Lots of people fly overnight flights places… it makes a pretty big difference to overall comfort to have your own space and something that turns into a bed.

I’m going to guess there’s a lot of things in your life where you spend more money for something that is better, more comfortable or more convenient.

But the value of money is relative. Spending another $2,000 to sit in business class feels unthinkable when you make $50k/year. When you’re making $500k/year it doesn’t seem like such a big deal.

Also, lots of people get a lot of frequent flier miles from working jobs with travel, so the actual cost might have been lower.

Me and my wife always fly business if the flight is more than an hour, I think it's totally worth it.

For one thing, im a big dude, the difference in comfort is more than slight when you're 6'4". Business vs economy is the difference between arriving at my destination ready to start the vacation or sore, tired, and grumpy.

We only fly maybe once or twice a year, so spending the extra cash on business means we can enjoy our limited vacation time from start to finish, instead of spending the first and last portions miserable

You may as well say you don't understand why people waste money on hotels and restaurants on vacations when there are hostels and fast food available. The point of a vacation is to enjoy your self - and so if you can afford them, luxuries arent a waste at all

As someone who flies a lot as part of my job, I mostly use airline miles to upgrade my seat to business class. On a few occasions I cover the upgrade myself if the price is reasonable.

Why? Because as a somewhat tall guy, when I have a 10 hour flight a coach seat makes me ache for days. And if it's an overnight flight, a business class seat actually enables me to sleep.

On business trips that only last a couple of days, the project managers sometimes approves business class tickets, so that we're actually fit for work when arriving.

Any flights longer than 5-6 hours is usually when I begin to consider upgrading. Because then I have a chance to actually get some rest onboard instead of just sitting there, waiting.

EDIT: Business class comes with lounge access, and for some that's also a plus, but my frequent flier level already gives me lounge access all over the world, even when flying riffraff-class. Plus business class also comes with extra luggage allowance, but I have that by default too.

I am telling you if I had the money I would do it every single time.

I hate every single minute of flying in the shitty normal seats, any improvement I would pay it.

Well I already do for the extra space, first rows seats and so on....I haven't but sometimes I have been tempted to buy the seat next to me as well.... but it would require to put somebody else details I guess and they probably with my luck simply fill the seat anyway if the passenger doesn't appear.

Coach = like riding the bus

Business = like staying at a hotel

I did it last spring. I was against the upgrade. The lady said I couldn't understand until I tried it, and (to my mild embarrassment) paid for our upgrade as a gift. This was SFO-MAD, on Swiss, open-jaw, returning from Zurich almost a month later. The round-trip upgrade was less than $2000 over premium economy.

It was 100% worth it.

The price, on a trip that long, wasn't really noticable. The value was. What you get for the money is about the same as you would pay to eat lunch, dinner and breakfast at a nice restaurant (we don't drink, but drinks included), along with a night at an expensive hotel.

This is exactly what we received.

We arrived early, had a three-course meal at the (stunning) lounge, we were served fancy soda as soon as we boarded, we were treated kindly and attentively for 12 hours, We were served two more very attractive meals (on ceramic plates with real cutlery) we slept comfortably in the lay-flat seats, and arrived refreshed and very happy.

Added to that basic summary are uncountable little details, like good soap and facial refreshing spray in the bathroom, little swiss chocolates, etc., that made the experience far more memorable and enjoyable.

I'm not set on flying that way from now on. However, I do now consider it to be a reasonable, attractive indulgence, rather than an obvious waste of money.

Felt the same way .. until I was upgraded one day now I look for business class sales. I'm a prudent snob now? 😁

Business class is generally not hundreds of dollars more expensive.