Sometimes It Pays to Pay for First Class

Coffee LaptopA funny thing happened on the way to Asana. As I’ve been learning the program and working with my assistant Leanne, I’ve dropped a few things that haven’t found their way into my field of vision when they should have.

To use one example, I learned late on a Friday that I needed to have a lot of text prepared for an editor on Monday. This had escaped my attention during the migration from one task manager to another. It wasn’t a difficult task, but it was Friday night, Saturday was my birthday, I was traveling Sunday morning, and I would be speaking all day at McKendree University just outside of Saint Louis. Time was a bit tight: I was excited about spending my birthday hanging out with my family (and, I must admit, taking a very long nap), and I didn’t want to spend a good chunk of the day writing about comparative advantage.

Fortunately, I had booked a first-class ticket to and from Saint Louis as part of an experiment with paying extra for convenience. Given the constraints I was facing, the extra few hundred dollars were completely worth it. Premium boarding means I can drink a cup of coffee and work on my laptop for a solid 20-30 minutes while the plane boards, and given that first class fills up quickly there isn’t a lot of distraction from waiting for two people to try to crowd into the seats next to me, to say nothing of the additional workspace I have at the front of the plane. Being first off the plane means a precious extra few minutes I can spend at the Delta Sky Club, where I can drink another cup of coffee and have a snack while I continue working. Being first on the second plane again means another solid 20-30 minutes and yet another cup of coffee while the plane boards.

By the time I landed in St. Louis I had a solid draft of my chapter. This meant my list of things to do in the afternoon and evening was one item shorter, and therefore I had more time and energy to spend visiting friends I haven’t seen in a few years, more time to take a nap in the afternoon and more time and energy to focus on preparing for my material for Monday.

And, I might add, more time to watch the new episode of The Walking Dead on the hotel TV.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

About the Author: artcarden

Leave A Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *