If you’re someone who’s never traveled in First Class (AKA you’re someone who’s just like the rest of us normies), you may have longed for the feeling of what it’s like to sit in that coveted cabin. You may have even taken a sneak peek at the First Class ticket prices occasionally, only to be shocked at how much more expensive they are than regular coach. But why are they so much more expensive? It’s a given that the experience is greater, but sometimes the prices are a few thousand dollars extra—so why is it so lopsided?
A Buyer’s Market
The answer is really quite simple. The reason First Class is so incredibly expensive actually doesn’t have to do so much with the accommodations of First Class itself. Rather, it has to do with the people sitting in First Class. The only reason an airline is able to charge upwards of $3,000 or $4,000 a ticket is for the simple fact that there are people out there willing to spend it.
Thanks to data spreadsheets and advanced analytics, airlines know the exact amount that they can charge for a ticket to optimize profit. If they set the ticket price too low, they’d be losing out on free money. If they set the ticket price too high, they may lose out on customers. So the truth is that First Class ticket prices as they are today are solely based on what the market is willing to pay—and First Class customers have demonstrated that their pockets are that much deeper than the rest!