Companies Discover Business Class Has Tiers Like Your Credit Score

Corporations just learned that airlines sell business class tickets with different levels of flexibility. Took them long enough. The cheapest ones lock you in. Can't change your flight. Can't get a refund. You know, like every ticket poor people buy, except this one costs four grand.

Travel managers are furious. Their executives might have to commit to a specific departure time like some kind of animal. "The real value is flexibility," they explain, as if they've unlocked ancient wisdom. The value is not the lie-flat seat. Not the warm nuts. Not the pre-departure champagne. It's the ability to cancel when Brad decides he'd rather Zoom in from Aspen.

Airlines created premium economy years ago to milk the middle class. Worked great. Then they realized they could do the same thing to business class. Slice it thinner. Charge less for fewer perks. Watch companies who spent decades demanding lower fares suddenly clutch their pearls when they get exactly what they asked for.

Here's what happened: Finance departments negotiated cheaper rates. Executives found out those rates came with restrictions. Executives complained. Finance departments now have to pay more anyway. Revolutionary stuff.

The ultimate irony is watching companies that laid off workers via Zoom call—to save on severance packages—now insist their remaining executives need maximum flexibility to change flights. Can't put a price on convenience. Except they did. It's the difference between restricted and flexible business class. They just don't want to pay it.

These are the same corporations that force employees to file expense reports in triplicate for a twelve-dollar salad. But sure, let's hear more about how Kevin from Corporate Development absolutely must have the ability to switch his Thursday flight to Friday because his meeting ran long.

Airlines learned from hotels. Hotels learned from rental cars. Everyone learned you can charge twice as much for the same thing if you call one version "restricted." Companies are learning they're not special.

Photo by Eran Menashri on Unsplash