Millionaire Barbara Corcoran shares the reason she refuses to fly first class
‘Shark Tank’ star says she chooses to fly in coach because she gets ‘the free miles’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Barbara Corcoran may have the means to afford a first class plane ticket, but she chooses to fly in economy instead.
The Shark Tank star recently appeared on the December 10 episode of The Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast, where she discussed why she always chooses the cheaper seat on the plane. “Do you know what a first class ticket costs?” asked the 75-year-old author and entrepreneur.
“Listen, the way I figure it is, a coach ticket is about 25 percent of a first-class ticket. I get the free miles and I can give them away. I have everybody in my family flying on my free miles.”
Corcoran continued: “What’s more important, that everybody gets free vacations or that I’m comfortable in first class? I guess I could afford to do both, but I won’t because I’ll be in coach feeling really smug because I know I have three plane tickets that could take somebody somewhere. It accumulates, you know?”
The businesswoman also makes sure that she shares her multiple homes with her loved ones, and said that she never wants one of her beds to be empty.
“There’s not a single bed in any of my homes that’s ever empty,” Corcoran said. “That is more satisfying than someone saying, ‘Thank you, we had a blast.’ Extended family, they’re family, whatever. ‘We had a blast.’”
She added: “People have a blast in my ski chalet — it’s big, it fits a lot of people. They go to my beach house, I don’t mean to brag... They come to New York City. Where I live, never an empty bed and boy, is that satisfying.”
The millionaire went on to explain that making sure all of her properties are being used is simply a by-product of how much money she has.
“The more money you have, the less you use your homes,” Corcoran told the podcast host. “That’s the truth. You sleep there very few nights, and they go to waste. What a shame.”
Corcoran has previously revealed that among her many properties, she and her husband Bill Higgins have separate bedrooms. While appearing on Today With Hoda & Jenna in March, she considered their sleeping arrangement as her secret to keeping their nearly four decades-long marriage “fun.”
“I’ve had a separate bedroom with Bill for, like, 40 years,” she told co-anchors Jenna Bush Hager and Hoda Kotb. “I have to invite him in, he invites me in. It keeps the sexiness in the whole thing.”
When asked why the two have separate bedrooms, Corcoran said Higgins doesn’t keep his space as clean as she would like. “He’s such a mess. He puts piles of stuff everywhere, and I’m very neat,” she said. “I couldn’t sleep well at night and now I sleep like a baby.”
Corcoran and Higgins met in 1981, before officially getting married eight years later. They share two children, Tom and Kate, who’ve stayed out of the public eye.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments