For the typical family, flying international business class is probably out of the question. The cash rates are incredibly high, and even with so-called “amazing deals”, you’re still looking at over $1,000 per ticket. Not gonna happen. Luckily, award travel can make almost anything possible. Still, looking at the number of miles we’d need for five business class tickets, and we come up short in basically every currency I have. Plus, finding the award space can be a challenge when attempting to fly business class with kids.

However, I have booked multiple business class tickets now (always on miles) when flying with just 1 or 2 of my kids. Our first experience was flying Cathay Pacific 777-300ER business class home from Hong Kong. Now that I have three more trips with kids under my belt, I’m questioning whether flying business class with kids is even worth it.

Upside: Far Less Jet-Lag

The upside for me is unarguable: I arrive far more refreshed. On our flight back to California with Cathay Pacific, I slept well for a few hours and brokenly for a few more. This was still plenty for our evening arrival. We would sleep again once we got to our hotel. I hardly felt tired at all the next few days, even though we had adjusted completely to China time after spending 10 days there.

Likewise, I felt great on arrival into Buenos Aires during our trip to South America. The business class return wasn’t so bad, either, even though I don’t feel like I slept particularly well on that flight. We flew an old 767-300 from Montevideo to Miami. But I hardly felt tired during our day in Miami Beach. A shower and a walk on the beach worked wonders. Flying up front works for me.

But with the kids it has been mixed. Sometimes they sleep well, sometimes they don’t. And therein lies the issue.

Under-Appreciation and Under-Utilization

This is where the issue gets tricky with kids. Our first business flight went well. Both children slept soundly for 3-5 hours. My son also did fantastic when we traveled to Taiwan in China Airlines 777-300ER business class. But my daughter would rather sacrifice sleep to have a movie binge. And this totally defeats the purpose of having them fly business. If you want to stay awake the whole time, economy will do just fine.

Flying business class to me means sleep, first and foremost. I can no longer really sleep at all in economy. I’ll doze for 20-30 minutes, but wake up with a terrible neck-ache every time. I’ve tried out the Trtl neck pillow and it helps some. Guess that means I gotta stop chuckling at the folks who wear their pillows all through the terminal.

The comfier seat and better food in business class are certainly welcome, but if I am not going to sleep, then the mileage premium is simply not worth it to me, unless it’s a ridiculously good deal. This makes flights back to the U.S. from Europe a case where I will almost certainly opt for economy. They are long daytime flights, and simply pushing through is the best way to conquer jet-lag. Flying to Europe, however, I would prefer to sit up front. But if the kids are going to resist my plan to have them sleep, well, we may as well sit in the back and suffer through the next day.

Case in point: even after flying business class, my daughter was a mess and passed out when we got the The Confidante Hotel in Miami Beach. Meanwhile, I enjoyed a lovely Florida sunrise.

Downside: Moodiness and an Awful First Day

I distinctly remember how tired we all were after arriving into Paris last spring. It took everything in me to keep the kids active and moving. We visited Notre Dame and Luxembourg Gardens, and I kept them going until they finally passed out in our hotel room at around 7:30 PM. It was a rough day, but we enjoyed it, and still had fun.

This was after a long day of economy travel. We had an early morning flight from SFO, connected in Seattle, and arrived in Paris around 8:00 AM the following day. The kids didn’t sleep a wink on the flight, and I wasn’t able to doze and rest my eyes for more than a couple hours. We had to power through basically two days without so much as a nap.

This led into a day that was definitely a chore. Luckily, we didn’t have much of a plan, and I found simple, fun ways to keep them active. If we’d had anything more intense planned, I think they would have both rebelled. In any case, I’ll always suggest keeping the schedule clear on your arrival day for any long-haul trip. Have a basic idea of a few easygoing things to do, and leave it at that. Avoid pushing yourselves too hard with exhausted kids.

Is Flying Business Class with Kids Worth It?

With four business class flights with kids in the bag, I’m starting to wonder if this splurge will become more rare. I certainly appreciate being able to sleep on a plane a arrive far more rested. But they aren’t quite as keen as hopping on a plane, eating, and then snoozing until we arrive. They’d rather be watching movies and playing games. I’m going to be judicious about when I have us fly in a premium cabin in the future.

While we’ve had plenty of available to make these premium cabin trips happen, it might be nice to save the miles for future uses. Cost is the biggest factor. I do my best to live by the mantra of “earn and burn” with my miles and points. However, the extra miles could be the difference of having enough for 5 tickets versus just 2 or 3 down the road for another trip. Or they could fuel another entire trip. In the case of our China Airlines flights, we’d have another 100,000 SkyMiles banked for the future. That’s certainly enough for another domestic vacation.

If your family doesn’t travel often, but you do accrue plenty of miles and points, then business class might make sense every time. Go all out each time you do travel. But if it is the balance between one trip or two, I’d overwhelmingly go with the ability to take another trip.

Conclusion

I’m split. There are definitely upsides to flying business class with kids, foremost of which is arriving rested. I’m sure that makes flying business class with kids worth it for many. But the cost of the tickets plus the fact that your kids may not appreciate the perks of flying a premium class of service is a big consideration. I do have to say…after flying Cathay Pacific premium economy, this may be the perfect balance of cost versus comfort. If only there were better ways to book some of these products with miles!

How about you…do you find flying business class with kids worth it?