Have You Flown First Class?

[Jack_Dawson]

I hadn't until a couple years ago. Once I "knew better", that was pretty much the end of me. 6'3" 225 lbs. doesn't really fit in coach, although I'm usually relegated to flying back with the cattle. However on those rare opportunities I can upgrade or my travel agent screws up...ahhhhhhhhhh.

[democracyindanger]

1. Yes, and on an international flight, it's hard to imagine anything else.

[Jack_Dawson]

LOL - Lucky Bastard

Try flying to Australia in COACH. 18 hours leave Monday get there Wednesday helllloooooo?

[democracyindanger]

7. Oof

It should be noted that the only reason I got to fly first class is because of company policy at the time. I have, however, flown coach from the States to Japan and Europe, and Europe to India, so I've done my time in steerage.

[Jack_Dawson]

11. So...you're an executive?

Nicely done.

[democracyindanger]

19. No, just a lucky SOB

Tip: Wear flip-flops for your flight. 1) Easier time through security, 2) Your feet are going to swell on a flight that long.

[Allenberg]

31. That's good advice.

I crossed the Pacific about seven times in coach, no less, and I wore sandals every time. My ankles usually looked like baseballs in Tokyo/Seattle.

[XemaSab]

40. that's some funny shit

in your sig there...

[flamingyouth]

2. I'm only 5'7" and feel cramped in coach.

[DemBones DemBones]

26. I'm only 5/4" and I feel cramped in coach.

You're packed in like a sardine in a can. British Airways is the best airline I've flown and their coach seats were much better than any other airline, IMO. Flying to the UK on British Airways was actually nice; all my trips to Europe have been more of an endurance test than a travel experience.

[flamingyouth]

29. I love British Airways

Sadly, they don't fly to Houston from Seattle (my most frequent travel route of late). :D

[Jack_Dawson]

50. Houston's very comfortable this time of year

n/t

[Fenris]

3. Once

I'm 6'1/200 lbs. It was nice.

[TrueAmerican]

4. Once

It was on America West. Nothing to write home about.

[Jack_Dawson]

5. America West rocks

Just kidding, but I did enjoy their "Would you enjoy a pre-flight cocktail?" Uhhh yes.

[Scout1071]

6. Yes. Love it. I wish I could do it more often.

Sometimes I am able to sweet talk an airline agent and get the upgrade. It really does make the whole flying experience exponentially better.

[Jack_Dawson]

8. Amen to that

[Piltdown13]

9. Once

Travel agent screwed up my seat assignment -- I requested an aisle, she stuck me in the middle -- and I managed to talk the gate agent into bumping me up to first class...I think it helped that I didn't actually ask for the upgrade, just politely explained about my being a little claustrophobic and how it would really be great if I could somehow get out of that middle seat. (I *do* have a slight claustrophobia problem, but probably would have been fine regardless.)

[Jack_Dawson]

12. Same problem

Inside seat in a booth = panic.

[Piltdown13]

22. Yep

For me, it's more about having strangers on either side of me -- I never request a window, but sitting by a window doesn't make me nervous the whole flight like being in the middle does. I guess I'm fairly lucky, though; the only time I ever really freaked out was in one of those one-person elevators they sometimes retrofit old buildings with -- I was in there with my bags, and the thing suddenly stopped between floors and the light went out! NOT good.

[wtmusic]

10. 6'-3" also

and on one cross-country flight a flight attendant looked familiar--turns out she was my brother-in-law's girlfriend. Voila! Instant upgrade!

(Didja hear--American pulled out their 3 extra inches of legroom in coach--ARGHHH!)

[Jack_Dawson]

16. American pulled it?

I didn't hear that. Strange...THOSE commercials eluded me. I think it's hilarious that Southwest is the only airline making money. No ticket is ever more than $299 and no first class. No wonder I never have any room on that fucking airline.

[alphafemale]

13. Well...in a case where weather had cancelled an original flight...

Our family got put on four remaining seats in another flight, and two of them were First Class.

[Misunderestimator]

14. Yes, but only as a standby as a frequent flier, or by purchasing an...

upgrade at the gate. Traveling for business I've been lucky to book very late when no coach seats are available and they want to get rid of the first-class seats remaining. I would never purchase a first class ticket myself. Damn though... the leg room!!

[Kathy in Cambridge]

15. Yes-all the time in the '90s.

I flew a lot for work and racked up the frequent flyer miles. So I always got upgrades. On cross country and international trips it was a godsend.

First class and business class ain't what is used to be. Plastic utensils, cold meals, and rude service. Do I sound spoiled? :o

[Jack_Dawson]

18. You must fly United!

Have I mentioned untied.com?

[Kathy in Cambridge]

35. United and American Airlines

AA sucks now. I fly United and JetBlue domestically.

