How much is a First Class Seat worth to you ... per hour?
 

A semi-hypothetical question.

Given that a First Class seat is worth 'something more', how much more
is it worth to you on:


a 5 hour flight?
10 hours?
15 hours?

Taking the above and normalizing by how many hours the flight is, do
you come up with a "$xx/hour" rule of thumb?


Basic reason for me asking the question is if to burn some miles and
dollars for an upgrade. It it were miles-only, it would be a no-
brainer, but the dollars adds roughly $25/hour.


-hh

How much is a First Class Seat worth to you ... per hour?
 

On Mon, 13 Oct 2008 05:00:26 -0700 (PDT), -hh wrote:

A semi-hypothetical question.

Given that a First Class seat is worth 'something more', how much more
is it worth to you on:


a 5 hour flight?
10 hours?
15 hours?

Taking the above and normalizing by how many hours the flight is, do
you come up with a "$xx/hour" rule of thumb?


Basic reason for me asking the question is if to burn some miles and
dollars for an upgrade. It it were miles-only, it would be a no-
brainer, but the dollars adds roughly $25/hour.


-hh

On a ten hour flight an upgrade to First Class
for $250 is a bargain, snatch it with both hands.

How much is a First Class Seat worth to you ... per hour?
 

-hh wrote:
A semi-hypothetical question.

Given that a First Class seat is worth 'something more', how much more
is it worth to you on:


a 5 hour flight?

$10 per hour

10 hours?

$15 per hour

15 hours?

$15 per hour.

How much is a First Class Seat worth to you ... per hour?
 

"-hh" wrote in message
...

the dollars adds roughly $25/hour.

The value of time for differences in service likely varies significantly by
individual, so one way put some boundaries on an (average) answer is to
compute what the airlines determine as a value. Just looking at a couple of
O-D pairs for hypothetical trips, I imputed a value of $54/hr. for a short
trip and $60/hr. for a long trip (i.e., the normalized differences between
economy and first class fares). Most likely, looking at a larger sample
would produce different results.

How much is a First Class Seat worth to you ... per hour?
 

"-hh" wrote in message
...
A semi-hypothetical question.

Given that a First Class seat is worth 'something more', how much more
is it worth to you on:


a 5 hour flight?
10 hours?
15 hours?

A seat twice the size is worth twice the fare.

A penguin attending to my every need and insisting on calling me Mr whatever
because they think it makes me feel good, is worth zilch!

tim

How much is a First Class Seat worth to you ... per hour?
 

-hh wrote:

a 5 hour flight?
10 hours?
15 hours?

There is another important variable:

Is this an overnight or daytime or both night/day flight ?

Daytime only, first class doesn't bring you as much value as a night
time or mixed flight since first class seats allow you to sleep in a "bed".

And obviously, the new breed of first class "roomettes" such as on the
A380 is worth a hell of a lot more than some "first class" seat on a
north american airline that is just a glorified business class seat.

How much is a First Class Seat worth to you ... per hour?
 

tim..... wrote:
"-hh" wrote in message
...
A semi-hypothetical question.

Given that a First Class seat is worth 'something more', how much more
is it worth to you on:


a 5 hour flight?
10 hours?
15 hours?

A seat twice the size is worth twice the fare.

Well technically the seat is 1.5x the size, but the legroom is also
about 1.4x the amount.

The airlines price those seats at varying multiples of the coach fare. I
recently bought a ticket from SFO to LAS and the coach fare was $138 r/t
and the first class fare was $600 r/t. At the airport they offered me a
first class upgrade for $50. The plane was almost empty, and it was less
than a 90 minute flight, so it wasn't worth it.

How much is a First Class Seat worth to you ... per hour?
 

tim..... wrote:

"-hh" wrote in message
...

A semi-hypothetical question.

Given that a First Class seat is worth 'something more', how much more
is it worth to you on:


a 5 hour flight?
10 hours?
15 hours?


A seat twice the size is worth twice the fare.

Yes, if you think linearly.

If two cars are the same size, are they also worth the same?

How much is a First Class Seat worth to you ... per hour?
 

On Oct 13, 2:13*pm, John Doe wrote:
-hh wrote:
a 5 hour flight?
10 hours?
15 hours?

There is another important variable:

Is this an overnight or daytime or both night/day flight ?

It would be an 8 hour overnight, followed by a 10 hour daytime. Same
on the return.

Total per person upgrade cost would be $1000 for the round-trip; base
coach airfare is $1700.


-hh

How much is a First Class Seat worth to you ... per hour?
 

"mrtravel" wrote in message
. ..
tim..... wrote:

"-hh" wrote in message
...

A semi-hypothetical question.

Given that a First Class seat is worth 'something more', how much more
is it worth to you on:


a 5 hour flight?
10 hours?
15 hours?


A seat twice the size is worth twice the fare.

Yes, if you think linearly.

If two cars are the same size, are they also worth the same?

The point that I am making (in fact made) is that, personally, the only
thing that I'm prepared to pay extra for on a plane is extra space.

I am not prepared to pay extra for the "extras" that come with upgrading.
Not because they don't add anything to the cost, but because they add no
value to me for the journey.

tim