7 things I didn’t know about flying business class

Up until last month I was a Business Class virgin. Sure I’ve had a handful of domestic business class flights (ummm…3 in my life), but never had I experienced the pointy end of the plane when flying internationally. Why pay an insane amount of money, I reasoned, to upgrade for a little extra comfort for a few hours on a plane when I could use that money to upgrade to better hotels, more shopping and a longer time at my destination?

Sound advice. 

But, here’s the thing – I find myself in my 54th year, with a successful business, 3 young adult children who are increasingly independent, along with more time, money and freedom than I have ever had. Like many women in their 50+’s whom Forbes describes as ‘Super Consumers’ I am part of a cohort that is the healthiest, wealthiest, and most active generation in history. I am ready to live and I am ready to spend. It’s my turn.

Last year I published my 5th book – The Life List – written after my kids’ dad died at 54 from cancer. His death is undeniably the worst experience my family has endured and it left me with a profoundly different mindset regarding how I want to live the rest of my life. I am no longer prepared to sit back and let life simply happen to me. My lifestyle philosophy is now one of ‘seize the day’ and I am focussed on actively designing and living my best life to the fullest while I am still young enough to enjoy it.

A ‘Life List’ is a list of things you want to experience and enjoy while you are still young enough to do so, as opposed to a bucket list which is essentially a list of things you want to do before you die. We tend to put bucket list items off until much, much later in life. But tomorrow is not assured and I am not interested in putting my life on hold until later – because later might be too late.

And so, when I decided to spend a month road tripping in Italy (also in accordance with my Life List philosophy), damned if I didn’t buy a ticket for a Business Class experience – what the hell, life is too short, no time to waste, you only live once…etc etc

Business Class met my expectations in many respects but certainly surprised me in others. Call me naive but here are 7 things I didn’t know about flying in style:

1. As a woman who is slightly shy of 6 feet tall with hip flexors so tight you could strum them and who does not normally sleep on a plane, I was very keen to have a seat that reclines to a bed. In fact, this was my key reason for booking BC. And the bed did not disappoint. It fully reclined, came with a padded mattress, velvet doona and two pillows. All very luxe. But what I did not expect was to be ensconced in a fully enclosed cubby with a door that was my private sanctuary for the trip. It was cosy but roomy, comfortable and private. As I was travelling solo I had a window cubby to myself – but I also loved the look of the individual aisle cubby’s which could convert to one bigger cubby/ double bed for couples travelling together (I saw one couple in their 80’s asleep holding hands). I had hoped for some sleep, but being able to lie down flat on my side with room to turn made all of the difference – on the way to Europe I had 8 hours sleep on the first leg and another 4 hours sleep on the second leg. I don’t sleep this much in my own bed. Priceless.
2. BC bathrooms are bigger than EC bathrooms. I did not know this! You can’t swing a cat in an EC bathroom, but a BC bathroom is roomy enough to swing the whole farm. Plus – and again, I did not expect this – the BC bathroom is cleaned after each use. Each time I headed to the loo I was greeted with the toilet seat down, a disposable toilet seat cover already in situ, no wee drips on the floor, no soggy toilet paper hanging off the seat, and no toothpaste spittle from the previous guest in the sink. Spick and span. Maybe not priceless, but definitely a bonus.
3. The BC SWAG is exceptional – I knew I would get free pjs and slippers, but I did not realise the quality nor that I would come away with a set of pjs for every leg of the trip (4 new sets of jarmies!). On top of that I was gifted beautiful French toiletries including face cream, body lotion, lip balm, perfume and a padded eye mask for each leg of the trip. There were also nice extra’s which weren’t for my keeping but made the flight even more comfortable including noise canceling headphones and hot towels. Bonus.
4. The BC aura extends beyond the actual BC ticket holder. I was travelling with my partner who, I note with more than a touch a jealousy, is one of those people who falls asleep as the plane taxi’s out of airport A and wakes up as the plane taxi’s into airport B. He was not interested in BC and opted for an EC ticket. However, as he was accompanying me we were able to check in together, his baggage was given the same level of priority as mine and he was welcomed into all of the spiffy lounges as my guest. Lots of sweet upgrades for him. Bonus.
5. I always knew that BC passengers board and disembark first, but I did not know that there are express security and customs queues for those with a golden BC ticket. No long 5 km treks up and back and up and back between ribboned bollards to get through security for me, thank you very much. I was whisked through a special fast track lane with a customs agent who even smiled at me. Priceless as this meant we managed to make a connecting flight that looked a little iffy.
6. The food is exceptionally good in BC. Way better than EC. The wine list is long and the alcohol is abundant. I’m not going to lie – I was not that interested in the food and grog. I had signed up solely for the sleep and spent the vast majority of my flights horizontal. But for those looking for the full foodie and accompanying alcohol experience – you won’t be disappointed. What I did not expect however was that the food is served on call (not when the food trolley eventually reaches you and you hope that there is some chicken left). So, after my beautiful 8 hour sleep I was able to order warm pastries, a hot chocolate and bircher muesli at whatever ungodly hour and time zone I was in at that point in time. I profusely thanked the attendant as he laid my table with a white table cloth, proper cutlery, a serviette and little salt and pepper grinders. Bonus.
7. This one is going to be controversial, but it genuinely surprised me – I was expecting BC to be full of, well, you know, business people. Not the case. Based on a general scan of my four BC flights there was only one person who appeared to be a business person travelling for work. The vast majority of my fellow passengers were elderly couples. While most of these older travellers were mobile, on my first flight there were 5 BC passengers who required a wheelchair to board and exit the plane. Before you howl me down, please know that I think it is absolutely ACE that there are so many older people travelling and doing so in style – my dad recently flew BC for the first time ever as an 84 year old and he deserved every second of that experience. But here is my point – I don’t want to wait until I am in my 70s or 80’s and in a wheelchair to experience the joys of flying BC. I want to do it now.

My BC experience was incredible and very worth it and very expensive and full of surprises. So, will I ever do it again? Hell yes.

Have you read?
World’s Best Countries To Invest In Or Do Business.
World’s Most Startup-Friendly Countries.
World’s Best Countries For Quality of Life.
Largest Economies Europe In 2024.
GDP of the BRICS countries (2000 to 2028).

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