Don’t Let Flying Drain Your Productivity

November 27, 2007

Many employers send their employees business class on transatlantic flights for good reason: a) They can work on the flight and b) They’re more productive when they return to work if they’ve been able to sleep on the plane.

If you’re a business owner, it can be more cost effective to fly business class when you go on holiday, to avoid being less productive at work when you return. I discovered this after a long haul economy flight left me feeling exhausted for 2 weeks.

Now, everyone is different, but for simplicities sake, if you’re only half as productive for two weeks, and you usually work 60 hours a week and your time is worth £50 an hour, then you’re losing £3000.

The trouble is, business class flights can cost a fortune. So how do you get a decent sleep on a plane for a reasonable cost? Try these tips:

Fly Premium Economy or World Traveller Plus: You’ll get more legroom, it’s quieter and they usually give you plenty of free drink at the beginning of the flight to knock you out. The only thing is, the seats don’t recline that much. So unless you fall asleep easily, it might not be a good bet for you.

Travel at a Quiet Time Of Year: If you’re lucky and the plane isn’t that full you might be able to get a lie down in Economy. I was lucky to have an empty seat next to me on one flight, so I was able to grab a sleep. However, this might not work so well if you’re tall (I’m quite short) and you do need to wear ear plugs as many of the 200 plus others in the cabin may not feel like sleeping at all.

Find a Z Fare: Different fares have different codes. For example - full Upper Class fares on Virgin Atlantic are “J” fares and usually cost around £4500 to £5000 return. A “Z” fare is a discounted fare in Upper Class. These usually cost around £1200 to £1500 return. And you get exactly the same seat - the only thing you don’t get is a chauffeur. And if you’re that desperate to have a chauffeur I’m sure you get one for a lot less than £3500.

Join a frequent flyer program: You can soon rack up quite a few miles with a frequent flyer program and most airlines allow you to earn miles through a partner program - eg hotel stays or car rental. And you don’t always need thousands of miles to get a discounted flight. For example Virgin have a scheme called miles plus money, where you are able to get a discount by using a small amount of miles. And if you’re slightly short of miles for the flight you want, they’ll allow you to buy up to 19000 miles in a year to get your free flight.

Fly economy out and business return: Flights from the UK to the USA are usually in the day time and you’ll rarely arrive exhausted, because you are gaining time. So you can save a heap by flying out in economy and returning business class. Of course, if you live in the States and you’re coming to England, you’ll gain time on the way home anyway.

Use one of the business class only airlines: Many of the business class only airlines offer return flight to popular destinations such as New York and Los Angeles for less than Â£1000 return and they frequently run even cheaper offers. Check out Silverjet, Maxjet or EOS.

Bid for a cheap flight: Check out http://www.skyauction.com for flight and travel bargains. Many airlines including Virgin and Silverjet auction off cheap seats on this site. Just read the terms carefully so you know what tax and supplements you will have to pay.

Use Your Airmiles Wisely: If you’re using airmiles to pay for a flight you’ll still have to pay the tax on the flight, but tax on flights from the UK to the USA is much higher than tax from the USA to the UK. So sometimes it can be worthwhile to pay cash for your flight from the UK to the USA and use your miles for the other half of the journey only.

Mind when you book: Monitor flight prices carefully. Often they will come down significantly a few months before, if you’re not flying at a peak time such as Christmas or summer holiday times. As a rule of thumb the best prices can usually be had around three months before you fly.

Be Prepared For Emergencies: Remember to look for travel insurance that will cover you if you can’t fly in the case of a business emergency.

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