Never Fly Coach Again

What I looked like during a layover in Vancouver from Hong Kong to NYC (Economy class)

I'm heading south of the border for a long weekend, so I thought these tips on how to never fly coach again from Entrepreneur magazine were quite fitting.  I am normally a pretty good sport when it comes to flying coach---oh I'm sorry, economy---but, I had a nightmare experience on American Airlines involving a red-eye to London, 6 inches leg room, and what I thought was mild deep vein thrombosis.  It was the one time since being 13 and at my 8th grade dance that I have hated being tall.  Have any tips of your own or economy class horror stories?  Please share in the comments section.  Enjoy, and have a great weekend!

Here are the tricks :
1- "Get elite status on one of the three global airline alliances by qualifying with the carrier that has the lowest requirement.  Take United Airlines, part of the Star Alliance:  You need 25,000 miles a year to become elite on United, but only 4,000 on its partner Aegean Air."  Looks like it's time for a trip to Greece!  Your newly elite status transfers so you can nab all the perks like upgrades (huge if you have extra long legs or love an in-flight glass of bubbly), no luggage fees, and the crème de la crème: access to the business lounge on any airline in your alliance.

2- Book flights when airlines post their lowest fares -- between Tuesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon.  My, isn't Wednesday a fantastic day to book a flight to a far-off place?

3- Forget Travelocity or or Expedia.  Use websites like ExpertFlyer.com, KvsTool.com, or my favorite, ITASoftware.com.  I also love Bing travel which predicts whether you should buy now, wait to purchase, or if prices are holding steady for specific travel dates.

¡Buen viaje!

Excerpts courtesy of Entrepreneur magazine, November 2010