First and business

A First Class Proposal: Celebrating in the Sky

T.L. Rob

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July 1, 2020

Flying in international first class can be quite an amazing experience. Booking these seats can be tough to do since more and more airlines are removing first class cabins from their planes and devaluations are increasing the costs of these premium seats. But given the opportunity, the experience of flying international first class is well worth the effort. Especially when you are celebrating an engagement.

Some carriers in the oneworld alliance have amazing first class options, and I knew I wanted to book my girlfriend and I in one of these premium cabins before the American Airlines devaluation earlier this year. In order to top off my AAdvantage account, I applied for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select card when the sign-up bonus was increased to 50,000 miles. For our most recent international trip, we needed to get from Paris to Hong Kong, and first class seemed like the way to go. A one-way reward between Europe and Asia cost 70,000 miles (now 90,000 miles) and here were the options I could consider:

The only nonstop option was on Cathay Pacific. We flew Cathay last year and had a great experience, but as tempting as it was, we wanted to try out a new carrier.
British Airways was an option going through London, but I ruled them out because I didn’t want to pay high fuel surcharges.
Another choice was to fly Qatar Airways via Doha. American normally doesn’t let you transit a third region on awards, but they make an exception on certain routes when flying through Qatar’s hub. This option became our top choice since Qatar flies their A380 on their CDG-DOH route.

I used British Airways’ website to search for award space since American’s website won’t find award inventory for Qatar flights. Once I was able to confirm availability on the dates we needed, I called the AAdvantage desk to book, and I used my American Express Premier Rewards Gold Card (3X on airfare) to pay the taxes which came to roughly $101 per person. Done!

Fast forward to our trip. We’d done quite a bit of traveling so far for the year, and we’d already flown in business and economy so far on this trip. But now it was time to be blown away.

Qatar doesn’t offer ground service in Paris, so we had to arrange our own transportation to the airport and chose to take the convenient Roissybus. Once we arrived at the terminal, we made our way to the check-in counter, and found the first class line empty as only one of their flights each day offers a first class cabin. As you can see, I was all smiles but for whatever reason, the agent was not.

The first class check-in line was emptyWe were given passes to visit the lounge designated for business and first class passengers. Qatar contracted the Salon Galaxy lounge, and although it was small, it wasn’t crowded so it ended up being fine. We found a quiet corner then visited the food and beverage area for a snack, but the options were fairly limited. This was a little disappointing, but I knew we’d have a great meal on our flight, so it was actually a good thing we didn’t eat too much ahead of time.

We left in time for boarding which was set to begin an hour before our departure. Once we showed our boarding passes to the gate agent, we were pointed to the section of the jetway for first class and we were greeted with big smiles as we were shown to our seats. A few minutes later, a flight attendant asked if we’d like anything to drink, so we asked for champagne. Sadly, we were told none was available until we were airborne so we opted for water until takeoff.

Qatar Airlines first class seatWe were impressed by the attractive Armani amenity kits. Mine featured some great Armani products including a small bottle of cologne to take with me. We were also presented dinner menus to peruse as we pushed back from the gate only a few minutes later.

Our flight attendant passed by and poured us champagne and offered to take our dinner order. After choosing our courses, I told him we wanted to finish our champagne then go to the onboard bar for a few drinks, then come back for our meal. He cheerfully obliged.

After we finished the bubbly at our seats, we walked through business class all the way to the back of the plane and found the gorgeous bar and an eager crew member ready to pour us some drinks. We decided to stick with champagne.

The bar on Qatar was at the back of the planeThe bartender was awesome. Since no other passengers had yet to discover the bar, we got all his attention. He asked where we’re from, where we were going on vacation, and so on. We told him about our trip and also mentioned that we had gotten engaged the day before. He was very excited and congratulated us and insisted upon more champagne.After an hour, we decided to make our way back to our seats for dinner. We said goodbye to our new friend, and I promised him I’d be back after dinner for a nightcap since I had yet to sample the Johnny Walker Blue that I had been eyeing behind the bar.

The flight was off to a great start, but there was still much, much more ahead.

