Here is a look into our first time flying business class...
Her View
In September we were able to make a trip to Puerto Rico. We got an incredible deal using Scott's Cheap Flights. For $39 we subscribed for a full year and they send me emails almost daily about deals that they have located. They are rarely from Phoenix, but I also selected airports within driving distance or short cheap flights to get there. I have found that even if Phoenix is not listed as a departure airport, that I can still get a great deal using Phoenix. They have sent us some incredible deals and if I had more time and more money, I would travel every month to really great places. We had been looking at Costa Rica for some time but could not make the deal dates work with our schedules so when Puerto Rico popped up with a price of around $200 round trip per person, we just could not turn it down. We are fortunate to have scored an incredible deal on a timeshare a few years ago, so we checked to see if we could make the plane ticket coincide with our timeshare. It worked. We were able to get tickets for both of us round trip for under $500 and the timeshare was just the booking fee of $89 for a full week. Once we sealed the deal on time off from work, we got super stoked and started fully planning.
About a month out from our trip we were chatting and calculating plane times and funds and we found that we could upgrade to business class for a few hundred dollars. Essentially the cost was the cabin upgrade fee which was $100 per person per leg. Since is was such a small fee we decided this would be a great time to upgrade and have our first experience in first class. Bonus, I had a boot on my foot from a real ugly fall so the extra space was going to come in handy. The only issue was that the last leg of the flight had only one seat available. They put us on the list to get bumped up if another seat became available.
We had a red eye which meant we were leaving at around 11pm but that also meant we were not going to lose an entire day to travel. We were to land at about 1:30, by the time we get our luggage and our car and then travel to the resort it should be close enough for check in time. We get to the airport and since it is so late, they are not busy at all, so we use the self-check-in machines, get our passes and head over to security. Since we purchased the TSA Pre-Check a few years ago I was not worried about my boot or putting my stuff in the Ziploc for checking. Unfortunately, since it was so late Pre-Check was closed, I had to scramble to get my crap out of my bag and put it in the stupid container and then they forced me to take my boot off, which was very painful and not pretty. I was super pissed, but not looking to get arrested or detained so I sucked it up and just made super passive aggressive comments about the lack of caring about human beings. Generally, I am very nice to the TSA because they are abused often, however, on occasion you get that total ass who is full of themselves and the so called ‘power’ they think they have. I got one of those this time! No concern for the fact that my ankle is jacked up and I am wearing a full-on boot because of it. So, I hobbled through the security and then had to wait for my boot to come out with no concern again about the fact that I NEED the boot! Derek finally reached half way in the scanner and grabs the boot so that I can move again.
Finally done with the security hassle, we head over to our gate and hope that there is a bar open so that we can grab a drink, we need one after that experience! We finally found one place open, so we had a drink, but the service was pretty bad, so we just had that and then wrapped it up. Between the late night and the lugging of my boot I was getting very tired. The plane did not board for another 45 minutes and the sitting area was jam packed so we were going to sit farther away and as we were walking over we saw a sign for the AA lounge, we thought what the heck let's see if we can go up there. They were closing up as we were walking off the elevator. Total bummer, so we hobbled back down stairs and sat for a minute. Good people watching. It is amazing how drunk people get before they get on a plane. One lady could hardly stand, so she was sitting on her suitcase, even though the seat next to Derek was open. As we got closer to boarding and knowing that we would board first because of the upgraded tickets along with my boot we moved to the assist seating section.
We finally start boarding and get to our second row, nice comfy big seats and the flight attendant comes up and says what can I get you to drink. What, a pre-flight drink? That sounds incredible. I ordered red wine, I am not sure what Derek had. She even brought them to us in a real glass! We started checking the seats out to find out where everything else. I am on the shorter side of 5’2” so the front seat was far for me, but Derek being 6ft was very pleased. We had plenty of space in the seating, it is amazing how much 3 inches can make in the seat width along with the extra inches in between our seat and the seat in front of us. You get a lot of interesting looks as the circus of economy passengers board and I know I have given that look as an economy passenger, it is totally jealousy, well, when it was from me anyway! So I drink my wine and read my book, then the last passenger boards, the flight attendant grabs our glasses and we take off. I am fairly tired, but kind of pumped up as well because of the whole experience, but I try to close my eyes for at least take off. I can’t really sleep so I get my book again and wait for the next glass of wine! Might at well drink up while I can!
