When are airline upgrades worth it?

[Trmpt98]

Piggy backing off my travel thread, United keeps sending me messages to get me to upgrade. When I fly to Roanoke it's only a 2 hour flight so after having to pay for baggage fees (I normally fly southwest) I'm trying to decide if an upgrade is worth it. Currently I'm in a premium economy which basically just allows me to pick my seat. Other options are ecomony plus (more leg room) or first class. First class is way more than I want to spend but may go economy plus. I would consider doing is even more if one of those baggage fees was included.

So my question for you is when does it become "justifiable" to upgrade your plane seat? Convince me

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

For me, a 2 hour flight probably wouldn’t be worth it unless I had a ton of extra miles. 4+ consecutive hours would probably be worth it to me

 

[JB]

Every single flight I can.
Have you gone to a Walmart recently?
Now imagine going to a walmart and sitting in the cart of one of those "shoppers".

 

[tahoebum]

For me, almost never unless the flight is longer than 5 hours and if I can get an aisle or window exit row, I’m happy to fly in the back even on the really long flights. For my wife, she’s way more willing to pay for an upgrade to Delta Comfort+ or First Class but she normally gets upgraded with her Skymiles Diamond status. For at least a handful of flights each year, she‘s in First Class while I’m in Comfort+ or an exit row seat in the back.

 

[Trmpt98]

Every single flight I can.
Have you gone to a Walmart recently?
Now imagine going to a walmart and sitting in the cart of one of those "shoppers".

That analogy is fantastic!

Looks like the flight is a smaller plane (70 seats) starts with

Economy
Economy Premier (preferred seats, small upcharge) - my current level
Economy Plus ($40 each way) - extra leg room
First Class ($140 each way) - can't justify this for 2 hrs

 

[kiwichris]

Having previously got Premium Economy for free & losing it, getting it for a reasonable fee is worth it (reasonable to you obviously), little more room but more importantly you're boarding sooner & off the plane sooner

 

[Trmpt98]

For me, almost never unless the flight is longer than 5 hours and if I can get an aisle or window exit row, I’m happy to fly in the back even on the really long flights. For my wife, she’s way more willing to pay for an upgrade to Delta Comfort+ or First Class but she normally gets upgraded with her Skymiles Diamond status. For at least a handful of flights each year, she‘s in First Class while I’m in Comfort+ or an exit row seat in the back.

My wife is like this, but she's also 5'1" 115lbs so it's easier for her. I'm a bit bigger at 6'2" and I like to eat.

 

[Jman]

The older I get, the more I upgrade any chance I get.

 

[Trmpt98]

One a side note, as you can see from the picture of the cabin above, I'm not sure this flight is going to be full to begin with. 51 days!

 

[Stemmy66]

I've been traveling quite a bit for work both domestically and internationally and flying business is way more refined than the 'back' of the plane.... Our corporate policy is anything over 5hr continuous flight time can be business class anything under, is coach (upgrades are on me if chosen) All I'll say is unless you plan to upgrade every chance you can don't do it now.... its like letting the genie out of the bottle... you'll never be able to put it back in

 

[NeverWiff]

i'm not especially large 5'9 175-ish. I only fly a few times per year and while i have flown business class and first class a couple of times over the years, Coach is fine for me. I might feel differently if i traveled for a living. Honestly, all i truly care about is taking off and landing.

 

[Trmpt98]

When I flew delta down to ATL I went with the comfort plus which had a little bit more room, but didn't stop the lady with her service dog sitting in the middle seat while she slept with her mouth open and the dog stared at me the whole time.

 

[JetSpeed]

The older I get, the more I upgrade any chance I get.

I can relate to this.

I’ve noticed as I age my tolerance for BS across the board is in serious and steady decline.

 

[Jman]

I can relate to this.

I’ve noticed as I age my tolerance for BS across the board is in serious and steady decline.

Faaaaaaccccttttttttt!

 

[jlew]

I upgrade anytime I can- even if it's just to comfort plus or something along those lines.

