While checking in last night for a long flight to a sales conference, I snagged an upgrade to business class. I was thrilled — until I realized that my boss, with whom I’m traveling, didn’t get an upgrade, and would be stuck in coach for the entire flight. Should I still take the upgrade? Or am I making a huge mistake?

The siren song of business class – especially on a long flight — is difficult to resist. Who could possibly say no to that extra legroom, those pre-flight beverages, those fluffy little pillows? But there is one thing that will definitely last longer than all of the charms of a trip in business class combined, and that is your boss’ guaranteed annoyance at being left behind in coach.

This isn’t a reaction specific to bosses, or some kind of power trip thing. When we agree to travel with someone — anyone from our spouse to an old college roommate — we’re signing on to deal with the problems and hassles of travel together, as a united front. In the best of cases, you’ll bond over a bloody mary while waiting out that two-hour flight delay.

The inverse is also true — if we shirk our travel buddy duties, even the people closest to us will become profoundly irritated and hope that we choke on our bag of complimentary pretzels. Leaving anyone to suffer through coach alone, squeezed into a tiny seat while you enjoy a smooth ride in business class, is poor form (that’s why it was a plot line on an episode of Seinfeld, after all). But leaving behind the person who decides whether you get a promotion or a raise is a short-term strategy at the expense of long-term gain.

As much as we’d all like to pretend the workplace runs on pure, level-headed logic, and that a little thing like ditching a person for a nicer seat wouldn’t matter in the long run, the bad feelings that such a move could engender with your boss will last longer than the fluff on the fluffiest pillow. So do some stretches to prepare your knees for the inadequate leg room, grab an extra bag of complimentary pretzels (or three), and resign yourself to pretending your upgrade to business class was just a beautiful dream. Or, if you want double down on your year-end bonus, offer to swap seats with your boss and hope to reap the benefits of your martyrdom.