Are there every people in first/buisness class?
 

When I ever travel by air there is no one in First and Buisness class. Does anyone travel first and second class? I would if I could, I always have horrible time in coach, and I'm planning to but I'm just wondering if a lot of people travel first or buisness or none at all?

I don;t know what planes you're tteaveling on - but I'm always trying to upgrade to first class with miles and they're usually full.

Most first class passsengers are super frequent flyers on free or mileage upgrade tickets. The rest are business execs whose companies pay full freight or the rare celebrity (most of whom take private planes frequently).

That's really odd. Every plane I'm ever on is packed in first and business class. What routes do you fly?

They are always pretty full on all the flights I've had in the last few years, also. I think it is because frequent flyers can get those seats as upgrades. If you can get them, sure, why not -- I'd love to for the room, but haven't been able to. If I had to use miles for them or something, I'd care most about the trip over at night when you want to sleep, rather than coming back.

I wonder what airline or what country you find this true.

As above, the last half dozen flights I have been on were basically 100% full, in all classes.

The only airline I take is luftansa (sp?) from Newark to Germany. When I board the plane there is no one in first and second. I mean no one. For the roundtrip too.

During holiday period, airlines often fly First and Business empty. Most people who pay for those seats are on business accounts.

And because the fares are so vastly different for international First/Business compared to coach, no airline will offer automatic upgrade for those routes. They may upgrade people if they oversell coach, but not all the time.

Some people do use miles to claim First/Business international tickets or use miles to upgrade, but the number of seats are limited, and more and more airlines restrict upgradeability to certain fare class only, or will charge you extra.

That's why it's not unusual to see emtpy front cabins during holiday periods. Believe me, they make it up on other days, or they won't be flying that route for long.

In Continental out of Newark BusinessFirst is always full or close to full.

That is a bit odd. I travel to Europe on average about twice a year and usually business and/or first class are totally booked, as are the seats in cattle class. I seem to recall their being very few empty seats anywhere.

Tracy

There may not be anyone in first or business class when you board the plane, because some carriers board the business/first class passengers last and get them off first.

Well, when I flew from Frankfurt to Dulles last month, both business and first class were full up.

Over the last 15 days Ms and I flew 11 segments, 22,000 butt-in-seat miles, all in business or first, and lemme tell ya the cabins were pretty doggone full. IIRC there were a couple of empty business seats in a delayed flight between Istanbul and London last week, but there were plenty of empty chairs in the back, too. Otherwise, jammed.

Whenever I fly, the 1st class is sold out. I don't know how far in advance as I never attempt to get a seat there.

Most of my transatlantic trips are business class, because they are usually business trips and the company doesn't believe in cheeseparing when it comes to long haul travel. Business is usually quite full (and economy is packed to the gills). First, however, is often pretty empty. On my last trip to Chicago from London, I was in business, my colleague was in first. I had plenty of company in business; my colleague said there was only one other passenger in first.

When I'm paying, I usually fly premium economy on BA. On a flight between London and Orlando (and back) over this Christmas holiday, economy was full, but PE and business weren't. On the flight back to London, I'd checked in very early and was offered an upgrade to biz for $200. Tempting, but no. Apparently there were plenty of bis suits available when I checked in, but the biz cabin was full when the plane left, they must have been able to sell those upgrades. PE was packed too. Note: if you're flying BA PE from Orlando to London, don't take a seat in row 12. It's the bulkhead row. You don't get the foot rest you have in the other rows, no place to put carryon on the floor (as there's no seat in front of you), and the drop down tray table doesn't work particularly well.

I fly Northwest/KLM almost exclusively and these are two-class aircraft. The difference between World Business Class and coach is VERY significant. I've never paid for an upper class ticket, but I've been fortunate enough to be upgraded on some flights when coach was oversold. Business class is generally full on transatlantic flights that I've taken. If I was offered an upgrade for $200, there are many days when I would probably pay it, but that's never been offered on my flights.