Low budget business travel:

click above to see what you don't get 

I guess there are many of us out there: (frequent) travellers (for many reasons) who simply don't want to spend a lot of money on travel. This could of course be related to a personal or company choice or a budget restriction or any other reason.
Sure, flying business or first class is great and I have done that many times in the past - however when you think about it - something doesn't always totally add up...
Let's take a recent example:
I had to fly from Amsterdam to New York and ended up booking the return trip for 560 Euros (yup, coach...).
2470 Euros was the lowest price for a business class flight for those dates (I checked expedia, skyscanner and others).
Let's do a quick calculation:
The difference between these options was 2470-560 = 1910 Euros (!)
And this is for a 7.5 hour (each way) flight.

Now don't get me wrong: flying business class is nicer - there is not doubt here and the advantages are there:

• More miles for your frequent flyer program = more 'free' tickets for you
• More status level miles = retain or build your frequent flyer status 
• Much more comfortable = arrive more fresh
• Nicer food
• Access to business class lounge
• Quick check-in

And ... I am not saying there is anything wrong with people flying premium classes, some companies have a policy of having their employees (or senior employees) fly in premium classes. That could be a great perk.

However is the difference in price of for example €1910 worth it ? in my case - and I guess in the cae of many other travelers who might be reading this blog - the answer would be: no.

As a quick check at the time I am writing this blog post - I ran a skyscanner (one of the best flight fare comparison site) search for a direct flight from Amsterdam to NYC and here are the results:

The price difference between economy and business is mind boggling: €530 vs €3063 
There is an indirect flight with Icelandair for €1579 however there is also an indirect economy for €478 - also take into account that flying Icelandair in this case would not let you accumulate points or level miles assuming you are not an Icelander.

My choice is clear: I fly economy.