Richard Robinson measures time in another way from most individuals — not in weeks or months, however in boarding passes, seat numbers and time zones.
Last yr, he spent extra time touring than he did at dwelling.
And since 2010, he has logged 945 flights, masking 1,585,148 miles — or about 64 instances round the world. He’s handed by way of 130 airports and flown on 35 airways.
Of these flights, 521 have been in business class, 11 in worldwide first, and a handful in non-public.
“It’s properly ridiculous,” Robinson tells NCS, having simply returned from Seoul.
“I use a tracker, partially so my company knows where I am, but also so I can see everything from class to equipment, even down to the tail number.” His tracker of alternative is web-based portal myFlightradar24.
Unsurprisingly, the 41-year-old holds United Airlines Premier 1K standing — the airline’s highest revealed tier — which incorporates elite Star Alliance Gold standing.
As the world’s largest airline alliance, Star Alliance members embody United, Lufthansa, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, All Nippon Airways (ANA), Turkish Airlines and Air India.
But after greater than 500 business class flights, Robinson is now not dazzled by fantastic wines, cheese boards, designer linens or amenity kits. He’s not even significantly impressed by in-flight leisure or fancy pajamas.
What issues most comes down to fundamentals: the mattress, the structure, the airflow — and whether or not there’s sufficient house for him to transfer round with out knocking elbows or ankles.
But given business class flights value a mean of three to 4 instances greater than an economic system class flight, if your organization isn’t paying it may be a battle to determine whether or not it’s worth the splurge. Here, Robinson provides in-depth recommendation on the points vacationers ought to contemplate earlier than utilizing their hard-earned money or air miles to improve.
Robinson, who grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, began touring usually in 2010, when he took a job at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
From there, a mixture of regional and worldwide flights started to eat his schedule.
“At first, I used to be solely doing East Coast journey, however I used to be quickly promoted to Head of Integrated Solutions. From there, I used to be going to Hong Kong, London, Tokyo, Singapore — it by no means actually slowed down.
“I used to joke that I had a ‘go bag’, because at my 10 a.m. meeting, they might tell me I have to be on a flight to Hong Kong at 3 p.m.”
Today, as the “chief evangelist” — a job extra historically titled head of options — at Unqork, a New York-based enterprise software program firm, he continues to journey often for work, although now it’s deliberate farther prematurely.
Even so, his calendar nonetheless fills up rapidly with far-flung locations.
“I started 2026 flying to Frankfurt right after New Year’s,” he recollects. “From there, I stopped in India for an annual visit with my team before heading to Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo and Seoul.”
For Robinson, who wants to hit the floor working on arrival, sleep is by far the prime precedence when he’s flying. Travelers with the identical concern will need to be certain they do their pre-flight analysis.
“A lot of my international flights are red eyes, so a lie-flat seat for me is No. 1,” says Robinson.
“It makes a huge difference in how much jet lag you have when you arrive. If I can really rest, I am able to function immediately.”
The various may be depressing. On a long-haul from Tokyo to Washington DC a number of years in the past, as an example, Robinson recollects spending 14 hours making an attempt to get comfy on what might as nicely have been a padded slide.
“ANA used to have these weird angled ‘lie-flat’ seats where you’re at like at a 170-degree angle — it was as if you propped up the headboard 10 inches higher than the footboard,” he recollects. “It was miserable. I never made that mistake again.”
After that flight, he scrutinized ANA seat maps to guarantee he didn’t get caught in a dreaded angled mattress once more.
Over time, ANA phased out these seats and now provides an extra-wide, totally flat seat dubbed “The Room,” which has rapidly develop into one of Robinson’s favorites.
“It’s ultra-wide, like you could fit two people in there,” he says. “You can also close the door, so you can work without someone looking over your shoulder.”
In economic system, waking a sleeping neighbor and scrambling to attain the aisle comes with the territory.
In business, although, vacationers anticipate a bit extra privateness. For these making an attempt to work or sleep — not to point out older passengers who may have to transfer often, dad and mom with youngsters, or anybody who desires extra privateness — a very good seat structure can vastly enhance the expertise.
In older 2-2-2 or 2-4-2 seat layouts, solely about half or two-thirds of passengers, respectively, have direct aisle entry.
But newer 1-2-1 layouts — now more and more widespread on worldwide routes — purpose to give each passenger direct aisle entry, making it far simpler to stand up and transfer with out disturbing anybody.
“I much prefer a 1-2-1 layout, where my legs are in a footwell, I’ve got an end table and enough width to feel like I’m in a cocoon,” he says.
