It's pretty clear which AppleInsider commenters in this thread have flown on international business class overseas flights and who has not.
First of all, let's break down the revenue/flight numbers.
UAL says Apple's SFO-PVG route revenue generates about $35 million a year, that's about $95K per day. UAL also claims 50 business class passengers a day (average). That works out to about $1900 per one-way flight.
That's not really out of hand. Apple employees are probably flying refundable fares so they can change their schedules if necessary. Remember, these employees aren't paying out of pocket, the company reimburses them per the company's travel policy.
Apple has enough dough where they don't bother enforcing a $20 per diem.
When you fly from the US West Coast to eastern Asia non-stop, it is always a 10+ hour flight so the lay-flat seats in United Polaris class are worth it. Sure, Apple could make employees fly coach, but then they'd probably wreck the person for at least a day. Is it worth losing one day's work of a sharper, more productive employee by saving a few hundred bucks on airfare and letting them fester in cattle class? Not if the person flying has an annual salary of $100K+.
Next, let's address the seat number thing. 50 business class seats per day (average) might be 25 seats to and 25 return. Or more likely, there are probably days when Apple employees are few, but other days where Apple employees are heavy. For sure, every time Tim Cook steps on the private jet to fly to Shanghai, there are a bunch of Apple personnel who are flying commercial, some perhaps several days in advance or afterwards.
As for other airlines, well, airlines these days tend to work out of regional hubs and territories. SFO is a major United hub and anyone driving on US-101 by SFO over the past thirty years would know that because the United Airlines operations hangar is visible from the freeway. Yes, yes, Delta, American, etc. all have flights out of SFO, but they don't own SFO like UAL.
At least on international overseas business class flights on USA flag carriers, United is pretty much the same with other USA flag carriers (Delta, American, etc.) in terms of quality. Meaning, they are all *GARBAGE* compared to top tied international carriers.
The best international carriers are mostly the same as from 30-40 years ago: Singapore, Cathay Pacific, Japan Air Lines, All Nippon Airlines, etc. The best newcomer is Emirates. Virgin Atlantic isn't too bad if you are flying business class (formerly the cheekily named "Upper Class" when it was on the upper deck of the Boeing 747). Famous European flag carriers such as British Airways, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, etc. are only marginally better than the USA flag carriers on international business class overseas flights.
The modern lay-flat seat is the best thing about business class overseas air travel. There are some people who think that the food in business class is "special" or "good". It's not. It's a glorified TV dinner.
Apart from the lay-flat seats, the best thing about the international business class cabin is the overhead luggage storage capacity. A lot of business class travelers don't try to haul everything aboard so about half of the overhead luggage storage is empty. With the spacious seating arrangement, there are fewer passengers per overhead luggage compartment so there's no mad dash to cram as much stuff in them nor is there any gate checking.
Anyhow, this has been an amusing thread to read.
Good post but I disagree about some of the American airlines being garbage compared to top international airlines. I've been on just about every top airline and fly around the world every year. Business class on Delta from LAX to Shanghai was one of the nicest I've ever been on. The flight I took round trip was on Delta's new Airbus A350. The business class on the A350 is just as nice as any top international airline I've flown on. Just curious if you've ever been on KLM? Flights out of SFO to Amsterdam on KLM are on old crappy 747's. Business on the 747's is crap. I know KLM started flying one of their new Dreamliners out of SFO, but haven't been on that one yet. In my opinion the flagship European carriers aren't any better than American carriers.
Personally, my favorite international airline is Emirates. Second place for me is Qantas. For overseas flights on an American airline, I think Delta is the best. I'm not a fan of Virgin Atlantic. They really don't have a true business class since it's just Upper Class, Premium Economy, and economy. I always get stuck using Virgin Atlantic when I fly to Johannesburg every year. The seats in Upper Class suck. They don't recline at all. It's either upright or all the way flat. Last year on the first leg of my flight from Joburg to LAX, I sat in premium economy to London. Those seats sucked.
