Has anyone flown First Class?

[AintNobodyHereButUsChickens]

I mean the really fancy looking ones with your own little 'room' like Emirates, Singapore etc...

Was it as amazing as it looks? I'd love to experience flying first class one day, but unless we win the lottery or something it'll probably never happen!

@grass321

I'd have been really pissed off if they'd called my child as gannet. I bet thank rankled.

Let's hope she meant to say 'he's got hollow legs' of similar, and messed it it.

I was coming back from India a number of years ago. Got on and my seat was double-booked. I was asked to wait, they'd look in to it. I was expecting to not fly that night. A steward came back and ask if I'd mind very much if they put me in first class. Mind? I was mortified😉 A month rattling around India, lots of Dahl chaval type food. Man, it was bliss.

Yes on Virgin. My partner at the time was an aircraft engineer for them and we got upgraded.

Since I've had to start paying for flights again - no 😂

I saw the funny side, partly as she's not wrong...

They did get to meet the pilots in the cabin on both legs (not during the flight). Although I'm sure that's not a first class only thing.

It clearly states on the website when buying a ticket that if a passenger requires a special meal that it should be ordered at least 24 hours prior to the flight. Travel agents will also ask and if they don’t the passenger should ask them. This is the same for the majority of airlines, perhaps even all of them, who do not routinely upload special meals - just how many would they know to provide of each special meal and how many of varieties of special meal would they upload? Six servings of each variety which would amount to about 50 meals - which is 50 less ordinary meals for passengers without dietary requirements who’d have to end up eating them. But that said on each flight there is usually a choice of about 4/5 main meals including international, Middle Eastern and Asian dishes along with a good choice of various starters and desserts.

Also, I fly Oman Air if it covers my destination and I only ever fly in 1st or Business though I have been in economy and I know for a fact you could have had meals on board even without the crew having to create something for you by taking items from other meals and serving them up to you. And they would have done the latter as a matter of course.

I don’t believe your nonsense.

Yes I have flown first class on Emirates to Sydney on the A380 a few times. It was fantastic!

It starts with the chauffeur who drives you to the airport then at boarding there is a separate air bridge only for first class so you don't have to mix with the plebs in business. 😁

The "little room" is lovely and private. There are no overhead lockers but plenty of storage space for your carry on bag. The doors don't go all the way up to the roof but enough to give you a feeling of total privacy. It helps that I am very petite, just under five foot, so it was super roomy for me. The bed was more than big enough to stretch out on.

If you want to socialise you can head back towards business class to the crescent shaped cocktail bar.

The service is very attentive and there are no fixed meal times, you can have any food and drink from the menu whenever you want it and of course as much Champagne as you can stomach. I think it was Dom Perignon from what I remember.

One of the best features was the shower room. It's not just a shower but a whole bathroom with underfloor heating. I always had a shower whether I needed one or not!

I flew Emirates first class with an ex in 2009, it was on the A380 from London to Dubai and then to Johannesburg a few days later. He was tying it in with a business trip so his company paid for his flights and his (wealthy!) parents paid for mine as we were meeting them in SA. It was a great experience, especially the food and the 'shower spa', but I'd never pay that kind of money for flights myself in a million years. I've flown business to the US and Canada (twice using air miles which covered most of it and one unexpected upgrade at the airport due to a seating allocation error) and I think it's better value for money, although again personally I wouldn't be bothered enough to fork out the full price for it.

Yes. Emirates was the best I’ve tried. I got a decent sized bottle of Bulgari perfume in the goodie bag.

Yes. BA to LA, NY and Chicago in the v late 80s/early 90s.

Wonderful, because my Employer picked up the bill.

Yes but in the 90’s the first class so much different than now. But i did fly in private jets often back then.

Yes , in Emirates many times. I prefer the 777 300 as you do have a private room, with floor to ceiling doors. But the only airport that aircraft flies from in the UK is Stanstead, which is a dire airport. I love every aspect of it. From the chauffeur who picks you up, fast track through security, the first class lounge in Dubai, the vintage champagne, £700 bottles of brandy, and the wonderful service onboard.

