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Published: 14 September 2026
Can You Build Your Own Business Class for Less?
Short-haul Business Class can make flying considerably more enjoyable. Things like fast-track security, lounge access, extra luggage, priority boarding, more space and complimentary food and drink all improve the journey – but they come at a price.
So we wondered: could we recreate the Business Class experience ourselves for less?
We found a British Airways Club Europe flight from London Gatwick to Malaga for £220 and compared it with Economy fares on seven alternatives: BA itself, EasyJet, Jet2, Ryanair, TUI, Vueling and Wizz Air
We then added the extras required to create our own version of Business Class: checked and cabin luggage, fast-track security, lounge access, priority boarding (where available), an extra-legroom seat, a hot meal, some fizz and a gin & tonic.
The results surprised us. Vueling managed to beat BA Business Class by £33 and Wizz Air by £28 – but Ryanair, Jet2 and TUI actually ended up costing more than the real thing.
Our DIY Business Class package included:
- 🧳 20kg+ checked bag
- 👜 Large cabin bag + personal item
- ⚡ Fast-track security
- 🥂 Airport lounge access
- ✈️ Priority boarding
- 💺 Extra-legroom seat
- 🥂 Glass/bottle of fizz
- 🍽️ Hot meal
- 🍸 Gin & Tonic
The Results
- 🥇 Vueling: £188 – saves £33
- 🥈 Wizz Air: £192 – saves £28
- ✈️ BA Economy: £204 – saves just £17
- 🤔 easyJet: £213 – saves just £8
- ❌ Jet2, Ryanair and TUI: all cost more than BA Club Europe
Only Vueling and Wizz Air produced what most people would regard as a meaningful saving.
Vueling Wins Our DIY Business Class Challenge
Spanish carrier Vueling produced the cheapest DIY Business Class experience at £187.69, saving £32.75 against BA Club Europe.
Wizz Air wasn’t far behind at £192.17, while building your own business class experience on BA Economy cost £203.77 – just £16.67 less than buying Club Europe in the first place.
Most surprisingly, our Ryanair package reached £231.15, making it £10.71 more expensive than BA Business Class. TUI’s price was even more at £276.58. This demonstrates the problem with comparing headline airfares. Ryanair’s £94.99 base fare initially looks less than half the price of BA Club Europe. Once we recreated the luggage, airport and onboard benefits, that advantage disappeared completely.
| Airline / fare | Flight, seat & luggage | Fast Track & Lounge | Food & drink | Total | Saving vs Club Europe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Airways Club Europe Business Class | £220 | £0 | £0 | £220 | — |
| Vueling hack | £127 | £39 | £22 | £188 | £33 |
| Wizz Air hack | £128 | £39 | £25 | £192 | £28 |
| BA Economy hack | £141 | £39 | £24 | £204 | £17 |
| easyJet hack | £152 | £37 | £24 | £213 | £8 |
| Jet2 hack | £162 | £39 | £22 | £222 | -£1 |
| Ryanair hack | £167 | £41 | £23 | £231 | -£11 |
| TUI hack | £212 | £39 | £26 | £277 | -£56 |
Flight costs based on London Gatwick to Malaga (apart from Ryanair which was London Luton to Malaga) on 15 April 2027. Prices taken on 11 September 2026 directly from each airline’s website. Where airlines sell different inclusive luggage/seat options, all were reviewed to calculate the best price. Unless already included in the flight cost, fast track & lounge access was as per holidayextras.com Where prices were in euros, a conversion of 1.16 to the £ was used. Prices shown are rounded to the nearest £.
Our Findings
Bundled fares aren’t necessarily cheapest
On Ryanair, we found it cheaper to buy the Basic fare and add the required luggage and seat separately. Wizz Air was the opposite: its Plus bundle provided the cheapest way of obtaining the bags and seat we needed.
The lesson is not to assume either the cheapest fare plus extras or the most inclusive bundle will automatically provide the best value. Price both options.
Most airlines ask around £32-£35 to check a bag on a flight but we note that BA (£45), Jet2 (£42.50) and Easyjet (£49) all charged significantly more than this.
Neither, BA, TUI or Jet2 charge extra to take a large carry on bag aboard the plane. If paying separately, prices vary considerably from £23 on Ryanair to £31 on Easyjet. Depending on the ticket type, expect to pay either £43, £23 or nothing on Wizz Air. On Vueling, large carry-on luggage was offered free with seat selection.
Extra legroom is important to many people so we picked the cheapest option for each airline out of the front row or the emergency exit row. Prices varied widely here and are difficult to compare as sometimes we were paying outright for a seat whilst other airlines offered standard seats with their ticket and we were paying for an upgrade. £47 on BA did feel pretty steep for an emergency exit row but if you are a Silver or Gold member of the British Airways Club, you can select these seats for free.
Fast Track & Lounge Access is Available to Everyone
When booked in advance, fast track security at Gatwick costs £6, although Ryanair flyers pay slightly more as Luton airport charges £8. The cheapest lounge access was £30.96 at Gatwick North (Easyjet terminal), with Gatwick South and Luton both coming in at £32.68. Lounge prices are the discounted rates that you can find via our Holiday Extras link.
You Cannot Always Get Priority Boarding
Priority boarding on Easyjet, Ryanair, Vueling and Wizz Air is included when paying for larger carry-on bag and is not available to purchase separately. Neither Jet2 or TUI offer priority boarding and British Airways reserves the right to get on the plane first for its status passengers and those in (proper) business class.