[catbert836]

17. When I was a baby

I attacked the CEO of a large railroad company on that flight, my mother tells me. The name of the company escapes me at the moment.

[Jack_Dawson]

20. Reading Railroad?

[catbert836]

23. Possibly.

I'll check it out...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

21. Minneapolis to Portland after Christmas

My originally scheduled flight was canceled due to a blizzard, and when they tried to shoehorn me onto a flight the next day, nothing was left except first class (AWWWW!)

While the drinks were nice, the food was nothing special--although it was at least visible, edible, and served on real plates, unlike coach food. I appreciated the extra room, and for the first time ever, I was actually able to get some work done during the flight because I didn't have other people's elbows intruding into my space. It reminded me of the way coach used to be in the 1960s.

To top it off, when my next frequent flyer statement came, I found that I had been given the first class bonus miles, plus an extra 500 miles because the plane was delayed.

I haven't had any such luck since then. :-(

[Jack_Dawson]

24. There are First Class bonus miles?

who knew? :freak:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

27. At least on Northwest

You get more frequent flyer miles if you fly first class than if you fly coach.

In other words, them as has gets.

[joneschick]

25. yes, flying home from Sao Paulo a few years ago.

my husband did the upgrade with frequent flier miles, I think. Access to the lounge in the airport before the flight.....wonderful. It was a wonderful experience. I do ok in coach for the most part being 5'2', but business/first was lovely.

[GOPisEvil]

28. I was going to on my recent trip to Canada, but upgrades are US-only.

So, I slogged it out in coach all the way up there.

Edit - that's frequent flyer upgrades.

[Jack_Dawson]

41. I don't get it

Are you not a U.S. citizen or you have to fly domestically to gnab the upgrade?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

30. Business Class - that section of the 747 up the stairs, on top

I booked a trip to Europe in ordinary tourist class on KLM and they overbooked. They put me up the stairs in that top section they called Business Class where there are only four people across, two people to a side. The seats were enormous and there was plenty of storage space. There were also private screens at every seat for viewing tv programs and movies as well as free alcoholic beverages and varieties of edible treats throughout the flight. I think it was actually better than first class.

[Missy Vixen]

33. Isn't the upstairs fun?

>I think it was actually better than first class.<

We got bumped off of a SAS London to Seattle flight a few years back and ended up on a BA flight, seated upstairs, as a result. Since the skies were relatively calm, several of the passengers upstairs spent a lot of time standing in the galley area. The steward was called to deal with the full flight downstairs and basically let us have the run of the place.

Julie

[Jack_Dawson]

42. Upstairs?

J/K I remember in my Viewmaster there are flights w/ upstairs/downstairs...just never actually been a part of one. Luckkyyyyyyyyy.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. One way to get the best seats...

Check out http://www.seatguru.com

They show the best and worst seats on all airlines' airplanes, the seat pitch and width for each, whether and where you can plug in a laptop, etc. Very useful.

[bikebloke]

34. Always steerage.

A couple times on longer flights and have had a row of three seats to myself. Nice sleeping. Now the seats are so close together, longer flights grow painful to long legs. I'm glad I've seen much of the world. Flying is no longer enjoyable. So this week I took a stay-at-home holiday. Plenty of heat and sunshine to relish right here. And I gained two days by not flying.

[progmom]

36. yes, a few times

always with frequent flyer upgrades. it's sooooooooo nice. :)

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

37. I haven't

Several years ago, my brother and father got bumped up to first class in agreement to take a later flight, and they also each got 200 dollar vouchers.

I've never been that lucky! :(

[Jack_Dawson]

43. Which airline?

:freak:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

38. Actually, I voted wrongly...My family and I did fly business class once;

my daughter married a Chinese boy, and his family wanted all of us to come to Hong Kong as their guests for a big family reception. This invitation included business class seats for all of us, round trip on Delta. It was fabulous.

One other time, my husband and I talked our way into an upgrade on Air France, from coach to business class. Mmmmmm.....

Otherwise, no, it's coach all the way. :(

[NMMNG]

39. Oh, so those of us who can't afford first class are cattle?

Snob!

Seriously though, if I could afford 1st class I'd do it. However my budget just does not have space for such a splurge. I'm going to be flying overseas in a few months and I'm not looking forward to such a long flight in coach but what can I do? :shrug: I'll just have to get up and stretch/walk as often as I am able.

[Jack_Dawson]

44. Itz called - upgrades!

:-)

[NMMNG]

47. And how do you get those?

I'm not a frequent flyer so I don't know much about this stuff.

[NNadir]

45. I've also flown on the Concorde.

Air France had an upgrade deal back in the 1990's where you could upgrade to the Concorde one way on a business ticket. The plane wasn't all that comfortable compared to a first class seat.

One of my best and most memorable flights was a Virgin Atlantic business class flight from London to Newark. It was a great flight.

