British Airways (BA) were kind enough to upgrade my inbound flight last week, so I got to fly Club Class.  BA have 4 classes of travel on long hall flights – world traveller (economy), world traveller plus (premium economy), club class (business) and first class.  The club class seats feature a personal foot stall, a large TV screen, an electric divider for complete privacy and a seat which reclines in to a completely flat position.

As I sat in my seat and watched the plane being boarded, there were a bunch of business people, along with some American families sitting with me in the Club section.  All of the lower classes are towards the rear of the plane , so everyone has to walk past the classes above them in order to reach their seat.  The business people in Club tended to sit with a smug look on their face, as the lower classes held their heads in shame and walked to the back of the plane.  One American couple in particular took pleasure in standing up in their individual seating areas, smiling at passes by in an apparent attempt to hide their feeling of superiority.  Me…well, to be perfectly honest, I just felt a little awkward…

Whilst it felt nice to be sitting in the spacious seats, and exciting to think about the two sets of 3 course meals I would be served, I couldn’t help but think about my previous travel experience of walking past Club class to economy (or sometimes premium economy).  How many times do you think I walked past the business travellers and thought “they look so cool”?  And how many times do you think I walked past and thought “look at those smug gits, with smiles on their faces watching the lower classes walk past them”? 

To avoid looking like one of the ‘smug gits’, I decided to concentrate on reading blog posts on my iPhone with an obvious frown on my face – to make sure everyone knew (or thought at least?!) I wasn’t enjoying watching them walk past.  But then I realised that people may think I was completely blasé about sitting in the business class section of the plane, and I should in fact be happier that I get to spend the next 9 hours in relative luxury.

I decided that there was no way I was going to sit their comfortably…maybe that makes me a better person?  Maybe feeling superior for feeling a better person makes me even more of a smug git than those who enjoy the status of being in Club Class?  Anyway, there was nothing I could do about it, so I tried to ignore the perceptions from people in the other classes and simply enjoy my upgraded seat.

In addition to the spacious private seating area, Club Class also comes with an enhanced plane dining experience.  Before take off the stewardess  handed me a menu with a number of dining choices for the two meals which would be served during the flight (dinner and breakfast).  Whilst the choices were limited, as you can see it’s not too bad considering all of the food was being stored and cooked on the plane…

There was also a good selection of wine and champagne…

Unfortunately, the tasty sounding peppers had run out by the time they came to ask me my selections So I opted for a salad to start, followed by the ravioli.  The food was relatively simple by restaurant standards, but definitely an improvement over the normal packaged chicken or beef combinations served up in economy.  I must admit that I was not actually that hungry, however it didn’t feel right leaving some of the best plane food I had been served, so I slowly worked myself through the starter and main courses, but then opted out of the dessert.

My starter (salad)…

My main course (ravioli)…

Breakfast (fresh fruit, which was followed by a bacon roll)…

The seating layout in Club Class is designed to provide private ‘compartments’, which can be very secluded when the electrically powered divider section is raised.  I was in a compartment next to a mother and her two young children.  Based on the fact that Club Class seats cost at least £2000+ ONE way, I couldn’t help but wonder what she did for a job in order to be able to afford 3 of them!  I did get a little excited when I overheard someone call her ‘Mrs Cameron’, however when I heard her reply in an American accent I realised that she was not our Prime Ministers wife  

After take off I was keen to get the electric divider between our compartments up so that I could enjoy my privacy, however I felt a little awkward and anti social asking to do so (even though we not actually exchanged a single word), so decided to wait for Mrs Cameron to raise the divider herself.  For the first couple of hours it stayed up, however as I tried to get some sleep I guess that the sight of my backside, or the sound of my snoring must have been enough motivation for her to raise the divider and establish our private sleeping areas.

Sleeping in Club Class was a dream! (Couldn’t resist the pun! )  The electrically powered seats recline to a completely flat position, which along with the drop down foot stall creates a very comfortable flat bed.  I managed to fall asleep for several hours, on my stomach and hugging my pillow in the same way I do when sleeping at home.  I actually woke up at one point, went to the toilet and was then keen to get back to my comfy ‘bed’ for another hour or so.  It was by FAR the best nights sleep on a plane I have had.  The only down side was the fact that my flight was only 8:45 long, so after taking off time for dinner, breakfast, take off and landing, the actual amount of time I had to enjoy my sleeper seat was limited.

The Club Class flying experience is truly awesome, and I would love to do it again.  Saying that, the flights cost AT LEAST 5x as much as an economy flight, so I am not sure that I will ever be earning enough money to justify spending that amount of money on a flight, rather than on activities at my holiday destination.  I guess I’ll just have to be REALLY nice every time I go to the airport and hope that BA upgrade me again