- Details
- Category: Past Issues
Every time I fly, I want to book an upgraded ticket… I don’t know why I want a better seat because even if you sit in the front row with the most luxurious of seats and food, paying a small fortune for the privilege, you still arrive at the exact same time as the passenger sitting in the last row, amongst the toilets, who paid a bargain price!
Short haul flights are so not worth an upgrade since on many of these planes, the only difference in the flight experience is a flimsy curtain and maybe (if you’re lucky) a Bloody Mary. Upgrading feels like, at least initially, it will make the traveling experience (getting from here to there) more enjoyable; I will have more fun and more relaxation in an upgraded seat!?
The reality is, though, that EVERYONE on the plane feels the same turbulence and whether you are slumped over in your coach seat with your head bobbing, or lying flat in your roomy business class seat, when the seat belt light bings “ON”, the flight attendant still taps you, wakes you, and tells you to buckle up.
Initially, when I am comparing the price of the coach ticket to that of the business class ticket, it seems like the coach ticket is such a bargain, but by the time I finish adding baggage fees and seat selections to my cart (and exactly when did airlines adopt the retail ‘cart’ system anyway?), my ticket price suddenly becomes substantially higher and so I again, consider buying an upgraded seat. Since I already have to pay for a seat anyway, lest you skip selecting your seat and wind up being assigned a middle seat in between two strangers who DID pay the extra to select an aisle or window seat, why not pay A LOT extra and get a comfy seat? If I already have to pay extra to check the bag I would like to bring, silly me to think that I might want to actually bring some stuff on my trip, then why not pay A LOT extra so that I get to take my luggage with me for free? And do forget about paying the extra money for the terrible airline food because it is far better to pay WAY EXTRA at one of the exorbitantly overpriced airport restaurants for their terrible food, because at least you get it in an easy to carry bag!
If you seldom fly, you can look at the upgrade one of two ways — pay the EXTRA price and enjoy your once in a great while flight, more, or pay the cheapest price possible and know that your uncomfortableness is all just part of the experience. If you fly all the time, chances are, you have accumulated enough frequent flyer miles to receive complimentary upgrades. Since I fly just enough to be truly bothered by my uncomfortableness in coach, but not enough that I have any real accumulation of frequent flyer miles, I am constantly considering how, for the least amount of money, I can better enjoy the flight. In the end, I rarely, if ever, make an upgrade because I’d rather save the money and take another trip.
Someone asked me recently, what I would do if I had won the $100 million in the Power Ball drawing? I responded, without hesitation, that I would book a business class ticket the next time I fly!!!
2B? 2B?
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!
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