What is your business class fare limit ?

[German_flyer]

Thank you so far for your answers.
Interesting how much or less some willing to spend (neutral comment)

By the way, my limit is approx. 2x for short haul, 2-3x for medium haul and 3-4x for long haul but may vary on some factors.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Sometimes I go with prem Y or comfort seat booking tho.

 

[bPeteb]

We'll see how our super accounts look after a few years before we decide if J becomes something we'd be prepared to pay for semi-regularly. If it does I'd say no more than 3x. Y+ is more us.

A day of travel in y isn't going to do either of us any damage. Neither of us has extra long legs or are plus size so y seats are no issue. We'd much rather have nice hotels waiting for us when we get to wherever we're going than blow $10k on one day of travel.

 

[downgraded]

Too time poor to do these convoluted routes. Just returned from my first ever personally paid for J trip to UK. Made easier by only one of us making the trip this time. Over 10k paid on QF but at the time of booking it was competitive, a not so bad multiplier over Y, and travel turned out to be peak ME mess and it all ran perfectly to time. PE is still the one that feels grossly overpriced to me. The J lounge experience in SIN is vastly improved now that the wannabe F riff raff are cramming into their own space.

 

[Beer_budget]

But neither of us are retired and as such annual leave is a limiting factor.

I think this is one of the big differentiators. Our main restriction on travel is leave availability, and that also means the approach of just leaving more days for recovery (and paying for that in hotel rates instead of J fares) isn't really an option. I have health issues, Mr Champagne Tastes has a terrible time with jetlag, so flying J long haul and at least PE medium haul has an appreciable impact on how quickly we can get into holiday mode on arrival (and back to work on return).

 

[JustSlash]

Good question and interesting to see everyone’s take on J pricing.

I’m pretty similar to most here, really depends on distance and carrier. For domestic, around 2–3x Y feels about right. For Asia, I used to aim for ~$3k return and would usually hold off if it went above that. Lately though, prices have crept up and sadly anything under $4k return now feels like a “book it before it disappears” moment.

For Europe (or the other side of the world), I’d probably budget roughly double that… though at this rate, that’s more of a theoretical exercise than actual planning

 

[CaptJCool]

For family trips to Europe/UK we generally fly QF SYD-CGK getting F Lounge access (on points in J if available, or paid Y if not), then EY CGK to LHR in J. Total cost is usually $4k-5k pp depending on whether SYD-CGK is cash or points. In comparison, QF wanted >$3k SYD-LHR return in Y at Christmas.
I can't imagine self-funding SYD-LHR return in J at >$10k pp (and defintely not x4 pax).

This Christmas 2026 QF Y fares were bordering $6,000 return WTF

MY RULE OF THUMB
Consider points options noting QF now has 18 million members (and plenty of points hoarders)
Consider re-positioning options
Consider BFOD price points including CR discounts etc
Consider airline and earning points eg. JAL AF IB
Consider Who’s paying ?
Consider personal capacity to pay and if so for how many ?
Eg employer provided allowances plus tax deductions cut a $8,500 J airfare down to $3,700
Superannuation tax cuts provisioned $15,000 spare cash (tripled by home loan paid off and children support finishing up)
Consider cost sensitivity and the Australia Tax (and the Heathrow tax)
Consider if travel dates / time of day are narrow or open
Consider Fly More Pay less (adds sectors and elapsed time) since flying is a hobby and passion ….
Consider cost plus versus airlines who price based on “whatever ridiculous price we can get PAX to pay”

That all suggests Y to J = factor of 4
Y to F = factor of Upto 8 (pipe-dream that Syd-LHR F sale would be less than $13,999 - and getting to Auckland can see an F fare cheaper than just from Sydney!)

As for domestic QF have pulled their J fares down - note Y to J Adel-Melb is around 4. Melb-Bris around 2, and their Feb sale price Syd-Melb was $299 (factor 1.5-2) but the late purchased flights (inside 14 then 7 days) are ridiculously expensive

 

[MEL_Traveller]

QF/SQ/LX we’re offering $14k F return last year from Australia. QF/SQ to SIN and LX (sometimes even LH) for europe sectors.

 

[Forg]

QF/SQ/LX we’re offering $14k F return last year from Australia. QF/SQ to SIN and LX (sometimes even LH) for europe sectors.

For me, the extra added by the step from J to F is nowhere near the step from Y to J, in modern product at least.

Maybe my view is skewed, I’ve only F’d with EK, but the food’s no better than a $50 cafe meal and the extra space looks nice rather than offering any physical advantage.

So … I’d pay $10k to Europe in J over $2k in Y. But at $14k for F I don’t see the value over that $10k J, not unless you’ve never tried it & are interested just to see what it’s like. Or, maybe, if you’re working and you need the space to lay out some papers around the laptop?