![]() “It was designed by men,” the cabin staff laughs.Ībout an hour out from New York, afternoon tea is served. It requires cabin staff to finally free it, but the whole thing is handled good-humouredly. Quibbles? On my trip there is nothing special about the bathroom (other than its low user ratio), my personal storage space is gobbled up in full recline, and I wake to find my seatbelt trapped between the seat and the partition. I’ve flown in several business class cabins over the years, and though the wines were better on Air New Zealand, and Qatar Airway’s entertainment system blows them all away, I’ve yet to find an airline to beat Aer Lingus’s service.Īlso, the seats are ergonomic, the corporate greys and legacy greens make a tidy colour scheme, and there are laptop power points at one’s feet. Having said that, I doze off on my side (a real treat), and a passing crewmember offers a blissful whisper: “Do you want a duvet?” Regular business class travellers will know the difference between “angled lie-flat” and “full-flat” seats – usually a feature of first class – but it’s worth re-iterating. My seat comes to a halt at what I reckon to be around a 15-degree angle, leaving me to nod off on a slight, but noticeable, slope. I press the latter.Īlas, though light years ahead of the old cradle seats, the blurb on “lie-flat” misses a key word – “angled”. The buttons on my armrest show seats in straight-backed, reclining and ‘ZZZ’ positions. None of your Toytown headphones either – these are sizeable and softly padded and, needless to say, they are not sold at a pernickety fee. Controlled by a fairly intuitive handheld console, it offers 18 movies, 30 games and 60 hours of TV. The menu also offers fillet steak, roast duck and grilled sole, and desert options include cheese, sticky toffee pudding and apple custard cake.Īfter the meal, I go to work on the entertainment. My prosciutto and melon starter is perfectly good, but a main of mushroom tortellini with roasted vegetables and fresh asparagus tastes more like standard airline fare – the asparagus has been nuked, and the pasta tastes stodgy and reheated (which, I suppose, it is). Lunch is served in a flurry of white linen, with a selection of warm breads. “I’ll leave another here for you because there isn’t much in them,” she says, handing me a glass full of ice. I order a Coke, which comes in one of those silly 150ml cans, but the crewmember is on the ball. Within minutes, a blue duvet (100% cotton with a polyester filling) is delivered, and I stretch out in a 57-inch pitch that would eat economy for breakfast.Īfter take-off, a bar and canapé service arrives, including four wines served by the glass (amongst them a 2002 Saint-Émilion Grand Cru). There are magazines and newspapers on tap everybody gets a window or an aisle seat, and nobody threatens to fit coin-operated locks to the toilet doors. Looking around, I see smiles on faces, a complete absence of crankiness. This is what the golden age of air travel must have been like. It also contains a plastic Ziploc bag, which I presume is included should I plan to carry liquids or gels further in my hand luggage. Next comes a 500ml bottle of Tipperary mineral water and a complimentary toilet bag (bearing mouthwash, travel socks, ear plugs, a mini-toothpaste and brush and l’Occitane shaving cream, lip balm and face cream). ![]() ![]() I take a juice – fresh, chilled, and served in an agreeably heavy-bottomed glass. “I can mix the juice with the champagne if you like,” she offers. The only other person standing in the aisle is a cabin crewmember with a silver tray of drinks – water, champagne or orange juice. Pre-boarding the A330 (another perk), I turn left to locate my seat, 3H. Alas, there is no bypass of the annoying, hour-long immigration queue – which alone would justify the ticket price. Checking in at a dedicated desk at Dublin Airport, I proceed to loll about in the corporate lounge, grazing on free pastries and plugging into power points (as rare as hen’s teeth in the B gates). My business class experience begins even before boarding. The seats cost from €859 one-way – but are they worth it? The difference is business class.Īer Lingus cut back on its US routes last winter, but its business class cabins went the other way, with seven of nine A330s now retrofitted with “lie-flat” sleeper beds, 10% more personal space and an on-demand entertainment system. The difference can cost thousands of euros but it can also mean a choice between folding yourself up like human Swiss-Army Knife, or actually (shock, horror) enjoying a long-haul flight. Do you turn left or right when boarding an aircraft?
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