Business Class!

Have you even flown in the Business Class section of an airplane? Was it on a 12-hour flight across the Pacific Ocean? That's exactly what I (and five of my teammates) got to do, though it was a fluke.

The airline employee at the ticket counter in Denver did not check us all the way through to Beijing. (We transfered from United to Air China in San Francisco, but the two airlines are partners--she should have done it.) When we got to San Francisco, we were told that we could check in for our next flight at the gate. Unfortunately, an employee didn't show up at the gate until right before boarding time. As it turned out, we had to go back out to the ticket counter to check in. By this time, they had given away our seats, and the plane (a 747) was already mostly full.

We took a moment to pray. Then, one by one, they handed us a boarding pass and sent us to the plane. Fortunately, there were no security lines and the gate was not too far away. By this time, the plane was already late for departure, but we all got on.

Then, we had a new problem...most of us. Some one was already sitting in my seat, and in Megan's. Now what was I supposed to do? I guess those people had been bumped up to Business Class, but had not been informed. The flight attendants had to figure out what was going on, then they talked to the people sitting in "our" seats. Apparently they didn't want to move, so the flight attendants quickly ushered us "upstairs."

I climbed the stairs, found my seat, and was immediately offered a hot towel and a drink in a real glass. The seats were quite spacious, and reclined with a footrest. (They didn't lay flat like the ones in first class or on other airlines...I'm not complaining, though.) My blanket was like a comforter, and my pillow was nice and fluffy. We were given slippers, and a gourmet meal. Here are a couple of pictures:

By the way, the plate on the right with the shrimp, is just the appetizer. We had our choice of main course between beef, fish, or seafood. (I can't remember what I chose.) You may also notice the TV screen in that picture. Each seat had its own screen (of course) and we could choose between a variety of programming, "on demand" movies, and a few games. Before they turned out the lights so we could sleep, they gave each of us a bottle of water and a small ditty bag. Inside I found earplugs, a sleeping mask, a toothbrush with a tiny tube of toothpaste, a razor with a small packet of shaving cream, a shoe horn, and a comb. We got to keep all of it:

All of a sudden, this is not feeling like a church trip! Unfortunately, not all of my team got to sit in business class. Erik, Brittany, PD, and Tyson were scattered downstairs in economy class. For them, the flight was not as enjoyable. From what they said, the lights were not extinguished, the movies were lame, PD didn't even have earphones, and they had trouble sleeping. We kept our excitement to a minimum around them, to avoid rubbing it in. But, I'll tell you...it was an awesome experience! Here you can see some of our team members: