While I've flown in first class before, the trip we took the day I wrote this was the first time we actually bought a first class ticket. We've bought some Premium Select (second class) tickets while flying overseas, and we've certainly considered some lie flat (“Delta One”) tickets before. But domestically, we have generally flown Comfort Plus or even Economy while trying to get the exit rows. After evaluating a potential NetJets purchase for domestic flights, one (relatively minor) reason we didn't buy it was that it just seemed kind of silly to jump straight from Economy to Private without ever stopping in first class.

When Katie bought tickets to go to the Bogleheads Conference in October 2025 (she helps organize it, and I often speak as part of Bogleheads University on the first day), she purchased first class tickets.

Flying First Class

It was a day of many firsts. Not only was it the first time we bought first class tickets, but it was the first time we ever missed a flight.

I'm not a big fan of waiting in airports. I've always said if you never miss a flight, you have spent way too much of your life in airports. But I've never actually missed one before. We left home a little late, it took longer to park than normal, and we got separated on the way into the airport. But mostly, the airline was short-staffed, and it had way too few people checking in bags for the number of flights.

It turned out that flying first class didn't change the line for the bag drop-off. We tried the “Delta One” line, but we didn't qualify for that. Twenty-five minutes later, when we got to the head of the “Priority” line, we were rebooked onto a flight leaving four hours later. Despite my annoyance, it really didn't matter whether we killed time in the Salt Lake airport or the San Antonio hotel. I was going to do the same WCI work (in this case, writing the post announcing the 2025 scholarship winners) either way.

We went to the Delta Sky Club for comfortable seats and a little food. It seems like the Delta Sky Club entry rules change every week these days. I can never tell if we qualify to go in or not. But it's still always packed, so maybe they need to keep making the rules stricter. During this busy day at the airport, the club had a line out the door and down the concourse that was at least 40 people long. Despite flying first class, having Platinum status, and having a Delta credit card, we still didn't quite qualify to get in for free. Well, maybe I could come in as Katie's guest for the card, so the guy sent us up to the desk. The desk was busy, though, and we were just waved through without any more questions. But for the life of me, I can't figure out how all those other people are qualifying to be in the Sky Club if a first class ticket, a credit card with an annual fee, and flying all over the world every year don't get us into the club.

Anyway, I wrote most of the post, and we ate. Eventually, it was time to get on the plane. I boarded with Zone 7 (did I mention that boarding early is not a benefit in my view; I think first class should board last) and discovered that my 2D seat was quite a ways away from Katie's 3A seat. We didn't even get to sit together our first time buying first class tickets.

I was offered a pre-takeoff drink. As a non-drinker, I got an OJ. The flight attendants offered me headphones. I got them because I'd forgotten my nice ones. They were the same crummy ones airlines have given out for years, so I could barely hear the movie. The movie selection was the same as every other seat on the plane. I tried a documentary called Facing the Falls that was about a disabled person who spent 12 days in the Grand Canyon. After a while, I went back to working on that blog post.

They brought us a meal, with a white tablecloth and real silverware (well, at least metal silverware). I can't remember the last time I ate a real meal on a domestic flight. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten so much in the lounge.

The pilot had warned of turbulence on takeoff. I didn't feel any. Maybe because there wasn't much, but it's possibly because I was so close to the front of the plane, an unsung benefit of first class.

Eventually, we landed, and I was the seventh one off the plane. That's a nice benefit, too. Unless you check bags. Then, you just wait at the baggage claim instead of watching the end of a movie on the plane.

I didn't bother using the bathroom on the short flight, but Katie did. She noted there was soap and lotion in the first class bathroom.

More information here:

The Bottom Line

So, what did this premium experience cost us? I have no idea. Katie buys stuff like that. But I can look up what a ticket bought the day I wrote this post would cost. Buying a round-trip weekday ticket one month in advance from Salt Lake to San Antonio,

  • Main is $577
  • Comfort Plus is $717
  • First class is $1,207

Basically, it costs twice as much to fly first class as economy in the United States. Was it worth it? Well, I can tell you that certainly wasn't a $600 meal. Same movies. Same headphones. Same amount of time in the airport. Same TSA line. Same bag drop-off line. The seat was a little wider and had a little more leg room. And maybe it helped us sneak into the lounge and get an extra meal there. Again, those were not $300 meals.

My conclusion? It wasn't worth it. Will we do it again? I don't know. Maybe. I'll tell you what I did think about, though. I thought about the five hours in the airport I would have saved by flying private. Of course, we would have spent something like $40,000 round trip flying private. That's about $20,000 a piece or about 35 times what that economy ticket cost. You can't buy a nice new wakeboat for $40,000 these days, but I think I'd rather fly economy instead of private five or 10 times and have the wakeboat.

Plus, I'm now always going to associate flying first class with missing the flight.

What do you think? Ever bought a domestic first class ticket? Was it worth it? Why or why not?