Pico Iyer on Business Class: ‘A Gated Community in the Air’
Travel Blog • Jim Benning • 06.19.07 | 3:13 PM ET
I’m not sure I agree with Pico Iyer’s argument in today’s Los Angeles Times that exorbitantly priced business class seats reflect “the worst side of globalism, in compact form.” But Iyer does a fine job of exploring the frivolousness and waste involved in paying $10,000 for more leg room and in-flight entertainment options. “You don’t have to be a philanthropist to realize that by enduring slightly more human company for six hours, you could build nine homes in Burundi, each big enough to house 10 people with the money left over,” he writes. “And even if you want to keep the savings for yourself, with $9,000 extra you could take five weeklong, all-inclusive tours to Southeast Asia, for the price of just an afternoon’s greater comfort en route to London.”
Related on World Hum:
* IRS Beats Airlines in Customer Satisfaction Survey
* Are You a Member of the ‘Backpack Lunatic Fringe’?
* Q&A With Pico Iyer: On Travel and Travel Writing
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Jim Benning is the editor and co-founder of World Hum.
