline.
No need to justify or explain to anybody how often you fly economy versus business. Those people that can afford to fly business whether with miles or money, good for them. The reality is those that never fly business, once you do, you wouldn't want to go back to fly economy, unless you have no other choice, especially if you can afford to pay business with miles or money. Why should you? Would you rather drive if you can afford to take Uber everywhere?
Ben, what a lovely piece of writing. You took the time to explain when you would take a flight in economy. So, we know this now and we know your preferences for first/business class flights. Though, what about premium economy? I do not think we know if you have flown in premium economy much and if you like it. Do you think that premium economy is still overpriced compared to economy? Is it worth it? Which airlines does premium economy best and of those which ones have you flown in PE? It would be nice to see you do some premium economy flight reviews.
I’m 41 and this is exactly how I travel too. I don’t have a trust fund and I’m middle-class, but I am flexible in my travel and most importantly put in the work to find good deals, just as described here.
People have different priorities when it comes to travel, and that’s okay. Some of us prioritize our comfort and don’t mind spending extra time to secure it, while other people like yourself have different priorities and will fly a red eye in coach. No need to criticize one another for differing preferences.
I’m 41 and this is exactly how I travel too. I don’t have a trust fund and I’m middle-class, but I am flexible in my travel and most importantly put in the work to find good deals, just as described here.
People have different priorities when it comes to travel, and that’s okay. Some of us prioritize our comfort and don’t mind spending extra time to secure it, while other people like yourself have different priorities and will fly a red eye in coach. No need to criticize one another for differing preferences.
I agree with your ideas on your travel habits and such are similar to mine. I would suggest that you review some of the economy and premium economy segments that you fly too.
As one who flies intra Europe multiple times per month, on LH, my wife and I find euro-biz comfortable. I am 5'10" and 165 LB. Speaking only for LH, FA and their service excellent. Full course breakfast(hot), lunch, and dinner. Wine is good. Every year in December, all flights leaving FRA, over 1hour 45 min. serve roast goose with all trimmings.
I mention the food/wine because many/most of your readers continually whine about domestic service, food, and wine.
The pricing of premium economy is all over the place. LATAM's basically the only airline which has consistently logical pricing for it in my experience.
KLM are literally charging more for premium economy to N. America ex-WAW than they do for business class on the same long-hauls ex-ARN. Emirates charge more for it than their competitors charge for business. BA have said it's their most profitable cabin per square metre. I think what's happening is that a lot of large employers mandate premium economy as the default cabin for staff travel and that means that those flying there may be among the least price-sensitive pax on the entire plane.
Other than when PE is sold as coach I avoid coach. Upgrade offers if you wait are usually pretty generous. Yes a two hour flight in coach might be bearable but then thunderstorms come along and you're stuck in that metal tube for another 60-90 minutes. If your traveling alone you don't choose your seatmate and therefore you might be crowded in by someone with girth.
@Throwawayname
That really wouldn't surprise me, but it absolutely sucks as somebody trying to fly family long-haul in something more comfortable than econ. I had good luck getting PE seats on points in November last year for round trip, but this year I could only get reasonable points prices one-way on KLM/AF. So we're all booked in econ coming home and I'm hoping we'll all get the cheap paid upgrade to PE. Even the up-front cash prices have been absolutely eye-watering, basically the the level of the cheaper J fares pre-COVID.
There are so many versions of economy tho.
I'll happily pay €15 for a Ryanair exit row vs flying BA in 30" business class for 5x the money.
I'll fly E+/MCE/C+ no problem but won't sit in crappy 31" Y.
I got i to points game thanks your articles. Been about 15 years now! And i agree with the economy and comfort level. Long trips i need BC. Short trips economy all the way.
I do have one question, its generally BC or Economy that you can find “favorable” points redemption, with how common PE is now, why is it so hard to find on most major point programs?.
Premium Economy is generally the most profitable part of the plane for airlines, so unsurprising that they're reluctant to let these seats go for points.
PE is the most profitable, ergo worst value for money.
Everyone should avoid this cabin.
How often are you able to write off these flights as business expenses though?
You can safely assume that 98 to 100 percent of Ben's travel costs are legitimate business expenses.
Changes the decision calculus a little bit if paying for business class simultaneously decreases your taxable income 😉
I have no problem flying Ryanair. Why would I want to connect when they can provide cheap n/s flights? I have no choice but to fly Y on NZ domestic or trans-Tasman flights. Thst's fine. I'm unwilling to pay the high extra to go from Y to F within Australia. My US domestic-only itineraries are F from miles. I've yet to see an eventual TATL or TPAC J fare that I hesitated paying.
Give me truth serum and I'd likely say flying J over PE isn't worth what I pay. But, I still do it.
I was glad to see your comment about factoring in the cost per hour for flying premium, as that is something I place a great weight on when making a decision between business or first on international flights. I use a threshold of $250 Canadian per hour as the max I’ll pay for first versus business on Etihad, Emirates or ANA
On the ‘upgrades’ topic, gotta say, unless it’s confirmed in-advance, like RUCs or GUCs, or Move to Mint, at booking, I don’t find Waitlists, like SWUs or PlusPoints, reliable. As our pal, Gene, says: Want First, Buy First (WFBF). But, that can be pricy…
Great advice. Full disclosure, I am a small human that generally is fine with premium economy space. ( probably one of the only advantages of being around 5 something) But long haul this goes may also go out the window. Plush is nice but costing a fortune is not.
