Project 60 Number 55 - Flying Business Class.

There was an offer on, otherwise I wouldn't have contemplated it. An offer, to Stockholm, in August and we'd been thinking about going over to see The Magic Flute that month. And the OH was stressing because if we didn't get some serious flying in before the end of September he was going to lose his Bronze status in the British Airways Executive Club and be reduced to being only blue and that of course was not to be contemplated since as everyone knows being blue is Worth Nothing. (I am probably in a similar position, except that my BA Executive Club membership gets reviewed in November at which point I am fairly sure that I will be reduced to blue and actually I am not all that bothered but horses for courses, some people get more exercised about this stuff than others. Anyway we booked it. 

I don't know how much it cost because I would probably have been horrified so I didn't ask, but whatever it was I doubt it was worth it. We are obviously not Business Class material.  Business class still gets fed,, whereas in economy these days if you want to eat and drink on shorter flights you have to buy stuff. They brought a menu round and my first thought was 'oh dear'. As were my second and third thoughts when the food actually came. Here's a thing. I like melon. I like thinly sliced melon. Thinly sliced melon that has been peppered, not so much. I like raspberry dressing with melon. I do not like 'raspberry and seafood' dressing, with or without melon. The main course was chicken with bits stuck in the skin which was fine because I could scrape the skin, and the bits, off.

[The chicken came with gnocchi. I have seen people make gnocchi on a plethora of cooking competitions on the TV. They mutter and complain and stress about how difficult it is to make gnocchi, which should be like little pillows  of silk in the mouth, and how so often a simple error in the prep or the cooking means that they are anything but, and oh dear! will their gnocchi on this occasion turn out alright etc etc. This is often supplemented by the judges on the side-lines chatting amongst themselves and talking up the difficulty of producing perfect gnocchi under competition conditions and how easy it is to go wrong and really, all I want to do is scream at the telly and say  'If they're so bl**dy difficult and it stresses you out so much, why didn't you choose something else to cook?' From this you might infer that the gnocchi we had on BA were not at all like little pillows of silk, and in this you would be quite correct]

We were offered wine with our meal and I asked if they had any rose. The stewardess hesitated and then said 'No. She had had to think because they do have rose available for purchase in economy class, but they don't carry it in business class'. So that was me told. Obviously my tastes are far far too infra dig for business class. 

Coming back I had to ask for an extra plate of cheese as I couldn't eat either of the main lunch courses on offer; a Thai chicken dish or salmon. Since I don't like Thai food and I don't eat fish I was totally stymied and BA certainly made money on me for that leg of the journey.

The only good thing about travelling Business Class is that you get entry to airport lounges, which are small oases of calm and quiet in otherwise noisy and uncomfortable airports - as well as having food, drink and newspapers on tap. They are wonderful places to be, but as far as I know you can pay on the day to use them, which is probably much cheaper than the difference between economy and business fares. 

Would I do it again? I think it would only be really worth it on a long haul flight and that won't ever happen because we can't afford to do it on  long haul flights, which are eye wateringly expensive in the first place.