The trouble with flying Business Class is once you know what lies in front of the curtain that divides the privileged from the cattle, you never want to be on the wrong side of it again. Pleasures such as real cutlery, alcohol with bubbles and large seats which sometimes fully recline – o my! – lie in wait for the lucky. For me, however, this is not even the main attraction – it’s everything that happens before you even board that makes business travel not just a means from getting to A to B but an enjoyable experience in itself.
bmi Diamond Club at London Heathrow
During my mission to visit 40 countries before I’m 30, taking hundreds of flights, I have flown Business Class on only 3 occasions – but they are 3 flights I shall never forget. My first experience was on a Jet Airways flight to Mumbai, India. The jammy bit is that I had won these flights in a competition on twitter (the best 140 characters I ever spent) and upon arriving at the airport discovered that the busy plane meant me and my companion (did I mention I won 2 return flights?) were bumped to Business Class. Through a swift check in and a priority security channel, we soon found ourselves in a Heathrow lounge sipping champagne and composing annoying faceboook updates such as:
“OMG flying Business Class on a free flight to India is AMAZEBALLS!”
On the flight, having gorged in the lounge, I could not fit any of the meals in my belly so opted for a Häagen-Dazs ice cream instead to accompany the film I watched on my larger-than-average in-flight entertainment system. As I popped to the bathroom to change into the sleep suit provided the attendant converted my seat into a flat bed and laid out my pillow and duvet. I slept soundlessly for the remainder of the flight, not even noticing the landing into Mumbai airport. Exiting the building to find our driver in the chaos that is India was a stark and entertaining contrast to our journey to get there. We returned from India in cattle class, 24 hours later than planned as the standby status of our flights played to our disadvantage coming home, and sulked the whole way.
My second and third experiences of Business Class travel were on a recent trip to Basel, Switzerland on assignment for bmi (again slightly jammy but please don’t hate me!) Although the food and service on board were impeccable it was the experience before boarding which impressed me most.
Can I move in?
Artfully arranged snacks
The BMI premium check in desk at London Heathrow Terminal 1 is an exclusive blue cube directly in front of the terminal entrance. The bmi lounge has been open for 2 years but looks like it could have been born yesterday. A cross between a design hotel and the home you wish you had, it’s a trendy and exceptionally comfortable place to wait for your flight. With different zones for different moods, you can get on with work in the study, perch at the self service bar or hang out near the glistening white service of the kitchen. Enticing spots include the high back velvet armchairs in front of the fireplace and the low reclining loungers which overlook the runway. Settling into a couch with a cup of tea and copy of Hello I completely forgot I was preparing to catch a flight.
Leaving the comfort of the lounge to board the plane I felt a sense of sorrow for all the passengers waiting in plastic seats at the gate. Then I realised on my next trip that will no doubt be me and I felt even sadder. For that is the trouble with Business Class, once you’ve had a taste of upgraded travel, going back to economy is bitterly hard!
Have you ever flown Business Class? Do you resent Business Class passengers when you are stuck behind them in Economy?!
Jayne,
How I know the feeling! I traveled Business and First Class from Amsterdam to Tokyo, Bangkok and a couple of times to Dubai and indeed you never forget these trips. The choice of food and wine, the personal attention, it really makes air travel an experience! But then next time you’re in the back again. Maybe it will happen again…some unexpected upgrade?
Haha we can but hope can’t we Emiel
I’ve always flown Economy and won’t have the opportunity to fly Business unless I win a contest or the lottery
It would be fun to check out the lounge and get the special treatment, but I’d only want to do it for a longer flight!
I’m sure you will get lucky one day Heather lol
My SAS flight from Copenhagen to SFO via Chicago (I had an economy seat) was canceled and I had to return First Class on KLM via Amsterdam. There were amenities that i had no idea how to use and i didn’t want to ask for fear of looking like i didn’t belong there. The weirdest thing was having the “purser” call me by name. Economy Plus looks so sad now…
haha I know exactly what you mean, you have to pay attention to the other passengers to see what exactly your seat is capable of!
I haven’t had the chance to fly business class, but I dream of the day where I get a magical upgrade to flying heaven… one day!
soon, one day soon
Great piece Jayne, and so true. It may be sad to say but once you have flown Business or first it is very hard to go back behind the curtain to Economy!
We love the Champagne in a glass, real cutlery, easy check-in, delicious food, personal service, comfy seat, great entertainment… (we could go on and on!).
There certainly is great beauty in the journey, not just the destination when flying business.
*wistful sigh*
I would love to fly in business class. One can dream. I bet it does make such an experience in itself!
Sarah Betty xx
Just you wait and see xx
Welcome to the dark side
Because I have ten trillion miles (only a slight exaggeration), it actually makes sense for us to fly business between Chile and the US/UK. We buy my flight with money (so I get the miles) and my husband’s with miles, and the cost of my ticket is usually only a bit more than the cost of two coach tickets. For that price difference, I think it’s well worth it. We did get a great sale on coach fares last time we went to the US, so we were in the back, and while it was the right choice for the price it wasn’t nearly as nice.
Now you are a clever lady. Me, on the other hand, needs to get to gripss with frequent flier points asap. This sounds like the best way to book travel to me
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