I enjoy flying business and first class flights, though I also don’t mind flying economy in certain situations, especially to save or stretch my miles, points or cash. I have flown first class on an Emirates A380, first class on JAL, and most recently a series of business class flights around the world
Lateral Thinking Podcast / Video
So I was browsing Youtube the other day when I was recommended a video called the Lateral Thinking Podcast. I am familiar with “lateral thinking” puzzles and have done them many times on county counting roadtrips with buddies. So I’m familiar with little people riding elevators, goldfish deaths and people’s inability to eat abalone (IYKYK). But I had not heard of the premise of this particular podcast / video, where the host gives a particular unusual scenario and then the guests have to ask questions to determine what is going on with the original premise.
I was also intrigued because the guests on this particular episode were the people from Jetlag The Game – you may remember that I have mentioned these guys before when they were doing a 72 Hour Game of Tag Across Europe.
The Question
So the question that was asked was:
“In 2015, Peter Shankman bought a $5,000 return (roundtrip) flight from New Jersey to Tokyo. Soon after the 14 hour flight landed, he got back on the same plane and went straight home, much relieved. He only took his laptop and phone on the trip. Why?”
If you don’t want to get spoiled on the answer, you should probably watch the video before reading the next section, as I will giveaway the answer.
The Answer (AKA the dumbest reason to buy a business class flight)
WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD
I was glad to hear that one of the very first questions that was asked was wondering if this was mileage related – some sort of mileage run either to get or extend airline status. That was not the case.
They asked a variety of interesting and uninteresting questions, before stumbling across the correct answer, which was that he bought the roundtrip ticket solely for the purpose of finishing his manuscript before the deadline. I guess he felt that this would help with a lack of distractions and connectivity (though there is Internet on many planes now, perhaps that was not the case in 2015 when this happened).
I know that I have sometimes been able to get writing done in a no-connectivity zone of an airplane, though that’s also balanced out by the fact that it makes it hard to upload pictures for my posts or link to previous articles, so there’s a tradeoff.
I don’t know maybe this isn’t the absolute DUMBEST reason ever to buy a business class flight, but it’s gotta be up there!
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
Hi Dan. I’ve always been a fan of your blog, but come on, what kind of post is this? It’s not even funny. This has to be your dumbest post of all. You usually post interesting or helpful information, not pointless info like this. Who cares what this guy did with his money?
Thanks for the kind words and I’m sorry this post didn’t work for you. I thought it was a interesting video when I watched it and thought others might enjoy it.
If it was 2015 from NJ then the flight was almost certainly a United 777-200. United Wi-Fi is about the same as no connectivity.
Hi there, Dan. Just an FYI, the book I wrote on the plane wound up being a multinational best seller. Why don’t you do what works for you, and I’ll keep doing what clearly works for me. Cool?
Have a great day!
LOL – congratulations and best of luck to you too 🙂