Planning an intercontinental sit with flighttimes in the region 19 to 26 hours.
How do you regard flights in Economy for this long kind of travel? Sometimes there’s a Premium Economy- option that could be affordable. But…
Would you consider cashing out for Business? What would you factor in?
For reference - I’ve searched almost every airline individually. Top contender is now a Thai air saver ticket both ways or SkyTeam Alliance with Economy one way and Business home, at a surplus of 150 % (mainly because Economy is more expensive, affordable Business is only available return and not one way). Actually the main extra cost was for Economy to Plus, while Biz was just a little bit more than Plus.
The saver ticket is really budget - don’t even get to choose seat, and might worse case end up not being able to recline seat (because wall) or by the toilets And from reviews it seems waiting hours at BKK can be awful?
I’ve never done Business intercontinental, (at the same time I find them unneccessary short haul).
I’ve done several intercontinental business trips between America and Europe and New Zealand to Europe but I have never bought that option when I buy the ticket. Sometimes I am offered a deal to upgrade because of my frequent travel card. On other occasions, if I am not flying with an airline from One world group or I am not offered upgrading I may ask if there’s an option to upgrade when I am already at the airport. I have found that is a cheaper option but, of course, it only works if you are willing to take the risk of not being able to upgrade.
I do at least one round-trip a year where the direct flights are 14-16 hours (eta: each way). I would not consider business class for this, but I do get the economy option where I get to choose my seat (not saver). I always choose an aisle seat toward the back, where there is already someone in the window seat but no one in the middle. I’d say it’s about 50-50 that I end up with an empty seat next to me, which makes a HUGE difference.
This is a matter of balancing finances and comfort. I am in Europe for 7 months houesitting principally. I find that my expenses over this time are really minimal. I also am getting of an age where jet lag really kicks me in the butt. So I personally find that business class, assuming that means a fully flat sleeping bed, makes a lot of sense if the flight is long enough to get a “full” night’s sleep. It also makes to most sense when traveling eastwards. Then a late night flight where my sleeping pattern lets me sleep a full night and landing late morning makes the time zone change relatively painless. Traveling to the west where you end up landing just a couple (local time) hours after you take off the situation changes. From Europe to America, I try to mostly stay awake so I have a very long day and am ready to sleep after landing. In this case midday flight works best. Crossing the Pacific is a whole other matter with flights of well over 12 hours. Then, for me, I think that business with a full flat bed is worth a big budget buster either way. Again, if you can afford it, and you are economizing on a long term stay that helps a lot.
In a few hours the super cheap tickets on Thai were gone, leveling out differences as prices were then similar. Opted for the next to cheapest tickets with incl. luggage for Skyteam airline, and paid to select seat. Glad I did, as many also in Economy had already booked seat, it seems. It’s the airline I normally use, don’t have much points but do have +1 luggage if I do not choose the super budget ticket.
I found the seating plan for the flight on Seatguru. It is an Airbus a350-900.
I like to be able to have my things near my seat, so extra legroom in Exit row isn’t an option as they need to have their stuff in overhead compartments. So I found a seat by window in 3-3-3 configuration where the seats in row in front of me only have two seats, making more legroom and easier to get out for us. At least that would be my idea. Let’s see how that will fold out…
I never fly business class if I’m paying, I don’t regard it as good value. The longest flight I’ve taken is from Europe to NZ and I booked an aisle seat in economy. The price differential was several thousand pounds, money that I could use for several weeks of accommodation and car hire. I’m tall, but not overweight, meaning I’d like more headroom, but I don’t spill over into an adjacent seat.
I recently flew to Mexico from Europe, on the outward flight I had a row of 4 seats to myself so I stretched out and slept. On the way back I flew via Toronto and the second sector to London I enjoyed another row to myself.
Unless we have tonnes of points we book economy plus lounges (as that eases you in gently), and then use seatguru to find the “green” seats in the cabin & pay for those. $80 for the BEST seats on Singapore Airlines from Istanbul to KL which were two leg room entirely on their own for 11 hours If anyone uses Qatar Airways and has a layover of more than 8 & less than 24 hours in Doha then there is free “transit hotel accomm” as part of the deal. You need to look for it online as they don’t promote it (oddly enough ) but ours was FOC and we were just into 8.5 hours en route to Tokyo. A lounge would have been $150 minimum and no beds. Seat61 is a good site/feed to follow for tips too on airlines doing deals or little travel hacks. #transitreporttofollow
@Garfield, seems that you’ve now booked tickets. Hope that you’re looking forward to the trip. Traveling 19 to 26 hours intercontinental to complete a housesit … wow, think that deserves a special badge for enthusiasm!
We’ve bounced over the Atlantic quite a few times. Nowhere near 19-26 hours but still long enough duration. Despite Scottish DNA then I’m inclined to prioritize value-for-money versus cheapest-possible. Value gets subjective pretty quickly, depending on personal situation. But we have paid more for stuff that enhances the experience.
We’ve also taken an experience mindset on shorter flights. One of our first wonderful Pet Parents - in Algarve, Portugal - introduced us to Easyjet Plus. We’ve been members for couple years now. Not cheap and doesn’t offer lower initial flight costs. But all sorts of niceties (baggage, seats, fast-track, boarding, price promise) that meaningfully enhance the flight experience.
Housesitting has brought us joy and saved us (albeit with labour cost) a considerable financial sum. Some optional ‘treats’ that notably enhance experience seem fair game, even for a Scot.
Enjoy the adventure!
For the tickets I finally got, there’s a short connection so only 15+ hours (didn’t know about the accommodation on layover mentioned by Cuttlefish! ).
This particular sit is in my dream destination, and almost two weeks. It has been my dream destination for a few years, before THS, but very expensive flight+ accommodation=just a dream. It has been my «unicorn-sit-destination», that I maybe would get to do one day.
The sits there evaporates when published and usually are much shorter, so I consider myself lucky to have seen the dates in time to apply+getting to video call+ confirmed sit. Lovely pet and supernice hosts!
I wouldn’t use that much time and money for most sits. I really look forward to it!
Would the accommodation be for Economy plus only? That’s interesting - for many intercontinental flights Doha could be a nice break, but not necessarily tempting to stay in airport.
I’ve seen the Man in seat 61, I thought that was a train-blogger, is that the same or two different sites? Do you know?
@Garfield, wholeheartedly applaud this perspective . We continue to test the boundaries of the whole housesitting concept - e.g. recent THS Forum post re South America and, less dramatically, us spending three back-to-back housesits in 2024 on island of Crete.
Using THS to enable an affordable(ish!) trip to dream destination is blooming marvelous. I hope that your intent inspires other housesits to embrace opportunity.
It’s just economy & this one was a points flight. You might stay in the airport but also maybe in a hotel close by, it’s just a better option than a lounge for hot showers & at least a few hours sleep in a bed. Especially as there’s no cost. They do offer flights with free stopovers and then you stay in Doha. The seat61 guy does flight reviews & flight hacks as well, he’s the train man too. I was reading about his thoughts on Mongolian Airlines business class as that was an option (but too cold a stop in March! ) & not that fab although cheap. #loveatravelhack
I did an overnight transit stop in Doha - did not get the accommodation, but I think it was because I used points for the flight. I got an inexpensive hotel room. There is an amazing museum of Islamic art that I enjoyed a lot!
Short of winning a contest or otherwise getting a free biz class ticket, I would never , ever pony up for one.
Except for the space, I have neither the need nor the desire for any of the other ammenties. I don’t care a whit about warm cc cookies, a lounge, “free” baggage or any other perks. .
Paying for an assigned seat in economy or economy plus if necessary gets me the seat I want most of the time and I have never had any regrets doing this. And even if I could stretch out in a biz seat, I know that the sleep advantages would be minimal as I don’t sleep much when flying because I’m one of those freaks who loves to stay awake and enjoy every second of the flight.
And from reviews it seems waiting hours at BKK can be awful?
If anyone uses Qatar Airways and has a layover of more than 8 & less than 24 hours in Doha then there is free “transit hotel accomm” as part of the deal. You need to look for it online as they don’t promote it (oddly enough 
) but ours was FOC and we were just into 8.5 hours en route to Tokyo. A lounge would have been $150 minimum and no beds. Seat61 is a good site/feed to follow for tips too on airlines doing deals or little travel hacks. 
then I’m inclined to prioritize value-for-money versus cheapest-possible. Value gets subjective pretty quickly, depending on personal situation. But we have paid more for stuff that enhances the experience.
- introduced us to Easyjet Plus. We’ve been members for couple years now. Not cheap and doesn’t offer lower initial flight costs. But all sorts of niceties (baggage, seats, fast-track, boarding, price promise) that meaningfully enhance the flight experience.
. We continue to test the boundaries of the whole housesitting concept - e.g. recent THS Forum post re South America and, less dramatically, us spending three back-to-back housesits in 2024 on island of Crete.
) & not that fab although cheap.