Candes Saint-Martin, my favourite spot in La Touraine.

Wednesday 10 June 2015

A perfect flight

... The smiling face I looked into was that of my new (since December 2014) young colleague M. I knew she was travelling to Barcelona with her sister and two friends on the same morning. Yet running into her in the crowded departure hall was sheer luck! We chatted for a while, wishing each other a good flight (unlike me she's afraid of flying), after which I set out on my long walk to the departure gate. I walked through the Duty Free shop resisting the temptation of buying some perfume, treated myself to a small bottle of mineral water from a vending machine and found a comfortable seat near Gate A64. 

Little by little people started to arrive, which gave me the opportunity to practice my favourite hobby: people watching. Most of them were couples, mainly 60+, yet there were also two young couples with 'cry' babies. Next to me, three young girls on a 'girly' outing were vividly discussing the bars and dancing facilities on Corfu. 

On my way to Gate A64.
Boarding started at the announced time, starting with rows 20 to 30. As I had a seat in row 1, I was one of the last to go on board. We took off at 6.50 a.m., 10 minutes later than scheduled. Take off was smooth and yet exciting. Remember - I hadn't been on a plane since 1995 ... so the feeling was quite exhilarating.

Premium economy breakfast: fresh fruit salad, cheese, roastbeef,
jam, yohurt and a warm roll, yet to be served.

The people sitting next and behind me in rows 1 and 2 were all travelling 'Premium Economy', which is an upgrade of the standard Economy, in exchange for a small extra fee. For this you get: a glass of Champagne after take-off, a full breakfast, steel cutlery, a regular coffee cup and free soft drinks during the whole flight. Economy breakfast consists of a cellophane wrapped sandwich and cupcake (no cutlery, not even plastic), coffee or tea in a cardboard beaker and paying soft drinks.

Although I felt slightly selfconscious, I did enjoy these little extras; as did the other Premium passengers. After all, you only live once ...

I tried to make some conversation with the lady sitting in the middle seat, next to her husband in the window seat. The man was doing Sudoku puzzles during the whole flight and the lady looked kind of bored. However, she didn't seem interested in what I had to say and I soon gave up, returning to my reading and watching the plane's progress on the little tv screen on the bulkhead in front of me.

Sooner than expected the capitain announced that we were starting our descend towards Corfu. Half an hour later we made a smooth landing on runway 35, the only runway on Corfu Ioannis Kapodistrias - CFU airport. The weather was sunny +20°C, yet very windy. 

Two buses were waiting to drive the 180 passengers on board of our Airbus 320 to the terminal ...

9 comments:

chm said...

Does Premium Economy give you some extra leg room as well?

ladybird said...

Chm, If you are in the first row, yes. Otherwise no. Normally the first three rows are reserved for Premium passengers. If they are not fully booked, they are open to economy passengers, but without the 'fringe' benefits :). On the return flight I was the only premium passenger and the two seats beside me were empty. The A1-B1-C1 seats were occupied by economy passengers.

Craig said...

A perfect flight is one which lands safely in my opinion, but I do understand! I'm very tall and always pay extra for leg room and service. As you correctly say, you only live once! Pleased that your flight went well.

Bob said...

sorry the lady next to you missed an opportunity to meet a very interesting person!!! in any event, waiting on some photos from your visit.

Anne in Oxfordshire said...

Sounds like the perfect flight. I would go with the small fee upgrade too. Looks quite tasty. Hope it was. Hope you had a super time, look forward to reading more .. I haven't been on a flight for about 4 years now , one flight I didn't or couldn't talk to the person next to me . I was flying to Montreal and a young man sat next to me , put his headphones on and that was that.!!

VirginiaC said...

I'm enjoying this long awaited trip with you...so glad you got to go....can't wait for your next post.

Jean said...

Sounds like a great start to your holiday!
Air travel can be boring, frustrating and stressful, so you did well!

Bob said...

I agree with Jean, it is not as much fun to travel as it use to be in the "old" days (pre 911). Now you could have someone's pet pig sitting next to you!!!!!

ladybird said...

Craig, A safe landing, very important indeed. That's probably why so many people tend to applaud when the wheels touch the ground :)

Bob, I took over 700 photos, but only 200 or so are worth showing ...

Anne, Breakfast was very nice - especially the fresh fruit salad.

Virginia, I still have lots and lots of stories to tell.

Jean, I really enjoyed my flight. Probably because it was such a long time since I had been on a plane. It was all so new and exciting.

Bob, lol.