Business class travel

Business class … what a difference it makes. In the short flights and low-end airplanes you can’t really notice, but when you fly transatlantic you get treated like royalty. As soon as you walk in they offer you the newspaper of the day, any magazine you want, and some champagne. We’re flying Iberia and once you are in the air, they provide you with the menu, a wine list, and some warm nuts and olives. We had a verdejo white wine named Shaya 2010 from Rueda followed by vino tinto from Cadiz called Taberner 2006 and finally with the recommendation from the sumiller, Luis Cañas Reserva 2005 Rioja. Our starters were hot bread with extra-virgin olive oil (popular in Spain), veal consome, duck carpaccio with foie gras, fresh leaves salad with dried tomatoe, balsamic vinegar of Pedro Ximenez vinaigrette. As a main course you had the choice from beef tenderloin with cranberry sauce and vegetables sauté or steamed sea bass with tomatoe and aromatic herbs. The dessert was delicious: a cheese plate with prune, tres leches cake with coconut, and strawberry, lemon and passion gelato. To finish off a wonderful meal, we had a Cardenal Mendoza brandy and some infused manzanilla.

Following the wonderful meal, we lay down for a 4-hour nap on our seat while listening to music using noise cancelling head phones. The seat turns into an almost 180 degree flat bed and they provide you with a down comforter, pillow, socks, and eye cover. The entertainment system is your own personal TV loaded with music, movies, and games.

There are many other perks like a walk-up bar, flowers in the bathroom, etc.

So how are we flying business class around the world? No, we don’t have an extra $25,000 to spend. We saved miles on AAdvantage. With 190,000 miles, one can book a round the world ticket with 16 stops business class! Yes, you read well … if you think about it, that’s nothing.

How did we save almost half a million of miles? Credit card bonuses, always flying the same airline as much as possible, and other bonuses you can find on some award tip websites.

I look forward to the rest of our flights with various airlines: Royal Jordanian, Qantas, and Cathay Pacific.