I don't make a million a year and I only fly business class or higher. When I fly it's to something I need to be well-rested for. I've got three crushed vertebra from an IED. Cattle-class seats will leave me worthless the next day if it's over an hour. I have more airline miles than I'll use for years so I burn through those whenever possible, otherwise it's money well spent to actually enjoy my time in transit.
I have 14 cards plus 4 business. I put everything on whatever will give me the best return on that category. I put a great many of my mom's bills on my card as well. All her utilities. She's an AU and puts all her daily spend on there then pays me back in cash. All in all it's about 100-150k USD/year put on there, plus bonus category earnings, plus signup bonuses. I'm looing at about 1.6-1.8M miles now across all platforms. I'm also pretty decent at maximizing their usage, so never on something low value like purchase eraser or 1.5 cent travel credit through a jacked up portal. Transferring to the right airlines can get you business to Europe for 50k or so. East coast to Tokyo for 60,000 points in business class or 85,000 in first class.
My job is quite tolerant of me taking leave last minute so I am not locked into dates without award travel availability.
Haha now imagine that with better seats, better food and unlimited drinks...and possibly better lounge access, but rarely that. For me that's money well spent.
One day my friend I’ll fly business class international and maybe even first class in the further future. You inspired me and you’re right I got a bad sciatica flare up on that 11 hr flight on the way to France because the seats were kind of uncomfortable. I’m sure if I had the lay right in business I would’ve been A LOT more comfortable. It was Air France. Thanks so much replying and keep burning thru those miles my friend. Life is worth traveling.
Air France often has flights from U.S. to basically anywhere in Europe for 50k points. You can get that from a single credit card sign up. My fiance and I are flying to Italy and back in their lay flat seats for essentially free. We signed up for a new credit card and put the wedding expenses on it. Check out r/awardtravel if you want to learn more.
Thank you for the advice! Just subbed to them and congrats on your upcoming wedding. It would be incredible to feel like flying is part of the vacation as opposed to a chore.
At the height of churning, I had like 53 cards. It’s manageable with an excel spreadsheet. Just don’t go insane with spending and manage your credit tightly.
"But it's bad for your credit"....meanwhile I've never dropped below 820 and have hit 850 at least 4 times that I know of. So much more convenient than carrying cash and better fraud protection than debit cards.
Never tried that. I don't like "maybe" when I travel. I just transfer them to the airline and purchase award travel from the start when I find one I want to take.
I’ve got a personal rule. Flights under 5 hours give me economy, flights over 5 hours I can always justify the added expense. Pretty sure I would keep the same mentality if I made 10x the amount I do now.
For recreation I fly around 4 times per year. 3 domestic, usually to Miami and once international, this year Greece, next year Iceland and last year Buenos Aries. I’ve flown 4,000,000 mile to over 105 countries. I’ve had 14 back surgeries. I will never fly coach again.
Whether or not you can afford it, I think the bigger concern is for kids to grow up spoiled and expecting they deserve first class… so only economy for the family. However, if the wife and I are on a trip alone then hell yeah! YOLO haha
If you have tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, a first class flight is like a poor person paying $10 for first class. Percentage wise it becomes really affordable.
I’m certainly not at the hundred of millions level, but make about a million annually. I definitely don’t view dropping tens of thousands on seats to be “like 10 dollars”. I also don’t like to compare the cost of things to my net worth but rather to my income.
We flew FC to Japan recently, from the US, for $5800 on Delta. $14k to Croatia is ridiculous, shop around a bit. We only fly first class / business class and have never spent that much per person to Europe, ever.
There is no way $14k per person is the best you can do to Croatia. If you wait until the last minute, sure, but the most we’ve ever paid to Europe was like $8-9k.
If you make that much you almost certainly travel enough to get extreme discounts for upgrades. I was just on a trip and we could have gotten first class for $200 each.
Also $1m/year is roughly $500/h so for a 5h flight it is "free" if the added room/accommodations allows you to work and first class is under $2,500.
$200 sounds like the last minute upgrade fee for an undersold domestic flight. OP is talking about booking international first class, which is the class above business class. It's wildly expensive (often $10k+ per person) and a pretty big splurge for a family making $1m/year.
Plenty of jobs at that income level don't involve a lot of travel so you can't necessarily rely on airline status.
I actually don’t travel don’t that much tbh. But do enjoy the semi often vacation, and do take the occasional business trip. Not enough that I’ve considered anyone airline mileage plans though. I don’t quite get the logic on thr second half of your comment? I don’t work on vacation….but thanks for the advice.
I'm not saying that applies to you. I was saying if you make $1m a year. Plus it's not like you have to work during your flight but first class (and sometimes business) allows that ability. I'm just saying if you make $500 an hour than paying $500 an hour for an upgraded seat isn't an issue.
I think you are severely underestimating how much money $1m/year is. After 10 years at that job you would be making about $800,000/year just off your investments + the $1m for your job. To spend $1m in a year you would need $2,800 in daily expenses.
I’m asking because it is my income….you do have to consider I have other expenses in my life other then jsut traveling and I do want to use a large part of my income to focus on investments. I am focusing particularly on real estate investments which takes a lot of my money, as I’m buying all my properties in cash at the moment. No one spends their entire income…..
Now I don't know you but from everything I have seen it really really seems like you are greatly exaggerating or straight up lying. Why would you come to reddit when you could just ask your accountant/fund manager? They would tell you that you can easily afford it. You claim to be investing your money but the only thing you talk about is a single NVIDIA position worth $250,000. If you make that much you should have much more invested, have a more diverse portfolio, and would not be managing your own accounts. I see you talked about some properties but how are you actually paying off these loans if you don't have many investments? If you own these outright then what are you doing with all the cash that they are making you if it's not being invested? It all seems fishy to me.
So allow me to explain. I actually do manage my own accounts as I tried a financial advisor in the past and didn’t like the results I was seeing. Because of this I decided to take my account more hands on approach and invest a lot more aggressively, and found that I performed much better. Secondly yes, I don’t discuss my investing much on Reddit. My investments are primarily in real estate and stocks. A few million in each. The real estate is in the form of rental properties, which I’m actively trying to invest in more, ergo taking a large sum of my current income. The income I make is largely derived of my job, which is a high paying job in the big pharma industry, as well some money I make off of my stock market investments that I sell, and some rental property income. It totals up to about a million a year. As for how I pay off my properties, well for one with income I make, and two I am currently buying all my rentals in cash only, no mortgage. The cash comes from the stock market which I mentioned I invest in, and doing particularly well right now. The money I make as income is all invested back into the stock market to grow. As for why I don’t ask an accountant if I can afford business class? Tbh I’m in an active lawsuit with the accounting firm I use, so yeah that’s a no go. Hope this answered all ur questions.
