Okay, that's not really a simple pleasure for most, because it costs an arm and a leg; but for the wife of an airline pilot, who has the unique privilege of flying non-revenue (free, to put it more simply) on a stand-by basis (and if there happen to be available seats up front: woo hoo!), this is one perk worth taking advantage of.
Even if you've spent your life as a white knuckle flyer.
Really, sitting up in business class makes getting over your totally rational but statistically-unsupported fears (you can read more about my battle to overcome an almost debilitating fear of flying here and here) and tagging along with your man, as he pilots a plane across the Atlantic to European locales you thought you'd only ever see while watching the "Bourne" movies, totally worth it. (TOTES.)
But why am I using so many words, when I can let pictures (taken on a trip home from Barcelona this past February) do the talking for me? 7 Quick Takes, coming right up!
--1--
Ah, a row all to myself, with a fully reclining seat...
This is how I like to roll, people. (Open mouth, insert silver spoon.)
--2--
Lots of leg room...my own personal TV screen...and so many movies and shows to choose from, I don't know what to watch. (A person should have such problems while flying, right?)
--3--
A pre-flight glass of champagne? Yes, please. (My pre-flight nerves can always use a little help whenever they can get it.)
--4--
A glimpse of the captain--MY captain--before take-off...which gives me the secure feeling that everything is going to be fine as I ride in this gigantic tube of metal over the great, big, dark, scary ocean.
--5--
Safely at cruising altitude: let the pampering begin!
For openers, I give you the hors d'oeuvre course: smoked salmon with capers, onion relish, and sour cream. And a little cream of asparagus soup for good measure. ("Wonder what they're having back in coach?" thinks the super annoying lady riding--for free!--up in seat #2D. "I bet it's not this.")
Next up: the mixed green salad course, but I forgot to take a picture of it. So, moving on...
--6--
Now for the main course, described like this in the business class menu: pan-seared chicken breast with citrus salad, mashed potato, and grilled asparagus with roasted garlic.
(Delectable; although I think the gemelli pasta with cheese sauce, radicchio, spinach, and shitake mushrooms, or the grilled beef tenderloin with blue cheese sauce, lyonnaise potatoes, and sauteed haricots verts, would have been fine choices as well. So many menu choices, so little time to eat!)
--7--
For dessert, I chose a simple ice cream sundae, and even turned down the offered additions of whipped cream and nuts--because c'mon, did you see how much food I'd eaten already?
Please don't hate me for this post! I assure you that although my husband has been working for the same airline for 25 years now, it's just in the last two or so (since my youngest son left for college) that I've actually become something I never in a million years thought I would be: a frequent flyer! And on most of my trips, when I'm traveling across this great country of ours to visit with my sons and my granddaughters, I'm sitting all squished up in a sub-par coach seat, just like regular folks (if I'm lucky enough not to get bumped from the flight in the first place)--eating my free Biscoff cookies or Lilliputian-sized bag of pretzels and liking it (not!). That even happened to me on my recent trip to San Juan, which I blogged about yesterday, and I had to buck up and make the best of it.
For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!
I am soooo jealous! That sounds like a wonderful meal (flight). This should show you how often I fly Business Class (never)...I didn't know they served such nice meals. I guess it's good that I didn't know. Ha ha! Until now...you ruined it for me. Just kidding. Great post!
ReplyDeleteIf I did this sort of thing too often, I would gain so much weight! But eating the great food up front takes my mind off the fact that I'm sitting in a chair, 30 feet above the ocean!
DeleteMake that 30 THOUSAND feet! I just noticed what I wrote there!
DeleteI see you published these quick takes quite early :) you must be well rested from your travels. Lucky you, it's fun to be able to travel, especially when the price is right! Enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI know, I posted really early this week. My husband was on his way to London last night, the house was really quiet and lonely, and I couldn't get to sleep! So I blogged. And I finally made it to the top of the link list! :)
DeleteDuh-reeeeeeeeeamy! But I do believe you deserve it after having put up with a traveling husband all those years. I imagine that was hard.
ReplyDeleteIt WAS hard. But it's even harder now that the kids are all out of the house--so that means when he's gone, I've got no one to take care of but myself. It's lonely! So I'm overcoming my fear of international travel in order to be with my husband while he's at work! :)
DeleteNiiiiccccceee! Makes it worth the fear of flying, at least a little!
ReplyDeleteI almost didn't post this, because I thought everyone who read it would think I was a spoiled brat! But all that business class treatment does make the fear of flying worth it (at least every now and then--I still wouldn't want to do it as much as T does!).
DeleteThat ice cream just made me seriously jealous. :)
ReplyDeleteHas M explained to you yet his theory that we all have an "ice cream stomach," and not matter how full our regular stomachs get, we always have room in that second one for ice cream?
DeleteI think he might be onto something there. ;)
Oooh, that is the kind of fancy I have never known! Looks like a fantastic way to travel. :)
ReplyDeleteWow, no wonder my inlaws always fly first class...
ReplyDeleteErica and Jamie Jo, you can tell just how in awe I am of the whole experience, too...just by the fact that I take pictures of all the food! (I've gone on five trips with my husband in the last two years, and every time, I keep a copy of the menu and take pictures of the food!) I'm always amazed by the meals they can put on while we're flying way up high in the sky!
ReplyDeleteWe upgraded to business class for our honeymoon and it was amaaaaaazing - they gave us this amazing cinnamon crumble dessert that I STILL think about almost 5 years later!
ReplyDelete