I put on a sweater that I haven’t worn since last Friday and found a Milky Way in the pocket 
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I started getting sick on Monday, felt miserable Tuesday and Wednesday, started feeling less miserable Thursday, and now as we approach the weekend I’m almost back to normal!
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Well, normal for you.
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Yes, yes, I’ll never be normal by any meaningful standards, thanks for rubbing it in!
I like Dave.
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I had a similar one. My kid has a bunch of M&M fans. I was picking one up when it felt a little heavy to me. It still had the bag of M&Ms in the handle of the fan.
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And what the kid doesn’t know won’t hurt him
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He doesn’t care. He has oral aversion.
Took my wife and little one on the Eurostar going from London to Brussels.
Since it was the little ones first time taking an international train, I decided to splurge a bit and book Premier (their version of Business Class).
Wonderful experience and so convenient.
Its so much easier to travel via train vs airport (which is always a battle and so much work these days) with a small child.
My wife wants to do it again next time (for Amsterdam trip) vs flight.
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We may do a day trip from London to Paris on the Eurostar during our August visit. Did you conclude the premium for Business Class was worth it?
I spoiled myself with a Business Class ticket on the Eurostar a good 25 years ago. Of course, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Obligatory Simpsons gif:
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I have gotten to that age (75 in June) where I feel I have earned the right to spoil myself. Travel is the one activity where I have started to splurge more than when I was younger. The clock is ticking so if you don’t splurge now you may not have another opportunity.
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75 in Oct 2024 for me. Spending more on travel than pre-COVID, but still feel economy airfare is best choice for me. (Did that to Seychelles last fall. Long flight, but manageable. two round trips to Caribbean plus one to Iceland in 2025. All significantly shorter than Seychelles. Plus some trips for SOA volunteer work where SOA covers basic economy and I choose not to pay to upgrade)
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I travelled business class on long flights throughout my working years so it was hard to regress to economy after my frequent flyer miles were exhausted. On overnight flights from Vancouver to London we now fly Premium Economy but just Economy on the return daytime flight.
I traveled business class on US to Latin America several times during business career. AIR, rules had tightened by the end (after my last Latin American trip) so last trip was Phila-Ireland in coach). Business class very nice, but not on my dime, IMO.
Interestingly, after I was retired my wife wanted to get a new Volvo. It was cheaper to buy it in Sweden on a special Volvo program that included free business class airfare, than to buy it is the US. (It was a model not routinely available in the US, but it could be special ordered in the US. Or maybe it was just the specific combination of features not routinely available in the US). Probably the only time she has flown business class
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Perhaps I should add: I’m 5’7, making coach seating ok. My wife is 6’1, so coach is less comfortable. The next step, but we’re not there yet, would be business class or main cabin extra for just her. Yes, better together than with a stranger, but flight time is a very small part of total vacation time.
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I frequently but not always get 1st class or business class on UK/Europe trains. It doesn’t cost an arm and a leg and it’s nice to go three seats across rather than four, and usually the food is better vs not as good or nonexistent. I have a trip coming up in late April and I’m waiting for the train tickets to become available, usually I can only book them only about three months in advance.
My vacations are pretty intense, I pack in a lot of stuff. I will have 3+ significant train rides (Budapest to Vienna to Prague to Berlin) and will likely pay to be comfy. Let’s see what it would cost to leave the morning of Feb 1:
BUD => VIE 8:00am, 2h34m, $26 cheapest, $45 business. $19 more.
VIE => PRA 7:10am, 4h5m, $30 cheapest, $68 business. $38 more.
PRA => BER 8:28am, 4h15m, $21 cheapest, $39 first. $18 more.
Two of the trains have significantly higher costs for flexible tickets but I don’t want that.
I picked out a London to Paris Eurostar train and it was $183 for standard, $225 for plus, and $424 for premier. Now we’re talking real money. I probably wouldn’t shell out for premier here as I’m not the kind to require a lounge or meal service. I would have already bought a meal at the train station and have a pop. I always bring a large bag of almonds for the entire trip as well.
I thought you were all baller actuaries, now I’m not so sure. But it sounds like we are talking train and airfare. I have miles and go economy in a plane, I did business class with my dad from Atlanta to Paris once and the meal and space was nice but not worth it for just eight hours IMO. Give me noise canceling headphones and some movies and caffeine and I’ll be fine (sleep unlikely in either class, I’m going to Europe how can I not be WIRED).
Whoops time to book some TRAINS!!!
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Will depend on whether you are using the trip for:
- Light dinner (great service in business)
- Get into downtown faster (vs airport)
We left friday evening (after work) so we got the train at 19:30 from London. Easier for us to dine on the train as we got into Brussels quite late (22:30). They also have their own queue at St Pancreas plus Lounge (made it a breeze to go through security).
The additional benefit of the train (Eurostar to Paris and Brussels) is that it leaves you dowtown vs an airport (that is usually far away so you have to commute). Since we were arriving late this was a concern.
These two things made choosing Premier for this trip cost effective for us. If we had been travelling earlier in the day and had no need for dinner, we probably would have chosen a cheaper Eurostar option.
Agree, as I have zero Beefaroni coupons, and I believe I should be eating zero Beefaroni in the remainder of my lifetime.
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