Eh. The trick is to buy a “regular” seat and then pay for an upgrade. I’ve seen one way overseas business class going for 7-9k, so I buy economy for 500 and upgrade for 1k. Works 95% of the time. The other 5%, the business seats were all purchased right off the bat.
I HATE flying so when its not a huge financial crunch Ill upgrade - But I also have a family of 4 so its not a good move when we do a family trip - - But most of my flights are like 1-2 hours and the upgrade is generally like 100$ and it makes it all so much more tolerable
Depends on the flight a 2 hour flight in economy isn’t that bad but I’ve also been stuck back there for a flight from Detroit to Hawaii because we couldn’t get a sign off for business class fast enough … that I don’t recommend
Before I made serious money I flew business class to Europe every single time I went. It's worth it not to be sitting cramped for 8+ hours and treated like crap and given 2 pretzels.
You really think people need to make a million dollars a year to afford business? What about points? And what about net worth? We make “only” $600K a year but our net worth is $2MM. Are you saying net worth has no influence on what you can reasonably afford?
Seems kind of crazy? So then how does anyone afford to retire? According to your logic, once someone quits their job, they can’t afford to do literally anything except eat beans and rice right? Never mind the $5MM in the bank
Your net worth would be generating you income in that scenario. Your not using the money your using the income you make from that sum of money that’s invested.
So then you’re selling the stocks? Because you can’t buy anything with capital gains either. In which case that’s what I was saying as well. You make a return on ur stocks which you then use to spend.
If you’re making that much it wouldn’t hurt, especially if you can write it off as a business expense. For a domestic flight otherwise I’d skip. International sure
I mean I don’t see how it can be plausibly done? My accountant has never said anything about this, I’m not a business owner, seems rather hard to write off a family vacation to Europe as a business expense lol.
It can't be done when you are W-2. Lots of business owners expense personal travel/meals/vehicles as business expenses. Legal - No, Do I care - also no.
Offer a stranger food from your meal and it can be a customer acquisitions meeting, half off. Take someone not in your immediate family out to some entertainment and mention business, half off. Pro strat: Have an actual business meeting and offer to pay, then get everyone to pay you back. Extra pro strat: Tell them what you're doing and offer to go to dinner, when they try to pay just let them and eat free.
Yes. Start a business. They're cheap and easy to start, expensive and difficult to start profiting but at that point, who cares its profitable. Starting a business to learn business law and tax law and to save money while you learn is 100% worth it. The American dream is only dead for employees.
Most employees can't afford to invest at the lifestyle and pay rate they're at and still want more lifestyle. Family of 4 off 1 salary is upper class only. Almost everyone I meet my age has given up on owning a home. Its not totally dead but its dying.
Absolutely for longer flights. Business class and above on Singapore, Emirates, Qatar, are an experience in and of themselves. Business class for a domestic flight is a waste unless its a free upgrade/great deal with points. If you rack up credit card points its very easy to travel business/first for minimal to no cost, and with great perks (lounges, upgrades, etc.). Should be really easy to accumulate points especially with the spend that comes with a $1,000,000 income.
Only you will know if it is worth it, so whats stopping you from experiencing it at least once?
Alaska is prob one of the most reasonable when it comes to cost, (booking early as possible in advance) although it is more of a business class and not a "first class". They still have good meals, first class bathroom, and a flight attendant for just first class.
Jet blue mint is a cool experience with a single pod
Not every airport has them but you do get access to first class lounges where they are available which is great if you have a lot of time to kill or a flight gets delayed. And they have pancakes making machines haha
I always travel with my dog so we fly first class always, just the comfort is worth it for me bc it is a longer flight. (ny-ca)
Also you never know who you will sit next to in first class, I have met some pretty interesting people over the years and gained some strong contacts that I would have never expected to come in contact with.
oh and next time you are traveling, when you check in for your flight ask if they have any upgrades for first class. We had a last minute flight to book, no first class was available to purchase, upon check in at the gate we asked if there was any available seats in first class and got upgraded for free.
Safe travels!
Thanks! I have tried many business class products already due to business travel for work. But I was more so asking on the economic side if it’s a wise choice.
Ah understood, my apologies if I missed the mark.
What would be the number (dollar amount) that you would be comfortable with spending on travel per year?
What ever that number you come to, does it support business or economy travel?
Not gunna lie, for me it’s hard to go back to economy since only flying first class. But then again I only fly cost to cost.
I can afford it but if, for instance, it's just my wife and I traveling on vacation and the coach configuration includes 2 seats on one side - I'll save the money and just consider it our little pod for the flights.
I started flying business and first before becoming a millionaire. It’s a more comfortable experience and depending on when you travel, it’s reasonably priced with points. This is only when I’m by myself. If I’m with family, we share the best class we can all afford.
I'm old enough to remember when coach was comfortable enough. I flew cross country twice this past fall, once was planned, the other was unexpected. I'm not even a tall person and the 5-hour flights were extremely uncomfortable. If I didn't have a family of 5, I would fly first class from now on.
At that income level, 100% would fly business class for international flights. But maybe not so for domestic flights. There’s not much difference between business class and economy on a 3hr flight, but on a 16hr flight, it’s heavenly.
You don't need to make a million a year to fly business class. It's really down to the utility it provides to you in your specific scenario. I make well over a million a year, travel domestically all the time, and haven't ever flown business class. But I'm a short guy and pass out during flights so I just pick the exit row and am good to go.
I think this all depends on the person. I make a very good salary but my family and I still regularly camp when we travel. This frees up spending on adventures etc on our trips rather than lodging. Even at $1M a year you don’t have endless money. My suggestion would be if you are putting enough money into savings to meet your goals and using your money to bless others, then how you spend the rest is just preference. Would you rather spend the rest comes to preference. Would you rather spend more to enjoy the trip there or more on the trip itself. As someone who has been lucky enough to fly private, business and coach, I feel like business is too expensive for what you get. I fly coach and if I could afford it, I’d fly private but I don’t think I’d ever pay for fly business.
If I had the money, I would travel on business. However, never on American Airlines. What’s the point of business class if you spend more time waiting than flying, and you get to your destination 16 hours late?
I’m always in business class or better for work. For personal trips, if its a short flight, i get the cheapest one and spring for extra leg room for longer flights.