 

[Joshnoble01]

Always worth it. I don't have the money to book flights in Business/First Class when I travel with my family and I would feel like a jerk spending double when traveling alone. But you should always check before your flight if they have any last-minute upgrades. Always book the extra legroom or if you are flying SW get priority boarding. Little things make a bigger difference than you would think.

 

[TJRyska]

For me, a 2 hour flight probably wouldn’t be worth it unless I had a ton of extra miles. 4+ consecutive hours would probably be worth it to me

Same. I just flew this past weekend (2ish hour flight) and read a book the whole time. It wouldn't have mattered much to me where I sat. I was so focused on my book that the time flew by. But if it was 4+ hours, then I would think about upgrading.

By the way, if you are looking for a good book, check out "Exposure" by Robert Bilott.

 

[BuffaloPlunger]

Same. I just flew this past weekend (2ish hour flight) and read a book the whole time. It wouldn't have mattered much to me where I sat. I was so focused on my book that the time flew by. But if it was 4+ hours, then I would think about upgrading.

By the way, if you are looking for a good book, check out "Exposure" by Robert Bilott.

My only exception is if I get a free upgrade. I haven’t been flying with delta long but comfort + upgrades seem pretty standard if you have any kind of status

 

[Junkyard]

That 1A seat looks pretty inviting.....

Seriously, though I upgraded once to "first class" on a United flight I believe it was. The upgrade was the cost of my golf club baggage fee, and basically it put me in the front row of the plane and on board before anyone else. It was a weird experience - the pilot came out and was telling us what altitude we'd be cruising at, what the forecast was and how long the flight should take.

Short haul like 2H I wouldn't consider it, but longer flights would definitely entertain it.

 

[Trmpt98]

That 1A seat looks pretty inviting.....

Seriously, though I upgraded once to "first class" on a United flight I believe it was. The upgrade was the cost of my golf club baggage fee, and basically it put me in the front row of the plane and on board before anyone else. It was a weird experience - the pilot came out and was telling us what altitude we'd be cruising at, what the forecast was and how long the flight should take.

Short haul like 2H I wouldn't consider it, but longer flights would definitely entertain it.

Yeah, it's a bit more than I want to shell out but really considering the economy plus for some extra leg room. I'm just going to watch the flight for a bit and see how or when it starts to fill. Unfortunately the carry on is a bit too small I think so I'll end up checking both bags.

 

[PiratePenguin]

Under an hour for a quick up-and-down I don’t think it’s worth much, but anything longer than that nowadays, I will take whatever I can get. Business for international.

 

[USAF Retired]

My wife is like this, but she's also 5'1" 115lbs so it's easier for her. I'm a bit bigger at 6'2" and I like to eat.

So....not 115?

 

[Trmpt98]

So....not 115?

Closer to 115-1/2

 

[DanFoutsBeard]

2 hour flight would give me pause for 1st class upgrade, but I would definitely spring for the main cabin upgrades for more room.

Wife and I always upgrade to 1st class for vacation travel. Where we live and where we travel to generally requires a layover, so between the lack of baggage check fees, the savings of not having to eat/drink in airport bars, and the convenience of first (nearly) on/off, it's worth it.

Side bonus; in my experience it's pretty rare for anyone in first class to be an obnoxious "first time on a plane" asshat.

 

[Raiderboost]

That 1A seat looks pretty inviting.....

Seriously, though I upgraded once to "first class" on a United flight I believe it was. The upgrade was the cost of my golf club baggage fee, and basically it put me in the front row of the plane and on board before anyone else. It was a weird experience - the pilot came out and was telling us what altitude we'd be cruising at, what the forecast was and how long the flight should take.

Short haul like 2H I wouldn't consider it, but longer flights would definitely entertain it.

I did this for my flight to Cincinnati for the Victory Cup in October. It was $70 more each way but included two checked bags (my suitcase and my clubs) which would have bee $70 to check both with the economy ticket. It was a no brainer to pay the same amount and go first class which was the first time I have.

We just got back from our honeymoon and we did coach for the flight to and from Austin to DFW but upgraded the main leg from DFW to Huatulco and back which was about a 3 1/2 hour flight. I think it was about $300 more total to do that which I think was worth it.