Upgraded Flights or Upgraded Accommodations?

[jimmymc]

Based on an email I received recently, I'm curious to know what the split is. If your vacation budget for a transatlantic or transpacific trip allowed for either:

1. A business class flight with lie-flat seats, nice meals, unlimited drinks, but you stayed in a budget-friendly, plain hotel
2. An economy flight, but you stay in a luxury hotel with larger, nicer rooms, beautiful pools, a better location, and a concierge desk

Which one are you going with? I also included the option for neither, but you have to spend the money on something during the trip (3 Michelin Star dinner, private tours, car services, etc.); you can't just save it or extend the trip. The last option is for both, as in you wouldn't travel abroad unless you can afford both a nice flight and high-end hotel. You'd rather just travel domestically in luxury.

 

[EACarlson]

I'll deal with a less comfortable flight if it means a better room. I'll be spending a lot more time in the room over my vacation than I will on the flight.

 

[BrianL]

I think for an overseas flight, I'll go with the flight upgrade. Lie-flat would be so amazing! If the flight was domestic US though, I'd go with the hotel, or possibly something else.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

If it's an 8/10/12 hour+ flight, I'm not looking to start a vacation crammed in a middle seat in coach. Not a good way to get home either!

 

[Smugpugmug]

I would actually pick neither if referring to an international trip. The flight may be uncomfortable in the moment but that won't be the entire trip and I can deal with it. I also don't spend the majority of my trip at the hotel and wouldn't mind having a room with the basics. I want to spend as much time exploring as possible so I wouldn't use the pool or other hotel amenities.

Instead I would spend the money on nicer restaurants, souvenirs, tours, other experiences, etc.

 

[bennifer]

I don't know which to vote for! It would depend on the destination. If I were going to Fiji and it was a relaxing beachy vacation, definitely the hotel would get the money. If I were traveling to New Zealand where I would be active and probably not staying in the same hotel because I'd be road tripping, I might splurge on the lie flat seats.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I have problems sleeping on planes and the jet lag is difficult to deal with. We flew to Australia in economy -- never again. Recently we tried business class across the Atlantic and it made a huge difference.

As for hotels -- if we can't afford nice clean accommodations I'll stay home.

 

[mikehn]

Depends where Im going. Generally, I'll take the economy seats. At least it'll probably be on a 777 or similar.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I voted neither. There is sooooo much to do and see here in the US, I'd fly first class domestic, stay in top notch accommodations and enjoy a first class vacation without cutting back to meet a certain budget.

 

[RedHead0186]

For me, definitely the flight upgrade. I don't sleep well on planes so having a lie-flat seat gives me a better chance at getting at least decent rest before getting to my destination. I splurged and got business class flying to Europe last summer and now I'm spoiled; I don't think I could go back to economy seats.

As long as the hotel is decent, that's fine with me. If I'm traveling I plan to spend a lot of time out and about, so I don't need a super fancy room.

 

[georgina]

I can fly economy to Europe or Hawaii, have never been on longer flights but I imagine might want at least a more leg room upgrade. Did a cruise in April in an upgraded cabin with more space, and just booked another for May, again with the larger room but economy flight.

I don't sleep on planes either, but a lie flat seat would not help.

 

[sam_gordon]

Split the difference... get the "more leg room" seats on the flight (sacrificing the lie flat) and a "moderate" hotel.

So instead of an 'A' plane seat and a 'C' hotel room (or vice versa), get 'B' level for both.

Now, with the limitation of have to pick an A level at one... how long is the trip? If it's only a week or so, and most of the time is going to be out sight seeing or something, I'd be tempted to splurge on the lie flat seats *IF* the flight is longer than ~7 hours.

 

[kdonnel]

Most likely I would go with option 2.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

We sorta approach things as just a mass budget TBH. We usually have an idea of what we feel comfortable spending and what we don't. We aren't people to book business class or lie flat seats though to begin with. Some people are, even for short hauls and even the concept of flying far in economy for those people are a non-starter.

