First Class

[spiffyone]

:tongue: Hi all...

I haven't flown in a little while but I have to go to San Francisco (from Boston) for work at the end of the month. IF I were even ALLOWING myself to think about the flight, I would be freaked out by now (I'm not allowing, until like about 2 days before, just so you know), because of the following issues:

1. flying in and out of unfamiliar airports
2. flying a 9/11 type coast to coast flight
3. flying American (we usually fly Southwest)
4. flying first class (my dad used FF miles to upgrade us and now I am thinking of how first class is just a nice name for 'the part of the plane that hits the ground first.')
5. flying afternoon/evening (last time I did this = panic attack).

I think I am one of those people Monica talks about, who creates this little fantasy world in which I can fly, but it all has to concur with my Rain-Man-like expectations ("It has to be Southwest, always Southwest, did I mention it has to be Southwest") or else, anxiety ensues.

So....even though I'm NOT AT ALL anxious about this yet (:happyguy: ), can anyone give me a sense of what first class is like? Bigger seats? Nicer FAs? I don't think I can even recall a MOVIE about first class.

Spiffy, who admits she has some pretty significant control issues:tongue:

[WillFlyToDisney]

First class - wider leather seat, more leg room, bland meal during the flight, free alcohol, boarding before the coach passengers, drink served while the coach pax are boarding, first off the plane. If they have inflight entertainment then you should get complimentary headphones instead of having to pay for them.

Ummm... that is about it.

Bring along your DVD player and watch reruns of Wapner.... :thumbsup:

American has an excellent safety record. Their FAs are about the same as any others.

Have a fun trip, Spiffy!
Kel

[Barb-SAN]

Spiffy,

Will you have a window seat? I only flew First Class once, but it was great, and I had a window seat. The view was unobstructed by the wing or engine, so I was able to take some good aerial photographs. I like to entertain myself trying to figure out where we are, look for landmarks, follow the map, take pictures, etc.

Will you be arriving late enough in the evening to see the night lights of San Francisco? My last trip back to San Diego was at night, and the lights were just spectacular. Watching the sunset heading east is curious too...seeing a point in the sky where sunset ends and night begins...that's something you don't really experience on the ground (and photos don't quite do it justice either...though I tried).

I know what you mean about wanting everything to be "just so"...I've only flown NWA commercially in the last two years....and know it's time to broaden my horizons and fly a different airline to a new destination. It surely would help lead to a sense of "mastery".

Well...this should provide good "trip report material" for you!

Barb-SAN :thumbsup:

[Barb-SAN]

Spiffy,

It just occurred to me that perhaps one reason I enjoy "navigating" (or at least following our flight progress) is that it is sort of a "control" thing too. At least if you know where you are in space, and you know how far along you are in the flight, and how long until you land, it gives you a little more sense of "control". I've told the pilots during the cockpit visits that I love knowing where we are during the flight, and they've been willing to make a few extra announcements enroute, pointing out landmarks, etc. Sometimes they've also given me a "weather briefing", showing me the U.S. map, and where the turbulence is, and how we will be avoiding it by flying a more southernly route, etc. That all makes the trip seem more "real", and not just 5 hours of being "somewhere in space, disconnected from the ground"!
:nerd:

Barb-SAN

[JamieAllison]

Hi Spiff,

I totally understand the need for control and have often tried to have it myself by choosing particular airlines or types of planes. If you read my recent South America trip report though, you'll see that I had to fly not only on some unfamiliar planes (that I had heard bad things about), but on an airline I wasn't expecting to fly on until a week before the flight (a Brazilian airline I had never heard of). I feel like I did remarkably well though, and am now glad for the experience because it forced me to let go of some of that control.

Unfortunately (for me), I have no experience in first class to share with you. I have walked through first class many times on my way back to coach though, and I can say that I always wish that I could sit there instead! :)

Jamie

[CaptainStark]

"Mmmmmm Firrrrst Classssss....glaughhhh":lol:

I flew First Class once on Piedmont. They had china plate chargers UNDER my china plate and a table cloth under that! They passed out thick cotton bootie/socks to wear (and take home) and there were only like 16 passengers in the section with one FA's hovering around your every need. All drinks came in glassware. Napkins were thick linen. The food was killer!
Mmmmmmmm Airline fooood........glaughhhhh....

I have never been the same since.

You will forget you are flying!:thumbsup:

:ray:

[cshollingsworth]

ray,

omg...don't tell me these are for people with cold feet??? my feet are like ice blocks when i fly. maybe next time i'll take my own booties with me for the icy cold toes since southwest doesn't hand out these little luxaries!

Spiff...i used to fly on american. i have a friend who flies nothing but american airlines. his son works for them in dallas and so he gets to fly free, yada yada...

i always thought that american airlines planes were cool because of the silver "no paint" scheme they have going on. my husband and i concur they look like a big metal toaster in the sky. :lol: actually...their planes remind me of all our appliances in our house since we went with stainless. :rotflmao:

[spiffyone]

I know...poor little me...flying First Class.

Don't get any ideas...this is not something I'll be able to afford to do again.

I think part of my anxiety about it - this is wierd, right? - is like this idea that I'll be PUNISHED for flying First Class. I feel like if I have to fly for work, and it's not vacation or anything, and I sit quietly in my little Southwest uncomfortable open-seating seat and don't have ideas above my station (!), then nothing bad will happen to me. But if ENJOYMENT enters into the picture...if I do something decadent like sit in a big cushy leather seat...then lightning will strike me.

Does anyone else possible have as many wierd issues as me? :rolleyes:

[CaptainStark]

As part of your therapy to widen your "guilt horizon" we here at Taking Flight highly recommend you carry through with this deliciously decadent indulgence into transcontinental flight.;)

You'll be a better an more considerate person for it.:rolleyes:

:ray:

"NOO! PUNISH ME!!!"
"No, MEEE!!!!"
"You went last time. It's MY turn!!"
"Rock paper scissors?"
"Not on your life."

[WillFlyToDisney]

Smite me, Sean! :D You haven't REALLY ridden in first class until you have ridden in first class WITH Ken! :thumbsup:

Oh and Spiff if lightning DOES strike the plane, no worries. They are made for that, remember?? :sunshine:

[spiffyone]

Well, you'll know if you wind up next to me, because I am, unfortunately, an arm-grabber. Duncan's sweaters are all stretched out of shape from my takeoff-clutching.

Maybe I have, like, a residual Catholic thing about the guilt of First Class. (Perhaps if that is true, then the enormous amount of baking I have to do this weekend to prepare the Palm Sunday Coffee Hour at church - I mean what yummy treats are appropriate for Palm Sunday anyway - Martha Stewart has no advice on this one - will make me feel as though I have atoned, in advance. There's going to be a live donkey there. In church, not on the plane.)