Real Life Jet-Setting


We are back in the States for Tyler's sister's wedding.
It was Saturday night,
and it was gorgeous.

When I get in pictures, 
I'll post them because I think...
well, I think you'll love them.

(I married into a pretty family.)

When we booked our flights home,
we were faced with some terrible options.

$1400 for a single ticket
(hello, summer & Olympics)
or 80k miles of AAdvantage Miles to fly with a flexible coach ticket.

Awesome.

But we found ANOTHER option.

85k AAdvantage Miles for a non-flexible First Class ticket.

Duh.

So we cashed in a butt-load of our miles
and got the First Class ticket.

(I know, a girl that says "butt-load" doesn't belong anywhere other than coach.)

It was amazing.

Let me give you some of the highlights:

(Oh yeah, I'm classy enough to have taken pictures the whole time.)

First,
you sit in your own little pod.




It's like a bubble of heaven
with fully reclining seats, stacks of blankets,
your own set of pajamas & slippers 
and three windows to your very own self.




The service is amazing.

No longer do you have to apologize to your flight attendant 
for bothering them by asking for a glass of water.

No, no. 
Your wish is their command.

We made great friends with our attendant, Rick.
He took extra good care of us 
and made us "Rick Specials" all flight long. 


But what I really want to talk about is the food.




Literally, you could eat the entire flight 
if your body could handle it.

The menu.

The starter.




The ice cream sundae trolley.

The finished result of my sundae creation
paired with Fiddler on the Roof.

(Weird choice, but I hadn't seen it in ages.)




Typically, when I fly home
I do my best to pretty much black out from check-in to landing.

Flying first class makes you savor every single moment
and feel like, at last, your life is where it should be. 




And now, as I face reality 
I come to the realization 
that I may never sit in coach again
without noticing the distant clinks 
of spoons scraping out the last bites
of hot fudge sundaes from crystal goblets
in the rows ahead.

Torture.

Have you even flown first class?
How did you ever go back to coach?


*all images original to Aspiring Kennedy

38 comments:

  1. My first and only experience with First Class was when I was 20 and in college-It was pretty amazing! I was still living in Toronto and my dad was living an hour from San Francisco. It was my first trip to visit him there since he just moved and he paid my airfare with points and I fell in love.

    I couldn't believe the difference! For long flights (mine was 6hrs) it really makes the experience so much better. On the flight home I was so glad to have the seats I did. There was a massive snow storm and we were physically on the plane for 13 hours. It was insane! Screaming babies and frustrated passengers but I had a couple gin & tonics and yummy snacks to take the edge off. ;)

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  2. I have never flown trans-atlantic but if I do, I have to fly first class merely because sitting that long in coach will bring me to tears (cheerleading injuries). So thank you for the preview :) You can never go back to coach now!

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  3. Once my entire family was upgraded to first class...except me. And now I resent it even more. Thanks for that ;)

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  4. ive always wondered what went on behind the purple curtain (i fly virgin and its purple) i mean, i always would strain my neck to catch a glimpse of the pods as i was hustled to the back as they poored champagne for the other passangers. I dont think i can fly first class until i can actually afford/have enough miles to fly first class for the rest.of.my.life.

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  5. I flew first class on our first trip to Gabon and I'm afraid sitting in economy is painful now that I know what the other side is like. I even catch myself glaring at those settling in to their pods as I make my way to the back. Unfortunately, we haven't flown first since - every time we look it's a few thousand dollars more and I just can't justify that!

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  6. Ugh, so jealous. My only comparison is flying private, which we've done a couple of times and it was a lot of fun but not quite as "service" oriented, and the flight wasn't nearly as long obviously. I want my own pod!

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    Replies
    1. I forgot the rest of comment…haha

      Going back to coach from private was such torture!! Not only that, but flying private means no TSA harassment.

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  7. Lauren, this is the BEST- and I love it that you took all of those pictures. ;) One time, I got free passes (back when those still existed) from a friend who works for AA as a thanks for tutoring her daughter in French. My mom and I flew to London on those passes, and there were two seats left: one in business, one in first. Of course I let my mother take the first class pass, and proceeded to hate her guts from my (very posh in its own right) business class seat. Glad you got that experience- I'm sure you will have it again!

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  8. I've flown first class and business class a few times. It's so wonderful! And so hard to go back to coach after. Virgin has Premium Economy which is better than coach but doesn't even compare to first! I think the ice cream sundae is my favourite part :) Well, that and the giant seats.

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  9. I've never flown first class, but I've always resented those people in first. My last flight, I had to stand at the door for five minutes so the first class peeps could get their first round of drinks. I was a little peeved. But it was the flight home, and I tend to be a bit peevish when I'm going home instead of embarking on a trip. I'd looove to fly first at least once in my life, but I think I would get way too used to it.

    My first flight ever was on Lufthansa from Houston to Frankfurt, and I had an exit seat with plenty of room for my feet. It was amazing. :)

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  10. If/when I ever do get to fly first class, I will definitely be taking pictures as well!! I think it would be extremely difficult to go back to coach after flying first class, which is mainly the reason I've never pushed for it too much...yet.

    After seeing the beauty from your pictures my next overseas trip may just have to be first class ;)

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  11. David's company flies us first class and his dad works for Delta, so sometimes we get buddy pass upgrades to first class. It is HEAVEN. Especially flying across the pond... made a trip I took to the Netherlands pure comfort! Maybe one day we'll be all grown up and can actually buy ourselves first class tickets all the time! Cheers to that.

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  12. i dread flying across the pond because of stupid coach, but i can't afford a first class ticket - le sigh. pure jealousy right here.