Food & Drink
Vueling were the cheapest airline for drinks, charging £6.90 for a bottle of Prosecco and £7.33 for a Gin & Tonic. Hot food selections were pretty limited overall with most airlines offering pasta – Jet2 were the cheapest at £6 – although Vueling will sell you a burger for £7.33. The best hot food that BA can muster in economy is a £6.50 toastie.
Avios & Tier Points
A customer without BA Status, would earn 894 Avios when booking Business Class on British Airways – at 1p per point this is worth £8.94. The best economy hacker trip on BA would earn 621 Avios (including the Avios on the extras) but the Vueling trip will not earn any Avios unless you hold Smart status or above in the Vueling Club. None of the other airlines we researched offer any sort of loyalty points. Read our guide to earning Avios on British Airways here.
Only the BA flights would earn Tier Points in the British Airways Club – our hacker fare only earns 132 of them, compared to 339 Tier Points for a proper Business Class booking.
The Value of Status in the BA Club
If you are a Silver or Gold member of the British Airways Club, you get the following benefits included with your ticket:
- Free Seat selection at the time of booking
- 2 checked bags (max 32kg each) – excluding Basic Economy fares
- Business Class check in
- Fast track Security
- Lounge Access
- Priority Boarding
- Enhanced Avios earning
A BA Silver or Gold member could have created a Business Class experience on an Economy ticket and only paid £118.09 – saving over £100 on the Club Europe fare. Read more about earning BA status here.
But do not underestimate BA Club Europe
Whilst we feel there is a solid set of criteria used to create our business class hacker fares, the reality with BA is that you actually get something much better.
| Benefit | BA Club Europe | DIY Economy |
|---|---|---|
| Fast Track |  |
|
| Lounge | |
|
| Priority boarding | |
Some airlines |
| Blocked middle seat | |
 |
| Checked luggage | 2 × 32kg | 1 × 20kg+ |
| Business check-in/bag drop | |
|
| Meal | Included | Purchased |
| Additional drinks | Included | Purchased separately |
| Avios | Higher | Lower/none |
| BA Tier Points | 339 | 132 on BA, 0 elsewhere |
Our comparison therefore gives the DIY option the benefit of the doubt. We priced enough extras to create a broadly comparable experience, but we haven’t recreated Club Europe completely.
BA Club Europe gives you a mit extra legroom compared to further back on the plane but also a blocked middle seat. You also get two checked bags in your luggage allocation and rather than the standard 20kg limit, you actually receive 32kg per bag.
Whilst all airline on-board food is often criticised, I personally find Club Europe food to be decent and better quality than I would expect from a £7 microwaved pasta. There is usually a choice of courses and additional drinks are provided on request.
Business class check-in/bag-drop can also avoid time spent queuing at the airport and if you are a regular BA traveller, you will appreciate the additional Avios and Tier Points as well.
How Much Would We Need to Save to do the Hack?
| Saving vs Club Europe | Our view |
|---|---|
| £50+ | Very interesting |
| £25–£50 | Genuinely worth considering |
| £10–£25 | Probably Club Europe unless the Economy flight is more convenient |
| Under £10 | Club Europe is the obvious choice |
| DIY costs more | The hack has failed |
On this basis, Vueling and Wizz Air were the only two genuinely successful DIY Business Class options in our test.
Vueling at £187.69 is particularly interesting because you’re getting a near Club Europe experience for 85% of the cost. For a saving of £33, I would I’d accept some compromise in terms of the product on offer.
Our Take
Can you build your own short-haul Business Class experience for less?
Yes – but whether it’s worthwhile depends heavily on what benefits you already have.
For a traveller without airline status, our results weren’t particularly compelling. Vueling was the cheapest DIY Business Class option at £187.69, saving around £33 compared with the £220.44 BA Club Europe fare. Wizz Air saved £28, while BA Economy saved just £17.
After that, the experiment largely fell apart. Our easyJet package saved only £8, while Jet2, Ryanair and TUI actually cost more than BA Club Europe once we’d added luggage, Fast Track, lounge access, an extra-legroom seat, food and drinks.
And even then, we hadn’t completely recreated the Club Europe experience. BA also provides a blocked middle seat, two 32kg checked bags, a more substantial onboard meal and drinks service, and significantly more Tier Points.
However, BA status changes the calculation completely.
A Silver or Gold BA Club member already receives many of the benefits we were paying to recreate, including seat selection, additional checked luggage, Business Class check-in, Fast Track, lounge access and priority boarding.
In our example, a Silver or Gold member could create a near Business Class-style experience on the BA Economy flight for just £118.09 – more than £100 less than Club Europe.
For status holders, that makes Economy potentially very attractive. You’re effectively receiving many of the most valuable ground benefits of Business Class regardless of which cabin you book.
For everyone else, the biggest lesson from our research is not to compare headline airfares.
A £94.99 Ryanair ticket looked dramatically cheaper than £220 Club Europe, yet our Business Class-style Ryanair package eventually cost £231.
You also don’t have to recreate every element of Business Class. If the things you really value are lounge access, Fast Track and an extra-legroom seat, simply buying those benefits could be a much better strategy than our all-or-nothing experiment.
Our conclusion?
If you have BA Silver or Gold status, Economy plus your status benefits can be the ultimate Business Class hack. If you don’t have status and want the full experience, always check the actual Business Class fare before building it yourself – you may be surprised how small the difference is.
Further reading
