Youtube Link: Virgin Atlantic A330-300 Upper Class Review
Picture this: You've finally saved up enough points to escape the sardine can known as economy class. You're ready to live the high life, sipping champagne at 35,000 feet. But hold onto your complimentary slippers, folks, because you're about to enter the wild world of "business class roulette."
The Monolith Myth
When you are used to flying in economy and you first get into this hobby it is very likely that you view the concept of “flying business class” as a monolith. That is to say it is very likely you are unaware or unable to notice the fact that business class products vary between airlines and even within the same airline.
The Great Seat Lottery
The reason this is important to realize is because when you book your flight unless you are savvy enough to recognize the seats shown in the seat map and/or google the flight number, plane type and route combination it is hard to tell which business class product you are going to end up flying. And even if you do all the above last minute plane switches do end up happening.
The Bait and Switch
Now, here's the kicker. Airlines love to parade their fanciest business class product around like it's the belle of the ball. "Look at our fully-enclosed suites with personal butlers and unicorn rides!" But guess what? You're paying the SAME princely sum whether you get that or a slightly wider seat with a TV from 1995.
Strategies you can use to avoid flying the inferior business class product when booking
What you don’t know cannot hurt you
Step 1: Pretend you never read this blog post or use the memory eraser from Men in Black
Step 2: Live the rest of your life in blissful ignorance
Decoding Seat Maps for Dummies
Here's the secret sauce: The seat map is your crystal ball into the future of your comfort. But don't worry, you don't need a Ph.D. in Aeronautical Engineering to crack this code.
Step 1: Google the seat map of the business class product you're dreaming of. Let's say you're eyeing United's fancy Polaris seats. Get that image burned into your retinas.
Step 2: When booking, pull up the seat map and play a game of "Spot the Difference." It's like those puzzles in kids' magazines, but instead of finding hidden objects, you're hunting for your dream seat.
Let's take a look at this real-life example of some options for a San Francisco to Washington D.C. flight on the same day:
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1efa3ae3-7dfd-44c9-bd92-730a9f93a9de_2284x890.png)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7b8a08d9-4d61-4aad-acd7-380b2336fad8_2284x890.png)
Only this image above shows United’s Polaris with a lie flat seat. None of the other options feature this but you would have ended up paying the same amount of points for such a stark difference in experience, since apart from knowing what the Polaris seat map looks like there’s no other indication that what you’re booking is radically different.
Become familiar with the seat map of the best business class product of an airline before you book.
The Art of Flight Stalking
Some airlines only fly certain planes on certain routes at certain periods of the year. It is always a good idea to see what planes are currently flying the route you want to fly. The plane assignments do change so it is important to check every once in a while before you take your trip in case you would like to rebook it.
Awardtravel usually has a good backlog of the current routes and changes.
Rebook
Some airlines like Qatar Airways allow you to rebook your flight if there is a plane switch. Be aware of this and always call and ask the airline what can be done if your plane is switched to one with an inferior business class product.
My Experience of This on Virgin Atlantic
On my flight to Manchester I was not aware of the differences between business class so, I had gotten hyped up for this:
Only to end up with this:
Don’t be like me. Make sure you book the best business class you can when possible!
Insightful read! The TravelArrow extension is great for checking aircraft models when booking through Google Flights.