Let’s talk about irony. I’m the quintessential travel addict who eats, sleeps, and breathes globetrotting. Yet my husband Karl, who is more content in his man cave, is the one who always gets us upgraded to 1st class for free when I do happen to convince him to travel with me somewhere. HOW SWAY?
It’s cool though. I reap those benefits alongside him, so you won’t hear me complaining. My question for all you savvy travelers out there is this. Do you think 1st class is worth it on a short flight? We all know long international flights are where you really see the difference. But what about short haul flights? After being upgraded to 1st class on a flight from Cancun, Mexico to Atlanta, GA, we were able to finally see for ourselves.
WATCH THE VIDEO (and continue reading below)
WOULD YOU PAY MORE MONEY FOR…
More Space
So duh, of course the first thing we saw was how much more space you get right. This includes the overhead bins, the amount of legroom in front of the seats, and even more separation between you and your neighbor. I wasn’t accustomed to having this much room, but I can tell you I liked it.
Better Snacks
2nd thing we noticed was the greater variety of snacks we got. Wait. You mean I don’t have to choose between a tiny bag of peanuts or two biscuit cookies? 1st class, where have you been my whole life? Funny how a banana that I’d never think twice about in any other situation, suddenly made me feel like royalty.
Alcohol
Oh and let’s not forget about the dranky dranks. Adult beverages are included and they keep ‘em coming. Needless to say, I took advantage and had a fantastic buzz for the entire flight.
Silence
So Karl brought this one up, as did someone else who commented on our YouTube video. I guess I didn’t think about it at the time, but it was so quiet in 1st class. I guess I’m so accustomed to noise in Economy, that I’ve learned to drown it all out. I usually either put on headphones or just go to sleep. On this flight though, I don’t think I even took my headphones out.
THE VERDICT
Okay, so that’s really all I got folks. While these differences are very nice, they aren’t something I’d shell out a ton of money for. If the price is right, then sure. Hmmm…I’ll just throw a number out there. $100 maybe? Yes, I might pay about $100 extra for 1st class on a short flight.
Any price higher than that—then I’m good in Economy where I only have to be uncomfortable for a few hours. While 1st class on a short flight makes me feel like a princess for a short while, I realize there’s no real need to suffer from a case of FOMO the next time I walk past that section of the plane – I mean at least not on a domestic flight. Now for an international flight – that’s an entirely different story for another day.
How much more would you be willing to pay for 1st class on a short flight? Drop a comment and let me know!
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My husband and I will probably never fly first class on any flight because it’s way too expensive (unless they felt nice enough to upgrade us for free lol) However, trains are a different story! When we went to Italy we used the fast trains a lot and I convinced my husband to get us 1st class rail passes – it was soooo worth it even on days we had a 1 1/2 hr to 2 hr train ride. They gave us food, wine and the seats were amazing!!! Plus, it cost us a total of roughly $150 more than the economy passes but we wanted to splurge on that trip. It was a welcoming experience other than our 8 hour each way flights in economy to and from Italy. We are going to Spain the next time we visit Europe and I will be asking for 1st class passes again 🙂
You taught me something new!! I’ve never experienced (or even thought about) getting 1st class on a train. That might be a cool thing to add to my list of things I want to try, thank you for the suggestion. And yeah I’ve only flown first class through complimentary upgrades haha!