Squished
Last week, Kim blogged about the wonders of long-haul business class. I agree with her completely, especially since I just did a long-haul flight of my own from JFK to the Middle East in coach. Squished!
 I’m not very big, 5′3 and not too wide, but the pitch — the distance (as in lack of) between rows —  is the killer. I was on a Delta 767-300ERX, with a window seat and just one other seat between me and the aisle, but the lack of any foot rest or room to stretch my legs felt punitive. I did doze off and on–it was an overnight flight and I was tired–but whenever I woke up I had to go walk down the aisles, stand in the back and stretch my legs. It was a pretty full flight but I was jealous of those few who had an empty seat next to them and were curled up like puppies across a two-seat width.
Normally the Business Class fare would have been thousands more, something I wouldn’t have considered. I do confess that I saw a last-minute fare with several more stops that would only have been $500 more each way and was tempted, but it was an awfully big waste of time.
The night of my arrival in Jerusalem, I had dinner with friends who have children 10, 14 and 16. When the conversation got around to my flight, their dad asked if I had been in business class, and the kids asked what it was. I said it was a part of the plane where the seats were more comfortable and cost a lot more money, and they asked, in that to-the-point way children have, why you would do that. So I told them about lie-flat beds and how nice it is to be able to sleep and raise your legs etc. Then they asked why WOULDN’T you do that and I said, because it costs several thousand dollars more. Why DOES anyone do it, they then wanted to know.
Their dad told them a story of a consulting job that required him to fly back and forth between Israel and the U.S., and how it was written into his contract that he would be flown in business class. They understood that; that it was like a bonus, or an incentive, to do something you might not otherwise do. But why a person couldn’t put up with some discomfort to save a lot of money, that they didn’t understand. They were glad to hear that on my airplane there were several hundred people not spending the extra money and only about 40 who did.
It helped get my head on straight, too. I’d been feeling a little low-class and unappreciated, having to fly in the back of the plane; I’ve been spoiled over the years. But I’m glad I didn’t have to explain to those children why I spent a whole lot of money on some short-term personal comfort. I didn’t have to go straight into a meeting, I did have a day to relax and recuperate, I’m not 6′2 or 300 pounds, and I’m feeling virtuous. I wouldn’t turn down an upgrade for the return trip, though…
 –Mary Hunt, editor, eFlyer
