First class is a way of life, in the UAE. For the Emirati citizens, certainly, but also for a significant chunk of western expats who eagerly join in to the notion of “only the best”.

Today, one of the business reporters at The National did a piece about flying first class with Emirates, the Dubai-based airline ranked No. 1 in the world for first-class travel — ahead of Singapore, Etihad, Qantas, British Airways and Cathay Pacific.

His conclusion?

It’s like “a mini-room in a five-star hotel at 35,000 feet”.

Some of the amenities:

Limousine pick-up before and after the trip. First-class lounges before and after. Cigar rooms. Anything you can eat.

A seat that converts into a bed. Your own mini-bar and closet, a work station/makeup table, sliding doors to close you off from the world.

Food and beverage available when you want it. Cooked to order. A ratio of two or three flight attendants per customer.

And how much did a Dubai-Zurich-Dubai round trip cost?

About $7,350.

Compared to $4,100 for business class and $950 in coach.

If you fly first class on an Emirates Airbus A380 (the new double-decker), you also have access to spa and shower facilities.

So, can flying first class ever be justified? Around here, sure. The notion that someone can spend too much on themselves is a quaint one. From some other era or some other continent.

It isn’t as if a flight from the UAE to Switzerland is punishingly long. It is about seven hours. Short enough that, if you are spending $7,350, you probably should stay awake the whole way to take full advantage of the amenities. (But that’s probably just a poor person’s view.)

Couldn’t you fight through the indignities of seven hours back in coach and give the $6,000 you didn’t spend on first class … to a charity? Any charity?

I remember, back in the 1980s, I think it was, when cocaine was the recreational drug of choice, despite it being particularly expensive, that the comedian Robin Williams said: “Cocaine is God’s way of saying you’re making too much money.”

Flying first class is another.