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  13. Oh my gosh- now that is luxury. I want to fly like that! Maybe then I wouldn't dread it. :)

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  14. Never!
    Thank you for allowing me to live vicariously through you :)
    Eat Cake

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  15. when you're in first class, you can say whatever you want! even 'butt-loads' ;)

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  16. On my flight to London last summer....after a very long sad depressing story...I ended up on first class and it was the best experience in the world. When I told my dad he just said "yeah don't get used to it honey" and then was jealous!

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  17. oh my lord this looks like pure heaven!!! and the butt loads comment killed me..... I fully approve of that language anywhere, particularly in first class!

    http://itsthelittlethingsblog.blogspot.com/

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  18. I got to fly first class from Portland to Hawaii and back. The way there was spectacular with similar service. We had a hot fudge sundae at the end too! I hated going back to coach but I love travel so much I'll take the misery just to explore some more world. Thanks for the pics! I loved reliving my experience through your photos. http://www.esthernorinedesigns.blogspot.com

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  19. I've never flown first class, but I just really really want to. Especially for international travel, which I do semi-frequently, it seems to be the only way to go. I think for my next international flight, I'll try my hardest to find a reasonable first or business class seat.

    xoxo

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  20. I am SOOO incredibly jealous of you right now!! My one wish is to sometime in my life fly an intercontinental flight in first class. Good thing I won't be flying long-haul again for a couple of years so I don't have to think about it too much :)

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  21. Fiddler is NEVER a weird choice- I love that movie! Also, I am so jealous. I flew first class a few times... when I was a little, little kid. Never at an age I can appreciate. I'm most likely flying Virgin back in October with the pets (it's how they and I flew over) and at least Virgin economy is still 5x better than domestic airline's coach... now if I could finagle Virgin first class- that'd be AMAZING!

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  22. My Father graciously raised my brother and I on First-Class Upgrades, but now we're both on our own! Sadly on all eight of my International flights (China, France, and India) I've sat in Coach, but on most of them, I've been closer to the front of the plane than the back! I do love a good First class seat, though, and your experience looks amazing! xx

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  23. Just STOP IT, this looks so fab. I'm a bit jealous considering I find myself always sandwiched next to someone who overflows out of their seat into mine. How fun is that? I do, however, get the privilege of flying first often enough because my dad works for the airlines. Because those seats don't sell as much as they use to, I get them! Yahoo.

    Happy Tuesday, xoxo

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  24. British Airways has a SAN - LON non-stop and while they don't have first class, they have business class which has the lay-flat seats, non-prison-warden-like attendants, and better food (and drinks). But flying home we couldn't upgrade more than one level, so for $179 we upgraded to World Traveller Plus (similar to business class) - it was a great value. The seats didn't go flat, but they were big and cushy and you got the same food and service that we did in the upper level class. Great deal... sigh...

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  25. so much fun! Only when I fly with my parents or on miles, NOT on my own. Was it British Airways? I'm flying to London in a few weeks and am so not in first class, sadly. I'm going to be checking out your site for London inspiration though!

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  26. Um, for reals, with as crazy and chaotic as things are at our house right now, I would pay for the first class ticket and just have that flight be my vacation. You had my at ice cream sundae trolley!

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  27. We just flew back stateside for my brother's wedding at I am horrified to admit the tickets were $1700/each in COACH :( It was not very awesome. The last few flights I had flown back home from Germany had been in first class (I had buddy passes from a friend who works for Delta) and this "most expensive flight ever" sitting in the middle seat was a very rude awakening that sitting up front is a MILLION times better. I will admit that most times I fly first class I end up hardly sleeping because I want to enjoy it- defeats the purpose of those comfy recliner seats!

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  28. Dreamy. I was lucky enough to have traveled in style and flew The Concorde! Weee.
    I was pregnant with our twins who are now 19. It was something else.
    I think traveling 1st class should be enforced as the only way to fly.
    pve

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  29. Wow! Your flight looks amazing. I've only flown first class on a 4 hour flight from Cuba, so basically the only advantage was actual leg room and all the Coke my heart desired.

    One time though I flew business class b/c they messed up my booking and it was heaven. Going back to coach was painful, so much so that you quickly forget that first or business class even exist. Great? *sigh*
    Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting. Glad you found me because I will be coming back regularly from now on!

    Maja - clotheskinksandcurls.blogspot.ca

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  30. How amazing! I have been flying sooo often in my life, never first class, not even once updgraded to business. Such a shame. Flew Premium Economy to Jburg last week, that was my kind of amazing :)

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  31. Hold upp wait a minute. You had a pod?! haha that's all kinds of amazing..

    And the boy and I are in the midst of planning a trip to Europe with my AA miles. I will be looking into this pod business =P

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  32. Love this post, Lauren! So fun!

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  33. I've never flown First Class or across the Atlantic. I know, seriously. Who am I? My husband and I really want to go to Germany (with other stops in Europe, of course), and when we do, he has already demanded that we fly First Class.

    I'm not arguing.

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  34. That is so friggin awesome, and I LOVE that you said butt-load. You totally deserved 1st class for that one in my book :)

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  35. Haha yes I have flown first a bunch of times and it's really, really hard to fly coach the first few times you have to but then you get used to it. Ah & I try to not look forward because I don't want to be jealous :)

    Oh and butt load is a first class term for sure :) xoxo

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  36. Um, that looks pretty fabulous! My husband and I just moved to Europe from the States so I'm guessing we're going to have the chance to rack up some miles as well! How do you accrue your miles? Use the same airline? Use an airline credit card? I'd love to hear your advice when you get a chance!

    xx
    Kecia

    www.couturezooblog.com

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  37. Just this week, a fast trip from San Francisco to Las Vegas - Virgin America! I have never enjoyed a flight so much. What a treat. I don't ever think that I would fly anything but 1st again - especially if the flight was longer than 2hours. I officially have become a princess.

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