The first time that I flew in first class, I didn’t take advantage of most of the benefits because I didn’t know they existed. We had economy seats on an overbooked flight on NYE. The gate agent offered an airline voucher, hotel room and first class seats the next morning to anyone willing to give up their seat. After the whirlwind of re-booking our seats, I didn’t even look at the flight we’d been booked on. The next morning I realized we were going to be hopping on a Dreamliner plane that was on it’s way to LA from Rio. We were picking up the flight in Houston so though our flight was short, we were sitting in international first class. Quite a way to start the new year. Thinking back now though, I didn’t do any research – I am sure we could have checked out a lounge or had priority check-in lines. I just didn’t even know to look!
Four years later, I finally cashed in all of my frequent flyer miles that I’ve been saving up and a huge mile credit card bonus from my favorite credit card to book business class seats to Africa. This time, I was prepared. I researched every plane we’d be on, read about all the lounges we’d have access to and bookmarked blog posts from travel bloggers who had previously flown my same routes. I was prepped and equally excited about taking the flights as I was about arriving at the destination. Even with all that though, there were a few things I was presently surprised by. I also realized that most bloggers who write about first and business class flights, take them all the time, so the little things that were huge benefits to me might not even have occurred to them to write about.
Here’s my roundup of everything I wish I’d known the first time for any of you out there that may be gearing up for your first time in the premium seats.
When To Arrive/What to Know About Priority Lines
I’d never really paid attention to the priority lines when flying in economy but they are everywhere. You have a priority line to check in (sometimes divided by First and Business Class) and also a priority line for boarding the plane. We were amazed by how quickly we moved through everything. I was especially surprised in Ethiopia to have a dedicated security line within the airport and dedicated shuttles to and from the aircraft (at ADD most planes board and de-board from the tarmac rather than a jet bridge). You also get off the plane first which puts you first in line for immigration and passport control so even if you don’t get dedicated lines you’ll be speedy getting through.
Things to Know About Lounges
The gate agent will direct you to the business class lounge you are able to go to when you arrive. To gain access, just show your business class ticket. Even if your airline does not have a business class lounge, one of their partners might. So be sure to see which airlines are friends and may give you access.
Business class lounges have a range of perks. All of them that I’ve seen offer complimentary bar and hot snacks. Sometimes the bar has a bartender and you can order mixed drinks and such, others have just self-serve beer and wine. Generally, if you don’t see a bartender, it means you can help yourself. Though they do all offer water, sometimes you can’t get bottled water to go, but it doesn’t hurt to ask a staff member if you don’t see it handy.
My favorite lounge perk we encountered was the showers. Halfway through our 30-hour trip, we had a long layover in Frankfurt. Though we’d flown Lufthansa there and were heading out on Ethiopian Airlines, both are members of the Star Alliance so we were able to check out the Air Canada Business Class Lounge and refresh with showers. You just go up to the check-in desk and ask to be put on the waiting list, they come to get you when one is free and you get a little shower room all to yourself. It was incredibly refreshing. We saw this at several lounges later in our travels but never had quite enough time to do it again.
The Ethiopian Airlines Cloud Nine Lounge in Addis Ababa offered a special coffee lesson (pictured below). You can sit down and they will brew Ethiopian coffee in the traditional way and let you ask questions and sample it. I am sure many other lounges offer special perks like this, but this was the most unique thing we saw in a lounge on our trip.
All other perks and free things aside, it’s just nice to relax in comfy chairs and enjoy non-florescent lighting while you wait for your flight. If you are flying business class, don’t miss checking these spots out.
How To Pack
I think this is an important trip for any flight, because who wants to lug around excess stuff? But one of the great things about business class, particularly on long international flights, is that you get an amenity kit! There is quite a range depending on how long your flight is and which airline you are flying, but the goodies range from a toothbrush to moisturizer to eye masks. The restrooms are stocked as well with some extra amenities. So your toiletry bag can stay tucked away in your checked bag, business class has you covered.
If you do want to take a big bag with you, go for it! The storage bins in your cabin are dedicated to the passengers seated there. Some flights even have extra storage compartments in and around the seat so you can have easy access to your items without having to stand up and access the overhead bins. Most people seem to travel light so you’ll have plenty of room.
If you are wearing a suit jacket, the flight attendants will kindly hang it up for you and return it just before you land. Some seats even have hooks located right by the seats.
Entertainment
On the long flights, you’ll be comfortable laying flat and able to get a good night sleep, most of your awake time is actually spent eating because of the multi-course meals and drink services. The interactive displays include huge lists of movies, podcasts, and music. Do be mindful that in shorter flights you may not have a dedicated monitor to yourself. They’ll often have a shared screen that shows a pre-determined movie. Most of the flights I took also offered a selection of popular and local newspapers or magazines pre-departure.
What to Wear
You don’t necessarily have to dress up to sit in business class. But sitting in fancy seats always makes me want to put my best foot forward. Some of the longer/overnight flights offer complimentary pjs for you to put on when the lights go out and you are ready to sleep. So you don’t have to sacrifice comfort for the trip. Most at least offer you socks and a sleep mask for the journey. Check the details of your flight/airline – you can always pack your own comfy clothes. I saw lots of folks changing into loungewear for the nighttime part of the trip.
The Food
Even during the short flights, we had snacks. On a one and a half hour flight, we were served hot lunch with dessert. On a 7 hour flight, we had a four-course meal including a choice of 4 different Ethiopian dishes or selection of all four! On the long haul flights, we had multiple meals during the journey. Though each time we had more than enough to eat, it seems to be quite acceptable to ask for multiple things off the menu if you want to sample a few.
Do be mindful of your flight times and how they correspond with meals, on most flights we ate right away but on flights that started between meal times there would often be a delay before a meal was served. It’s always a good idea to be prepared and pack snacks. You can always grab a bite to eat or complimentary beverages in the lounge before or after your journey.
Tips About The Free Drinks
One of the best perks of business class is that you can actually get some sleep. It’s tempting to drink the all the free wine, but don’t forget to stay hydrated and get some shut-eye. Your final destination will be much more enjoyable if you arrive refreshed. I just wrote about a few of my favorite ways to stay healthy while traveling in this post.
That being said, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to take advantage of complimentary beverages along the way and that’s part of the fun for sure! Every business class lounge I’ve been in offered a complimentary bar, most flights offered a pre-departure glass of champagne (or Orange Juice + a bottle of water), and there is fairly constant wine/bar service in flight. If you enjoy a glass of port, I highly recommend trying some with the cheese course – so delicious!
Seat Research
All business class seats are not the same, so if you have a choice, do your research to get the best experience. Longer flights and bigger planes generally have much more comfortable seats. My favorite plane-based travel bloggers are One Mile at a Time and The Points Guy. They both cover luxury plane travel extensively and can clue you into the best experiences before you take flight. I love to use Seat Guru to look at seat maps and for this trip, I just googled the plane types and looked for blog posts and photos of what the seats look like.
In addition to photo and blog research, take a peek at the seat map and be sure to call the airline if you want to switch around your seats. Even in business class, there can be an art to choosing the best seat. Every once in a while you’ll still have three seats to a row or a section with no window access. If you are traveling alone be sure to choose wisely between the window and aisle seats so you don’t have to climb over people or be climbed over during the trip. This is especially important when the seats lay all the way flat, you don’t want to be navigating your way over sleeping strangers to access the restrooms.
Choosing Your Itinerary
As I mentioned in tip one, you can often get access to lounges at the airport. Be sure to know your airline, airports, and connections to take advantage of these perks. A slight change in your itinerary might make a big change to your trip.
Think about the perks you have too, I get lounge access and TSA pre-check from my credit card, so if the business class status happens to not get you priority everywhere you might get it from one of your other places. Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe is a fairly small international airport so they didn’t have a business class lounge, but priority pass had one so I was able to use that perk there. LAX’s international terminal often does not have TSA pre-check open, but our gate agent let us know where to go to check for the shorter line.
You can also google the types of planes and routes to see what other fliers have experience. I personally don’t mind spending a little more time in airports and on planes if the overall journey will be more comfortable.
Has anyone else gotten to try business class lately? What are your favorite tips? Let us know in the comments!
I have recently flown business class on Etihad from Sydney to London which was lovely but my usual business class flight is Qantas where I paid for business and was upgraded to First from Sydney to Dallas some sixteen hours!!! Pretty special. Happy to pay Business but would not pay for First. Way too expensive!!