Every single day hundreds of thousands of people worldwide will board an aircraft and sit down in ‘sardine’ (economy) class to enjoy hours and hours of 'comfort' in a standard seat of 29” to 34” pitch. Your seat space will depend on which airline you fly - some are more generous than others. And we’ve all been there! Probably nothing worse as the captain switches off the seat belt sign and the passenger in front immediately reclines his seat towards our face…

Economic conditions dictate that most air travellers will have to fly economy, as business and first class tickets are simply out of range price-wise. Only the flying ‘elite’ get to travel up front. This is particularly the case for long-haul flights.

There will always be a demand from corporate travellers and wealthier individuals for for these higher priced premium air tickets. In fact this high revenue group is the lifeblood for many an international airline, particularly on the lucrative Trans-Atlantic and Trans-Pacific routes.

Fly from London to New York in the upper classes and you will pay upwards of ₤1700-₤4000 ($3000-$7000) to fly on the major carriers. Or fly from LA to Sydney, Australia in biz and it will set you back ₤4500-₤6000 ($7500-$10000). Not exactly small change…

Let’s face it, we all want to sit at the front of the plane. Nice comfortable chairs which recline into flat beds, plenty of space and privacy, gourmet dining, service with a personal touch. Not to mention free lounge access where we can escape the crowds at the airport.

So you think that you will never be able to enjoy the trappings of international first class air travel? Well, all is not necessarily lost…

There are a number of tips and techniques which can get you flying in the premium cabins much cheaper than you ever thought possible. We will mention a couple here for readers...

Think All Business

If you are flying Trans-Atlantic price up your journey on one of the new specialist all-business class carriers. This is a relatively recent phenomenon and could lead to more competitive pricing for premium seats in the future. For example, discount Maxjet and first class Eos Airlines both fly out of London Stansted to New York JFK. Maxjet also flies London to Washington IAD (from April 2006)

Special offer prices on the NY MaxJet route are as low a $750/£430 return all in - great value.

Eos provides a high-class service and thus pitch themselves against the first class cabins of competing airlines such as British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

Keep an eye on how the major airlines respond - they may be forced to reduce prices or at least offer extra special deals.

Note, there are other all-business services out of Switzerland, Germany and Netherlands to the US run by PrivatAir in conjunction with Lufthansa and KLM. Because these are run by the major airlines, prices on these routes remain high.

Go Off-Beat

Book a ticket on one of the more off-beat carriers. For example, there are a large number of airlines flying trans-Atlantic (such as Air India or IcelandAir) and they often undercut the major carriers by up to 80%. There are some great deals out there.

Join the Frequent Flyer Elite

You should join up with 1 or 2 frequent flyer program and try to attain elite status. There are clever ways of getting top status within a few weeks if you know how and this will help you greatly in your quest for first class flying. And be careful how you spend those miles as most travellers end up using them in the most inefficient ways, at great cost to themselves!

Invest in Your Travel Future

If you would like to learn a lot more about maximising your chances of travelling in business or first class including little known advanced airfare arbitrage techniques, making the most of your airmiles, how to find the lowest fare every time - even if you fly economy - and much, much more, then you should invest in the ‘Ultimate Airfares & Upgrades Guide’ from AirTravelGenius.com. This high-end e-book is for the aspiring elite traveller who wants to join the global jet-set - a must for any international flyers.

Dave Smith
The 'Ultimate Airfares & Upgrades Guide' ebook is available at http://www.airtravelgenius.com.