The Auswine Forum

Hmmm, reading the other thread on qantas wine service made me ponder the following.

What if you had a budget for a holiday, and setting aside the cost for accomodation, travel, food, and miscellaneous expenditure, and at the end of the day, had enough for Business class tickets for 2 to Europe, would you:

- Fly in Business class luxury
- Fly in cattle class, but have an extra AUD 12,000 to eat/drink in Europe
- Fly in cattle class, but have an extra AUD 12,000 to buy your quota of 5 bottles of wine duty free back to Australia

Cheers.

Spend the money in Europe for sure! For that matter buy those bottles of wine that you are going to bring back and drink them there

cheers

Carl

Do all three.

Harden up, go cattle and spend the money elsewhere. Unless work is paying for it I can put up with a bit of discomfort for a day to save $6K.

If you labeled your options A, B, and C - I would go enthusiastically for B + C. It's only a plane trip.

It has to be A. I can't even afford cattle class if I'm paying.

Waiters Friend wrote:It's only a plane trip.

Not if you are 6'8" tall with legs longer than a supermodel's! Business for me!

Cheers

Dave

i could never justify business class being a run of the mill average size person.
I think tall people can request an emergency exit seat, and if it's not free it's only a smallish charge for the privelage (in comparison to business class $$).

I've flown business a few times for work and while it's fab and you arrive more relaxed, if I'm paying, I certainly can't justify the cost differential for full fare. Saying all that, I've just been put on qantas staff travel and the difference between economy and first is only around $300 each way so, once I'm eligible for business and first fares, I won't blink at that difference.

I'd spend the extra on the actual holiday rather than the flight - although I've never spent $12K on a holiday.

Have traveled first and business only a few times and then only after using mileage either to get seats or to upgrade from economy. It is certainly worth the experience (but not the money) as the food and wine is quite a step up as are the hospitality suites that you can use prior to boarding. And I make sure I enjoy ALL the wines on the flight even to the point of once asking the stewardess to crack a vintage port when no one else was interested.

Mike

bacchaebabe wrote:I've flown business a few times for work and while it's fab and you arrive more relaxed, if I'm paying, I certainly can't justify the cost differential for full fare. Saying all that, I've just been put on qantas staff travel and the difference between economy and first is only around $300 each way so, once I'm eligible for business and first fares, I won't blink at that difference.

WOW! Lucky you Kris...

We could only dream of such luck...

Any chance of swinging us a couple of fares, and we'll split the difference and call it even stevens?....... Hmmm, I'm sure there must be some kind of rule against that

Anyways, I actually haven't voted, as wifey and I are in this very predicament, and are still undecided. We have flown business class long-haul return once, and tell you what, it is almost worth selling the left kidnay for.......almost......

Cheers,

Monghead.

Yeah well don't hold your breath on me flying business class. My sister started with Qantas about nine months ago and you have to be with them for seven years before you're eligible for business and first so it will be a while. Still I'm not complaining about the price of the economy tickets.

One other option that you might like to consider, if your airline offers it, is premium economy. You get a bit more leg room, better service and stuff but it's just a little more than standard economy. It is worth the extra money for the comfort without spending ridiculous amounts.

Or the only other option is to buy a standard fare and use frequent flyer points to upgrade to business. That is definitely worth it and is not so painful in terms of the cash which could be put to much better use.

Well,

Finally booked some tickets. It's cattle class for us...

Nice one, true to the poll...

Cheers,

monghead

monghead wrote:Well,

Finally booked some tickets. It's cattle class for us...

Nice one, true to the poll...

Cheers,

monghead

So long as you spend the money on wining and dining in Europe

cheers

Carl

griff wrote:

monghead wrote:Well,

Finally booked some tickets. It's cattle class for us...

Nice one, true to the poll...

Cheers,

monghead

So long as you spend the money on wining and dining in Europe

cheers

Carl

Well, some of it...

Okay, you got me. Most of it...

monghead wrote:Well,

Finally booked some tickets. It's cattle class for us...

Nice one, true to the poll...

Cheers,

monghead

where you going

I am struggling with the same issue- cattle class and more spending monely will wine but It is going to hurt

Well, as someone who recently did this, and made the same decision

Economy class for me

Then extra money on the food, the wine, accommodation etc etc.

It is, after all, only a flight, lasts x hours only, then you are off.

My 2 c worth.

Mind you, I'm far from 6 foot 8!

michel wrote:

monghead wrote:Well,

Finally booked some tickets. It's cattle class for us...

Nice one, true to the poll...

Cheers,

monghead

where you going

I am struggling with the same issue- cattle class and more spending monely will wine but It is going to hurt

Well,

The plan is 5 days in Paris, then 21 days in the following:

- Vezelay
- Burgundy
- Rhone/Lyon
- Provence
- Monaco/Cote d'azur
- Marseille
- Bordeaux
- Mont St Michel
- Loire

Cattle class as the deal was extraordinary. 2 return tickets on the A380 for a little under $AUD2800, leaving us a cool $AUD10000 extra for food and wine...

Monghead.

monghead, sounds like an awesome trip.
Are you actually going to stay in Monaco? very pricey
We spent a week in nearby village of Menton a few years back. we rented a small flat with a view at very reasonable price. great part of the world.


on the broader topic, yes i could never justify (nor afford) paying business class. i have travelled it with work, and yes its great, but i would rather spend the money eating at nice restaurants, staying in nicer hotels.

Definitely Economy - emergency exit row seats please.

Arrive in London, purchase a campervan with some of the remaining $12,000. Drive at leisure through France, Germany, Italy and Spain at your own pace. Return to UK and sell vehicle. With the proceeds of the sale you can then do what you will with the remainder.

Having recently spent a year travelling around the world (Europe, US, St America, Sth East Asia - primarily backpacking) and spending just on $50k (for two) to justify the significant extra spend for what is primarily a more comfortable seat and a better food and wine list, i would happily toughen up and go cattle if it affords me the opportunity to go places and do things i wouldn't necessarily have the chance to.