“I don’t mind flying economy but I’d rather not suffer “
I’m a grown ass man. I fly economy for 18 hours. I’d even do standing room only with the handle bar outside the lavatory if given the option.
I'm a grown ass man and I don't fly economy unless it's the only class of service on the aircraft. I worked for 30 years so I could afford comfort when I retire, so 18 hours in economy class sounds like pointless self-flagellation to me.
Domestic first class before The War was reasonable. You used to see flights transcontinental (albeit with a connection sometimes) for 500-700, now I struggle to fine it less than 900 bucks one way. Thanks Obama.
All the time because I'm cheap and don't want to pay for business class.
Up to 3 or 4 hours economy exit row is fine for me. Beyond that I value business class up to $3k. That's the limit of the value I place on it so if it's more than that I wait till I find something at that price or I book one way in PE to stay under the limit.
This is where extra legroom economy seating enters the conversation. Especially when flying with the family.
Honestly, the reasons why you don't like flying economy anymore give me the idea that you've become a bit of a diva, to be honest. Now that you're getting older? Mate, you're a young father who is raising a toddler. If you're considering yourself old, then please change my nickname to Methuselah.
You're spot on with European business class though. I think it's one of the main reasons why Ryanair and Wizzair thrive: legacy carriers do literally nothing to distinguish themselves, except selling people the idea of flying business class while delivering economy. It's a bit like the emperor's new clothes, but with aircraft.
Furthermore, I must add that I haven't seen a complimentary upgrade based on status since the pandemic started, despite having a 'high status' across all three major alliances. I guess they disappeared completely. Also, reasonably priced upgrades seem to be non-existent anymore. One example: I recently flew Air China and was booked in economy for a long haul flight (company policy). The gate agent announced that upgrades to premium classes were available. Turns out they wanted €2000 (or about $2200) for the upgrade to business - for just one leg: ARN-PEK. Just that leg upgraded plus the economy class ticket add up to about the same as what the business class ticket would have cost had I booked it in advance, but then I would have had business class on the whole trip. It just doesn't make sense. Who buys that?
Older ≠ old. I'm in my early 30's (I think Ben is similar). I'm not old by any usual means, but I'm older than I've ever been and of course my body isn't the same as it's been when I was in my early 20's. At the same time, my budget is higher than it was back then, so altogether, I also splurge more than I used to.
If you think your 30+ body isn't same as 20+, wait till you cross 40. You have right to your opinion etc etc, but unless you are a blue collar worker, what the heck did you do that your early 30s body can't fly economy.
I don't think anyone has said that they 'can't' fly economy. 'Can't' and 'won't' are different things, and there's a lot of wriggle room in 'economy or not economy' when what is said (or meant) is 'I'll fly in a premium cabin when I'm able to and it's worth the extra cost (in cash or points)', or there's no alternative.
I 'happily' took TPAC flights in economy when I was considerably older than Ben is now, and tended to worry more about a flexible fare than a more premium cabin, hoping for a points upgrade (successfully about half the time). I survived those, and could again, even now I'm in my dotage, but have chosen not to, and can afford that. (I'm happy though, to buy restrictive tickets and swallow any change fees if I need to. Haven't so far.) Domestically, I try to fly business, just not at Qantas' insane normal cash fares. 'Trying to' doesn't mean I won't fly economy. I will, and I do. YMMV.
Let me start off by saying that both my wife and I are 65+. I'm all-but-retired, my wife still works and still travels for work occasionally. So our needs (and tolerance) for flying is obviously different for us than it was when -- as Ben noted -- we could endure red-eyes and long-haul in economy. Finally, it's worth noting I love to fly; my wife, not so much. That said...
Neither of us can deal with overnight flights *unless* we are flying from the U.S. to Europe or Asia, and only then if we have lie-flat seats in Business. Those are *always* award tickets. Within North America, however, flying Economy is perfectly fine. Cash or points depends upon the number of points needed, but we will typically pay for our domestic Economy flights and save our points for the aforementioned trips to Europe or Asia. Additionally, given our status with the airline(s) means we are instantly upgraded to "extra legroom" or Exit Row seats in Premium Economy (or whatever the airline calls their version of PE). On top of that, I often get upgraded to First just from the waitlist (over 30 percent of the time so far in 2026).
Intra-European business class is a joke and definitely not worth it, so the only time we'll fly Business class within Europe is if there's a connecting flight from/to the U.S. as part of our original flight (JFK-CDG, connecting to CDG-FCO, for example, or OPO-LHR-SFO). Depending upon the airline and the economics, we might pay cash or transfer points. This is also true for domestic flights, keeping in mind that the points we acquire on domestic travel is one way we build up our points reserves (with the airline and/or transferable bank cards), as well as our status.
I read your $50 per hour rule a while back and started applying that to my travels.
Anything under 3 hours I can deal with economy. Over that I am booking a premium class as long as it's not outrageously expensive.
This was a great post. I wrote a comment in an earlier post commenting that the most important part of the post you wrote is that you flew in coach. I think I speak for many of us, when I say, that we were under the impression that you never/almost never fly coach. I understand that mileage-wise it is a small portion of the miles but in number of flights it is fairly high.
Personally, I would love to read more about flying coach experience and how you overcome the challenges of flying coach, especially with no elite status.
Thank you for the great articles/posts.