<p>The last time we traveled, I had a free upgrade to First Class, and I can see aspiring to the ability to pay for it on a regular basis.</p>
<p>lxnayBob, When I comapre your classification to wikipedia income, I see conflicts. i don’t see wikipedia “rich” flying private.</p>
<p>“Wealthy have at least one jet
Very Rich have a Netjets card and use it liberally, seldom flying commercial
Rich will fly private if they are going in a group, but still need to rationalize it
Very Comfortable flies Business Class, occasionally First Class, never Coach
Comfortable flies Coach, but often upgrades for longer flights”</p>
<p>For a country that is the greatest in the world, we have very few rich people in this country. :)</p>
<p>I guess I am uncomfortable. </p>
<p>Me and the guy who gets a free ride at Harvard are both uncomfortable.</p>
<p>The things I learn about myself on this thread. :)</p>
<p>@Hunt, maybe it’s because I’m a cheap SOB, but while I enjoy upgrading to Business (which is massively more comfortable then Coach), I find the marginal utility of upgrading to First not worth it. Free, otoh, works well :). </p>
<p>My wife, who travels a lot for business, was offered free First (her employer having paid Business) recently if she would fly into JFK rather than Newark. She accepted, and is happily wearing the free pajamas, but said she won’t do it again – not worth the aggravation of JFK. </p>
<p>The upgrade to First I had wasn’t that kind of ultra-fancy First–I guess it was what would be Business on a long haul.</p>
<p>I have sometimes paid for Economy Plus. Perhaps that makes me almost Comfortable.</p>
<p>I have paid for a year of economy plus for me and up to 8 passengers because I was flying with my folks on multiple flights and my folks are 85 and 90. I guess I’m comfortable under this taxonomy. I was getting “free” upgrades to economy plus so that my medical equipment fit–does that mean the airline wanted me to be “comfortable”? They stopped offering the upgrades, so I decided it was worth it to purchase for the comfort of us and our fellow passengers who probably prefer not tripping over my medical gear.</p>
<p>I have caught greyhound many, many times, tho our kids haven’t ever (as far as I know). I guess my kids are more comfortable than we are. ;)</p>
<p>I honestly am at a loss on how to describe my health in surveys which ask. I DO have a chronic health condition and my prognosis is now better than it was when I was diagnosed 14 years ago, but it still stumps me. Do we consider our overall health and ignore the condition or do we somehow weigh that condition in as well? I’ve never gotten a decent answer.</p>
<p>@Iglooo, I agree that it doesn’t agree with Wikipedia, but I think if you want to decompress the high end, my taxonomy serves to differentiate between the comfortable (eg, physician) and wealthy (eg, a household-name CEO). </p>
<p>Comfortable is a pseudonym for rich. </p>
<p>It is ok to be rich. We don’t need any pseudonyms. </p>
<p><a href=“Thirty Amazing Facts About Private Jets”>http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidewalt/2013/02/13/thirty-amazing-facts-about-private-jets/</a></p>
<p>“
There were 672 new private jets sold in 2012, a sales dip of 3.4% from 2011. Overall, 11,261 private jets were registered for use in the United States, and 7,997 in the rest of the world.”</p>
<p>We have to have more wealthy people than this in this country. Don’t we?</p>
<p>Times are so tough that some rich people are sharing their private jets.</p>
<p>Lol!</p>
<p>“Wealthy have at least one jet
Very Rich have a Netjets card and use it liberally, seldom flying commercial
Rich will fly private if they are going in a group, but still need to rationalize it
Very Comfortable flies Business Class, occasionally First Class, never Coach
Comfortable flies Coach, but often upgrades for longer flights”</p>
<p>And now it’s time for a reality check.
