E-MAIL CHRIS   PRINT   2008 COLUMNS   ARCHIVES   SEARCH ARCHIVES HOW THE OTHER HALF FLIES OVERSEAS By Chris Barnett February 28, 2008 -- It's shocking but true: Not every business traveler flies in the front of the plane when they travel overseas. Not all of us fly the new crop of all-business-class jets that promise acres of legroom and cabin service fit for a sheik. Nor does every chief executive officer have a private corporate jet Yet it sometimes seems that we're all living the lush life up front if you listen to the recent press coverage of international business travel. Lufthansa's all-business-class fleet of Boeing 737s and Airbus A319s, actually leased from another company, was a novel idea when the economy was booming and jet fuel was cheaper. Now, for company chieftains, investment bankers and high-rolling vacationers, we have Eos Airlines. It's akin to a private jet: 48 first-class seats spread out on a Boeing 757 and a squadron of flight attendants at your service. All for the price of a business-class seat. There is Silverjet, Britain's all-business-class airline, and L'Avion, France's all-business-class carrier. KLM and Swiss have tested posh, all-business-class planes for Atlantic crossings. British Airways is working on planes equipped with just 32 business-class seats to fly between New York and London's close-in, pocket-sized City Airport. Not all these brainstorms work. Eurofly, an Italian carrier, dropped all-business-class service between New York and Milan after just a few months of service. Maxjet, a discount all-business class entry, folded last Christmas after just two years in the skies. Starting in May, Lufthansa will switch to larger, traditionally configured, three-class planes on two of the three routes where it has been running all-business-class service. And BA's new subsidiary, Open Skies, which expects to launch late this spring, has rejected the all-business-class approach. Open Skies will have three classes--business, premium economy and coach--when it begins flying between the United States and continental Europe. The reality of international travel is that business class is out of the reach of most business flyers. Many, perhaps even most, large companies expect their corporate travelers to fly coach--or upgrade with their own frequent flyer miles. And unless you are at a super-elite level in a program, international upgrades are tough to come by. Just ask Bill Armbruster, editor of the Shipping Digest, a prominent global trade magazine. On his own time and own dime, he recently flew to Hong Kong from Newark on Continental Airlines. He made the 16-hour nonstop run in economy. He didn't have enough frequent flyer miles to move up to business class for a meeting of the East/West Center, a Hong Kong-based think tank. Armbruster booked his own flights and, for $1,398 roundtrip, flew Continental from Newark to Hong Kong. His return was a bit more circuitous: Emirates from Hong Kong to Bangkok and then Japan Airlines from Bangkok to Newark via its Tokyo/Narita hub. A sharp-eyed writer and editor and a self-admitted insomniac, Ambruster says Continental's economy class wasn't bad. "I watched two movies, had an aisle seat and the meals were okay. And even though the plane was packed, I didn't have any problems and all the flights were on-time." Karen Lippe-Ferrell, executive director of marketing for Seven Crown Resorts, a California-based houseboat-vacation rental firm, flies American Airlines internationally. She finds the coach cabin "extremely uncomfortable" since American dumped its "More Room Throughout Coach" initiative several years ago and the airline reduced the legroom to squeeze in more seats. Lippe-Ferrell flies economy to save her company money, but she pays a stiff physical price if she can't upgrade to business class with miles. On a recent flight from Los Angeles to Paris, she came off the aircraft "cramped and miserable and that's hard when you don't want to lose [the first] day of an international trip." But she does have an unexpected find: The comfortable coach cabins of Air Tahiti Nui, the flag carrier of Tahiti that also flies a route between Los Angeles and Paris. "I paid $500 from Los Angeles to Paris roundtrip," she says. "Otherwise, the best fare I could find was $1,100."

ABOUT CHRIS BARNETT Chris Barnett writes about business-travel tactics and strategies that save time and money and help minimize hassles. He is based in San Francisco and has written for a wide variety of major newspapers and national magazines. Barnett on Business Travel is syndicated by Copley News Service. THE FINE PRINT Joe Brancatelli makes this space available to Chris Barnett in the spirit of free speech and to help encourage editorial diversity and the wider discussion of important travel issues. All of the opinions and material in this column are the sole property of Barnett. This material may not be reproduced in any form without the express permission of Chris Barnett. A NOTE TO EDITORS Barnett on Business Travel is available biweekly through Copley News Service. Contact: Glenda Winders. This column is Copyright © 2008 by Chris Barnett. JoeSentMe is Copyright © 2008 by Joe Brancatelli. All rights reserved.