That's so true about the food in business class. It's basically just a slightly nicer presentation compared to the food in coach. Most of the time, I won't eat the food on overseas flights. I always fill up at the airport and then snack a little and eat a big meal when I get to my destination.
Apple is totally out of control! They are living a very lavish lifestyle while continuing to raise prices on all their products to fund their habits. Just crazy.
Apple employees are probably using roaming while in China, which is not subject to the Great Firewall.
FaceTime is not blocked in any case.
All Apple services in China go through China-based servers and all communications are tracked and scrutinized. There is no assumption of privacy. Whenever I go to China I leave all cell phones, all computers at home.
Still carrying a grudge against United for losing a year’s worth of photographic work when moving years ago.
I had attended a photography school in Denver and left town on a United flight and all of my negatives were packed in my luggage. They sent the particular suitcase to Chicago instead of the proper destination and assured me all was fine. Later, when they were supposed to ship it to me they claimed it was destroyed in transit and offered me some pittance in exchange.
During that year I had travelled through Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah. Almost all of the pictures were lost forever- only a few mounted prints I had made to give to friends and family that were in another case survive. That was 1983 and I am still mad. You can never get that stuff back even if you took the time and revisited every place- time and circumstance changes everything.
Sorry to hear about that. I do a lot of photography as well, including shoots that are very expensive to set up. I feel your pain, but in the end... especially when it comes to photos, if losing it forever is not an option, don't ever check it in. You carry it with you always and hold on to it for dear life.
Leaving your priceless negatives in checked-luggage is akin to the story of the wedding photographer that left her camera gear in the trunk of her car and carelessly walked away only to find her car was broken into and camera (with wedding photos) gone forever. Even in today's digital age, if you check stuff in, keep the memory cards with you if the photos are that valuable.
I’m not sure what is going on with those bulleted stats. I can’t imagine Apple has that many people going back and forth daily. I think that bullet more likely refers the business class seats available on that route. United serves that route with a Boeing 787-9 which has 48 business class seats. I think the marketing person just rounded up to 50.
Maybe I’m totally wrong though and they really do have that many people going to Shanghai every day. That seems crazy.
A quick check on a few days later this month shows two nonstops each of the days.... and the 50 seats may not be an average, Apple is possibly buying 50 seats a day no matter the need of actual employees. This happens in large business air travel deals to pay a preferred rate and have the frequency of available flights.
If you are doing 50 J seats a day, every day, it would be cheaper to go with a charter. Not being on United would just be icing on the cake.
I feel sorry for all of those Apple Employees who have to fly United. That would be the absolute LAST airline I'd ever consider flying on. I cannot stand United.
Still carrying a grudge against United for losing a year’s worth of photographic work when moving years ago.
I had attended a photography school in Denver and left town on a United flight and all of my negatives were packed in my luggage. They sent the particular suitcase to Chicago instead of the proper destination and assured me all was fine. Later, when they were supposed to ship it to me they claimed it was destroyed in transit and offered me some pittance in exchange.
During that year I had travelled through Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming and Utah. Almost all of the pictures were lost forever- only a few mounted prints I had made to give to friends and family that were in another case survive. That was 1983 and I am still mad. You can never get that stuff back even if you took the time and revisited every place- time and circumstance changes everything.
Not sure why you’d put something that important in checked luggage.
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Personally, my favorite international airline is Emirates. Second place for me is Qantas. For overseas flights on an American airline, I think Delta is the best. I'm not a fan of Virgin Atlantic. They really don't have a true business class since it's just Upper Class, Premium Economy, and economy. I always get stuck using Virgin Atlantic when I fly to Johannesburg every year. The seats in Upper Class suck. They don't recline at all. It's either upright or all the way flat. Last year on the first leg of my flight from Joburg to LAX, I sat in premium economy to London. Those seats sucked.
That's so true about the food in business class. It's basically just a slightly nicer presentation compared to the food in coach. Most of the time, I won't eat the food on overseas flights. I always fill up at the airport and then snack a little and eat a big meal when I get to my destination.