I used to travel 200,000 - 300,000 miles a year. It was brutal, first, business, coach or Concorde.

I continually missed my wife and my kids.

I'm starting a new business now, and I dread the idea of travel.

[Jack_Dawson]

46. That's a shitload of miles per year

And I'm guessing they weren't all 3,000 mile jaunts. :freak:

[NNadir]

48. Sometimes I'd wake up and have no idea what city I was in.

The worst was travelling to three or four different cities in a day, especially during bad weather episodes.

Also it was very bad to wake up at home and think I was in some hotel somewhere.

I accumulated all these frequent flier miles, but when I had a vacation my dream was simply to stay home. Sometimes though, I bit the bullet and went somewhere with my family. (They wanted to travel.) Going somewhere with them was nowhere near as bad as travelling alone.

Until he was about 5, my son only flew first class. It was kind of wierd to have a little kid in a first class seat, but that's where we were.

The funny thing was, we weren't really rich. If this business works out, we will be, but I sure as hell don't want to be flying if I can afford not to.

[fortyfeetunder]

49. Thank goodness they were long enough to enjoy

The best one was from west coast to Honolulu. The airline was offering upgrades for $125 each and the spouse and I thought, why not?

It was good, movies, in seat entertainment, the food was decent, all you can drink, yeah. Actually we drank pog and not much booze.

The other trips I've had in first class were cross country. One of them I really needed since that was the only flight I could get home when I learned my mom just passed away. I needed a few hours of privacy -- just lay next to the window, had a couple of stiff ones and went to a sorrowful sleep.

[fleabert]

51. got the free upgrade once on a Continental flight. it's awesome.

although awkward at times. I felt like I was cheating on everyone in Coach, since I didn't pay...

dh spent a lot of time in first class when he had a traveling job and he got some miles racked up, got the automatic free upgrade if the seat was open... he loved it.

[NNadir]

52. Continental is pretty good with free upgrades for their silver and gold

fliers.

I hated that airline once, but I grew to love it. After some time, it became my airline of choice.

I was an executive Premier on United many times, but they consistently treated me like shit anyway. This, I think, is why they're in so much trouble. The airline industry is difficult, but they are in worse shape than the others.

[fleabert]

63. yep. I think you pick the best of the worst anytime you fly...

continental seems to do okay, I prefer SW unless the flight is longer than four hours. I like their 'we're just getting you from point a to point b' no bells and whistles attitude. Just get us on and off quickly! If Continental could speed the load and unload just a bit, I'd be happier with them.

[SoCalDem]

53. First class on the Inaugural 747 service to San Juan

PRIMO!!!

Champagne from crystal..real silverware, swivel seats..and the upstairs lounge chitchatting with the PILOTS.. NO door at all, in fact we took turns SITTING IN THE CO-PILOT SEAT..

Fantastic food, snacks all the way there..

That's the way to go for sure :)

[Hugin]

54. Travel by "Class" is an anachronism.

To make first class "all-that"... You have to be made slightly
more uncomfortable in coach.

I prefer "classless" travel as long as it is in the mid-point
between "First Class and Coach" on the other airlines.

[Jack_Dawson]

55. Where do you find that?

:shrug:

[trof]

56. Used to all the time. Passes.

I flew for TWA.
First class was great.

[usedtobesick]

57. I hate to admit

but I fly in 1st almost all the time now. I have so many miles with United that if 1st isn't sold out 72 hours prior I get called with an auto-upgrade. There has got to be some perks to spending your life on a plane. This is a pretty good one.

[NYdemocrat089]

58. I never have. Does any one have any advice for me though?

I'm going to be flying to Spain on Monday. I'll be flying in coach on Continental Airlines. I haven't flown in 9 years. Does anyone have any advice on how to survive the flight (anything will help)?

Thanks!

[usedtobesick]

59. Fight for a aisle seat

if it is a double aisle plane then try hard for the 2 seats on either side of center. Aisles seats are easy in and out. If there are two aisles try and get in the seats on the outside of the plane, stay out of the seats in the middle of the plane if you can. There are 5 seats there and it gets too crowded. Also drink lots of water. Hydration is everything when you travel.

[B Calm]

60. A neo con asked me how do you know when a person is rich?

I replied, when they never fly coach!

[Orsino]

61. I once got a free upgrade.

My wife and I tried to travel by train a couple of years ago, and found it a miserable experience. The return trip was going to be much longer--twenty-four hours in seats (no cabin)--so we decided on a day's notice to fly home instead.

This singled us out for special attention at security. We got the full pat-down, and were weirded out by the experience. Our consolation prize was a pair of free upgrades to first class, which helped to lessen the sting.

Don't know whether there was a connection between the upgrade and the anal probe (kidding). Could have just been a coincidence, I guess.

[tibbir]

62. It looks pretty interesting on my way back to coach. n/t