Spending on a different order of magnitude
It is probably fair to say that everyone on Hive is aware that there are people from a variety of different financial positions. Traditionally that has been described as lower, middle and upper class. Different distinctions have been used more recently but I can live with the old definitions for this article.
Just a few days ago I was on a long haul flight from Vancouver to Manila. At roughly 15 hours long it gives a person a lot of time to think about how crowded the economy seats are and how nice it would be to have more legroom. When I arrived in Manila I would have had an opportunity to book into a very nice hotel room if I wasn't overburdened with my parents luggage (long story which I recently wrote about in a different post). However, the quick version is that I could have had the option to choose either basic accommodation or a luxury hotel and have it paid for. Still even in the luxury hotel there are different levels. Really nice and luxury.
There were even different options when it came to finding an alternative transit option to my final destination when the airline shut down flights because of a typhoon. I could take a basic bus. Cheap but not great. I could take a First class bus which would have been superior. Or I could have hired a private vehicle to get me there faster and with a whole lot less waiting....If I was willing to fork over a lot of money.
I ended up on another 12 hour bus ride which again gave me plenty of time to think about how items are often priced differently for low, middle, and high class people.
Here are my musings.
A look at Airfare, Hotels, Transit and Cars
Now I'm sure that I could find analogies from many other items but since I'm travelling these are the ones that came to mind.
Airfare
Looking at airfare is kind of fun. The basic flight from Manila to Vancouver one way?
- Economy : P 61,048
- Business : P 385,920
First Class : P 1,381,425
Now this isn't a truly fair comparison because the "First Class" option isn't actually available for the whole trip so its a mix of business and first class. Still, the idea sticks out.
Business Class is 5x more expensive than Economy
First Class is 5x more expensive than Business
What about hotel rooms?
Well, lets look at hotel rooms in Manila. Now I've stayed at hotel rooms ranging from the cheapest you can get to some of the nicest in town! What's the cheapest hotel I've stayed in? Well, a place called "The Mansion" in Manila at P320/night. It had issues.
However, the Red Doorz was a much more acceptable hotel. It is the "Economy" of hotels and priced at a fairly modest P 1,200 per night.
But how about a "business class" hotel? Well, I've stayed in one of those also. In Manila that would be the Manila Marriot Hotel
Now how about a "First Class" hotel? Well, how about we head over to the Sheraton Manila Bay. Now I was quite taken by this suite. It felt very luxurious indeed so of course I had to take pictures. The bathroom--again image taken by me Now, I will admit that this wasn't the best suite in the place but it was close enough for me. Still, if you are curious how much the best suite costs per night? Looking at those numbers a little closer: Business class hotel room is 10x the price of a basic hotel room First class hotel room is 6x business class and 60x as much as a basic room! Now for brevity I won't add images and details for this but I will give the numbers. I had to get from Manila to Tuguegarao. Air was not possible because of a storm grounding planes. I had three options: Of perhaps you want to buy a vehicle. With things being an order or magnitude more expensive when going from step to step it feels as if the marketing is done to keep the low class at the bottom tier. The middle class in the middle tier (unless they want to save money). The first class? Well, that's only for those who are upper class and have money to burn. But lets take a look at the salary range of Filipino from worldsalaries.com in 2024. With wages like that "First Class" amenities are out of the range of even the highest wage earners. I mean if you make $2.4M PHP annually would you really wnt to spend half a years salary on one first class flight? For an "average" salary earner would you really want to spend two months wages for a single night in a hotel? That would be crazy. What a sneaky way to make sure that only the richest of the rich.... or people with a major corporation backing them.... can get into exclusive hotels, exclusive areas on airplanes, drive exclusive vehicles and so on. I also have a sneaky suspicion that companies dangle their "best product" as an incentive for brand loyalty. Indeed, that's how I got into a really nice suite with Sheraton (and do so fairly regularly) and also how I expect to fly First Class a time or two in the future. Loyalty points are certainly a thing. Just look at the "Prince of Travel" website about how to get First Class tickets! Or look at the Bonvoy program on how to snag "First Class" hotel rooms. For those people who are loyal with their hotel stays, or credit card spends, or flying the same airline all the time....well, those are the best customers for the company. If you lure them with "exclusive rewards" or a "true luxury experience" it makes a nice incentive to stay loyal. Then once they have tasted the luxury, well, then they stay loyal because luxury is very nice. Now while that does mean that a "lower class" can sometimes mingle with the "upper class" the corporations are pretty smart. Only the most loyal people get bumped up. The most loyal people typically know the rules and know how to "behave". Which is important so that the truly rich people don't get upset by hanging out with "lower class" people. Of course, it could just be corporations trying to offer a premium product at an ultra premium price in order to gouge the ultra rich! I won't put anything past corporate greed. I also won't put anything past a rich person's desire for luxury. Still, when I'm sitting in economy class on an airplane dreaming of the nice sleeping chairs. When I'm sitting on a bus dreaming of having a chauffeur. When I'm sleeping in a basic hotel room dreaming of the nice jacuzzi tub. Well, its hard not to be a little envious of those who are rich and the comfort they get. Or perhaps something that helps me when I see the rich live a life of luxury. Rich or poor everyone on the flight gets to their destination at the same time. And if the plane crashes everyone is just as dead. Just remember...its the people you are meeting at your destination that makes all the difference! If you are economy class and meet awesome people you are considerably more rich than someone who flew first class and gets to spend an evening along in a hotel room. It is not the hotel room, its the company you share it with. I'd much rather be in a cheap hotel room with good company than an expensive one by myself. Spoken from experience. Also at the end of the day its all about the nights sleep. The nicest room available won't help you sleep if you have business or other worries. A person who worked hard all day and earned his rest will probably enjoy it more...even if they are sleeping in a cheap bed. And for fast cars? Cheap of expensive they typically get you there at the same speed. That's the speed of the person you are stuck behind for the whole trip. If you ever get the chance to enjoy luxury. Go for it, it can be quite nice, especially if shared with someone. But don't envy those who have it as all their money can't buy them love or contentment. Just my thoughts after way too many hours sitting in economy on the plane and a pretty rough bus. Feel free to leave a comment and feel free to disagree. Or give me a second opinion. Thanks for reading. Also a side note for @sej you mentioned you enjoy luxurious things, I'd love to get your thoughts.
From Marriott Booking site
It was indeed a very nice hotel but the price was certainly business class at P 12,250 for a single night.
The living room
The bedroom -- image taken by me
Transit
Vehicles
Source: https://worldsalaries.com/average-salary-in-philippines/
But I'll let you in on a little secret....
Take home message