I was looking at an issue of this Australian magazine. Outback: RM Williams. They have an article about a car, and it includes the price of the car—$66,155. I'm very ignorant about car prices, so it was interesting to me.
It made me think about our plane tickets.
They're so expensive!
We're flying Premium Economy on Qantas. For the three of us, the cost is $8668.27.
Each flight is about 14 hours. The total flying time on our ticket is 29 hours. That means we're spending about $290 for each hour in the air.
For $290, I could buy an 8 day pass to Disney World...well, for one person. For the three of us I could get only a 1 day ticket.
For the full 8.6668.27 I could get get about four years worth of annual passes to Disney World. That would be four years of passes for all three of us.
Of course we wouldn't go to Disney World for four years straight. And we'd have to pay for plane tickets to go back and forth. Plus there's food to pay for...and all that.
With our Qantas tickets, the food is included. And I bet we get one of those face mask things; maybe socks as well.
You don't get socks and face masks with a Disney Annual Pass.
The Question: Why pay so much for plane tickets to Australia when the money can be stretched much farther if we use is it for other things?
Answer: I love Australia. And the love isn't a quiet and mild love.
I'm still unsure, though, if we did the right thing by going Premium Economy.
I REALLY hate long flights. We're hoping Premium Economy makes things a little better. But then a part of me wonders. Is the improvement worth that much money? We're going to suffer no matter what. Maybe we should have suffered more and paid less.
It's too late to change things now. I guess we'll see for next time. We might say, That was totally worth the money. We're never going back to economy on Qantas. Or we might say, That was not worth it. Let's do economy next time.
OR we could say, Flying that long is hell no matter what. We're never returning to Australia.
And I actually once had this demented fantasy of us hating the first flight so much that Jack insists we never do it again.
Stuck forever in Australia. Yeah. What a tragedy that would be (insert wink here).
One thing that makes me feel better about splurging on plane tickets is thinking about how other people have splurged.
Here's an engagement ring for $8600 dollars. To me, personally, that's a waste of money. It's just a shiny thing. What's the point of it? And I could get a fake one for a very cheap price. Would that many people know the difference?
I would know the difference.
Would I care?
Nope.
What's the point of having expensive jewelry? I don't get it.
But some people do get it, and it's very important to them.
Different strokes for different folks.
They might argue that they'd rather have this ring, that will last them through out their life, than go on a vacation to Australia that will last only a few weeks.
My argument to that is the memory of the vacation will last a lifetime...or most of a lifetime. You might get Alzheimer's, unfortunately.
Back to the car in the Aussie magazine. It costs $66, 155. For that price, we could get seven sets of three return tickets to Australia on Qantas...Premium Economy.
Seven trips to Australia. I'd much rather have that than a car. Plus you have to pay for the fuel. With our Qantas tickets, fuel is included in the price.
What would our world be like if we
It made me think about our plane tickets.
They're so expensive!
We're flying Premium Economy on Qantas. For the three of us, the cost is $8668.27.
Each flight is about 14 hours. The total flying time on our ticket is 29 hours. That means we're spending about $290 for each hour in the air.
For $290, I could buy an 8 day pass to Disney World...well, for one person. For the three of us I could get only a 1 day ticket.
For the full 8.6668.27 I could get get about four years worth of annual passes to Disney World. That would be four years of passes for all three of us.
Of course we wouldn't go to Disney World for four years straight. And we'd have to pay for plane tickets to go back and forth. Plus there's food to pay for...and all that.
With our Qantas tickets, the food is included. And I bet we get one of those face mask things; maybe socks as well.
You don't get socks and face masks with a Disney Annual Pass.
The Question: Why pay so much for plane tickets to Australia when the money can be stretched much farther if we use is it for other things?
Answer: I love Australia. And the love isn't a quiet and mild love.
I'm still unsure, though, if we did the right thing by going Premium Economy.
I REALLY hate long flights. We're hoping Premium Economy makes things a little better. But then a part of me wonders. Is the improvement worth that much money? We're going to suffer no matter what. Maybe we should have suffered more and paid less.
It's too late to change things now. I guess we'll see for next time. We might say, That was totally worth the money. We're never going back to economy on Qantas. Or we might say, That was not worth it. Let's do economy next time.
OR we could say, Flying that long is hell no matter what. We're never returning to Australia.
And I actually once had this demented fantasy of us hating the first flight so much that Jack insists we never do it again.
Stuck forever in Australia. Yeah. What a tragedy that would be (insert wink here).
One thing that makes me feel better about splurging on plane tickets is thinking about how other people have splurged.
Here's an engagement ring for $8600 dollars. To me, personally, that's a waste of money. It's just a shiny thing. What's the point of it? And I could get a fake one for a very cheap price. Would that many people know the difference?
I would know the difference.
Would I care?
Nope.
What's the point of having expensive jewelry? I don't get it.
But some people do get it, and it's very important to them.
Different strokes for different folks.
They might argue that they'd rather have this ring, that will last them through out their life, than go on a vacation to Australia that will last only a few weeks.
My argument to that is the memory of the vacation will last a lifetime...or most of a lifetime. You might get Alzheimer's, unfortunately.
Back to the car in the Aussie magazine. It costs $66, 155. For that price, we could get seven sets of three return tickets to Australia on Qantas...Premium Economy.
Seven trips to Australia. I'd much rather have that than a car. Plus you have to pay for the fuel. With our Qantas tickets, fuel is included in the price.
What would our world be like if we
knew for sure there
was life after death, and
we could easily talk to our
dearly-departed on the Internet?
The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts
I have this fantasy that one day they will remove all the seats for these long haul flights. Everyone could curl up on the floor [BYO sleeping bag]. It would be crowded, but passengers would not all have stuffed backs for days after the trip. BYO apples cos there's nowhere to put trays of food or coffee. BYO kindle/i pad.
ReplyDeleteYes, if you had a car you would even have to pay to service it. Not something qantas will give you a headache over.
[If I had to choose between a car and a plane ticket... I'd probably take the ticket. If I could afford $66k for a car, I would probably be rich enough to have both a new car and international air tickets.
I don't envy you 29 hours in the air.
ReplyDeleteDo you get a break in there somewhere??
Those ARE expensive tickets.. my goodness
Fruitcake: I love your idea...sleeping bags. That would be fun. It's probably more comfortable.
ReplyDeleteIt might be hard to step over people to get to the toilet. So I think it would have to be somewhat organized.
That's true about having to pay to service your car. I didn't think of that.
HappyOrganist: It's 29 hours total...not all at once. I think I'd die otherwise.
It's 15 hours one way and then 14.5 hours on the way back.
I wish flying wasn't so expensive.
Even economy tickets are way too expensive. And then there's business class.
I just looked to business class for the time we're going. It's about $20,000.
The problem with flying Premium is that you will probably not be happy in Economy ever again. I don't think you will regret spending the extra.
ReplyDeleteAndrew,
ReplyDeleteYeah. I guess we could become spoiled.
We have flown on American Airlines business before. Then later went on economy.
I guess it's like going into the hot tub and then jumping into the regular pool. The regular pool is dreadfully cold.
But then later you can jump back into the hot tub, and it's nice and warm.
I really like Fruitcake's idea of sleeping bags instead of chairs. I can't sleep well sitting up.
Have you flown Premium Economy on Qantas before....or any airline?
No, but R did get upgraded to Business once.
ReplyDeleteTurning the flight into a giant slumber party sounds like a great new trend!!! Alternatively, you could tell the check in desk you blog about Australia and all things Australian so how about that free upgrade then?!?!?!
ReplyDeleteRed Nomad Oz,
ReplyDeleteI wonder if that could really lead to an upgrade.
I think I'd lack the confidence and courage to try it.