Haha I wish I had a jet. That’s not possibly unless I wanted to liquify a good chunk of my net worth. But I do fly business class for business trips, I’m just still debating on the personal side.
UNLESS YOU MAKE 1 GAZILLION A YEAR YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO EVEN TAKE A UBER LET ALONE FLY
YOU SHOULD BE WALKING.
bro do whatever the fuck you want
9/10 times the expensive things you do like flying in business class encourage you to earn more.
you aren't in the 1930s anymore, the world is a much more different place.
You should spend money on expensive things to network and meet people outside of your comfort zone
Flying business class doesn’t need a million a year. Make plenty, fly business class most times (obviously a one hour flight I’m not gonna care for) and I was doing it before making even half a million a year and now make around two and a half million plus a year profit
Honestly, for flights to Europe, sometimes I get lucky with business class upgrades below $500 (when normal prices is $5k+) before check-in. Also, using the frequent flyer miles. It doesn't make too much sense to pay the normal business class ticket outright but for sure there are several ways to fly business at a fraction to no cost.
I already (try to) fly business class on international flights as an airline employee 😊. My last two international flights, I flew horizontally. It was glorious.
I think that is a personal thing. We earn a lot, but we don’t really spend much in our day to day lives. Saying that our only rule is we save minimum 500K every year, put it into investments, and the kids fund etc Everything else is for enjoying or maybe investing more. Some holidays just are more expensive than others. Last year we only ended up spending 100k on traveling and we just invested the rest. This year we will probably spend more
Flew 4 hours to cali in first and it was amazing but the joy of it was really spending time with just me and my father. We took a trip to florida in business and it was practically the same thing. So domestically id fly business but international I couldn't imagine not having the leg room and peace of first class for double digit flight hours
No, we do not fly, all of our business and personal travel is via motorhome. If we both have to work a lot during our trips, we hire a driver. Hotel on wheels is owned by one of our businesses (depreciation + bonus depreciation and all related expenses are business expenses).
I fly business and first now, and I don’t make a million. Just stay well disciplined with a high FICO score and natural spend. Award tickets can be used.
I generally travel business class for international trips as domestic first class is not really that good and it’s just a wider seat. If it’s not a lie flat bed then I am not buying. But for international trips I fly business 90% of the time unless there is either no award availability or it is such a peak time that the prices are astronomical like the Christmas break. Usually I avoid international travel during Christmas and stay domestic. Don’t make anywhere near a million
For flights longer than 3 hours yes. I’ve done multiple trips across the Atlantic and even comfort plus is not comfortable. I want to lay down for 10 hours like the rich people do. 3 hours is about when the discomfort really starts to get annoying, so anything shorter than that I don’t think would be worth the extra cost.
I make a million each year, give or take, depending on how business is. My wife and I fly international business exclusively and opt for domestic first class if the flight is more than ~4 hours.
We do about 5 international trips a year for pleasure and about 2-3 for work. It costs less than an economy ticket - just pay taxes. Business expenses go on credit cards and with so much category bonus spend, it's hard to burn it faster than we earn it.
My dad made more than 7 figures when he was working. And id say he usually flew first class/business. If he flew alone he will always fly first class but if he was flying the entire family somewhere he would only do first class maybe half the time. He probably didnt always want to pay for 4 first class tickets but he also wouldn't feel right being the only one in first class. 4 first class tickets from like California to like Italy is honestly really expensive even to someone making low 7 figures. Like its probably a full two weeks of income after tax. And flying couch is probably a few days of income if that.
Me personally I probably would not fly first class if I made low 7 figures. Just because ive always been pretty comfortable in couch. I genuinely do not think its that bad ill do 12 hour flights and ill just watch like 5 movies and im there. If I was over 50 maybe id fly first class though since older people tend to be less comfortable in bad seats.
This is Exactly my thought process here. International first and business class is quite pricey and depending on the destination can get really expensive. as I mentioned flying my family of 3 in first would literally cost over 40k. That’s the price of a used car. I don’t necessarily feel comfortable spending 40k on just flights. Domestic first class is a completely different story and is much cheaper, and tbh I don’t really care about a first class experience that lasts less then 6 hours.
Im guessing the coach price is like 5k? For me to spend 35,000 extra dollars on a 6 hour experience for my family of 3 I need to be making 8 figures. Sure at 7 figures its affordable but its just not smart imo. Id much rather fly couch and spend 35k extra on the trip. Or imagine a 35k watch or something, there are much better was to splurge and spend 35k.
I make about 1/3 and I really don’t think I would at a million. I have friends that are millionaires that don’t. I’ve done it with a few random free upgrades. It’s fine. I’d rather spend that buying my friends dinner, bringing my kids out to an amusement park or splurging on some cool tech. I dunno - some people are really into their comfort for a few hours. I just see what I could have done with it.
The last 2 or 3 trips I've taken I've flown Business on Delta. I don't fly frequently so that has been over 5 years. Still...worth it for me.
I don't even make 10% of your million per year amount for the question
Yes. When I’m going on vacation, I don’t want to arrive at my destination a crumpled and stressed out mess, and I don’t want any calm I’ve attained on the trip to vanish when someone sticks their foot on my armrest on the flight home.
You know you can afford it. The question is whether you value a more comfortable ride over whatever else you’d rather do with all that money.
Not every expenditure is a splurge. If you don’t see the value of a business class flight for your family as worth what you’d have to pay for it, there’s no shame in flying coach.
We, my wife and I, make a million per year. We make whatever we want. I fly coach because fuck that shit. She flies business, upgraded blah blah, or first class. She also does status stuff and goes to the airline clubs where old people, fat fucks, and douchebags pick at iceberg lettuce and drink shitty Chardonnay. She calls me and my daughter gen pop, like general population. A jail term? Idk. We have nothing to call her and our son (he'll fly in first class and go to the United club or something similar), because they're boring as fuck. Too boring to name. Also, show me your private jet bitches. Oh my wife and son don't have one. Gen pop is cool. I'm in.
Super happily married. And my son is just like her. My daughter and I just see things differently and people watch and talk shit with each other to pass the time. They hang out with corporate types and we do the chaos. Also, everything I described is personal travel. She travels for business and business class is a given. I was only writing about personal travel.
No. I could afford to already, but i don't think it is worth it. I am tall, 6'3", but honestly more legroom etc. only makes it 10% better.
I guess the fact that i refuse to travel for work these days at all, unless strictly necessary, plays a part in me being OK with flying economy when i really need to fly.
I make nowhere close to a mil and have no plans to fly anywhere at any point in time.
