The Surprising Downside of Always Flying Business Class

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Flying business class has benefits that include more leg room and free drinks. But find out the surprising downside to paying for these upgraded seats. [[{“value”:”

With most airlines, flying business class gets you more comfortable seating, the option to check a bag for free, early or priority boarding, and other benefits. There are definite advantages to doing it, although of course it comes at a cost. Business class seats typically cost around three to four times as much as a seat in economy.

While there are plenty of advantages, there are also some downsides to consider. Here’s one surprising disadvantage that you may not have thought of.

Here’s one of the biggest unexpected downsides of flying business class

Business class travelers, by definition, spend more money on their tickets than their peers in the cheap seats. Since people who fly business class do pay a high price, it often makes sense for them to sign up for credit cards that are co-branded with airlines.

And this is where a big surprise downside of business class comes in. These credit cards typically offer great perks — but many of them are effectively useless if you’re already flying business class anyway.

See, cards that are co-branded with airlines often charge high annual fees, but provide generous perks that make travel more enjoyable. However, you’d get many of the included perks with a business class ticket anyway. For example, co-branded airline cards frequently offer:

Access to airline loungesPriority check-in and screeningA free first checked bagUpgrades from economy to business or first class seats

Business and first class tickets typically already come with priority boarding and free checked bags, though. Plus, you’re obviously already sitting in business class, so your seat can’t be upgraded. And if you’re traveling international first class, you also usually get to visit the airline lounge free of charge with your ticket.

Why is this such a disadvantage?

The redundancy in benefits offered by elite travel cards and business or first class seats is a big disadvantage because it can make elite travel cards less worthwhile for those who fly business class often — even though those cards would often offer those same travelers generous rewards for buying their expensive seats.

If a card has a $695 annual fee (or something close to that, as many elite travel cards do) and you can’t use half of the perks, it’s harder to make a case that the card is worth signing up for. At the same time, when you’re spending money for business or first class flights, it’s hard to argue against signing up for the card that’s going to offer the most bonus miles to reward you for your purchased ticket.

Essentially, you’re left deciding if you want to forego the very best credit card rewards programs or if you want to pay a big annual fee just to gain access to those programs — even though you can’t take full advantage of most of the benefits that help make those cards so worthwhile.

In the end, you’ll have to do the math and see if the card’s rewards that you actually will use are going to justify the card’s annual fee.

Sadly, even if you decide a card is still worth it, you’re stuck not taking advantage of the full perks you’re paying for that others get to enjoy. That’s a downside of always flying business class that you shouldn’t overlook.

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The Ascent does not cover all offers on the market. Editorial content from The Ascent is separate from The Motley Fool editorial content and is created by a different analyst team.Christy Bieber has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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