We have a simple rule. If the flight is going to be over 6 hours then we fly business class. Fourteen hours down to Melbourne certainly qualifies.
We have flown business class with several airlines including KLM, British Airways and Japan Airlines. This time it was with Air Canada. They have direct flights from Vancouver to Melbourne, Brisbane or Sydney coinciding with the Aussie summer – December through February. We enjoyed our flight on the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner which is equipped with 30 “pods”. The great thing about business class is being able to stretch out. The pods flatten to 180 degrees and you have a soft pillow and a cotton duvet. Each of the 30 pods has an 18″ touch screen video for inflight movies and music.
The service was excellent with a tasty menu and a nice selection of wines and spirits. Air Canada needs to add some better movies, however.
The trick with business class is to get your travel agent to watch for the seat sales. January is often the month to save significantly on your business class fares. Frequent flyer points can also be used – or so I’m told. I never seem to be able to get these fares “on points”. There always seems to be a catch or I don’t have quite enough. I’d certainly be interested in hearing how people manage to save on business class airfare.
The other perks that are included in business class are:
- waiting in the lounge at the airport with plenty of free munchies and beverages
- speeding through security
- fast tracking through customs
- extra baggage allowance
- ability to change the flight date or time (for a small fee)
- ability to cancel the flight (for a fee)
- luggage first to come off the carousel
- first boarding and first off
The biggest thing for us about business class is getting directly to our holiday destination in comfort and feeling rested and ready to go when we land. It really helps to overcome the jet lag.
So, here we are in Melbourne.
Tomorrow we hit the Australian Open tennis tournament. It’s predicted to be 38 degrees!
Wish us luck.