Before she brings more wine, she sets a nice small bowl of warm nuts in front of each of us, they were super yummy. She brings me a glass of wine and then brings our food around. Knowing that it would be late, I knew that I would likely not be very hungry I ordered the cheese and fruit plate. It was set up nicely and the cheeses looked fantastic, but I was right, I was not hungry. I had a few bites of the cheese and gave some to Derek and then set it aside in the small bowl the nuts came in. I must have fallen asleep at some point because I woke up and my cheese was gone along with my glass. Derek had not slept at all and I knew it was because he needed to be comfy. So I gave him one of the blankets they give you and he covered himself and fell right to sleep, I was now awake so I asked for another glass of wine. I finished that and fell back to sleep and because of the time change noticed it was getting to be daylight out very quickly. We landed in Charlotte and had to hustle to our gate. When we get there we see that it is closer than we thought, now we are hungry and want breakfast, so we decide to check out the lounge. As we enter to the lounge, the gentleman states that one of us has to be some type of member and since neither of us are we decide to head back to the gate and grab something over there.
Thank goodness we did, because they were boarding our plane about 20 min early and we had already missed our pre-boarding option. We quickly went to the front and boarded the plane. This time it seemed a little more frantic then before and we did NOT get our pre-drink or an offer of one at all. This flight is only about 2 hours and we settle in with that thought, knowing likely we won’t sleep much. In all over the last 28 hours we have slept about 2. We can sleep when we get there!
Once the plane has boarded they take off and we wait the appropriate time and then our flight attendant asks what we would like to drink when she again brings us the warm nuts and reminds us what our meals are for this leg. It is weird because it is 9am in the morning and they are serving us lunch, I can’t quit figure that one out, but we suck it up and I have the veggie lasagna, which was tasty, and another glass of wine. I mean I might as well enjoy my time! Because this is a much shorter flight we have another glass of wine and then take a little nappy nap and next thing you know we are landing.
We deboard the plane and look at each other with a huge smile and say, how the heck are we ever going to not fly business or first class from here on out!
All in all, if you can find a fairly inexpensive way to upgrade I say it is totally worth it. If you have to pay several thousand dollars to do it, then I say it would depend on where you are flying and how long you are going to be on that plane. But for sure I will try to upgrade whenever I can.
— Taunya
His View
I once read or heard somewhere that you should never travel first class because once you do air travel will be ruined for you and you’ll never want to fly coach again. Back in September we took a trip to Puerto Rico, and we decided to treat ourselves and upgrade to business class. Apparently, somewhere along the way U.S. based airlines started calling it business class instead of 1st class for domestic flights. Our flight was on American Airlines, and I have to say calling their customer service line to get the flight updated was a less than ideal experience. Unfortunately they only had one seat on the final leg coming home, and the rep was horrible at trying to explain how the fees were broken down, but we said screw it and booked the changed. Flying first class was something that was on my bucket list, so I was really looking forward to the experience especially since we were leaving on an overnight flight.
Personally I’ve never been a huge fan of a red-eye flight since I have always had trouble sleeping on planes. Our flight was departing around 11pm, and once of the good things about a late night flight is that the airport is not busy. Of course, one thing we didn’t count one was that the TSA Pre✓® line was actually closed so we had to use the normal line. We fly quite a bit, so having TSA Pre✓® is a blessing really. I case you didn’t know, when you do have to use normal line the special rules you get with TSA Pre✓® do not apply, so be warned. We were not prepared so our we didn’t have our liquids separated, nor did we have our carry on bags prepared. A few weeks prior Taunya had taken a spill and hurt her ankle really bad so she was in a walking boot and with the TSA Pre✓® line it would not have been a problem, however they made her remove the boot. I was actually pretty vocal about this, since she was in the boot for a medical reason. The TSA gets a lot of abuse, and they take a lot of verbal abuse so I usually go out of my way to be nice to them, but in this case it was hard to keep my cool. So Taunya limped through the scanner and sat down while I waited for the boot to go through the scanner so I could bring it to her. Hands down, the worst security screening experience we have had since getting Precheck.