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From Paris to Doha in First Class: Surprise Engagement Party on the Plane

T.L. Rob

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July 9, 2018

I shared my recent story about an exciting flight from Paris to Doha in first class on Qatar Airway’s A380. While the ground experience was nothing special, everything changed once we boarded and shortly after taking off. After spending some time in the gorgeous on-board bar, it was time for dinner.

Once we returned to our seats, our flight attendant greeted us warmly and asked if we were ready for our meal. I told him we were, and he went to work right away.

Without hesitation, I’d ordered caviar to start. Who could resist this?

Next, I enjoyed a classic Arab Mezze. Each dish in this course was more than enough for me to sample and savor, so I had to make a conscious effort not to eat too much.

For my main course, I had shrimp with a salad and sugar snap peas. While very enjoyable, I didn’t love the breading on the shrimp, but the dish was still very good.

I ordered cheese for my last course that came served with crackers, almonds, some dried fruit and a preserve. I took a break from the champagne and ordered a glass of port.

After a wonderful dinner (and several glasses of wine), my fiancé decided to get a little rest. Our flight attendant asked if I needed anything else, and I told him I’d planned to go back to the bar for another drink before going to sleep.

“They’re expecting you,” he replied.

As I made my way back to the bar, I thought that was a funny response. Maybe he was just being extra nice, or perhaps he and the bartender had spoken and let each other know of my intentions. After a moment, I didn’t think much of it, and I made my way through the curtain to the bar area.

“SURPRISE!!!”

I was startled. A large group of people I didn’t know (other members of the crew and a few business class passengers) were shouting. My first thought was that this surprise was intended for someone else. But I quickly realized this surprise party was, in fact, for me.

A flight attendant came up to me and said, “Where is your beautiful fiancée?” as she held a bouquet of roses she had made. Still in shock, I realized this party was meant for us, the newly engaged couple. Uh oh, she went to sleep. I looked around and saw the effort put into this impromptu event. I had to go get Sarah. I told the crew and other guests that she had gone to bed, but I would get her and bring her back to see everyone.

As I walked back up to the front of the plane, I contemplated what to say to convince her to follow me to the bar while not spoiling the surprise. Unsurprisingly, she was a little groggy but I told her I had to show her something that would only take 10 minutes. Reluctantly, she put on her slippers and followed me to the back again.

“SURPRISE!!!” shouted everyone again.

Immediately, Sarah knew what was up. I could tell she was tired, but she had a big grin on her face. Everyone who greeted me a few minutes earlier had stuck around to surprise us again. Sarah assumed I had arranged this, but I had nothing to do with it. One by one, people came up to congratulate us. The flight attendant who had made the bouquet gave it to Sarah and more champagne bottles were popped.

A few minutes later, another crew member presented us a plate where she had arranged a cake and fresh fruit and written our initials around the edge “Congrats R and S.” Simply amazing! Before we could eat this beautiful plate of food, the crew wanted to take lots of pictures. They borrowed our iPhones to snap some pictures and also wanted to take picture with their own phones and tablets.

From our short interaction about our engagement with the bartender, he must’ve alerted the right people to throw us a little party. Looking back at the pictures, you can tell how genuinely happy everyone was for us. We just couldn’t believe the great lengths they crew went to, and I had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Since the crew was working, they couldn’t drink of course, so after a few minutes, the crowd dispersed. Sarah, too, wanted to go back to her seat to try and get a little rest. Even though I’d had two more glasses of champagne, I still wanted to sample that Johnny Walker Blue. My pal behind the bar was happy to pour me a glass. After this last drink, I needed to get some rest.

Unfortunately, I only had about 45 minutes to test out my lie-flat bed before the lights were turned on and the crew was waking people up to prepare for landing. My nap had been cut short, but I was on Cloud Nine after such an incredible flight. I didn’t want this experience to end.

You’ve probably heard stories of people getting engaged mid-flight, but I’ve never heard about a crew throwing a surprise party for their guests. This was the most wonderful gesture ever. Qatar’s A380 has the largest bar space of any on-board bar, so that certainly made the special event possible. There’s no way to know for sure, but I wonder if we’d simply been in business class (or economy) if we’d gotten the same treatment. I’m going to selfishly go out on a limb and say no.

Looking back, I’m still in awe of this flight. Sure the food was amazing and the bar on board was stellar, but the simply incredible service of the crew will certainly make this a flight we’ll never forget.

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