He'd chop the fare in half and spend a few days in Hawaii, of course
Bruce Lee didn't fight force with force. He redirected it.
When an opponent threw a punch, Lee didn't block it head-on. He moved with it, used its momentum, turned the attacker's strength into his weapon. It wasn't magic. It was physics. It was awareness.
It was leverage.
"Be like water," he would say. Adaptable. Flowing where others see walls.
Key Ingredient in Upgrade Intelligence
Making (inevitable) friction your friend, not your foe. When everyone else is pushing back against a problem, complaining, feeling trapped, you're looking for the opening. The redirect. The leverage point hidden inside the pressure.
So what would Bruce Lee do with sky-high transcon fares? He'd work WITH the friction, not against it.
Enter: Transcon Business Class Friction
Here's your friction:
Delta Business Class New York/JFK to Los Angeles is now averaging $5,097 round-trip for nonstops.
That's not a fare. That's a hostage situation.
Like Hercule Poirot stumped for answers in an Agatha Christie novel, you feel boxed in, paralyzed. "Homicide on the Transcon," we call it. The killer fare. The loyalty trap. Links
That’s for just 11 hours in the air.
Take a look if you haven’t already:
Delta Business Class New York/JFK to San Francisco is averaging $5,200 to $5,800 round-trip for nonstops.
Let that sink in. Five thousand dollars. To cross the country.
For context, take a look at the typical fares Delta charges for Business Class nonstops from New York/JFK to:
— London $3,486 / 32% less
— Milan $3,035 / 41% less
— Rio de Janeiro $3,546 / 31% less
— Santiago, Chile $3,410 / 33% less
— Buenos Aires $4,451 / 13% less
— Seoul $6,081 / only 19% more
That’s Business Class to Brazil for $1,551 less (for 19+ hours of flying / 72% more).
Nuts.
What we’re seeing for non-red-eyes or 6 a.m. flights:
American Airlines transcon fares have been in the $3,000-ish range but are now around $2,470, but this might not last long, and is still way up.
JetBlue is fairly steady, averaging around $1,800.
United has been in the $2,120 range .
Fantasy vs. Reality:
Where Most Get Stuck
Here's where Upgrade Intelligence separates the dreamers from the doers.
Fantasy sounds like this:
"I'll chase Delta Diamond status, and the upgrades will come."
"I'll stay loyal to one airline, and they'll reward me."
"I'll wait for fares to drop."
Reality? The upgrade waitlist has 27 people on it. The airline isn't loyal back. And those fares? They've been doing more climbing than dropping this year.
Elite status benefits have become Exhibit A in the fantasy file.
One of the biggest reasons we fail to upgrade travel – or any area of life – is falling for fantasyland. Not reality. Keeping our feet on the ground can feel like a full-time job.
Upgrade Intelligence seeks to plant our feet firmly in what IS. Not what we fantasize. Not what the airline promises. What actually works, right now, today.
And here's what works: When friction spikes in one place, it often creates openings somewhere else.
Upgrade Process Step 3: Options
(We Did the Heavy Lifting)
In the Universal Upgrade Process, Step 3 is all about Options.
Not wishes. Not hopes. Real, tangible, leverageable options that change the game.
When fares spike on popular routes, that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the story. Today’s opportunities aren't advertised. You have to look sideways. Add a city. Change your destination.
Redirect the kick, like Bruce.
Watch:
Normal American Airlines Fare - New York > Los Angeles R/T
American Airlines Fare - New York > Los Angeles > Maui > New York
* $46 LESS *
Add-ons to LAX and SFO we found had similar or lower premium fares on American, Delta, and United: Cabo, Cancun, Honolulu, Kona, Las Vegas, Maui, Monterey, Phoenix, San Diego, and Seattle.
As with all fares FCF publishes, they are subject to change in the blink of an eye. Another reason to remember this.
ALSO KEEP IN MIND: You need to fiddle with dates AND add-on destinations. Toggle them around to discover the best opportunities for you. Pricing fluctuates, with each keypress.
google.com/travel/flights
These aren't theoretical. These are real fares. The Hula Loophole. The Sidestep Hustle. The Stopover Strategy.
You're already packing the suitcase. Already arranging the dog sitter. Already leaving home. Already spending the money. Why let that effort dead-end in Los Angeles when you could redirect it to Maui – and save $46?
That's leverage. That's Upgrade Intelligence. That's working WITH the friction.
BTW: That ticket to Maui goes for $1,500 to $2,000 by itself.
Desires – Who This Is For
In the Universal Upgrade Process, Step 2 – and not always deployed sequentially (e.g. for example, when you discover a new option, your desires often change) – is about what you want. Not what sounds good. Not what's expected. What you want.
This strategy works if you desire:
- To escape high fares because the airline dominates your home market
- More experience wealth without spending more money
- To add a free vacation leg to a business trip you can expense
- Flexibility to add a stop or explore a new city
- Freedom from the elite status charade that doesn't deliver
This doesn't work if you need rigid routing, or if fares are already low. This is about value and leverage, when fares are unfavorable.
How to Find These Fares Fast:
Google Flights Multi-City Search
You don't need to become a fare analyst. You need 10 minutes and Google Flights' multi-city tool. Its visual, fast, and flexible. Change dates. Swap cities. The algorithm does the heavy lifting. You're just redirecting the search – letting the airline's own pricing reveal the opening.
Instead of searching round-trip, click "Multi-city" and add legs. New York–Los Angeles–Maui–New York.
New York–San Francisco–Cancun–New York. Experiment. Play around with dates in one click. The tool instantly shows you the total fare for the three segments.
And whether you just unlocked a free trip for less than the direct route.
You don't have to do all the research yourself. Delegate it:
- Give this special report to your travel companion, admin, or kid
- Share your desires: dates, range of flexibility, origin, class of service, what you actually want
- Book the wild idea. Hawaii on your LA trip sounds crazy? Book it anyway.
- Sit with it for a week. Most premium fares are changeable. If it still feels wrong, change it.
We often wait for permission to have more fun, more adventure, more value. Here it is: Hawaii for free. Cancun for $2,000 less. You don't need permission – you need leverage. You need options.
You need Upgrade Intelligence.
Most premium fares allow changes. Book it. Test it. Live with the idea. Change it if you need to. The airline gave you the friction – and the flexibility to work with it. Use both.
Be Water, My Friend
Bruce Lee's philosophy wasn't about fighting harder. It was about fighting smarter. Seeing what others miss. Using the opponent's momentum.
Airlines already think this way. They flow where there's demand. They charge what the market will bear. They discount where there's space. They leverage their own network against itself.
Now you can too.
The $5,097 Delta fare from New York to Los Angeles? That's friction. The $4,753 New York–Los Angeles–Honolulu fare with a free Hawaii vacation? That's leverage. That's options. That's Upgrade Intelligence working WITH reality, not against it.
You've already done the work – packed, planned, prepared to leave home, and budgeted the money. Don't let that effort sputter out on a one-destination trip when you could redirect it into something twice as valuable for half the cost.
This is the Upgrade Formula at work. Not fighting the system. Not complaining. Not waiting for permission or elite status to save you. Working with the friction. Using its force. Flowing where others see walls.
High premium travel fares aren't going away anytime soon.
"Be water," Bruce Lee would say.
The airlines already are.
Now it's your turn.