Which direction to take a Business/First Class on Holidays

[PDog]

For me it's more about the service. I hate wasting first class on a flight where I will sleep most of the way as I'm fine to sleep in J class.

Agree, this was our thinking too!

 

[Tiki]

I would go with the better class on the outbound as my type of travel usually requires hitting the ground running. Plus it
is more important to clear customs quickly at the destination. On the way back it never takes that long to clear Aussie customs and I can take a few days to veg out and recover.

 

[BenSQ380]

I prefer outbound too as I usually work extra hours in the lead up to going away. Even though I normally head straight back to work on return I find I cope better not firing on all cylinders in familiar surrounds vs the unfamiliar travel destination. We usually hit the ground running, eg earlier this month arriving in HND at 5am and bullet training to Hiroshima, getting back to Tokyo around 11pm.

In 2015 we did a glorious QF F MEL-DXB-LHR and returned with a BCN-DXB-SIN-MEL-ADL in Y save for the op-up to J on the SIN-MEL leg - my wife thought she'd been banished to row 60 when they said 6E as they handed her the boarding pass at the gate. Simultaneous tears of despair and joy are possible.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Simultaneous tears of despair and joy are possible.

Isn't this the perfect argument for travelling home in premium? Why end the trip with despair when you can have joy all the way?

 

[BenSQ380]

Isn't this the perfect argument for travelling home in premium? Why end the trip with despair when you can have joy all the way?

We manage to score exit row 90%+ when travelling long-haul Y - paid or not - so when the expectation is exit row (which we had) and you think you're being banished to be among the huddled masses it's not good. The surprise op-up was a much better end than a planned pointy end, albeit significantly less predictable than booking J in the first place.

Don't get me wrong we would have been perfectly happy with having our expectations met with exit row Y.

 

[bwhouse]

This has been an interesting thread to read, my immediate preference upon seeing the title was the better class on the way out. For the following reasons:

A) The holiday and the new experiences start as soon as you approach check-in.
B) Sit back and lounge around, there really are no work emails now, the holiday is on.
c) Take a day flight and a partner, enjoy the preflight service, the inflight dining and a few beverages
d) Be the first off the plane for a good immigration and priority baggage collection.

Homeward trips are always so fast anyway, buy a neck pillow, toughen up and sleep it off when you are home.

Alby

I am also in this camp. I agree there is no right or wrong answer, but I am surprised to see that it isn't more 50/50

In my experience, the flight home is alway quick and rushed and you don't get to appreciate the F experience as much. This may also be because I tend to always be running around on holiday's so often we are quite exhausted by the time we are coming home.

 

[burmans]

For mine flights out tend to be day flights so win on that basis but I also seem to appreciate it more, out I'm relaxing and on holiday, back I'm starting to think about work again. Of course this assumes you are going on holiday!

 

[JohnK]

Isn't this the perfect argument for travelling home in premium? Why end the trip with despair when you can have joy all the way?

Not always.

When I return to Australia from a 2 week trip I am really tired especially after 6-7 games if golf. I have had a few business class flights coming back and have slept through the flight. That's a waste of money/points in my opinion as I could sleep just as easily standing up.

Business class on the way out of Australia has been good the past couple of years when I was trying use up my Aadvantage miles before devaluation. Relaxing start to trip.