Tyrese and Zelie are flying coach, and according to Tyrese, it was not his idea. The singer and actor shared a photo of himself and his longtime girlfriend, Zelie Timothy, cozied up in economy on a flight to Los Angeles, with the words “Even in coach our love is still FIRST CLASS!!” written across it.
Then he explained how they ended up back there. Tyrese said the two looked up ticket prices, and Zelie shut down first class on the spot. When he asked whether he could still fly up front, she gave him a choice.
“She said you can [go] ahead if you want to and let some other man sit next to this sweet face, and soft voice and try and flirt with me all the way to LA,” he wrote. “Nah nah nah…. We BOTH on coach.”
He closed it out with, “This Leo drives me crazy.”
Tyrese and Zelie went public in early 2021 during NBA All-Star weekend in Atlanta. They briefly split the following year before reconciling, and they’ve kept fans entertained with their back and forth ever since.
Zelie may have had more than one reason to say no to first class. Airline tickets are the most expensive they’ve been in years. Federal price data released in September by the U.S. Travel Association showed airfare was up 23.4% in August compared with a year earlier. In June, the jump hit 26.5%.
The biggest driver is fuel. Oil prices spiked after the U.S. conflict with Iran, and airlines are passing the cost on to travelers. United and American have each said fuel will cost them about $6 billion more this year. Southwest’s average one-way fare climbed to $225.61 in the second quarter, up from $186.65 the year before. Airlines have also cut back on flights and raised checked bag fees, which pushes prices even higher.
So if Tyrese and Zelie are squeezing into coach for a trip to LA, plenty of travelers can relate.