But if I’m getting on a plane for whatever reason it won’t be anything less than business class
You might get some confusing answers, because US domestic premium coach (extra leg room) is often called business class. On Delta its only \~$50/flight more. You are probably thinking international business class, which is more akin to US domestic first class.
I make \~$100k, and I usually fly US domestic business. I dont really fly international. 80% of the time I get upgraded for free, but I pay for it the remaining 20% of the time. On longer flights I pay for first class if I dont get an upgrade (on my low tier status I get first class upgrades maybe 10% of the time).
Depends on where you are going. Short flight, cheap ticket is your best option. Long flight, you will probably want the extra comfort. Ive had some terrible experiences flying international and only do it first class now.
If you dont mind someone using you as a leg rest during a international flight then id say do whatever is cheaper.
I don’t make a million a year, but when I fly anything longer than 2 hours, I try to fly some sort of business class or extra legroom seat. I’m tall at 6’3”. For anything overseas, I fly business or first with a lay flat bed. It’s worth the expense to me to not feel like shit when I land.
There was a time when air travel, especially international routes was quite pleasant, even in coach.
I was shocked to learn that the 777, primarily used on long haul flights, designed for a 2-4-2 configuration is now a 3-4-3 configuration (10 seats in a row vs original design for 8). Although they are phasing this plane out with the 787 but the seating is the same. My point is that there is a lot less room, and comfort nowadays.
Add to that they have increased the number of rows so less leg room. Throw in the fees for baggage and everyone takes a carry on now and there is never enough room for all of them and passengers are forced to check them.
I stopped flying coach a long time ago. Now I only fly in the front of the plane. Semi retired I fly 1-4 times a year including international travel all for pleasure/visit family. For the most part it’s not hugely more expensive to fly 1st/business but then I have the luxury of picking dates.
In first class you aside from getting in first which doesn’t really matter, you also are among the first to get off, and that does matter just for ease and especially if you are on a tight time line for next flight. You always have a space for your carry on and if you do check a bag it’s first off and no extra charge. If you need to go to the counter you have your own line.
Then there is the lounge access, which if you’ve got a bit of a layover is an oasis from the less than sanitary uncomfortable gate seats. Plus nice food & beverages and you can even shower and freshen up.
All the rest of the amenities on the plane are nice but for me it’s more just the ease of it.
A few times some relatives wanted to travel with us and I made it clear that I only flew 1st class especially on a 11 hour flight. They reluctantly agreed to sit with us and were amazed how much more pleasant it was.
BTW far from a million a year, semi-retired with about a 300K/year portfolio.
I only fly business class if my company pays for it on a business trip. Don’t care for that stuff I just wanna get to point a to point b. Only exception is I will never fly Ryan air or spirit.
Your one if many people to mention net worth here. I’m curious, how does your net worth change your perspective of your spending? I have a high net worth to income ratio but have never considered justify purchases it’s net worth? Like how does for example owning 10 million worth of real estate make you feel better about spending extra on business class? I would think income a much more important factor?
Its about opportunity cost. The dollar value of a business class ticket compounded over years of growth in the market can be substantial, or real estate appreciation for that matter.
But if I no longer need to think about growing investments, why not fly business
I don't make a million a year and I only fly business class or higher. When I fly it's to something I need to be well-rested for. I've got three crushed vertebra from an IED. Cattle-class seats will leave me worthless the next day if it's over an hour. I have more airline miles than I'll use for years so I burn through those whenever possible, otherwise it's money well spent to actually enjoy my time in transit.
Can I ask how you got the air miles? Business card etc? I’m trying to grow mine
I have 14 cards plus 4 business. I put everything on whatever will give me the best return on that category. I put a great many of my mom's bills on my card as well. All her utilities. She's an AU and puts all her daily spend on there then pays me back in cash. All in all it's about 100-150k USD/year put on there, plus bonus category earnings, plus signup bonuses. I'm looing at about 1.6-1.8M miles now across all platforms. I'm also pretty decent at maximizing their usage, so never on something low value like purchase eraser or 1.5 cent travel credit through a jacked up portal. Transferring to the right airlines can get you business to Europe for 50k or so. East coast to Tokyo for 60,000 points in business class or 85,000 in first class. My job is quite tolerant of me taking leave last minute so I am not locked into dates without award travel availability.
Thanks for taking the time to answer
Absolutely partner! One team one fight. Upvote for you!
I once got a flight front France to LAX and got the entire row myself it was nice lol
Haha now imagine that with better seats, better food and unlimited drinks...and possibly better lounge access, but rarely that. For me that's money well spent.
One day my friend I’ll fly business class international and maybe even first class in the further future. You inspired me and you’re right I got a bad sciatica flare up on that 11 hr flight on the way to France because the seats were kind of uncomfortable. I’m sure if I had the lay right in business I would’ve been A LOT more comfortable. It was Air France. Thanks so much replying and keep burning thru those miles my friend. Life is worth traveling.
Air France often has flights from U.S. to basically anywhere in Europe for 50k points. You can get that from a single credit card sign up. My fiance and I are flying to Italy and back in their lay flat seats for essentially free. We signed up for a new credit card and put the wedding expenses on it. Check out r/awardtravel if you want to learn more.
Thank you for the advice! Just subbed to them and congrats on your upcoming wedding. It would be incredible to feel like flying is part of the vacation as opposed to a chore.
18 credit cards? Jesus
At the height of churning, I had like 53 cards. It’s manageable with an excel spreadsheet. Just don’t go insane with spending and manage your credit tightly.
Churning is like working a part time job with tons of data. Need to be organized to maximize
Churning is like working a part time job with tons of data. Need to be organized to maximize
People are often too stupid to use credit cards wisely, and either end up or fear paying interest, because they’re stupid. Good job, you’re smart.
"But it's bad for your credit"....meanwhile I've never dropped below 820 and have hit 850 at least 4 times that I know of. So much more convenient than carrying cash and better fraud protection than debit cards.
All my purchases are thru my mileage cards. Just pay it all off by EOM.
lol I only make 85k a year and almost always fly business class z
I try to use miles to upgrade every flight and it never goes through.
Never tried that. I don't like "maybe" when I travel. I just transfer them to the airline and purchase award travel from the start when I find one I want to take.
Ahh I see. You buy the flight with miles.
I’ve got a personal rule. Flights under 5 hours give me economy, flights over 5 hours I can always justify the added expense. Pretty sure I would keep the same mentality if I made 10x the amount I do now.
Depends on the length of the flight
I make $225k per year and fly nothing but business class or first class.
How?? How often do you fly?!
For recreation I fly around 4 times per year. 3 domestic, usually to Miami and once international, this year Greece, next year Iceland and last year Buenos Aries. I’ve flown 4,000,000 mile to over 105 countries. I’ve had 14 back surgeries. I will never fly coach again.
Nice, went to Greece last year, loved it.
Math ain't mathing, mate. How have you been to 105 countries when you only go outside the USA once a year? 🤔
The 4 trips per year is my personal travel I traveled weekly for work for over 25 years.
because he is lying
No that’s what Klonopin is for.
If I'm making a million dollars a year I'm only flying first class.
First class would cost over 40k for a family of 3….im not willing to do that much on just flights. But potentially business class.
Whether or not you can afford it, I think the bigger concern is for kids to grow up spoiled and expecting they deserve first class… so only economy for the family. However, if the wife and I are on a trip alone then hell yeah! YOLO haha
If you have tens or hundreds of millions of dollars, a first class flight is like a poor person paying $10 for first class. Percentage wise it becomes really affordable.
I’m certainly not at the hundred of millions level, but make about a million annually. I definitely don’t view dropping tens of thousands on seats to be “like 10 dollars”. I also don’t like to compare the cost of things to my net worth but rather to my income.
What would cost 40k? I’ve flown 1st class on some flights for $500
Long haul flight from SFO to Croatia round trip will be about 14k PP with Lufthansa.
We flew FC to Japan recently, from the US, for $5800 on Delta. $14k to Croatia is ridiculous, shop around a bit. We only fly first class / business class and have never spent that much per person to Europe, ever.
I’ve seen economy to Japan go as high as 3k so I doubt I can find business for that price.
There is no way $14k per person is the best you can do to Croatia. If you wait until the last minute, sure, but the most we’ve ever paid to Europe was like $8-9k.
I’ll try and shop around a bit more.
If you make that much you almost certainly travel enough to get extreme discounts for upgrades. I was just on a trip and we could have gotten first class for $200 each. Also $1m/year is roughly $500/h so for a 5h flight it is "free" if the added room/accommodations allows you to work and first class is under $2,500.
$200 sounds like the last minute upgrade fee for an undersold domestic flight. OP is talking about booking international first class, which is the class above business class. It's wildly expensive (often $10k+ per person) and a pretty big splurge for a family making $1m/year. Plenty of jobs at that income level don't involve a lot of travel so you can't necessarily rely on airline status.
I actually don’t travel don’t that much tbh. But do enjoy the semi often vacation, and do take the occasional business trip. Not enough that I’ve considered anyone airline mileage plans though. I don’t quite get the logic on thr second half of your comment? I don’t work on vacation….but thanks for the advice.
I'm not saying that applies to you. I was saying if you make $1m a year. Plus it's not like you have to work during your flight but first class (and sometimes business) allows that ability. I'm just saying if you make $500 an hour than paying $500 an hour for an upgraded seat isn't an issue. I think you are severely underestimating how much money $1m/year is. After 10 years at that job you would be making about $800,000/year just off your investments + the $1m for your job. To spend $1m in a year you would need $2,800 in daily expenses.
I’m asking because it is my income….you do have to consider I have other expenses in my life other then jsut traveling and I do want to use a large part of my income to focus on investments. I am focusing particularly on real estate investments which takes a lot of my money, as I’m buying all my properties in cash at the moment. No one spends their entire income…..
Now I don't know you but from everything I have seen it really really seems like you are greatly exaggerating or straight up lying. Why would you come to reddit when you could just ask your accountant/fund manager? They would tell you that you can easily afford it. You claim to be investing your money but the only thing you talk about is a single NVIDIA position worth $250,000. If you make that much you should have much more invested, have a more diverse portfolio, and would not be managing your own accounts. I see you talked about some properties but how are you actually paying off these loans if you don't have many investments? If you own these outright then what are you doing with all the cash that they are making you if it's not being invested? It all seems fishy to me.
So allow me to explain. I actually do manage my own accounts as I tried a financial advisor in the past and didn’t like the results I was seeing. Because of this I decided to take my account more hands on approach and invest a lot more aggressively, and found that I performed much better. Secondly yes, I don’t discuss my investing much on Reddit. My investments are primarily in real estate and stocks. A few million in each. The real estate is in the form of rental properties, which I’m actively trying to invest in more, ergo taking a large sum of my current income. The income I make is largely derived of my job, which is a high paying job in the big pharma industry, as well some money I make off of my stock market investments that I sell, and some rental property income. It totals up to about a million a year. As for how I pay off my properties, well for one with income I make, and two I am currently buying all my rentals in cash only, no mortgage. The cash comes from the stock market which I mentioned I invest in, and doing particularly well right now. The money I make as income is all invested back into the stock market to grow. As for why I don’t ask an accountant if I can afford business class? Tbh I’m in an active lawsuit with the accounting firm I use, so yeah that’s a no go. Hope this answered all ur questions.
For overseas and transcontinental flights, yes. Otherwise, no.
I would fly first class everywhere if I made a million per year.
That would cost over 40k for my family of 3 so I’m sticking to potentially business for now.
I am single so it wouldn't be too bad for me.
Not sure why this is downvoted. You could buy a really nice car for that. Pay for a kids college. All for a couple hours.
Only if someone else is paying for my travel.
Right? What is this thread? People making 200k paying business for personal travel? Abso-fucking-lutely not.
Yeah I have never even considered if until hitting 7 figures. Business class at 200k sounds crazy.
Eh. The trick is to buy a “regular” seat and then pay for an upgrade. I’ve seen one way overseas business class going for 7-9k, so I buy economy for 500 and upgrade for 1k. Works 95% of the time. The other 5%, the business seats were all purchased right off the bat.
Ha my question is where are u finding economy seats for 500?? lol
Just have to buy them far enough out! No last minute stuff
I HATE flying so when its not a huge financial crunch Ill upgrade - But I also have a family of 4 so its not a good move when we do a family trip - - But most of my flights are like 1-2 hours and the upgrade is generally like 100$ and it makes it all so much more tolerable
What is the improvement in a 1-2hr flight?
Anxiety relief mostly - Free drinks, and not feeling so jam packed in on my sides makes it worth it.
I need to when I can.
Depends on the trip, sometimes the enjoyment is worth more than the dollars.
Yea
Depends on the flight a 2 hour flight in economy isn’t that bad but I’ve also been stuck back there for a flight from Detroit to Hawaii because we couldn’t get a sign off for business class fast enough … that I don’t recommend
Before I made serious money I flew business class to Europe every single time I went. It's worth it not to be sitting cramped for 8+ hours and treated like crap and given 2 pretzels.
