Avoid in-flight buyer’s remorse with the Cost-to-Upgrade-per-Flight-Hour Perspective
Attention class. I trust you’ve been putting some of our teachings from UE 101, Part 1 and UE 101, Part 2 to practical use over the last few months. Cecilia, I saw your Instagram pics from Tokyo – nice work from you. And Joe, I loved the TikTok routine you and your friends put together in Madrid – and sorry to hear about the hamstring by the way. But at least the flight savings will help with the physio bills.
Now, today, we’re going to talk about a very helpful way to determine the value of an upgrade, and that is using the Cost-to-Upgrade-per-Flight-Hour Mindset formula.
People tend to look at lump sums and make hasty decisions based on that. But when you break costs down to hourly segments, you might start to think differently. An extra $40 an hour to fly in Business Class? An extra 1,200 miles or points per hour to upgrade? Heck yeah, that’s actually great value. Yes, it’s purely a mindset thing, but it’s one that makes perfect sense.
Inflight Buyer’s Remorse
Which brings me to a bit of Psychology 101: “Inflight Buyer’s Remorse.” People often are kind of short-sighted when booking travel on the ground. Before they get on the flight, they congratulate themself on the money saved by buying a cheap ticket for an okay seat. And then when actually in the air, regret the comfort they’re missing out on! Every kick from the kid behind, every armrest elbow tussle, every stringy bit of chicken, every “sorry I gotta go to the bathroom,” and every flimsy fork is a reminder that a wrong decision was made.
So it’s worth thinking about whether those inconveniences, er, ANNOYANCES, are worth $40 an hour. For me, being in Business Class is the best extra $40 an hour I could spend when it’s that low, or why not $85 for First Class when possible?
With all that in mind, let’s get those books open and look at some examples.
March Upgrade Economics Example #1
Fly in Business Class on United instead of Premium Economy for just $40 per flight hour R/T
In this example, flying United on a round-trip NYC/Newark-London in Business Class costs $2,567 on average at time of publication for July and August travel, while Premium Economy is going for $1,987. Now there’s a lot of psychology built into those numbers. My guess is that the Premium Economy price computes to a nice round $2,000 in the flyers brain, while the Business Class price is rounded to $2,500. That extra $500 will deter many people. In fact, most people won’t even bother to compare fares in multiple cabins! So the cost of upgrading is $40 per flight hour to actually enjoy those hours in the air. Hour, after hour, after hour.
Comparing Premium Economy & Business on United
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March Upgrade Economics Example #2
Fly in Business Class to Tahiti instead of Economy for just 1,200 miles or points more per flight hour
I can see the class is getting distracted by their smartphones, so let’s take a moment to focus on this nuanced perspective example. This one takes the per-hour value idea and translates it to mileage award tickets where the getting is good.
If you can find free award seats on Delta to Tahiti, the cost in economy is 140,000 miles round-trip versus 160,000 miles round-trip in Business Class on Air Tahiti Nui (using American miles).
If you apply our value economics to this equation, you’d end up paying less than 1,200 miles per flight hour to upgrade to Business Class to kick off your South Pacific vacation. That’s some volcanic value.
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FCF has been monitoring this route for free award seat availability, and is typically found close in as seen in our Sweet Redeems alerts.
March Upgrade Economics Example #3
Fly on American in First Class to Europe on your NIGHT flight for just $85 more per flight hour R/T
And now for this month’s final example. The default mode for most people is to fly from A to B, and B to A in the same cabin. For example, flying Business Class the whole way. But using the logic we’ve been discussing, you shouldn’t overlook the cost-per-flight-hour-to-upgrade ONE OF THOSE LEGS to First Class. We call this the Horses for Courses Strategy. Let’s break it down.
American New York-London round-trip in Business Class costs $3,259 (on average) at time of publication for fall flights. However, if you flew in First Class to London and Business Class on the way back, it costs $3,859, a difference of $600. Breaking that down even further, we get a cost of $85 per hour for the seven-ish-hour overnight flight. Now imagine that you’re heading to London for a special birthday, or anniversary, or to personally meet with Ringo Starr. On special occasions such as these, $85 per hour to arrive most refreshed and ready to go can be well worth it on a red-eye flight.
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Thank you, class, today’s notes are above. Please review them before booking your next flights. I trust the idea of the Cost-to-Upgrade-per-Flight-Hour Perspective is well entrenched after today.
Just think about how valuable this data point might be when you’re haggling with your travel companions who don’t want to spring for a better seat. A subtle shift in perspective can make all the difference, and prevent having Inflight Buyer’s Remorse on the way to your otherwise exciting vacation.
We’re Upgrade Open-Minded, are you?