A good flight back???
Yes…it has finally happened. All the pain and agony of being crammed into an economy seat (I like to call it “cargo” myself….) for 11 to 13 hours either sitting next to someone unpleasant or with a fleet of screaming babies has finally paid off.
No…I did not get to sit next to a lonely single hot model with a heart of gold that has a deep interest in international business and business software that also happens to be independently wealthy and has a thing for Asians….*sigh*….however, I FINALLY got upgraded to Business Class. WOOOO.
I was kinda bummed out at first since the seat I had was an aisle seat but in the row against the window which meant the two people next to me would be forced to go over me if they want to get out. But at the same time, I was glad to at least have an aisle seat.
We went to Narita Airport with mom and dad and realized that the Continental counter didn’t open for another 45 minutes or so. So my sister and I got in line for Elite Access (thank god since the normal line was already getting pretty long but we were the first in line for Elite) while mom and dad went walking around the shops and such. Got through ticketing and we had a nice lunch and did some last minute shopping and eventually said our goodbyes to mom and dad and went through security.
All throughout the time we were having lunch and waiting in line at the ticket counter and such, we kept hearing on the speakers a message saying that the airport is very crowded so we should quickly move to security and immigration. I was expecting the worst as there has been times where I was in line at immigration for an hour. But when my sister and I got there it was empty….we breezed through security and immigration like we were two of only maybe 10 people in the airport or something.
So we killed some time looking through the duty free shops and such and made our way to the gate. Found a seat, I logged on to the wireless network to do my last post from Japan, and was just hanging out. Then…as luck would have it…of course I’m in the bathroom…both my name and my sister’s name is called to come up to the counter. I rushed out of the bathroom (I will spare you the intimate details…) and my sister and I headed up to the counter and lo and behold, the lady gave us business class tickets! Woooo! Free upgrade :)
The flight was full but I guess there were openings in business class (this was a 777 so there is only economy and business) and with my platinum elite status AND the fact that my sister’s ticket also had my number on it since I bought it for her so she also had platinum elite, we both got upgraded. It was a nice surprise!
Business class is only 2 seats per row so my sister and I had the middle row to ourselves. It’s such a big difference from economy. I mean…it’s almost absurd. The chairs are fully electronic and can even stretch out to an almost full recline. You have control over the chair back, the lumbar support, the leg support and can even adjust the length of the leg support. You have your own over the shoulder reading light and a flip up screen for the inflight entertainment with twice the number of channels that everyone else has. Oh, and of course it’s roomy and you get your own slippers and a big fluffy pillow and a nice blanket AND even a complimentary toiletry bag.
Oh, and of course the drinks are unlimited, alcohol and otherwise. The drinks come in actual glasses. And the meals are multi course. You actually get a menu and you have multiple selections. Both my sister and I went with the steak. And it was really good! Appetizers came first (sushi and lobster), then a nice salad, then the main dish with warm dinner rolls, and then a cheese and fruit dish (I also had a nice glass of port with it), and finally a dessert tray where you can either have a cherry cobbler or an icecream sundea where you can choose your own topping. Hard to believe this is airline food!
I have to admit, it made the 11 hour flight bareable. I will admit…my ass did start to get sore after a while….but not as bad as in economy and the fact that I could stretch out like that was fantastic. Is it worth the $5000 price if you buy the ticket itself? Hmmm….not sure. But regardless, it was a nice change. It also helped that we both got first class on the flight back from Houston to Cleveland too (^_^)
*sigh*…gonna be hard going back to economy when I go back to Japan in February…..