I don’t think I can ever fly coach again. Or fly on an American airline. Flying first class on an Asian airline was absolutely heaven, in every way. The service, the food, the amenities and of course the seat/bed/room was just amazing. Where to start?
First things first: how the hell did I pull off a first class ticket to Asia? Yup, I rode first class! Not economy, not economy “plus;” not even business. But first. Bought in cash, this class of ticket can run up to $11,000! My cost? $53.70.
So how did I do it? Airline miles. I went round trip, from San Diego to Beijing and then home from Seoul for $53.70 and airline miles. And 99% of these miles weren’t even earned from flying at all–they were almost all from credit cards.
So here I was, flying first class to Asia for the first time. This had been a dream of mine for decades! Decades!!! And it finally happened. My trip to Asia (Beijing) was on United and it was an awesome flight. I sat in the nose of the plane, diagonally, which was cool, the seat turned into a bed, the service was great and I ate like a king. But I had no idea how much nice the flight home would be. United booked me on their partner, Asiana, and I think it changed my life!
Here are some photos and video of the experience in first on Asiana, from beginning to end.
The first thing I noticed, was how special and hands-on my “check-in” at the airport was. Not only was I treated super nice at the counter, but when my bag and I were all checked in, the young lady from the airline personally walked me through security–through my own line (bypassing everyone else in all the other lines), and into the first class lounge. What service!
The Asiana lounge was awesome! It was huge, with an awesome buffet stocked to the brim with food, drink and tasty treats including green tea ice cream bars. The ambiance was dope with cool views of the tarmac. The lounge even featured these little coves to sit in with bookshelves all around; kind of like your own little mini-study. Grand piano in the center of the room. Fancy!
Imagine my surprise, when, hours later, a young lady tapped me on my shoulder and told me she was ready to escort me to my flight, which was now getting ready to bored. She grabbed my carry-on and walked me out of the lounge, over to the gate, down the walkway, and into the plane–right to my seat! I got everything but a goodbye kiss, it was amazing!
Okay, now let’s talk about the flight…
Okay, now time to eat. Whoah, what a magnificent meal!
The meal was exquisite! I lost track of the courses.
After dinner it was time to snooze, and I fell asleep pretty quickly while watching TV.
I had some sweet dreams and woke up in the A.M. to an elaborate breakfast.
This flight was the best one I’ve ever taken. I learned to always try and fly the Asian airlines if you have a choice…so much fancier than the U.S. airlines. Not that the American first class flights are bad, but the service on these Asian airlines just blows ours out of the water. All the reason to rack up those miles, and if you can practice some of the tricks I’ve learned, you may be so much closer to a flight like this than you think! Happy flying!
