Has flying J ruined you?

[boomy]

Flying J definitely ruined my +1 Before meeting me she never turned left when boarding a plane and now she doesn’t want to fly Y anymore unless it’s domestic. I don’t mind Y to Asia and done that heaps pre Covid on HKG business trips buying QF $598 return tickets which were sold during the price war with VA. The “secret” is to eat and drink well in the F lounges on both ends and then pass out onboard . This year I’ve done Y to SIN and next week flying Y to ICN. I do have my limits and will not fly Y all the way to Europe unless an emergency happens and I can’t get an award seat up front.

 

[sudoer]

Definitely yes.

Mrs sudoer and I discovered the churning and status game in our mid-late 20s and started flying medium/long haul almost exclusively in J/F. We've flown many unusual routings to secure award seats, earn extra SC, reposition for cheaper cash fares, and just avoid Y in general ! When we do fly Y/Y+ it'll be on a full service carrier with lounge access/priority everything through status.

Just before Christmas 2023 we flew 7 hours in SQ Y as there were no award seats and cash fares were astronomical. While we do usually fly economy on short domestic hops, this was the longest flight we've done in economy for many years - it was a real shock to the system. Mrs sudoer was also in her 2nd trimester which definitely didn't help!

We welcomed Ms sudoer a few months ago and will be making the most of lap infant fares until she's 2 years old, but once she needs her own seat, I think we will be back in economy or premium economy for a good few years. Definitely not looking forward to it....

 

[VPS]

I've met friends of close friends of mine and I knew they were very comfortably off and they have a couple of months overseas every year but discovered last month they always fly Y (and my comment was WHY)

 

[VPS]

Over the last 10 years we have been lucky to fly our long haul flights in J. And yes I think it does spoil us for going back to Y.
On our last trip we flew Y to Singapore on QF to position ourselves for our J flights to Europe. Going over was ok a daytime flight and we had exit row seats. But the overnight return in Y, again exit row seats was not as pleasant. I could not sleep sitting up, maybe grabbed an hour, the young boy behind me kept hitting my seat. Husband took a sleeping tablet so got a little more. Food was very ordinary, I am allergic to fish and I found after enquiring that both the beef dish and chicken contained fish sauce for flavour. So no food for me.
We had the chance to upgrade with points and we though, no its a short flight but hindsight is a bugger!

I'm also allergic to fish and find having to order a vegan meal to be safe is so damned boring and unappetising

 

[dajop]

I'll go against the grain here, and say not at all.

Judicious use of premium cabins when it makes sense. If I can get a good deal, sure, but I'm not going to double the travel time just to fly in a premium cabin. I have flown a lot in J, but I still see it as a treat rather than a necessity. Now, a small rider, that on anything over 3 hrs in economy, I really need to have an aisle seat (or preferably exit row), as that makes a world of difference to me.

I do semi-commute between SIN & MEL (well 6-8 times/year anyway). For these trips, I just don't see the value in J on the route, it's a nice treat occasionally, that is all Prefer day flights, so economy is fine but even on overnights, I find I don't sleep terribly well, even in a fully flat bed as it's only 6.5 hrs at least inbound to MEL,

Also I don't value huge diversions just to travel in business, preferring just to get the trip over with. As an example I'd rather jump on a non-stop flight from Singapore, just after midday and arrive in London at 7pm, instead of positioning to Jakarta and travelling in business via the Middle East overnight (essentially arriving 12 hrs later)

Definitely nice to treat yourself though when it makes sense!

 

[NM]

Leisure/Personal Travel is all about the experience for me. And that experience begins with the planning phase, and encompasses all of the process from getting to/from the airport, check-in, lounges, flights, hotels, meals, tours, sight-seeing etc.

So I seek out every opportunity I have to "upgrade" the experience. That means avoiding economy air travel unless there is no option (e.g. single-class aircraft).

 

[kookaburra75]

Flying J definitely ruined my +1 Before meeting me she never turned left when boarding a plane and now she doesn’t want to fly Y anymore unless it’s domestic. I don’t mind Y to Asia and done that heaps pre Covid on HKG business trips buying QF $598 return tickets which were sold during the price war with VA. The “secret” is to eat and drink well in the F lounges on both ends and then pass out onboard . This year I’ve done Y to SIN and next week flying Y to ICN. I do have my limits and will not fly Y all the way to Europe unless an emergency happens and I can’t get an award seat up front.

Same here. I spoiled MrsK for a significant birthday in flying to Singapore in J, and now it's Bus all the way - expect for when I have to travel back in Y while she is lapping it up, up front. She deserves it, she says. Who am I to argue? If I try, she points out I did several years of runs, at 3-4 per year to the UK for work in Y, so I should just harden up.

 

[blackcat20]

I don't think its ruined me, but I'm certainly not looking forward to 14 hours in Y later this month (especially with 2 kids). Happy to fly Y domestic or to NZ, but anything longer we do try for J on points where possible. However, finding four J seats with points can prove tricky, so we just have to do our best.

