italdesign
Level 2 Member
Foreseeably, there may come a day when you might not have mountains of miles and points, and actually have to pay for your flights and hotels out of pocket (I know, *gasp*). Which made me wonder, how much would I be willing to pay for premium travel vs coach and cheap hotels?
I understand why great F can cost 10-15x Y. You're taking up the space of 6-8 Y seats, plus the dedicated staff, fancy meals loaded onto the plane, ground service, extra mileage accrual, etc. However, I think my out of pocket limit would be 150% of Y, no matter how great the product. So if the cheapest acceptable Y is $1000, I'm willing to pay at most $1500 (**) for anything above and beyond.
Here's my rationale. Premium cabin to me is all about the bed. Yes, I enjoy the free food and service and lounge access and that kind of stuff too, but those are totally discretionary, not necessity. So I'm basically paying for one night of bed in each direction. Yes, it's in the sky, but it's still one night of bed. If I don't have it that night, I'll recover soon enough.
So the question for me is, how much is one night of bed worth? Well, that depends on the other part of the question - how much am I willing to pay for a luxury hotel? Whatever that number is, the amount I pay for premium cabin cannot exceed it by a lot, since it is nowhere nearly as comfortable/spacious, though it is in the sky, so let's treat them as equals. I think my cash limit for any hotel is $200/night (**). So, I'm willing to pay up to $250 for a bed in the sky in each direction.
Overall, I'm more willing to pay a premium for hotels than flying. I base this on my enjoyment. A hotel room has a lot more... room for enjoyment and pampering, while even the most spacious F is severely restricted. I guess I see flying as a necessary evil, while hotel as a luxury, escape. So, maybe I'm only willing to pay a 150% premium for flying, but I'll pay up to a 300% premium for a better hotel ($65 for a motel vs $200 for a 5 star hotel on Priceline). Still, my hotel budget rarely ever exceeds $100. I'll always pick a 3* in a remote location for $100 vs a 5 star in central location for $200, save for the rare out of pocket pampering.
** Possible exception for super special occasion such as honeymoon. But hopefully we can do that with pts.
Meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy long haul F and ultra-aspirational stays as much as possible and pamper myself beyond rotten spoiledness.
What is your perspective?
I understand why great F can cost 10-15x Y. You're taking up the space of 6-8 Y seats, plus the dedicated staff, fancy meals loaded onto the plane, ground service, extra mileage accrual, etc. However, I think my out of pocket limit would be 150% of Y, no matter how great the product. So if the cheapest acceptable Y is $1000, I'm willing to pay at most $1500 (**) for anything above and beyond.
Here's my rationale. Premium cabin to me is all about the bed. Yes, I enjoy the free food and service and lounge access and that kind of stuff too, but those are totally discretionary, not necessity. So I'm basically paying for one night of bed in each direction. Yes, it's in the sky, but it's still one night of bed. If I don't have it that night, I'll recover soon enough.
So the question for me is, how much is one night of bed worth? Well, that depends on the other part of the question - how much am I willing to pay for a luxury hotel? Whatever that number is, the amount I pay for premium cabin cannot exceed it by a lot, since it is nowhere nearly as comfortable/spacious, though it is in the sky, so let's treat them as equals. I think my cash limit for any hotel is $200/night (**). So, I'm willing to pay up to $250 for a bed in the sky in each direction.
Overall, I'm more willing to pay a premium for hotels than flying. I base this on my enjoyment. A hotel room has a lot more... room for enjoyment and pampering, while even the most spacious F is severely restricted. I guess I see flying as a necessary evil, while hotel as a luxury, escape. So, maybe I'm only willing to pay a 150% premium for flying, but I'll pay up to a 300% premium for a better hotel ($65 for a motel vs $200 for a 5 star hotel on Priceline). Still, my hotel budget rarely ever exceeds $100. I'll always pick a 3* in a remote location for $100 vs a 5 star in central location for $200, save for the rare out of pocket pampering.
** Possible exception for super special occasion such as honeymoon. But hopefully we can do that with pts.
Meanwhile, I'm going to enjoy long haul F and ultra-aspirational stays as much as possible and pamper myself beyond rotten spoiledness.
What is your perspective?
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