Half of all Americans live on < $50,000 / year … Roughly 50,000,000 at poverty level. FIFTY MILLION.</p>
<p>The majority of people in this country never go on any commercial flight in a typical year, and many never go one on in their entire lifetime.<br>
The average American - you know, the ones who are living in all of those slums and yucky apartment buildings <em>you</em> would never consider living it – travels via car or perhaps Greyhound bus for his destinational travel.</p>
<p>You guys really, seriously don’t understand how much of the country lives if you are making these fine distinctions.</p>
<p>I’m a platinum frequent flyer myself, and fly business overseas, but I’m not so dumb as not to realize that I’m miniscule in the scheme of things. </p>
<p>“I guess you’re more or less kidding about this, but it pretty much demonstrates the American attitude about wealth. Being able to fly on a jet at all, much less upgrade for longer flights, requires a level of wealth that’s pretty substantial in global–or even US–context…”</p>
<p>Thank you, Hunt. </p>
<p>And yes, HiMom, if you are paying for upgrades for yourself and 8 passengers because you’re flying on multiple flights, you ARE well-to-do compared to the average American person. Of course. </p>
<p>“There were 672 new private jets sold in 2012, a sales dip of 3.4% from 2011. Overall, 11,261 private jets were registered for use in the United States, and 7,997 in the rest of the world.”</p>
<p>We have to have more wealthy people than this in this country. Don’t we?"</p>
<p>Yes, 11,000 private jets out of 316,000,000 people. I can see why we all feel deprived by not having private jets. It’s so unfaaaaaiiiiir! </p>
<p>" I was half kidding, but the not kidding part is that Comfortable probably describes the top 1-3% of families in one of the wealthier countries in the world.</p>
<p>I aspired to Comfortable, and having attained it, don’t yearn for the higher categories."</p>
<p>Well, that’s precisely the point. The $200-300K families are clearly comfortable by any rational standard, but they’re “upset” because the folks below them (who live in crappy apartments and travel by Greyhound and turn the heat as low as they can stand and consider a trip to McDonald’s a treat) get free rides to Harvard, and they’re “upset” because the people above them – so few in number! – get to go to Europe first class and buy original oil paintings, and here they are, having to have the housekeeper come in only once every other week and having to Priceline their trip to Disney, le sigh. </p>
<p>Hey, I get upset when I’m in Boarding Group 3 and don’t get to walk on the red carpet in the Boarding Group 1 aisle, even though it leads to the same door.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I feel like a big shot when I go to the special check-in desk for Marriott elite customers.</p>
<p>I think its high time we start a cc fractional ownership of a jet. Who is in? Which is better- Flexjet or NetJet?</p>
<p>Staying at a Mariott is strictly upper middle class. Or did Marriott buy Ritz Carlton?</p>
<p>DH and I don’t begrudge those who get substantial FA at excellent schools. DH benefited from exactly such a scholarship in college, which in turn has enabled us to pay for both kids’ college (though we got some FA while both were in school simultaneously). He and I were both zero EFC kids without parental support for the paths we chose. I am glad that we can pay it forward in some small way.</p>
<p>I am also thankful for the FF miles that DH earns from his crazy work travel, which enabled us to get business class on our long-haul vacation. With my medical issues, that’s the only way I could do overseas travel.</p>
<p>HiMom – I also wonder about how to define healthy. I have serious, ongoing issues – but I can work out, travel, and am responding to treatment as well as possible. OTOH, it could all change in an instant (and I know that experience, too). I also know that if it weren’t for DH’s insurance, we would be in a world of financial hurt. We still pay a lot of money for expenses, but at least we can do it, even if it’s painful at times. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I have the same question, HImom, and have never gotten a good answer either. I have diabetes but none of the associated risk factors (not overweight, very active physically, great diet, etc) Through medication, a strict diet, and lots of exercise, my blood sugar numbers are fantastic - practically at the non-diabetic level. When I ask my doctor what my risks are for complications, I get a lot of vagueness ('lower than that for most diabetics but higher than the general population.") Well, duh - of course I know that. I’d love some more detail.</p>
<p>Actually, I consider myself healthier than most of the non-diabetic people I know.</p>