I need an "other" option here-explanation below

We flew from Chicago to Paris with Economy but Exit Row seats due to my husband's height. The flight from Paris to Venice was on a plane similar to SWA setup. The less than 4 hour flight from Athens to London economy on a plane similar to SWA. From London to Chicago exit row seats in economy. But these were also booked on points and cash combos and so part of it is that.

We booked our flights to London for next May as Premium Economy but also booked on points and the points were favorable so we upgraded from what we would have normally done of Economy. Haven't booked the return flights from Copenhagen yet but we are also looking to do points.

For Japan next October we had been looking at a less expensive way of doing lie flat seats if possible or at least upgrading there. But if on a traditional airline it wouldn't be business class or better more than likely due to points costs.

I'd also say the poll and question proposed by the OP is treating it like a budget hotel is less than a luxury hotel. Spending more money on a hotel does not necessarily mean it's a better hotel. I think the case can be made more for flights if we're talking about leg room and position of the seat but being in business class doesn't mean it's necessarily better. I've been on some hotel beds that were hard as a rock but supposedly in a 5 star hotel, ones that hurt my back after one night. And then I've slept on beds from Hamptons that are so incredibly comfortable.

 

[wvjules]

I think for an overseas flight, I'll go with the flight upgrade. Lie-flat would be so amazing! If the flight was domestic US though, I'd go with the hotel, or possibly something else.

This is the way.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I'd definitely go better flight. I flew nearly 8 hours to the UK in coach (middle row of seats) and it was a nightmare. I can live with a budget hotel, I stay in them all the time.

 

[jimmymc]

I'd also say the poll and question proposed by the OP is treating it like a budget hotel is less than a luxury hotel. Spending more money on a hotel does not necessarily mean it's a better hotel. I think the case can be made more for flights if we're talking about leg room and position of the seat but being in business class doesn't mean it's necessarily better. I've been on some hotel beds that were hard as a rock but supposedly in a 5 star hotel, ones that hurt my back after one night. And then I've slept on beds from Hamptons that are so incredibly comfortable.

I would beg to differ about business class compared to economy. On long haul flights, which is what we're talking about here, there is no comparison between business class and economy seats, even if you book extra legroom or exit rows. I can't think of a single case where an economy seat would be a better experience than business.

With hotels, I don't want to think of it as budget vs luxury, more like paying more to get a better room, location, or amenities. Unless you're booking the top options anyway, there is usually a way you can upgrade a trip by staying closer to the attractions you'd like to see or booking a suite instead of a standard room. It's all hypothetical anyway, like if someone is offering you the choice between a $4 airline and $1k hotel gift card or a $1k airline and $4k hotel gift card to use on your next vacation.

If you're looking for a cheap, lie-flat option to Japan, see if Zipair is able to work for your schedule. They're a budget airline who has business class seats but doesn't bundle them with things like food and bags.

 

[_19disnA]

If the flight is more then 2 hrs even if a domestic destination, I would prefer business class (or whatever each airline happens to call their seating arrangement). You sit toward the front of the aircraft so boarding/exiting goes faster, you get a larger seat and the service is generally better since they have fewer people to serve. In the economy section, many planes have 6 across seating and they tend to only be comfortable for short-duration flights. Even if flying domestically in the USA, flights from one coast to the other could be 5+ hrs even if non-stop. Even if traveling internationally which typically involves larger aircraft, sitting in a cramped seat for many hours would not be my idea of to start/end any type of vacation.

Much like Disney, most vacation destinations have a variety of hotels/accommodations depending on your preferences & budget.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I would beg to differ about business class compared to economy. On long haul flights, which is what we're talking about here, there is no comparison between business class and economy seats, even if you book extra legroom or exit rows. I can't think of a single case where an economy seat would be a better experience than business.

With hotels, I don't want to think of it as budget vs luxury, more like paying more to get a better room, location, or amenities. Unless you're booking the top options anyway, there is usually a way you can upgrade a trip by staying closer to the attractions you'd like to see or booking a suite instead of a standard room. It's all hypothetical anyway, like if someone is offering you the choice between a $4 airline and $1k hotel gift card or a $1k airline and $4k hotel gift card to use on your next vacation.

If you're looking for a cheap, lie-flat option to Japan, see if Zipair is able to work for your schedule. They're a budget airline who has business class seats but doesn't bundle them with things like food and bags.

That's why I specified your question about luxury would be more applicable on flights. I wasn't making the comparison between business and economy but arguably saying that just by booking business does not make it better. You can still be around crappy people, still have issues sleeping, etc. There are also all sorts of vlogs out there going over the differences between the airlines and what their categories are as "is it worth it for X airline's Y" is a common question.

Our Europe search for hotels we're finding a Holiday Inn Express in Trier, Germany (a 3 star hotel) costing 320 euros for one night vs a 4 star boutique hotel in the heart of it all perfect location costing that much for two nights worth in Ghent, Belgium. In this case paying more would get you a Holiday Inn Express nothing wrong with it but probably not what type of situation you were thinking of. Pretty much every place we travel to domestic or international paying more for a room does not mean it's better for us or even a better room or better amenities or better situated.

We just got back from Vegas, while we were offered upgrades to a suite for Aria (we were on a comp stay there) or an upgrade to higher floor level for Encore (we were on a Wynn/Encore offer stay) we declined both, no need to spend the money there as we don't value what it would get us. In some destinations $4K towards the hotel's add ons (meaning your gift card example) may be much better than taking the $4K flight.

Totally get it's all just random musings! I'm saying I'd have to look at the question of what does my money get me in the value I'm looking for because that's how we travel. We won't always pick the most expensive option as it's not always better. And we aren't shifting money from one trip to the other sacrificing comfort or some other amenity that's just how we approach travel.

Zipair is the airline my husband had been looking at, we are also exploring other options. But glad to hear someone else is suggesting them!

Speaking about upgrades though there is an international airline testing out an adults only area of their plane for an additional fee in booking it (I believe it's the front of the plane), that's an upgrade I could see us paying for

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

If the flight is more then 2 hrs even if a domestic destination, I would prefer business class (or whatever each airline happens to call their seating arrangement). You sit toward the front of the aircraft so boarding/exiting goes faster, you get a larger seat and the service is generally better since they have fewer people to serve. In the economy section, many planes have 6 across seating and they tend to only be comfortable for short-duration flights. Even if flying domestically in the USA, flights from one coast to the other could be 5+ hrs even if non-stop. Even if traveling internationally which typically involves larger aircraft, sitting in a cramped seat for many hours would not be my idea of to start/end any type of vacation.

Much like Disney, most vacation destinations have a variety of hotels/accommodations depending on your preferences & budget.

This is a highlight in the differences in how people travel.

2 hours is absolutely nothing of a flight to me. Most flights hover around 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours for us due to our location in the middle but we've done longer. On a pure comfort level 3 hour flight is not worth spending two to three times as much for us. Well I'll caveat that with if my husband's company is paying for him and they have no issues with him charging that much he would do it but it's company money not his. Still though they are not going to pass through several thousand dollar differences just because.

Going along with the OP just searching if we were to do east coast to London on Delta Delta One it would be a whopping $5,332 per person or Comfort + for $542, in between those two is Premium Select at $1,512. It's a 6 hour 50 min flight. Certainly for some they'd spend it in a heartbeat but for 2 people that's paying $10,664, $1,084 or $3,024 all respectively. Even upgrading from Comfort + to Premium Select it's a $7,640 difference to Delta One (their business class equivalent). That is not enough of a flight situation to say to spend that much more for us personally and is why I couldn't just answer the question of luxury hotel or luxury flight.