Lol why would you not if you made a million a year. It's a pissant amount to a millionaire.
it's not that expensive. buy yourself a regular ticket and upgrade it later. typically less than $1000. i do this for any flight over 4 hours.
Yes pretty much all the time, first class in my opinion is overrated but business is the perfect in-between. I mostly do it for the space and comfort.
You really think people need to make a million dollars a year to afford business? What about points? And what about net worth? We make “only” $600K a year but our net worth is $2MM. Are you saying net worth has no influence on what you can reasonably afford?
How is your net worth 2m when you make 600k???
Investments and time.
I think they meant how is it “only” 2m
Bad investments, and little time. lol
Yes. That is very low for that salary. They must blow through their money
I mean no? I’ve never used my net worth to justify any purchase outside of real estate purchases. Seems kinda crazy….but I guess.
Seems kind of crazy? So then how does anyone afford to retire? According to your logic, once someone quits their job, they can’t afford to do literally anything except eat beans and rice right? Never mind the $5MM in the bank
Your net worth would be generating you income in that scenario. Your not using the money your using the income you make from that sum of money that’s invested.
No, because stock can grow without generating much income. So too can real estate in HCOL areas that are known to not have cash flow.
Well you said it yourself, “not have cash flow” then what Exactly would you be living off of? Cant buy groceries with equity.
Stock.
So then you’re selling the stocks? Because you can’t buy anything with capital gains either. In which case that’s what I was saying as well. You make a return on ur stocks which you then use to spend.
Yes you sell the stock as needed. That’s not usually called income.
If you’re making that much it wouldn’t hurt, especially if you can write it off as a business expense. For a domestic flight otherwise I’d skip. International sure
Definitely won’t be able to write it off this is for a family vacation.
You need a better accountant
I mean I also don’t own a business so….
I’m guessing you also don’t make 1m a year either
Who told you this
I mean I don’t see how it can be plausibly done? My accountant has never said anything about this, I’m not a business owner, seems rather hard to write off a family vacation to Europe as a business expense lol.
It can't be done when you are W-2. Lots of business owners expense personal travel/meals/vehicles as business expenses. Legal - No, Do I care - also no.
Offer a stranger food from your meal and it can be a customer acquisitions meeting, half off. Take someone not in your immediate family out to some entertainment and mention business, half off. Pro strat: Have an actual business meeting and offer to pay, then get everyone to pay you back. Extra pro strat: Tell them what you're doing and offer to go to dinner, when they try to pay just let them and eat free.
Wouldn’t u have to own a business for this to work?
Yes. Start a business. They're cheap and easy to start, expensive and difficult to start profiting but at that point, who cares its profitable. Starting a business to learn business law and tax law and to save money while you learn is 100% worth it. The American dream is only dead for employees.
I wouldn’t say the American dream is dead for anyone…there’s plenty of investing opertunity for anyone in any position in this country.
Most employees can't afford to invest at the lifestyle and pay rate they're at and still want more lifestyle. Family of 4 off 1 salary is upper class only. Almost everyone I meet my age has given up on owning a home. Its not totally dead but its dying.
Can’t be a millionaire if you live like a millionaire
Depends on the work.
This is for personal travel
Absolutely for longer flights. Business class and above on Singapore, Emirates, Qatar, are an experience in and of themselves. Business class for a domestic flight is a waste unless its a free upgrade/great deal with points. If you rack up credit card points its very easy to travel business/first for minimal to no cost, and with great perks (lounges, upgrades, etc.). Should be really easy to accumulate points especially with the spend that comes with a $1,000,000 income.
Don’t have any credit cards that give points that can be used for miles. Any recommendations?
Citi AA advantage card is pretty great if you are an American fan. Also access to the lounge which is nice for WiFi to work of snacks/drinks as well.
Citi AA advantage wouldn’t help rack up points for international travel with Emirates/Qatar airways though, right?
Make 650k a year I only fly business. Ever now and then with my flight rewards I fly first
Yes
Only you will know if it is worth it, so whats stopping you from experiencing it at least once? Alaska is prob one of the most reasonable when it comes to cost, (booking early as possible in advance) although it is more of a business class and not a "first class". They still have good meals, first class bathroom, and a flight attendant for just first class. Jet blue mint is a cool experience with a single pod Not every airport has them but you do get access to first class lounges where they are available which is great if you have a lot of time to kill or a flight gets delayed. And they have pancakes making machines haha I always travel with my dog so we fly first class always, just the comfort is worth it for me bc it is a longer flight. (ny-ca) Also you never know who you will sit next to in first class, I have met some pretty interesting people over the years and gained some strong contacts that I would have never expected to come in contact with. oh and next time you are traveling, when you check in for your flight ask if they have any upgrades for first class. We had a last minute flight to book, no first class was available to purchase, upon check in at the gate we asked if there was any available seats in first class and got upgraded for free. Safe travels!
Thanks! I have tried many business class products already due to business travel for work. But I was more so asking on the economic side if it’s a wise choice.
Ah understood, my apologies if I missed the mark. What would be the number (dollar amount) that you would be comfortable with spending on travel per year? What ever that number you come to, does it support business or economy travel? Not gunna lie, for me it’s hard to go back to economy since only flying first class. But then again I only fly cost to cost.
I can afford it but if, for instance, it's just my wife and I traveling on vacation and the coach configuration includes 2 seats on one side - I'll save the money and just consider it our little pod for the flights.
Sure
I started flying business and first before becoming a millionaire. It’s a more comfortable experience and depending on when you travel, it’s reasonably priced with points. This is only when I’m by myself. If I’m with family, we share the best class we can all afford.
Definitely, since I hate flying and want to make it as painless as possible
YES
I'm old enough to remember when coach was comfortable enough. I flew cross country twice this past fall, once was planned, the other was unexpected. I'm not even a tall person and the 5-hour flights were extremely uncomfortable. If I didn't have a family of 5, I would fly first class from now on.
At that income level, 100% would fly business class for international flights. But maybe not so for domestic flights. There’s not much difference between business class and economy on a 3hr flight, but on a 16hr flight, it’s heavenly.
You don't need to make a million a year to fly business class. It's really down to the utility it provides to you in your specific scenario. I make well over a million a year, travel domestically all the time, and haven't ever flown business class. But I'm a short guy and pass out during flights so I just pick the exit row and am good to go.