Yes Emirates 1st class. The champagne, food, snacks are all amazing. The mattress, duvet and headphones are all superior to business class. The amenity bag and tote bag are awesome! And having a shower and blow drying your hair at 39000 ft was unreal! The TV is 32inches! One of the differences which I wasn't keen on is food/meals are on demand so you press your buzzer for service. Sometimes they ask if you want to be woken up if they are passing by with drinks. Oh also the chocolates and dates are amazing lol.

Not first no but business yes - just a few days ago to and from Dubai. I wouldn't like to be stuck on my own in a little pod!

Oh I flew emirates A380

Courtesy of dh’s air miles, yes, with BA to Australia. Nice flat beds, pyjamas provided, and they ask when you’d like to eat. 🙂
Several times Club, too, but only for relative long haul. A waste of air miles/money IMO for short haul.

Downside is, it completely ruins you for any future Cattle Class flights, at least for long haul, esp.night flights.
The First/Club lounges IMO make the whole PITA airport business a bit less of a PITA, too.

I bloody love first class.

@ArnoldBee

For info/benefit of nervous flyers..

I went in the cockpit for take off! Bit concerning about the amount of water that comes through the windows and the amount of flannels in there.

It won't have come through the windows, it'll be the result of condensation which builds and freezes in some of the nooks and crannies behind panels when the aircraft is at altitude. That then thaws out as the aircraft descends and manifests itself either on landing or on the next take-off as the aircraft decelerates or accelerates.

The 747 was particularly bad for it, and yes, flannels were useful..

Yes, First Class with BA to NYC, Shanghai, HK and LA a few times.

DH was flying a lot (and I mean a lot) all over the world with work and had Gold Card status and Air Miles coming out of his ears, so we used them to fly on short breaks and regularly got upgraded from Business to 1st. I was in my very early 30’s.

The first time I ever turned left into the 1st Class compartment in the nose of the plane, the steward blocked me and snootily told me I was in the wrong section. His face, when I showed him my 1st class ticket, was priceless. He thought I was blagging - we clearly didn’t look the part 🤣. Then it turned out DH and I were his only 1st class passengers that flight and so he had to direct all his (overly attentive, IMO) efforts towards us.

Flown first with BA a few times with airmiles. Other than the extra room and the vastly better food and drinks the best thing for me was the service. We were once in the 1st row and the pilots let us sit in the cockpit before take off and wear their hats which was really fun, I still like looking at the photos.

I flew First Class many years ago with Kenya Airways.
None of those posh pods or beds malarkey just very comfy, spacious seats & yummy food.
The return journey we had to go through mega-strict security at Nairobi- stuff we'd taken as hand luggage on the way out was confiscated. Very strange.
Even stranger was that Mum & I were the only people in First Class when we boarded...

The plane taxied away from the terminal then stopped in the middle of the runway. Lots of very big black luxury cars & some army vehicles surrounded the plane & the then Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki boarded with lots of officials & a very large security detail.
He was sitting directly in front of my Mum - they obviously didn't see her as a security risk but explains why they confiscated her plastic tweezers - but otherwise we were surrounded by stylishly dressed bodyguards.

After the meal, I fell asleep & woke to find that in my sleep, I'd slumped over the bodyguard in the next seat. I was embarrassed, don't think he was that impressed either but everyone else found it hilarious.

The President & his team were charming. I don't know what his politics were but he was a lovely man. We got treated extremely well by all of them, very gentlemanly.
At Heathrow, the plane again stopped before it got to the terminal so that lots of black luxury cars could get the President off the plane then we taxied up to the terminal & got to leave the plane first.

I'd like to try one of the big airlines with the pods, bed, showers, etc but as my only first class experience so far, that flight on Kenya Airways was very special.

How rude! Were you on my flight? No you weren’t. I booked my meals and they didn’t provide them. Full stop.

@PollyThePixie ’s experiences of Oman air are closer to mine - though biz and economy. Catering is superb and they’ve always done really good child meals in request for kids who do t like the curries. I love Oman air.

Yes, upgraded from business. It was a night flight so I ate in the lounge then slept for most of it. The bed was comfier with a proper duvet and pyjamas.

I don’t believe you.

Yep this happened to my diabetic coeliac step dad when he was flying to Oz. His pre-booked meals didn't show up, if my mum hadn't packed emergency supplies he would have been in real trouble.