Note: This is part of a package of four columns, running Friday and Monday, about luxury-class amenities for budget travelers.
July 21, 2003 -- In Friday's newsletter (www.frommers.com/newsletters/07-18-03), we recounted the tale of a cheapskate wowed by business class. Of course, most of the time you'll lack the miles or the money to get into business class. If you'd like to bring a little extra class back to your galley seat, though, here are some ways to compete with business-class advantages:
Extra legroom. For true business-class legroom at coach-class prices, get an exit row seat. Ask your airline whether you can reserve an exit row in advance. If you can't, show up really early at the airport (check-in desks usually open 4-6 hours before a flight) and beg for one. On international flights, pick an airline with a little more legroom from Airlinequality.com's seat guide (www.airlinequality.com/Product/seat_intro.htm).
(US budget airlines AirTran (www.airtran.com) and Spirit (www.spiritair.com) offer discounted business class seats at prices competitive with many airlines' coach-class offerings. We'll cover those more in depth in a future column.)
Better food. You won't get the fine china of business class, but at least you'll know if you bring your own that it'll be edible. For an authentic experience, you can buy those little airplane bottles of liquor at your local liquor store.
Better service. Sit quietly and meditate on how much money you're saving. Also, be really nice to flight attendants. They're people, too, and they'll serve you a lot better if you don't treat them like servants.
Better entertainment. Some airlines offer personal video screens in coach class. JetBlue famously gives you 24 TV channels at every seat on domestic flights, and Delta's Song spinoff promises TV and pay-per-view movies by the end of this year. Internationally, many airlines offer seatback video systems with multiple movies: Virgin Atlantic and British Airways are good bets for flights to Europe, and Cathay Pacific and Singapore Air are among the best airlines for entertainment if you're flying to Asia.
If you regularly find yourself stuck watching a lousy communal movie, get yourself a portable DVD player. Ultracompact players with 5" screens run at about $400 nowadays -- a fraction of the cost of a business class ticket. You can also rent a player from InMotion Pictures (www.inmotionpictures.com) for as little as $12/day.
Airport lounge access. Delta offers single-use passes to airport lounges for $50. You can also join Priority Pass (www.prioritypass.com), which will give you access to 400 airport lounges worldwide, with various subscription packages ranging from $99 to $399 per year. For more details on lounges, see our other column today.