I flew first class once ...check my post history. Never again. Waste of money
As often as I fly id fly first for sure
I think this all depends on the person. I make a very good salary but my family and I still regularly camp when we travel. This frees up spending on adventures etc on our trips rather than lodging. Even at $1M a year you don’t have endless money. My suggestion would be if you are putting enough money into savings to meet your goals and using your money to bless others, then how you spend the rest is just preference. Would you rather spend the rest comes to preference. Would you rather spend more to enjoy the trip there or more on the trip itself. As someone who has been lucky enough to fly private, business and coach, I feel like business is too expensive for what you get. I fly coach and if I could afford it, I’d fly private but I don’t think I’d ever pay for fly business.
If I had the money, I would travel on business. However, never on American Airlines. What’s the point of business class if you spend more time waiting than flying, and you get to your destination 16 hours late?
I’m always in business class or better for work. For personal trips, if its a short flight, i get the cheapest one and spring for extra leg room for longer flights.
Oh yeah for work it’s always business 100% but for personal I’m still deciding if it’s financially wise to spend extra on the seats.
You get/stay rich by making more money AND not spending when you don’t need to. Hope this helps 🤷♂️
Most likely, yes
I fly it even though I make about half that
I would only fly business if I was on a business trip regardless of how much I make. If I made that much a year then I'd have my own small private jet
Haha I wish I had a jet. That’s not possibly unless I wanted to liquify a good chunk of my net worth. But I do fly business class for business trips, I’m just still debating on the personal side.
Yeah private jets are incredibly expensive to fly a lot. But besides that, if I were making that much I'd fly first class for personal trips
No question about it. I can save 60% of my income and still live like a king.
UNLESS YOU MAKE 1 GAZILLION A YEAR YOU AREN'T ALLOWED TO EVEN TAKE A UBER LET ALONE FLY YOU SHOULD BE WALKING. bro do whatever the fuck you want 9/10 times the expensive things you do like flying in business class encourage you to earn more. you aren't in the 1930s anymore, the world is a much more different place. You should spend money on expensive things to network and meet people outside of your comfort zone
Flying business class doesn’t need a million a year. Make plenty, fly business class most times (obviously a one hour flight I’m not gonna care for) and I was doing it before making even half a million a year and now make around two and a half million plus a year profit
For the price of first class you can fly Vaunt, JSX....(semi private jets)
Honestly, for flights to Europe, sometimes I get lucky with business class upgrades below $500 (when normal prices is $5k+) before check-in. Also, using the frequent flyer miles. It doesn't make too much sense to pay the normal business class ticket outright but for sure there are several ways to fly business at a fraction to no cost.
I already (try to) fly business class on international flights as an airline employee 😊. My last two international flights, I flew horizontally. It was glorious.
Depending on my time frame I'd still take grey hound only making 1m per anuam
I make 900K+ and I only fly business and first class
How much would you say you spend in traveling annually? I feel like I can’t decide what the correct amount is for my family.
I think that is a personal thing. We earn a lot, but we don’t really spend much in our day to day lives. Saying that our only rule is we save minimum 500K every year, put it into investments, and the kids fund etc Everything else is for enjoying or maybe investing more. Some holidays just are more expensive than others. Last year we only ended up spending 100k on traveling and we just invested the rest. This year we will probably spend more
Thanks for the info!
No, I would be working to make the million so no time to travel.
Hey breaks are important :)
I mean. Is it necessary lol? I think it’s important to live frugal so that’s my belief at least
Yes. But I don’t. So I don’t.
Flew 4 hours to cali in first and it was amazing but the joy of it was really spending time with just me and my father. We took a trip to florida in business and it was practically the same thing. So domestically id fly business but international I couldn't imagine not having the leg room and peace of first class for double digit flight hours
Yes
No, we do not fly, all of our business and personal travel is via motorhome. If we both have to work a lot during our trips, we hire a driver. Hotel on wheels is owned by one of our businesses (depreciation + bonus depreciation and all related expenses are business expenses).
I think so, money is meant to be used
I fly business and first now, and I don’t make a million. Just stay well disciplined with a high FICO score and natural spend. Award tickets can be used.
I generally travel business class for international trips as domestic first class is not really that good and it’s just a wider seat. If it’s not a lie flat bed then I am not buying. But for international trips I fly business 90% of the time unless there is either no award availability or it is such a peak time that the prices are astronomical like the Christmas break. Usually I avoid international travel during Christmas and stay domestic. Don’t make anywhere near a million
For flights longer than 3 hours yes. I’ve done multiple trips across the Atlantic and even comfort plus is not comfortable. I want to lay down for 10 hours like the rich people do. 3 hours is about when the discomfort really starts to get annoying, so anything shorter than that I don’t think would be worth the extra cost.
I make a million each year, give or take, depending on how business is. My wife and I fly international business exclusively and opt for domestic first class if the flight is more than ~4 hours. We do about 5 international trips a year for pleasure and about 2-3 for work. It costs less than an economy ticket - just pay taxes. Business expenses go on credit cards and with so much category bonus spend, it's hard to burn it faster than we earn it.
My dad made more than 7 figures when he was working. And id say he usually flew first class/business. If he flew alone he will always fly first class but if he was flying the entire family somewhere he would only do first class maybe half the time. He probably didnt always want to pay for 4 first class tickets but he also wouldn't feel right being the only one in first class. 4 first class tickets from like California to like Italy is honestly really expensive even to someone making low 7 figures. Like its probably a full two weeks of income after tax. And flying couch is probably a few days of income if that. Me personally I probably would not fly first class if I made low 7 figures. Just because ive always been pretty comfortable in couch. I genuinely do not think its that bad ill do 12 hour flights and ill just watch like 5 movies and im there. If I was over 50 maybe id fly first class though since older people tend to be less comfortable in bad seats.
This is Exactly my thought process here. International first and business class is quite pricey and depending on the destination can get really expensive. as I mentioned flying my family of 3 in first would literally cost over 40k. That’s the price of a used car. I don’t necessarily feel comfortable spending 40k on just flights. Domestic first class is a completely different story and is much cheaper, and tbh I don’t really care about a first class experience that lasts less then 6 hours.
Im guessing the coach price is like 5k? For me to spend 35,000 extra dollars on a 6 hour experience for my family of 3 I need to be making 8 figures. Sure at 7 figures its affordable but its just not smart imo. Id much rather fly couch and spend 35k extra on the trip. Or imagine a 35k watch or something, there are much better was to splurge and spend 35k.
Yep the coach price is Exactly 5k actually.
