First Class

Our return flight left at 6 am. This means we should have been at the airport at 4.45am. We woke up at 4.46am. We frantically ran around the hotel room, and started throwing our things in the suitcase. Luckily I had packed most of our things the day before, but there were still several things strewn about.

It was totally my fault too. The night before, I had a major headache, so I just went to bed without any more packing. I did set the alarm for 3.45am, but I was so tired that when it went off, I just turned it off, and went back to sleep.

When we arrived at the airport at 5.35am, they told us we were too late to check our luggage in. The next flight out was only an hour later, so we were put on standby for that. No problem there. We had 5 seats next to each other, and I even used 3 other chairs to sleep on for most of the flight.

In Chicago our luck wasn't so good. The next flight wasn't for another 4 hours, and it was pretty much booked. We were put on the standby line again, and waited. The crew couldn't help us at all until all passengers had boarded the plane. Joe found out he had a few free upgrades to first-class, because of all the flying he does for work. So they told us we could upgrade 3 tickets, and that the other 2 people might not be able to come.

By some stroke of luck or God sent help, 2 passengers didn't show up to board on time. They gave them the final notice twice, and when they didn't show, they gave us their seats. I was sooo relieved. The next flight would have been another 8 hours later. I can't entertain my tired kids for that long on 2 movies!

Joe was so nice, and let me take the first-class ticket. Sterling and Ginger also sat by me, and Winter flew in coach with Joe. It was nice to be up front with the ritzy people, except that I was stressed the whole way about any noise my kids made.

When the Stewardess came with a little silver platter with rolled up towels Sterlings asks: "What's that for?". I just chuckled, because I thought these things are only offered in movies. We washed our hands, and Ginger her face as well and settled in.

Not a moment after the double beep, the stewardess jumped out of her seat. She brought us little table clothes, and got the same question out of Sterling. Apparently when you fly first-class, the germy tray table is not usable without a tablecloth.

Even though all the regular folks only got sodas, we were offered a nice snack box with a variety of foods including crackers, salami, cookies, chips, craisins, and some others. (I think these snack boxes can be purchased by coach passengers for $5). Since my husband let me sit up in front, I thought I better take care of him, and sent him a few snack as well.Even though the seat was comfortable, we got a nice snack, and a warm towel, this experience has taught me a few things about first-class. First, it's stressful to sit there with young kids. Second, it's not worth the extra fare for domestic flights. I was expecting more. I was expecting a private tv screen. I thought I would have some kind of footrest to get my feet up. I thought they would hang a curtain between me and the 3rd-class passengers in the back (just kidding)

The only time I think first-class would be a good investment, is for intercontinental flights. These aircrafts (especially British Airways) take good care of their first-class citizens (I mean flyers). They get chairs that lay flat, luxurious meals, personal tv screens, private bathrooms, and curtains!