hg42

Did it yesterday with Westjet, Gatwick to Vancouver by way of Toronto with an extra-long layover as delay insurance. Not sure I'd necessarily do that again but it did make everything calm and pleasant and allowed for SIN stuff etc at the airport.

All on time, or close enough as makes no difference. As someone said the 767s are particularly nice, you're never more than one seat away from the aisle and they haven't overstuffed them - they're not hugely spacious per se but good by economy class standards, I'm probably on the taller end of an average size and had some room to stretch out. Food is all buy on board which I didn't bother with (can't say it looked up to much but as you say that's airline food for you) but enough teas, soft drinks etc to keep people happy.

Bloody long time to spend travelling, and I was pretty fried by the end of it, but given the total cost once multiple bags were paid for amounted to not much more than £300 I'm not complaining...

Aviator

Depends on the carrier. I have had some very good food on the carriers I have been with.

Stinkypup

Yes, of course you have, but the difference is that on boarding, you turn left, not right!

not2old

Imagine paying extra for club class or business class just to get a wider seat so you can fill your gut & drink all you want through the flight to still get to your destination at the same time as those in cattle class.

Is it worth paying the extra for upgrades, or for any better food & beverage?

Zoe Bell

depends on the flight length if its a couple of hours then no but anything longer than 4 hours in an uncomfortable seat then probably.

GermanytoCanada

You're right. The first thing I think off when chilling on the flat bed up front drinking champagne is that this totally isn't worth it...

not2old

still not worth it. In the past 50 years I have been on lots of flights on almost every airline, including from Canada as well as the UK long haul flights to Asia, OZ & NZ, always cattle class.

Sure I'd be totally knackered when I arrive, but a few hours sleep I'm OK

At 70 I shall not pay the extra, all because I'm a thrifty guy & believe it isn't worth the extra money that I could save to spend on groceries or for gifts for the people that I am visiting.

Folks that upgrade fall into the category of too much money or foolish money, or maybe have that snobbish streak in them

will that be a Starbucks, Second cup, Tims or a McDonalds coffee?

.

Zoe Bell

or have back issues which mean that sitting hunched to one side for 5 hours means they won't be able to walk the next day, or have joint issues so that bending their knees around their armpits for 12 hours is not an option.

fair enough if this doesn't apply to you but there are people who this is a real issue.

perhaps turn down the judgement attitude a tad?

OtherDave

I started a reply, and that quickly turned into a long, long post. So, I made it a a separate post - waiting for the mods to approve it.

It was hard, hard work. But since then, I've just been wanting to go back. Two weeks isn't enough to get to know a place, or whether or not you'd like living there. The trip helped dial down my rose-tinted specs in some ways, and I'm sure it supercharged them in others.

not2old

not in the least, it's my opinion what I do & if others need or want the upgrades, so be it.

If a traveller's wants & needs are such, then I suppose they will do & pay whatever it is to get that service

No different I suppose than the other 200 or so passengers on a long haul flight who are complaining they want more leg room or couldn't get a particular seat, or the person next to them snores to constantly going to the restroom.

It's a flight & no matter what level of service, upgrade or not, choice of seat selection... from my own experience there will be folks that will whinge about their flight not being so perfect - check in, luggage wait, seating, noise, food or whatever

On a flight of 4+ hours, do any of you always pay the extra for an upgrade or fly club or business class?

.

Aviator

Always

Vulcanoid

My last flight from Montreal was Air Canada cattle class. Empty row, so armrests up, 1.72m flat "bed", and stewardesses encouraging us to self medicate for the redeye on as much free wine as they could hand out.

I didn't think I was missing anything for not paying the five times extra

Snowy560

Now and again on AT we upgrade to Option Plus, which in my opinion is good value for money (even if you don't drink alcohol as I don't).

not2old

Without the booze, paying the extra couple hundred dollars for what?

http://www.airtransat.com/en-CA/Trav...rt/Option-Plus

FWIW

When I travel YYZ -MAN-YYZ its the standard Air Transat booking via phone, pay the price that is on the web - no extra charges.

I generally get to the airport (at YYZ & MAN) never less than 3 hours before departure, in fact usually before the check in gate opens.

Generally near the front of the line up, I always get an isle seat up near the exit door without paying an extra for it.

On my last trip to the UK I was sat across the isle from a couple that paid the extra 'option plus'. Their seat was exactly the same as mine, they did however get the menu selection & free booze

.

Snowy560

It wasn't as much as that roundtrip. I couldn't remember how much but according to the price grid about $139 but I'm sure we only paid $100 round trip for our upcoming trip. You get seat selection, priority check in snacks comfort pack and an extra 10kg luggage. Something like this.

Yes just checked $99 roundtrip.