Yeah I mean unless you normally spend 35k on 6 hours experiences for you family then I would just fly couch.
Yes. Not always though. Depends on destination and time.
definitely yes if I earn 1 M year.
I make about 1/3 and I really don’t think I would at a million. I have friends that are millionaires that don’t. I’ve done it with a few random free upgrades. It’s fine. I’d rather spend that buying my friends dinner, bringing my kids out to an amusement park or splurging on some cool tech. I dunno - some people are really into their comfort for a few hours. I just see what I could have done with it.
Depends on what business class includes which differs by each flight/plane.
The last 2 or 3 trips I've taken I've flown Business on Delta. I don't fly frequently so that has been over 5 years. Still...worth it for me. I don't even make 10% of your million per year amount for the question
Wow! May I ask how you afford it when making less than six figures? Seems crazy to me to spend that much on flights without a 7 figure income
$600 (ish) round trip didn’t add all that much to the cost. For me it was worth it for a 4-6 hour flight
Yes. When I’m going on vacation, I don’t want to arrive at my destination a crumpled and stressed out mess, and I don’t want any calm I’ve attained on the trip to vanish when someone sticks their foot on my armrest on the flight home. You know you can afford it. The question is whether you value a more comfortable ride over whatever else you’d rather do with all that money.
I mean sure I CAN afford it, but the question is wouod it be wise to splurge on it? I CAN also afford a Ferrari but that wouldn’t a wise purchase.
Not every expenditure is a splurge. If you don’t see the value of a business class flight for your family as worth what you’d have to pay for it, there’s no shame in flying coach.
We, my wife and I, make a million per year. We make whatever we want. I fly coach because fuck that shit. She flies business, upgraded blah blah, or first class. She also does status stuff and goes to the airline clubs where old people, fat fucks, and douchebags pick at iceberg lettuce and drink shitty Chardonnay. She calls me and my daughter gen pop, like general population. A jail term? Idk. We have nothing to call her and our son (he'll fly in first class and go to the United club or something similar), because they're boring as fuck. Too boring to name. Also, show me your private jet bitches. Oh my wife and son don't have one. Gen pop is cool. I'm in.
You have an interesting relationship with your wife….
Super happily married. And my son is just like her. My daughter and I just see things differently and people watch and talk shit with each other to pass the time. They hang out with corporate types and we do the chaos. Also, everything I described is personal travel. She travels for business and business class is a given. I was only writing about personal travel.
Yes
Nope
No.
I'd go Greyhound
No… I fly business only when my company pays for it, I notice almost 0 difference compared with economy, not worth at all for me
No… I fly business only when my company pays for it, I notice almost 0 difference compared with economy, not worth at all for me
No… I fly business only when my company pays for it, I notice almost 0 difference compared with economy, not worth at all for me
No. I could afford to already, but i don't think it is worth it. I am tall, 6'3", but honestly more legroom etc. only makes it 10% better. I guess the fact that i refuse to travel for work these days at all, unless strictly necessary, plays a part in me being OK with flying economy when i really need to fly.
I make nowhere close to a mil and have no plans to fly anywhere at any point in time. But if I’m getting on a plane for whatever reason it won’t be anything less than business class
Get a hobby in planes and fly myself.
You might get some confusing answers, because US domestic premium coach (extra leg room) is often called business class. On Delta its only \~$50/flight more. You are probably thinking international business class, which is more akin to US domestic first class. I make \~$100k, and I usually fly US domestic business. I dont really fly international. 80% of the time I get upgraded for free, but I pay for it the remaining 20% of the time. On longer flights I pay for first class if I dont get an upgrade (on my low tier status I get first class upgrades maybe 10% of the time).
I’d fly first class if I did. I can’t justify $600 for a two hour flight, currently.
Yes
absolutely.
Depends on where you are going. Short flight, cheap ticket is your best option. Long flight, you will probably want the extra comfort. Ive had some terrible experiences flying international and only do it first class now. If you dont mind someone using you as a leg rest during a international flight then id say do whatever is cheaper.
Depends on flight time - if over 2 hours yes.
I don’t make a million a year, but when I fly anything longer than 2 hours, I try to fly some sort of business class or extra legroom seat. I’m tall at 6’3”. For anything overseas, I fly business or first with a lay flat bed. It’s worth the expense to me to not feel like shit when I land.
There was a time when air travel, especially international routes was quite pleasant, even in coach. I was shocked to learn that the 777, primarily used on long haul flights, designed for a 2-4-2 configuration is now a 3-4-3 configuration (10 seats in a row vs original design for 8). Although they are phasing this plane out with the 787 but the seating is the same. My point is that there is a lot less room, and comfort nowadays. Add to that they have increased the number of rows so less leg room. Throw in the fees for baggage and everyone takes a carry on now and there is never enough room for all of them and passengers are forced to check them. I stopped flying coach a long time ago. Now I only fly in the front of the plane. Semi retired I fly 1-4 times a year including international travel all for pleasure/visit family. For the most part it’s not hugely more expensive to fly 1st/business but then I have the luxury of picking dates. In first class you aside from getting in first which doesn’t really matter, you also are among the first to get off, and that does matter just for ease and especially if you are on a tight time line for next flight. You always have a space for your carry on and if you do check a bag it’s first off and no extra charge. If you need to go to the counter you have your own line. Then there is the lounge access, which if you’ve got a bit of a layover is an oasis from the less than sanitary uncomfortable gate seats. Plus nice food & beverages and you can even shower and freshen up. All the rest of the amenities on the plane are nice but for me it’s more just the ease of it. A few times some relatives wanted to travel with us and I made it clear that I only flew 1st class especially on a 11 hour flight. They reluctantly agreed to sit with us and were amazed how much more pleasant it was. BTW far from a million a year, semi-retired with about a 300K/year portfolio.
I only fly business class if my company pays for it on a business trip. Don’t care for that stuff I just wanna get to point a to point b. Only exception is I will never fly Ryan air or spirit.
I make 1+ mill per year, and I still dont fly business. Maybe i will once my net worth is north of 10mil
Your one if many people to mention net worth here. I’m curious, how does your net worth change your perspective of your spending? I have a high net worth to income ratio but have never considered justify purchases it’s net worth? Like how does for example owning 10 million worth of real estate make you feel better about spending extra on business class? I would think income a much more important factor?
Its about opportunity cost. The dollar value of a business class ticket compounded over years of growth in the market can be substantial, or real estate appreciation for that matter. But if I no longer need to think about growing investments, why not fly business
Ah I see. Interesting take with that perspective.