Phoenix International actually has some pretty good options for bar and restaurants in the terminals. However this late we really only had one option that was still open. The service was terrible, however we were able to have one PTSD glass of wine before heading to our gate. Taunya and I love to people watch, and let me tell you late night at the airport is a great place to just sit and watch people. I think a quarter of our flight may have been drunk.
We boarded the plane and made our way to our seats. Since there are only a small amount of business class seats, getting on the plane itself is pretty painless and there is no waiting in line down the jetway. Once we were seated and situated, the flight attendant immediately asked if we would like a drink. Heck yeah! Taunya had a glass of wine, and I had a whiskey and coke. The choices of alcohol on planes is pretty limited, so I usually do Canadian Club since I have never really been a Jack Daniels fan. The best part is we got really glassware, not a plastic cup! So we got to sit there sipping our drinks while the rest of the plane boarded. Now I have been on the other side, waiting in the line to get to our seats, watching the first class passengers avoiding your gaze. I can’t speak for anyone else, however for me I felt a little self conscious sitting there all comfortable so I guess now I understand why people might keep themselves busy in their seats during boarding.
Finally the plane was fully boarded, and the attendant picked up our glasses since you can’t have them during take off. Once airborne, the flight attendant brought us a bowl of warm nuts, and then offered to bring another round of drinks which we of course accepted. You get food, but begin so late we didn’t really each much. As I said before, I don’t really sleep well on planes, so I read quite a bit while Taunya slept. By this point I was pretty tired so Taunya handed me a blanket so I got myself comfortable and was able to sleep for a bit. I have to tell you, I think it was the extra width and reclining pitch that allowed me to get some decent rest. Well that and the toasty blanket; I would normally not use a blanket on a plane since they get passed around and shared between flights, but in business class each seat gets an individually wrapped blanket that is either new or at least newly cleaned.
Once we landed in Charlotte we had some time before our next flight, but we had to change terminals. We looked for the AA Admirals Club lounge, and finally found it thinking that business class got you access. Apparently American Airlines no longer give you lounge access for simply purchasing a upper class ticket! You have to have a paid membership, or a membership through some other means. Not sure if this is the case with all domestic carriers, but I’d image it’s now the norm. Turns out not getting access was a good thing since once we arrived at the gate we found out they were already boarding and it was at least 20 minutes early. We had already missed the priority boarding and they were in the first boarding group, but at least we were able to board right away though we did have to wait in the jetway line this time. Even though we were way early, the flight crew seemed frantic and we did not get a preflight cocktail this time much to our disappointment. Oddly enough the plane did not depart early, so I was really glad we had comfortable seats since we sat waiting quite a while. Would have been more tolerable with a cocktail in hand… just sayin’...
Once in the air we got the warm nuts again, and since this flight was shorter they brought the food out pretty much right away. It was a bit surreal since it was 9am local but they were serving lunch. Taunya had a vegetarian lasagna and I had a cut of beef. I will say, that the quality of the meals in business class is pretty good, and you certainly can’t beat unlimited drinks. Before you know it, we were landing in Puerto Rico.
On the return flight we decided to go ahead and pay for a day pass to the Admirals Club. Hands down the best decision, and I don’t regret it at all. We even got 2 free drink coupons each to use in the lounge. They have snack and non-alcoholic drink options, showers, a full bar, and very comfortable seats with charging stations sprinkled about. We are considering joining the Club (or a similar one) because members can use the lounge even if you are flying a different airline. We’ll be sure to give you a more in depth look in a future article.
The return flight from Puerto Rico to Miami was much the same as the previous flights. However our final segment flying back into Phoenix we were back in coach. We were first on the standby list, however everyone showed for their flight. Wow, what a difference and not it a good way! Even though I had only flown business class for the first time this trip, I am thinking to myself “wow, traveling with the common folk is roughing it”. 🙂 So after this experience, I’d have to agree with what I had heard. Coach travel is now forever ruined for me. Now I am trying to figure out how to swing the very expensive upgrade for our flight to Fiji in March….
— Derek
Living, loving, drinking, and traveling through life.
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