 

[Albert Hoffman]

One gets used to anything. I find it important to break it up and fly Y and PE regularly, so when i do fly J it feels all the more special.

 

[TY24]

I did week on-week-off FIFO for the best part of 3 years, and being crammed into an ex Tiger Airways A320 twice every week combined with being extremely fortunate to get J Upgrades more often than not when flying on QF A330's has made me struggle to fly cattle class I must admit.

 

[auriga]

I am quite OK even on Scoot between SYD and SIN. And not even ScootPlus.
I do pick the daytime flights though.
Don't deny business or first class is nice, but by no means necessary.

 

[fletty]

Definitely yes.

Mrs sudoer and I discovered the churning and status game in our mid-late 20s and started flying medium/long haul almost exclusively in J/F. We've flown many unusual routings to secure award seats, earn extra SC, reposition for cheaper cash fares, and just avoid Y in general ! When we do fly Y/Y+ it'll be on a full service carrier with lounge access/priority everything through status.

Just before Christmas 2023 we flew 7 hours in SQ Y as there were no award seats and cash fares were astronomical. While we do usually fly economy on short domestic hops, this was the longest flight we've done in economy for many years - it was a real shock to the system. Mrs sudoer was also in her 2nd trimester which definitely didn't help!

We welcomed Ms sudoer a few months ago and will be making the most of lap infant fares until she's 2 years old, but once she needs her own seat, I think we will be back in economy or premium economy for a good few years. Definitely not looking forward to it....

Isn't Ms Sudoer flying JAL F soon? You'll ruin her from the get go

 

[sudoer]

Isn't Ms Sudoer flying JAL F soon? You'll ruin her from the get go

Yep - her first international flight in August

 

[wannabeinvestmentbanker]

In one word...yes

My aim in life is never to have to travel Y again.

I have a very very reasonable corp travel policy and am a single guy so always looking for a single redemption or reasonable fare so hoping its not too challenging a goal. Early 30s with LTG under the belt and P1 and almost LTP with Marriott so hoping to enjoy the perks for the remainder of my lifetime or the programs lifetimes.

As others have mentioned, flying F is what really ruins you...particularly on EK and SQ

 

[Blinky]

A few people have mentioned retirement. I will be WP for the next two years, and expect, with family pooling and status promos, that I will keep Gold while my wife and I are still up for travel, so maybe 10-15 more years. As I said earlier, flying in the back of the bus with status isn’t too shabby.

 

[tdimdad]

Even PE spoils you with the uplift in comfort. Having now enjoyed some overnight long-hauls in J, I struggle with the thought of being crammed into sardine can at the back. Realistically, I normally buy Y tickets and need to accept that being seated there will be the default option. But boy, it feels grim being back there on a long and busy flight when you know of what the alternatives feel like.

 

[RealtimeY]

For when flying in Y, doing it without status has become a lot more difficult to bear now that I’m used to it. Skipping the lines and maybe a nice lounge really adds a lot to what’s otherwise a pretty tedious experience.

 

[Pushka]

Im excited to try CX J. My history on J is only on QF, Finnair and RJ my only gripe about HKG is im essentially travelling the wrong direction compared to SG.

Flying EK BKK-HKG is cheap $200 aud and a great idea as I can avail the plethora of lounges in BKK (JAL, CX, Qatar + EK if flying with them) but i just noticed the taxes out of HKG are crazy ( $732 on QF and $1440 on CX) which is just madness. I guess i should be happy now with 90k points and only $350 aud.

Just to put things in perspective the options around BKK-SYD were:
BKK - MEL - SYD in JQ (which i refuse to fly on JQ)
BKK - Manila paid ticket and Manila - Syd in J on QF (which i refuse to fly 3.5 hours to avail a J seat)
BKK - Jakarta is the same issue as Manila
BKK - SIN on Max bundle then hop on BA J (I love the experience of SG Airports + shorter distance to home except the track from T4 to T1) but BA J is seemingly thin around August end

We are flying CX J next week. I travel so badly these days, even in J. I'm sort of ok paying for it but it's points as my first option. I'm at the stage now where if I can't fly j on long haul then I won't be flying.

My older Bro and SIL who have always travelled long haul in Y even said last week their next flight will be in J. And they totally watch their pennies as both are retired.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I do semi-commute between SIN & MEL (well 6-8 times/year anyway). For these trips, I just don't see the value in J on the route, it's a nice treat occasionally, that is all Prefer day flights, so economy is fine but even on overnights, I find I don't sleep terribly well, even in a fully flat bed as it's only 6.5 hrs at least inbound to MEL,

Yeah, that flight is difficult for sleeping, given it can be really short in the way down to MEL. I prefer transits at bangkok, hong kong or at a stretch tokyo to break the flight into sectors long enough to sleep on each.

 

[encryptededdy]

Flying J on award tickets has turned me from someone who would never pay for a cash J ticket, to someone who recently paid for a cash DGLOB34 (cash oneworld J rtw).