What it is like flying first class

When I was in third grade, I flew for the first time in a plane from Ohio to Puerto Rico. I remember watching the flight attendants traveling down the aisle with giant ice cream sundaes and steak dinners. I kept asking my mom when I would be served my food to only be handed a small bag of peanuts. We’ve all been there right? Trying to sneak a peek at what the lives of the rich and famous look like.

Since that moment as a child, I have always wanted to fly first class making it a bucket list goal of mine.

Recently, my husband and I spent a week and a half in romantic France (read my blog post on how I got to stay the night in the Palace of Versailles here).

We actually booked our flights before US citizens could travel to Europe due to COVID-19 because the flights were SO cheap. It was a risk worth taking for how affordable the flights were.

In fact, there were so affordable that we were able to secure two first class seats. I felt like I had found a golden ticket. According to Google flights, we got our seats for thousands of dollars cheaper than what we would have during normal travel times. I paid an extra few hundred dollars to get the flight with Delta because I heard that they have the best cancelation policies and Delta One’s newest fleet looked the best.

Leading up to the trip, I would count down “in two months we will be sleeping on a plane laying down flat” or “this time next week, I will be drinking champagne in the sky”. The idea of flying first class felt so luxurious and then, suddenly, I got to experience it.

One of my favorite movies is Last Holiday with Queen Latifah. She is flying economy to Europe and decides to upgrade her seat to first class. Or as they call it in the movie, her own “cocoon”. The flight attendants serve her champagne and roasted turkey dinners. I wanted that.

Here is how my first class experience compared to the movies

Checking in process:

There was a separate check in line for “priority”/first class. While in the Ohio airport, there wasn’t anybody in line anyway so this really wasn’t a perk. However, the line at the airport in Paris was a lot busier. We accidently got into the wrong line and really only waited about 20 mins longer than what the first class line would have taken.

Security:

Ok, this part was nice. In the larger airports like in Paris, we got to bypass the long security line and move straight up to the security check. The regular lines can take forever! We stood in line an hour for security when we went to Washington.

The lounge:

I was so excited for the lounge haha! If you have watched the series New Girl, you know the episode where Schmidt and Cece try to sneak into an airport lounge. In each airport, we visited the Delta lounge and some locations were nicer than the others.

They all serve some sort of food and free alcohol like wine, beer, cocktails (some specialty drinks for an upcharge). The Cincinnati, OH airport (CVG) had some dessert bars, hummus, sandwiches, chips, etc. The Delta lounge in the JFK airport was the best. They had a ton of hot food options and a variety of cuisines (everything from curry to Greek salad). The Paris lounge was a bit disappointing but it was during breakfast and they were out of a lot of food. They had scrambled eggs, sausages, pastries, and cereal.

The seats:

It really was like having your own cocoon! We chose to sit next to each other in the middle rather than sitting alone with a window seat. Each seat had a private “door” you could put up while you sleep, TONS of room to put your backpack, purse, etc. and have plenty of room for your legs to stretch out, a water bottle, headphones, amenities kit (toothbrush, toothpaste, socks, lotion, hand sanitizer, ear plugs, eye mask, etc.), pillow, blanket, and a flat screen TV to watch all the new movies, shows, games, and more.

I am really particular about my pillows and blankets (I actually travel with my own) and felt totally comfortable with the ones provided.

The seats have different options for reclining. I could just lift my leg rest, adjust the back, there were many options for helping me get comfy. This really helped because I get very motion sick on planes and being able to lay down flat helped SO much.

The food:

I still cannot believe how good the food was. We were given the option to pre-select our meals about a two weeks in advance. I suggest you do this because they might run out of one option if you don’t arrange yours ahead of time. This is especially important if you have allergies or you are a picky eater.

Before each meal, they come around and place a white cloth on your table that extends out in front of you (you can slide out of your seat and go to the bathroom or stand up without having to move your tray unlike the normal seats). They also bring the beverage cart around and you can get any kind of drink you would like. I stuck with water because I was already having motion sickness.

For my dinner on the way to France, I had a vegetarian lasagna. It came with a soup, salad, roll, butter, and it came with a Ben & Jerry’s individual ice cream cup. The other options included a beef or chicken entrée.

When breakfast came, I was given the option of oatmeal or eggs. I chose the oatmeal and loved it. It came with a side of fruit and croissant with jams.

Coming home to America, I had a cheeseburger and glass of champagne for lunch. I’m not sure what it was about this meal but it made me feel so special. It was delicious and the burger was hot. I ate every bite.

Later, they came around with warm chocolate chip cookies which I had a few of while watching movies all snuggled up with my pillow and blanket.

My last meal was a filet mignon which I had pre-selected. It was seriously one of the best steaks I have had. It was cooked perfectly, tender, no fat. It came with whipped potatoes, a salad, roll, and butter (I could see the flakes of salt in the butter, it was sooo good).

In my past experiences, when seated in economy, you basically get warmed up TV dinners that you peel the plastic off of (I prefer to just not eat). Premium economy gets you a meal more similar to the first class food.

The experience:

It was so much fun getting to experience first class. On the way to France, we sat next to John McEnroe who is a famous American tennis player. My husband is a huge tennis fan and was so excited to see him on our flight.

The experience of flying first class on our domestic flights was not really any different than the normal seats other than you get more leg room. I wouldn’t pay extra to fly first class from Ohio to NYC. The people on the first class domestic flights were very obnoxious. They acted totally entitled, were rude to the flight attendants, didn’t want to put their laptops away for landing, it was just a different atmosphere than the intercontinental first class flight where everyone was pleasant.

One the first class flight to France, the overall experience just made traveling so much easier.

You don’t have to wait to use the toilet because there are more to use, you can stand up straight and stretch while in your own seat area, you can lay down flat and get some sleep. As someone who is claustrophobic and gets motion sick easily, being able to stand up and use the bathroom when I want (and not wait for someone to move out of their seat), have unlimited snacks and drinks, get some decent sleep and wake up looking presentable for the day, it all made such a difference.

When we flew back from Italy in premium economy a couple years ago, I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin. I was so “ancy” feeling and couldn’t get comfortable in my seat for the 9hr flight.

This time, I cuddled up with my blanket and watched tons of movies, ate snacks, got up and walked around. I felt great.

In conclusion:

Now that I have flown economy, premium economy, and first class, I have to admit that first class is the way to go when flying overnight or a long time. I would say anything past 6 hours would be worth the splurge.

If you can’t score a great deal, flying premium economy is still a great option that I really recommend. You will only have two seats per section rather than three, you can recline a little further, and the meals are better than economy.

Overall, flying first class lived up to the expectations I had set all those years ago on my first flight.