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I flew in coach for decades before I tried business class for the first time. That means I flew many very long international flights sans armrests (men always took them), hardly ever getting up because I didn't want to disturb the people in my row, miserable and sleepless.
But once I tried business class (almost always Club World), there was no going back. I'll fly domestic in coach, even coast to coast, but no way am I flying nonstop from the West coast to Europe & beyond unless I can have a flat bed and all the other amenities of business class. I really appreciate the lounges before and after the flight, as well, for the hot shower and other comforts offered therein.
What about places that 10-15 hours away? I couldn't imagine sitting in a bolt upright economy seat for that duration of time and not coming out with a bad back.
Some alternative suggestions:
Your own music + headphones
An exciting book
Sleeping pills
Get up and move around a lot
Lots of movies
When I traveled for work, our policy was anything over 10 hours. Because we all flew a lot, many of us would use miles for upgrades....I'm looking at you flight to Munich at 9:51.
Policy aside, I think the justification breaks down to a couple points:
1. If I fly coach, will it jeopardize the very point of the trip? I have a hard time sleeping in coach for very long, or anything very restful. While I could pull an all-nighter in college, now it leaves me stupid for two days. If I'm expected to get off the plane and be in a meeting 3 hours later, it's justified to put me someplace where I can sleep for a long flight. It also gets me on/off the plane faster if deadlines are tight.
2. It's easier to get up and move around in the higher class seats. If you sit for too long on an airplane, you can do some damage to yourself. At the same time, you don't want to be the guy that keeps waking up his seat mates that are trying to sleep very often. I recall a salesman that needed to go to China after having a stroke a couple months prior. Boss was going on a tirade about cutting costs, and we got HR to confront him and say if he's needed in China, then we have to make a health accommodation. I liken the middle coach seat to holding a yoga pose for 8 hours...
3. If I'm flying coach, forget me doing work on the laptop. The guy in front reclines and there just isn't room left for me to type and look at the screen without hunching over for hours. If you're expecting some productivity on the flight, I'm flying a higher class.
4. How expensive is finding a new employee? If you keep flying me coach around the world, I'm going to grow just tired of doing it after awhile if it's always on the cheap.
5. Related to 4 but the opposite. It can be a perk. If I want to travel someplace my wife doesn't like, saying I'll spring for the first class tickets sometimes does the trick.
With all of the US carriers having shrunk the size of coach tickets in order to get more seats, and the day of not having to fly next to someone approaching a myth like story, it's become an issue. Add on to it the transport to/from the airport. The warm welcome from TSA. The known mess it will be if something (like weather in Kansas) screws up your flight. Flying sucks now, if you want someone to do it a lot, you'll need to give them a comfortable seat.
For #1 I'm surprised they would have employees put up with coach, and then want them to be perky for a meeting 3 hours later.
For #2, I no longer have any shame in asking people to get up so I can get up and stretch and use the restroom. Well, I don't do it at will, but for every 2 to 4 hours, I will utilize this.
For #3, my laptop fits, but that's b/c it's a 10.8" Lenovo. I'd imagine many people would prefer 13" or bigger laptops, and yeah, it gets VERY cramped with the recliner in front down.
We started flying business class in our 50s to Europe. We go to Europe once a year and it was worth it.
A few years ago when I turned 60, I stopped flying coach other than non-stops of less than 2 hours duration. At a certain age, those cramped economy seats are too uncomfortable and I end up stiff and sore for a day or more.
I just build the extra cost into our travel budget.
I think it depends on the airline. I would rather spend a little more to fly economy on a quality airline than fly business class on a mediocre airline. I have flown Emirates to Europe twice (8 to 10 hours) and Etihad to Abu Dhabi once (13-15 hours) in economy and the experience was fine, I would even consider them enjoyable, the food, entertainment and service were excellent, the seats were even comfortable and I am on the larger side. However I recently flew to South Africa on South African airlines and it was a bit more miserable (seats were uncomfortable, food was horrible, no power outlets at the seat). Personally I wouldn't spend the extra for business class but I'm also a pretty easy going traveler and I generally can always fall asleep on a flight.
What works for one person isn't necessarily going to work for anybody else. A lot has to do with the nature of your travel. Is it for work or leisure? How often do you fly and from where to where? Alone or with somebody else?
Years ago we put together a travel "master plan" that was good for three or four years (beyond which the uncertainty factor got out of hand.) Then we set about forming priorities and thinking about the logistics; it was more than a "bucket list" because we worked through the when and hows - when to visit certain places that were better visited in one season or the other, how to string together destinations so more than one could be seen on the same trip, things like that. We also built in a contingency factor, knowing that some trips couldn't be foreseen - family emergencies, work trips, long weekends...
Then we set about building a budget to handle these aims. To us, travel is an important and non-negotiable part of life, not some "extra" that we undertake only if it's convenient at the moment. And traveling comfortably, especially as we got older and creakier, was a priority.
So we did two things. First we worked to obtain elite status in our frequent flyer program. This earned us more miles/points on the flying we did, so that we could redeem them for more comfortable flights going forward. We also got priority bag handling, expedited screening at airports, lounge access, preferred seat selection, and other perks that helped reduce the discomfort of travel - not just the seats, but the whole soup-to-nuts business.
Second, we used special fares, most notably business-class round-the-world fares, to reduce the cost of flying up front. We would buy a business class RTW ticket in year 1, good for 16 flights in business class, for around US$6000. We'd use it to work through the bucket list, but because of the specific rules of these tickets, we also used the same ticket for domestic travel around the US, and for some of those "unplanned" trips I mentioned above.
In the course of that year we'd renewed our FF status and had earned enough frequent flyer miles to "pay" for most of our travel the following year, again, in premium cabins. We'd get something like 4-6 flights up front in the "off" year (year 2) so the $6K basically paid for roughly 20 flights over two years, or something like $300 each. That's a decent price for, say, London to Rome in business class, but it's dynamite for New York to Hong Kong, or Sydney to Johannesburg.
Now this isn't going to work for everybody, not even a majority. But it worked for us, and the main "take-away" is that developing a strategic travel plan is a terrific way to budget and think through your options when it comes to this important part of life.
If its an overnight flight longer than 6 hours, I'll go BC because my sleep is very important and it also helps in adjusting to the different time zones. Shorter than 6 hours and I'll go economy, but will pay more for extra legroom.
Recently I flew to China (15 hrs) in BC and just couldn't imagine what it must have been like in Economy - call me a wuss, but I love my creature comforts
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