"ShawnD2112" wrote in message
...
Not entirely true, Jay. Airlines work very hard to make sure their seats
are as comfortable as possible. That's how they differentiate from the
competition. But there are limits to what you can do. Airlines have to
make a buck and economy passengers aren't interested in paying one dollar
more than they have to to get where they're going.

I used to fly between the US and Germany regularly on business. Every time I
bought my tickets I'd check prices in both business and coach. In coach I
only once paid more than $800 for a roundtrip, and business class was
usually around $5000. Coach always had discounts available while business
was usually sold full-fare only. I can see paying a bit more, double even,
but six times as much?

The problem is that there is no "intermediate" offering much of the time.
You can have a 39-cent cheeseburger at McDonald's, or a $50 steak at Smith &
Wollensky's. This is true of domestic first class in the US as well, but
that's very accessible to those who travel regularly and get into the elite
programs.

-cwk.