One of my least favorite aspects of travel is spending multiple hours cramped in a seat on a plane. They’re never the most comfortable and I have a tough time sleeping on them. While long international flights usually have movie options available, after a few hours that starts to lose its entertainment factor on me too. But this miserable time on a plane is the price to pay to get to the amazing far off destinations that I want to see!
Now I’ve been bumped up to first class on domestic flights a couple times when there have been flight delays that have caused the airline to re-book me. Those are always nice surprises, especially after a long day of frustrating travel. However, the idea of traveling first class on a long international flight had never crossed my mind. I was always just desperately trying to save enough money up to purchase a ticker in economy class to even be able to get to my dream destinations let alone travel there in luxury. That is until the world of credit card miles opened up to me.
International flights in first class can easily run multiple thousands of dollars per ticket- and there’s just no way I’ll ever be spending that kind of money. However, using points greatly levels the playing field for those like me who would enjoy a comfortable ride but don’t have the $ to pay for it. Pablo and I had our first international first class flight experience for our recent Peru trip; it was incredible!
The absolute highlight for first class has to be the seats. Now seats can change from airline to airline and depends on whether you’re in first class or business class. We were in First Class on American Airlines and the plane we had featured first class seats that were slightly angled, but went almost entirely flat. It’s like having a bed to travel in overnight! So much better sleep than trying to sleep while sitting up straight. Not to mention you get fluffy pillows and an actual comforter, not just a thin fleece blanket.
On top of this we also got personal care kits including socks, sleep cover for your eyes, chapstick, toothbrush and toothpaste, etc. There was some nice stuff in it so I saved mine! You also have a lot more food options in first class than in economy and you’re served drinks right away. When we flew down in economy we did not have individual tv screens on the seat and instead there were a few common ones to watch from the ceilings in the aisles. However in first class not only did we each have our own private screen but the screens were big! The size of a small tv!
There’s benefits of flying first class that begin before you board the plane as well. Most larger airports have lounges associated with each airline and flying first class gets you access to the lounge. The nice thing about these lounges: they’re full of food- for free. This particular American Airlines one in Lima had a freshly squeezed orange juice machine and I seriously think I went through 8 oranges in our time there waiting for our flight. Not to mention they have free showers you can use! We didn’t quite have enough time for that (and there were only two) but it’s a nice perk to have if you’re all sweaty and gross and want to be fresh and clean for your luxurious flight.
While I’m not sure how much first class flying we’ll be doing for all our trips, I think the long hauls definitely could be worth it. We’re very excited for our trip to Thailand in March where we are flying there in Cathay Pacific Business class- that means a 15 hour flight has lay flat beds for us! Business class was cheaper than first class and the bed is really what I care about so I’m not sure of all the differences besides that. I’d love to upgrade our return flight to be business class as well but we’ll have to see if we have enough miles for that and if there’s availability. Economy tickets to southeast Asia are 40,000 miles one way in economy and 55,000 one way in business class. So it’s a bit pricy for miles but I think 15 hours makes it worth it.
Fire Round the World 