Thursday, January 17, 2013

First Class

Without a doubt, my illness and the fact that I've not been OOK for five months influenced my extravagant decision to upgrade my airline seats to first class. I've done plenty of business class traveling in my time. But I've never entered the world of first class. It turned out to be an experience well worth collecting for CircusK9.

In Bahrain, there is an entirely separate part of the terminal (there is only one terminal, astonishing for such a busy airport) with a separate curbside entrance reserved for first class check in. Once inside, you sit down next to a desk, sort of like meeting with a bank manager. I was checked in by a very large, doughy Arab man in an even larger, loose suit jacket (never saw his lower half) wearing immaculate makeup: eyeshadow, plucked brows, foundation, the palest pink gloss on his lips. My bag was whisked away as I watched this man elegantly refold with his tiny sausage fingers my already somewhat crumpled, home-printed boarding passes into thirds so they would fit into a folder.

It turns out that security screening for first class is also separate and unequal: no line, no removing a single item from my person or my bags, a quick pass through the scanner and you are done. You enter the concourse from an entrance I'd never noticed before, abruptly shunted out into the normal flow from such a rarified beginning.

We had a three-day weekend coming up and the airport was packed. Every seat in every gate area was taken as far as the eye could see. But I proceeded to the first class lounge where there were plenty of seats, snacks, WiFi, real alcohol, and other glories.

Your first class seat in the airplane is like a miniature world unto itself. A cubby for your shoes. Louvered window blinds that you can raise and lower with a button. Slippers, thick wool socks, fancy skin and face products delivered in a discreet little case. In fact, the seats themselves are of such a shape and arranged in such a way as to create maximim discretion: you can't see any of the other passengers except for a bit of foot here and there.

I eschewed the offered pajamas but did set up my bed: a pad on top of the flattened seat, full pillow, feather duvet. Every single person in first class, including the stewards as I later discovered, snuggled into their nests and slept most of the flight (most flights from the Arabian Gulf to Europe are at night). Nobody had dinner despite a tempting menu. Nobody even watched a movie.

A couple hours before landing, I had a full breakfast on a real place setting. There are no forced feedings at fixed times in first class. They wait for you to stir then see if you want anything. Everyone is served on their own individual schedule. Real milk for your real coffee, yogurt served in a bowl instead of the plastic container, you get the idea.

In big transit airports like Heathrow, the first class lounges have showers. That seemed a bit fussy for me. I chose to freshen up in a large private restroom, a real room, not a stall in a smelly public toilet. (I always travel with a change of undergarments and shirt, a habit acquired many years ago.)

Second leg. On this flight, I was handed an iPad loaded with movies and other diversions along with a pair of noise-canceling headphones, so I watched the 2006 version of Pride and Prejudice with Keira Knightley. Of course the image quality on the iPad was excellent.

Briefly woke from a Stilton-mousse-, garden-green-, sea bass-, cheese-plate-, four-glasses-of-viognier-, two-glasses-of-tawny-port-fueled nap to find the steward tucking me in under yet another feather duvet.

It was a travel adventure, this first class treatment. I arrived in the US slightly cleaner and more rested than I otherwise would be after 24 hours of airports and airplanes. Sleeping flat was very nice but in the end, the most tiring aspect is the lack of activity. That's the same no matter which part of the airplane you are in.

1 comment:

Anne said...

I've flown first class a couple of times on domestic flights, but it was nothing like your experience.

I basically got a little more leg room, a couple of mini bottles, and wasn't treated with utter disdain by the flight staff!

Looking forward to hearing about all the adventures.