Strategic downgrading: When it makes sense to go for a lower class of cabin
Sometimes, “upgrades” aren’t better. Plus: Pan Am memories.
Not long ago when flying standby from San Francisco to Frankfurt on United, I had a choice of a middle seat in Premium Economy or a row of three to myself in regular Economy. Although international Premium Economy these days is pretty nice — not much different from most domestic first class in the US — I considered it a no-brainer to go for the row of three in what’s technically a lower class of service.
That’s a concept I call “strategic downgrading” — i.e., deliberately opting for a lower class of travel than you could be in for the same amount of money or not much more.
Some of the choices can be trickier. For example, would it be better to have an aisle in Premium Economy with a stranger in the next seat, or a row of three in regular Economy? That’s a tougher one, but I still think I’d go for the row of three to myself. (Although there is always the risk of interlopers moving into your secluded row — a topic for another post.) Aisle in regular economy with one empty seat next to me or Premium Economy with the adjoining seat occupied? Then I’d probably go for Premium.
These days, there aren’t many middle seats in Business Class. But there are some — for example, on certain older United and Emirates 777s and Lufthansa 747s, not to mention on much of British Airways’ long-haul fleet. So what about Business middle versus row of two to yourself in Premium Economy? Tough one. Maybe I’d go for Business in order to lie flat and for the catering, but not necessarily.
In short, space and privacy are luxuries when flying. Sometimes, they come in unexpected places. During the pandemic, transatlantic emptiness at the back of the plane reached extreme levels. I recall an American Airlines flight from Seattle to London in 2021 with fewer than 15 passengers in the coach cabins of a 777.
In rare cases, there might be other reasons to strategically downgrade. I recall once strategically downgrading from First Class on a Pan Am 747 to Clipper Class, as they called their Business Class (back in the day when the seats in Business were usually not much better than international Premium Economy today and when even First on wide-body jets generally lacked lie-flat). It was on a flight from JFK to Paris. The reason? A very noisy family with kids in First. After the meal service, I opted for peace and quiet over the extra comfort and moved myself back.
I wasn’t actually paying a First Class fare on that Pan Am flight. That was when Pan Am was struggling badly in the post-Lockerbie era that concluded with its eventual demise. To drum up business, they offered massive, inflationary frequent-flyer bonuses. They were printing miles like the Weimar Republic printed money. It made sense to use the miles quickly, as no one knew how long the airline would continue flying. So on that occasion, I was using up miles.
I only once paid more than an economy fare on Pan Am, but I never actually travelled in economy. There was always some way to upgrade. And that was at a time when I did not have nonrev travel benefits. Sadly, however, the formula of plying low-revenue passengers with caviar and expensive champagne did not prove a viable means of shoring up the airline’s finances.
I have flown across the Atlantic over 350 times. I flew Pan Am for a relatively small window, toward the end of its operations. But I came to love that airline. It had a global presence that no single US airline has ever had since (although arguably United is getting close, hopefully with better commercial results). A Pan Am comb still sits in a box in my closet. Sadly, I no longer have much hair with which to put it to good use (although it earned its keep in its day). ✈️