Definitely. I fly once or twice a month, often for very short periods (2-3 days). I wouldn't be of any use whatsoever if I ahd just spent 9 hours in an economy cabin... I used to organise my trips to stay the weekend and do a bit of tourism, but since I've had children I feel too guilty :)

Yeah, the older I get, the more I realize the need to be comfortable on a flight, especially if you want to be productive after you arrive.

"if you want to be productive after you arrive" Many people who don't travel for work do not seem to understand this. Unlike leisure travelers, there is no time to rejuvenate. If you fly coach, which in my experience is not all that terrible on international flights, you do end up weary and jet lagged. The one time I flew business, the difference post landing was quite noticable. So yeah, while I don't really crave for the business class comforts during the flight, the reward post landing is worth the premium.

I wonder how much evidence there is for this effect. How much is “wow, my employer spent money on me, i must be important and valued” vs actual physical function improvement.

A cheque (or flexible per firm) could do the job of the former.

For the latter, if I’m going somewhere nice, i’d Rather they book me a hotel room for a couple nights instead of a lie flat seat.

Business is a lot less stress (they take care of everything for you the entire way; you get what you want, when you want it.)

Being bunched up in an uncomfortable position for that long in coach vs being able to lie down is a huge difference.

For an overnight flight, it's the difference between just sleeping through it and (however many) hours of hell staring blearly forward in a pained stupor, losing consciousness for a few minutes before waking up to shrieking pains from your neck and shoulder, trying unsuccessfully to sleep in a more ergonomic position before you are so tired you cradle against the window again for that precious ten minutes before the strain and impingement shake you awake..

I've tried a couple different neck pillows and they don't work for me. My head has got to be tilted downward or to the side, no matter how sleep deprived I am.

Oh, and if I go a night w/out sleep, I'm going to be 100% useless the next day and have a major impact for the next couple days while I recover.

I'm tall and employ myself. The actual physical function improvement between coach and business is just incredible, especially for long haul flights.

If you ever get to fly first class (I have only twice), the entire flight experience is starkly different. I am 6'4", even with an economy plus upgrade the experience is horrible. I don't want to be catered to, I just want leg room. I shouldn't be in constant leg pain you know?

I was traveling cross-country with a friend a few weeks back. Between being able to go through TSA Pre with me, my club membership, and an upgrade to Polaris she was somewhat in awe of how the experience didn’t suck like it usually did.

At what point will people be able to sue airlines in the US for causing health issues with how cramped seats are?

Do you think that the situation in most of Europe, especially with budget airlines, is much different?

It’s fine when flying just an hour. It’s different if you fly to the other side of the world.

Exit row seats should meet your needs.

Check on seatguru before booking any flights.

Exit row seats are now premium seats that have a surcharge.

And far cheaper (last I saw was $50 for an overnight transatlantic flight) than an upgrade to the premium economy/business/first class seats (double fare or more).

Still only half of my femur fits on that economy seat. On 17-20 hour flight it's still major pain.

So I can pay several thousand more for business class, or I can arrive a day early and pay <1k for an additional night + expenses.

The math here is simple.

> Only if you don't value your employee's time.

I don't understand this logic. Time == money. Unless your presence is crucial and you must minimize your time away from your home office this approach seems the most logical and cost effective.

I'm already 100% remote, so I can contribute effectively whether I'm at home or in a hotel recuperating from a 12 hour APAC flight in coach.

This works perfectly fine, but I’d honestly want to minimize random time spent away from my wife and child.

It’s ok if you only fly once in a blue moon, but if you have to travel multiple times a month, you cannot just keep padding every trip with 2 days extra.

Flying business I can reasonably work during the flight, and for overnight flights I can sleep. Which reduces the productivity loss due to lack of sleep (I arrive with a few hours of sleep) and jetlag (adjustment happens quicker than when I didn't sleep for 30h and my schedule is entirely shot to hell). Whether you arrive early or not seems like a separate angle from whether it's worth having people fly business.

Yeah. I like flying business but with the exception of the rare tight schedule I’m almost always going to travel on a long trip a day or two early to adjust to time zones and otherwise acclimate anyway.

Simple only for folks whose value of one day will be small fraction of business class ticket cost.

Only if you don't value your employee's time.

If they cut me in on the savings, I’d be willing to deal with a lot. +$100/hr to sit with reduced leg room on any non-overnight flight? Sign me up.

The same for flights requiring a connection. Want me to sit in an airport reading HN for +$20/hr? Ok.

You might want to look into Rocketrip (https://www.rocketrip.com). Their product is pretty much what you just described - you don't get straight cash, but you can get prepaid visa cards that get close.

Cool product. My flights are generally personally booked, and I basically compare as I described.

What I would like is an engine where I can punch in the various kinds of pain per hour I can tolerate and book that.

Keep in mind that a day of work is charged between 1300 and 1500 USD to the client. So if you add an extra day of rest on each side there's not much difference