There was a time when business travel was all about privilege. Executives who had clawed their way up the ladder to the giddy heights where boarding a jet plane was testament to their achievement, came to expect a level of service and luxury approaching that lavished on the upper classes who had ruled the world before industry took over.
Times have changed. Now, with digital communication technologies keeping the world online 24/7, executives find they have no time to switch off, and time itself, rather than luxury, is what they are demanding from their travel providers. Despite continuing to charge premium prices for business class service, however, the industry is struggling to deliver.
Many corporate travel policies now proscribe business class on all but long-haul flights, where the ability to stretch out for a sleep is deemed to be value-for-money. On shorter flights, consider the prices being charged: a recent check on the internet shows a leading flag carrier charges g283 for a midweek two-day journey from Berlin to Madrid when booked one month in advance. A business class seat on the same flights would set you back f944.
Despite what they say, the airlines cannot actually deliver you to your destination any faster. They may let you board the plane first, but then you have to sit and wait while the economy class passengers are loaded in the back. Your luggage may be unloaded first, but you have to get through the same interminable queues at passport control as everyone else; often, by the time you get through to the baggage claim area the luggage from the entire flight has been sent down.
When it comes down to it, only the airports themselves can shave time off your journey, yet getting through an airport today takes more, rather than less time than it did ten years ago. The main delays occur around the security and border control areas. While it is clearly in everyone’s best interests to make flying as safe as possible, the seasoned business traveller must still endure the frustration of standing in a queue with first-time travellers who hold up an entire line of people while they repack cases and remove their shoes for the security scan.
One solution being tested in several major airports is the use of iris recognition software that is linked to a database of pre-supplied personal information. At a recent IATA conference, the head of the US Transportation Security Administration announced plans to trial a system that will differentiate between regular travellers and those less experienced. Unfortunately, several iris recognition systems have already been abandoned because they were breaking down or taking longer than the immigration officer doing a manual check.
But the travel industry is waking up to an opportunity to profit from the plight of the time-pressed business traveller. Low-cost airlines across Europe charge extra for the privilege of boarding ahead of the masses, and airports are beginning to charge for the use of their Fast Track security lines. Paying the price does not always guarantee a faster journey to your flight: if the plane is at a remote stand, the priority boarders will just get onto the transit bus quicker, and passengers who have paid for the right to use Fast Track security often find themselves queuing behind families with small children who have been told to join the Fast Track queue to speed up the other lines.
Despite these occasional frustrations, however, many savvy business travellers told to avoid business class are combining several of these services and finding their experience is not dissimilar to what they used to get in business class – but at a fraction of the cost. With one or two airline loyalty cards plus an airport lounge access card costing around h399 per year in your wallet, and paying for the Fast Track service in the most congested airports, you may find yourself with that precious extra half hour in the office or the airport to deal with emails.
Even the benefits of long haul business class are being challenged: One blogger suggests that by purchasing three consecutive economy class seats (£329 each) on a flight from London to Hong Kong, you could stretch out for a snooze and save yourself £1,065 on the price of a business class seat.
Shirley Redpath is a business journalist, and enjoys globetrotting on a regular basis
