We've all felt that pang of jealousy when boarding a plane, watching those lucky few turn left into first and business class, while we're doomed to the crowded confines of economy.

But what if it's your husband that's heading off to a seat with extra legroom, a delicious meal with proper cutlery and unlimited top-ups to his wine glass — leaving you in cattle class?

One can imagine it would test any marriage to breaking point. But, astonishingly, an increasing number of men are insisting on taking a business class seat — whether they've been awarded an upgrade by their employer or have forked out for it themselves — with little thought for their wives sitting behind them on the plane.

Tina Kumar, 30, who lives in Wimbledon, is one such neglected economy class wife. Her husband, Arrun, 38, who runs his own natural stone business in Croydon, South London, regularly travels in business class while she languishes in the cheap seats — a decision she has come to accept because, she says, her husband is 'the definition of a walking, talking workaholic'.

Tina Kumar, 30, (right) who lives in Wimbledon, is one such neglected economy class wife. Her husband, Arrun, 38, (left) regularly travels in business class while she languishes in the cheap seats

Apparently, he needs his posh plane ticket to allow him to work on board, as well as to sleep properly in preparation for his many international business meetings. For whenever Arrun travels long distance for business, the couple travel together, tagging on a holiday at the end.

'I'll often accompany Arrun on flights to longhaul destinations such as India and Brazil because we'll have a holiday afterwards,' says Tina. 'But I'm always on my own in economy.'

Tina, who designs kitchens and bathrooms made from natural stone and works on the retail side of Arrun's business, admits her husband's flying habits have attracted attention from their friends. 'Whenever I recount a funny incident on one of the flights I've taken with Arrun, he'll often attempt to interject — but everyone cuts him off saying: 'How would you know? You're in business while Tina is stuck in economy!' He gets a lot of ribbing for it.

'And the first question people ask is always the same: 'Has your husband ever offered to change seats with you?' Hand on heart, he hasn't ever suggested it.

'It really used to bother me — did he think his comfort was more important than mine? What did it say about how much he respected me? I've got used to it, though.'

Tina, who met Arrun in 2009 while visiting a stone quarry in Verona, Italy, doesn't believe her husband's actions are down to stinginess.

'He's not tight with money. But when there's a choice between a £3,500 ticket for business compared with £600 for an economy ticket for me to join him, it's difficult to justify it. Do I need the extra legroom? No — I'm only 5ft 3in.'

Arrun, meanwhile, justifies his astronomically expensive ticket to his wife by saying he's travelling in such luxury only because 'his business can afford it. His attitude is: 'Why shouldn't I travel like this?', says Tina.

So, why doesn't she kick up more of a fuss?

'While I've loved the rare times I've flown with him, it's difficult to justify it financially. After all, it's his company, his profits. That's why we end up buying me an economy ticket. Sometimes I get upgraded. Usually I don't.'

Once onboard, the couple, who married in 2011, don't see each other. 'We won't go to each other's respective sections on the flight,' says Tina. 'In the early days I did, but it got too awkward. I'd get stopped by cabin crew demanding to know where I was going.

'The only time we've ever flown together in economy was on a flight to Egypt. It should have been a five-hour journey, but it was delayed and ended up taking eight hours.

'It just didn't work. I wanted to chat, while Arrun was totally preoccupied with his work. He had to ask me to be quiet. It felt very awkward.'

And the division between them doesn't end there, as Tina admits, in what for many wives would be the final straw. 'Even when we get off the plane we're like strangers to each another. Arrun will have a chauffeur waiting for him. The car whisks him straight to meetings.

Sarah-Jane Killick (right) admits that, despite his professional success and homes dotted across the globe, her other half 'can be the tightest man on Earth'. Little wonder, then, that she has frequently found herself stuck in economy, while Philip (left) has been sequestered in luxury

'I have to find myself a taxi. At least he does text me to check I'm en route to our hotel.'

Arrun is unashamed about his love for business class travel without his wife.

'I love travelling this way. I dine well and always get a good night's sleep,' he says.

'No, I don't mind that we travel in different classes — though Tina has used my Air miles on a couple of occasions to upgrade. Generally, though, I prefer to keep them to bring down the costs of my hotels.'

Seemingly unaware of how much he may infuriate his wife, he says: 'In my opinion, everyone should travel this way. Why doesn't Tina? Well, it's just not something she's particularly concerned about. But I think first-class is really rather wonderful — the only way to fly.'

As for ever-patient Tina, even she sometimes gets lonely in economy.

'When we go to romantic destinations such as Italy or Sri Lanka, the plane is always full of couples. I do observe them rather wistfully.

'The husband will help his wife with placing her bag in the overhead locker. He'll make sure she is comfortable, too. I do miss that. It's moments like that when I think I'd love for us to be together.'

In well-to-do circles, it's long been the case that the nanny and children are relegated to economy, while Mummy and Daddy fly in business. But today, some brave husbands send their wives and children to cattle while they enjoy the benefits of travelling like a toff.

Michelle Sedgemore, 49, endures this fate when her husband, John, who works in IT, leaves her to look after their two children, Alexander, 13, and Saskia, nine, while he swans off to business class.

John claims that his height — he's 6ft 5in — and the fact he hates sitting in close proximity to others make it impossible for him to travel economy.

And as much as Michelle, a housewife who lives in Sunningdale, Berks, would love to experience the joys of business class, she actually prefers to have her husband travelling separately to her and their children.

'John finds economy unbearable,' she says. 'He doesn't like the chatter, hates that too many people are in close proximity and can't bear being crammed into his seat.

Michelle Sedgemore, 49, endures this fate when her husband, John, who works in IT, leaves her to look after their two children, Alexander, 13, and Saskia, nine, while he swans off to business class

'I discovered this when we went on our honeymoon to the Maldives in 2001 — our first long-haul journey together since we began dating two years before.

'But the 12-hour flight was a disaster. John didn't stop moaning and grumbling. I had to have a few glasses of wine to try to drown out his whingeing.

'Eventually, the cabin crew found us two other seats with more legroom. But it was too late for me — I refused to move with him. I'd had enough of his dramatics and didn't want to spoil the remainder of my flight.

'After he left, the stewardess promptly delivered me a toppedup glass of wine. I needed it.

'Thankfully, when we got to the Maldives we had a fabulous time, but it was a hard lesson.' Then , when the couple went on holiday to Barbados in 2004, they decided to make flying together a thing of the past.

'Our son Alexander had arrived a year earlier,' says Michelle. 'I'd decided not to take him with us, leaving him with my mum, as I was worried he was too small to cope with a long-haul flight.

'But what about John? In some ways, he was just as ill equipped to fly for such a long time.

'So I bit my tongue — and booked him a business class seat, leaving myself in economy. Sadly, we couldn't afford two posh seats, as much as I would have loved it. But I just couldn't bear his moaning.

'We left home as a couple, checked in our luggage together and went hand-in-hand to departures.

Then, when we boarded the plane, we parted, saying: 'I'll see you when we get there.'

'We had a lovely fortnight together in Barbados. John was especially attentive — perhaps he was a little guilty.'

John though, insists, he's not niggled by his conscience while he's stretched out in a super-comfy seat, with hot and cold running aperitifs.

'Do I feel guilty? Not at all!' he says. And ever since, for the family's annual holiday, John has travelled in business class while Michelle and the two children have been in economy — something many of their fellow travellers find surprising.

'Whenever people ask me where my husband is and I tell them he's in business class, there is the inevitable shocked silence.

'We don't visit each other on board. I can't bear the disapproval of the air hostesses — or 'wagon dragons' as I call them — when you pass from economy into business.

'We go to Barbados or Portugal every year. And each time, John is in business class with a ticket that has a four-figure price tag, while I sit with the children.

'Some mums would see that as the final straw — he's sipping drinks up front while I'm minding the kids! I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been irritated at times. After all, like all children, they're excitable when we travel.

'But, thankfully, I know how to manage them. And they don't seem to notice or mind that their father doesn't sit with us. I suspect they've got used to it after all these years.

'Anyway, I'm more interested in getting to the destination. For me, that's when the holiday starts.'

As for John, he admits he's got the better deal: 'Yes, I get treated very well in business class. And if, one day, we can afford it then I'd love for the whole family to join me there.'

Money plays a big part in the travelling arrangements of Sarah-Jane Killick, 51, a student who lives in Faversham, Kent, and her partner, Philip, 68, who works in shipping.

Sarah-Jane admits that, despite his professional success and homes dotted across the globe, her other half 'can be the tightest man on Earth'.

Little wonder, then, that she has frequently found herself stuck in economy, while Philip has been sequestered in luxury.

'Once, he tried to cheer me up when we were flying to his home in Switzerland.

He was in business, courtesy of a ticket from his employers, and sent an air hostess to economy with a gift for me.

'It was a bit alarming at first –— she handed me a sick bag! But inside was a small bottle of fizz and chocolates.

It was a nice thought. But a business class ticket would have been better.'

The pair met on a blind date in 1999 when Sarah-Jane's hairdresser fixed them up. 'She was fed up of hearing stories of me dating much younger, and to her mind, inappropriate men.

Philip sweetly came into the shop I was running at the time and asked me on a date,' says Sarah-Jane. But the course of true love soon hit some turbulence, as Sarah-

Jane confesses. 'I split up with Philip a week after we'd started seeing each other. I was overwhelmed. 'Philip had three children from his first marriage, as well as properties all over the world — homes in Brazil, Switzerland, flats in London, a farmhouse in Kent.

'I was single and living in a tiny flat in Canterbury without children. I'd built up my successful business running an upmarket clothing agency. Did I want all of this? I wasn't so sure.

An increasing number of men are insisting on taking a business class seat — whether they've been awarded an upgrade by their employer or have forked out for it themselves — with little thought for their wives sitting behind them on the plane

'We did get back together, though, and within six months of meeting Philip I was on a plane to Brazil with him. It sounds all very glamorous, doesn't it? Not from economy class it wasn't.

'For the next ten years, two weeks of every four was spent flying here, there and everywhere, supporting Philip in Brazil or whichever country he was visiting. He was in business or first. Meanwhile, I was bought a cattle- class ticket.

'Sometimes I could upgrade it, other times I couldn't. Most of the time I would just hope that, because

Philip was so well known [because of his constant travelling], the staff would upgrade me.

'He was revamping an ocean-going vessel in Rio at the time, so many of our flights were to Brazil.

'Then, in 2007, I eventually sold my studio flat in Kent and bought a five bedroom house outside Rio in the mountains. It was cheap — and somewhere I could call home while we were out there.'

Then Sarah-Jane became pregnant and their son Bertie arrived in 2008. It was only with a baby that she found herself permitted to buy a posh ticket of her own for their travels.

'Despite Philip's instinctive frugality, he eventually caved in. He would allow me to buy an upgrade because I was travelling with his baby. But, to make up for the cost, he wouldn't buy one for himself.

'Thankfully, Bertie was as good as gold on the plane — despite the sniffy looks of the passengers.

'It's quite something to realise your son's first long-haul flights were all in first class.'

All too soon, however, Sarah-Jane and Bertie were relegated to economy, while Philip persists in travelling like a lord, something he admits is a 'great pleasure'. As for his family?

'Sitting separately from Sarah and Bertie is not a major problem. My main aim on an intercontinental flight is to get as much sleep as possible, so maybe I am not the best company anyway.'