I’d officially like to pledge my allegiance to this airline. They’re the first (and so far the only) airline that I’ve travelled business class with, so I have a loyalty there. And they’re on Star Alliance, so I get miles, which are always good :)
I’m in a good place right now, considering I thought this was going to be the worst flight I’ve ever taken in my life. It’s eleven hours from Johannesburg to London Heathrow, flying 5644 miles sat in economy, tired but unable to sleep, with plane food and no elbow room and I don’t have a copy of Mockingjay to read. I asked if I could upgrade to business class but they said all of the business class spots were taken. That was when I had to face the reality. x.x
Just for good measure, as I headed through the departure gate (after sadly saying goodbye to Shawna) I asked again if any spots had become available – you never know, someone doesn’t show up or switched to a later flight or something. But the woman took my ticket, going through her motions, scanning it as she told me that all the spots in business were full.
Then she scribbled out my seat, 85K, and switched it to 18G.
“Is that a window seat?” I asked.
“No, it’s aisle,” she replied, “but it’s all I have left.”
“Cool,” I shrugged, “thanks”.
But in my head, my casual “cool thanks” was far more than a casual “cool thanks”. In my head it was a whine: “what? Now I have to do everything I’ve already mentioned IN AN AISLE SEAT?”
(In the argument of aisle vs window, I’m firmly in favour of window because it means I only have to move for myself. I’m not inconvenienced unless it’s for my own benefit. Also you can sleep against the wall of the plane.)
I should clarify that I wasn’t that bitter. Planes are a modern miracle of machinery. My life is a happy one. I was just anticipating the oncoming discomfort with less joy.
So I get on the plane, show the woman my ticket, and she says “straight on and to your left”, and I say thank you and assume there’s some strange bit of the plane I haven’t noticed that’s to the left of me but is also still economy.
And then I notice 18 is the back row of seats for business class and somehow I’ve been UPGRADED FOR FREE.
And then my nonplussed “cool thanks” comes back to haunt me. Now I sound ungrateful. “Cool, you put me in the next class up for no money. It’s an aisle seat, so thanks, I guess.” I obviously wouldn’t have whined in my head about it being an aisle seat if I’d known it was an aisle seat in BUSINESS FUCKING CLASS :D
So this was just a wonderful turn of events, and means I’ll get a good night’s sleep tonight, which I am a happy about :) I was worried about not being rested enough because I’ve decided to visit my nan and grandad tomorrow – I haven’t seen them in a while, so I’m heading straight there off the plane. I’ve also decided to have a long bath tomorrow evening because I haven’t had a bath in years, not since we moved house and got a standing shower. Oh, and I’ll have Mockingjay. So it’ll be a wonderful peaceful day <3 Lessons learned in Zambia; take each day slowly, do things worth doing and enjoy the experiences, no matter how small.
Thanks to all the people who said I should write more in the comments of my last blog entry, by the way :) This blog is just a little outlet for me, so I’m glad people appreciate it.
x