That mentioned, simply because an airline provides all-aisle entry doesn’t essentially assure it is going to be comfy.
“One of the reasons I don’t like to fly British Airways or Japan Airlines is that they have configurations that technically have aisle access, but the seats are so narrow that you don’t have an end table, and you’re right up against the person next to you,” he says.
“You just feel sort of claustrophobic.”
Another structure he “actively avoids” is Lufthansa’s business class on sure Boeing 747s and Airbus wide-body plane — like A330s, 340s, 350s and 380s — the place the two center seats are angled inward towards one another.
“Your feet actually share the same footwell, separated by what I can only describe as a 12-inch piece of plastic,” he says.
For anybody who strikes of their sleep, that divider isn’t a lot of a barrier.
“I’ve woken up and realized I was touching the person next to me unintentionally,” he says. “I decided I don’t want to play footsie with a stranger. So I just won’t fly those seats again.”
It’s worth noting, although, that the airline is in the strategy of introducing its up to date Allegris cabin designs on many of those plane, that are designed to supply extra space and privateness.
Optimal airflow, humidity and noise
Like many individuals, Robinson has hassle sleeping when it’s too stuffy or scorching, so he’s develop into attuned to plane varieties.
“Many Triple 7s don’t have personal air vents, so you can’t control your own temperature,” he says. “Especially on Asian airlines, they tend to run hotter in my experience.”
If given a alternative, he’ll search for an Airbus A350 or a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
“Not only do these aircraft usually have personal vents, but they are built from composite materials, so they tend to have a slightly higher humidity, which helps with dehydration,” he explains.
“And the way they design the engines makes them noticeably quieter.”
On the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the home windows do not need conventional pull-down shades. Instead, they use a dimming know-how to tint the home windows electronically.
“If you’re someone who prefers a window seat, though, they do not totally black out the sun, and that can annoy people,” he notes.
After years of flying in business class cabins, a number of airways and particular cabins stand out for Robinson.
When pressed to select a favourite, he teeters between ANA and Singapore Airlines, with the latter edging out.
They each supply glorious service, comfy seats and direct aisle entry, he says, however Singapore has the higher hand on eating.
On a current flight to JFK from Singapore, he pre-ordered lobster thermidor by way of the airline’s “Book the Cook” program.
“In a world of ‘beef, chicken or pasta,’ it’s unusual to serve lobster … and to cook it properly at 35,000 feet, where your taste buds are dulled, makes it feel special,” he says.
On one other flight, he pre-ordered the bak chor mee, the place a dish of noodles with a mixture of sliced, minced and fried pork was the “best plane food” he’s ever had.
Robinson additionally factors to United’s Polaris business class as a turning level for the provider’s premier cabin expertise, and he’s significantly interested by the new “United Elevated” interiors.
Rolled out on the airline’s new Boeing 787-9 plane this spring, the redesigned cabin consists of eight ultra-luxe Polaris Studio suites alongside upgraded Polaris suites with sliding doorways, plus Starlink Wi-Fi, caviar service and 4K leisure screens.
“With the older Polaris seats, the odd rows are good, but the even rows are angled into the aisle, giving you less privacy,” he says. “With the new design, it means almost every seat will be great, so now I won’t have to avoid half of them.”
Recently, he flew on one of Air India’s new Airbus A350-900s and was equally impressed.
“It was an amazing experience — great air vents, brand new seats, comfortable beds … Yeah, this is the plane.”
For Robinson, these upgrades mirror broader shifts throughout the trade. Long-haul business class, he says, is in the center of a top quality arms race.
“Lufthansa is slowly getting rid of their footsie seats,” he says. “Swiss has always been a reliable option for me, despite a couple of window seats having a neighbor. EVA Air is introducing new cabins designed by BMW Group’s Designworks.”
The latter is an replace he’s keen to attempt, though the airline already provides a well-liked reverse-herringbone structure with a 1-2-1 configuration.
“Overall, there’s a lot of competition in the long-haul business class market,” he says. “So subpar experiences are being quickly replaced.”
Having flown international first class about 11 instances, Robinson understands the attraction: wider seats, better privateness and a extra spacious mattress.
Business class cabins are sometimes engineered in order that the footwell narrows to match the physique’s form — “sort of like a sarcophagus,” he notes — slightly than a rectangle.
It’s good to have further house to sleep, he says, however he doesn’t suppose it makes sufficient of a distinction.
“It seems really silly to spend another $3,000,” he says.
“The food is pretty much the same, there’s a higher flight attendant ratio, the seats are wider … But unless you’re really that tall or you really can’t get comfortable with a business class seat, I don’t see it being worth it.”
On some Middle Eastern carriers, the distinction between business and first can exceed $10,000.
“Yeah, it’d be cool to fly the Residence (Etihad Airways’ multi-room suite),” he says. “But what am I gonna do? I’m on a plane. I don’t need, like, a living room, a bedroom, a shower … I’m just trying to get somewhere. I’m not trying to live here.”
While international business class usually means free-flow drinks and lie-flat beds, home or short-haul regional business — extra typically known as “first class” in the US — is one other story.
“Unless you’re doing a transcon flight across the country, they’re all the same,” he says. “They’re all recliner seats.”
And generally, they don’t even supply a deeper recline.
“On a flight in Europe, I was in an economy seat, and the only difference was that the middle seat was just blocked off,” he says of his “business class” expertise.
“So, I paid an extra 150 euros ($176), just to make sure the seat next to me was open, I guess. It felt like a rip-off.”
That mentioned, business seats on US carriers have a tendency to be wider and supply extra legroom. For vacationers who’re taller, broader, pregnant, recovering from harm or just need further house, the larger seat can nonetheless be worth it.
“I am a bigger guy, so I prefer to have that extra space. Otherwise, I am elbowing my neighbor constantly,” he says.
“If you’re smaller, though, you can reserve the second row window exit in economy, where you’ve almost got more leg room than business class, and save some money.”
Robinson takes a equally pragmatic view of worldwide business class.
If you’re touring for work and are anticipated to step straight into conferences after touchdown, he believes the improve often is smart.
“It’s often worth it to your company who’s flying you there to ensure you can be rested and available, because time is money to them,” he says.
For leisure vacationers who might have saved cash or miles for a special day, the calculation turns into extra private.
“There’s a bucket of people who want to fly business for like a honeymoon or anniversary,” Robinson says.
“The question that I always pose to them is like, ‘Okay, look, you can pay $2,700 for an economy flight from New York to Tokyo or $5,700 for business, right? What is a better use of your money?’”
The roughly $3,000 distinction is greater than sufficient to fund a number of further lodge nights, if time permits.
“You can try to sleep in a sub-optimal space for twice as much money or, if you have some flexibility in your schedule, give yourself more time to acclimate to a new time zone in a comfortable hotel once you’re there,” Robinson continues. “That’s the tradeoff.”
To keep away from shared footwells, inaccessible aisles and sleeping on a slope, Robinson research every flight’s seat map earlier than reserving.
“You can tell exactly what kind of plane you’re going to be on based on small details,” he says.
For instance, ANA operates totally different variants of its 787-8s, and there’s a giveaway.
“If the business class has seven rows, it’s going to be a cradle-style seat — not a lie-flat. But if it has nine rows, it’s lie-flat,” he says.
“I have to get down to that level of nuance, because I can’t just trust that I’ll get on the flight and it will be a proper lie-flat.”
Next, Robinson turns to timing. “When I’m using miles, I book as early as possible, knowing there’s often late availability on better routes or at lower award rates.”
Many award tickets — significantly with carriers like United — may be canceled and redeposited with out penalty. That permits him to lock in a stable choice months prematurely, then swap later if one thing higher comes up.
“As long as you’re not booking overlapping flights, they’ll let you hold whatever you want,” he says.
He additionally prefers transferring bank card factors instantly into airline packages slightly than redeeming them as money by way of bank card platforms, the place they typically don’t go as far.
“It can get pretty complicated,” he says, including that he makes use of Seats.aero, a search engine for reward journey, to maximize the worth of his loyalty factors and miles.
When reserving instantly with United, he makes use of the web site’s “expert” mode to discover premium economic system fares with assured improve redemptions.
“Since 1K and Platinum status holders get upgrade-specific points called PlusPoints, I use expert mode to see where United has instant-clear upgrade inventory, rather than getting put on a waitlist,” he says.
“If I’m on a waitlist and my upgrade doesn’t clear, then I’m stuck in economy on a flight to Asia, so I’m not going to gamble with that.”
For extra informal vacationers, his recommendation is easy: verify the seat map, verify the plane has lie-flat seats and simple aisle entry, and use your miles or cash in no matter manner feels proper.
Perhaps for you, which means a much bigger seat and Champagne at 35,000 toes if that’s the precedence. Other instances, it’s further time to regulate to a brand new time zone and discover on the floor.