I’ve never flown business class before. In fact, most of the budget airlines I’ve flown with during my life don’t even have business class on their planes.
You hear stories of couples on their honeymoon getting upgraded for free but we had no such luck during our first trip to New York in December 2024.
Since then I’ve learned a bit more about earning Avios and using these points to ‘pay’ for upgrades.
After completing the purchase of my mum’s house in January and with our second visit to New York on the horizon, it seemed a perfect time to try and rack up enough points to upgrade.
As Sainsbury’s customers, we’d already made a decent start by converting our Nectar points to Avios but it was mostly a very generous sign-up offer by American Express and using that card to buy our new kitchen that got us over the line (before immediately paying this off to avoid any scary interest).
There was no availability to upgrade on the way to New York but fortunately we were able to upgrade the return leg.
But how was it?
Well firstly, it meant we were allowed three checked bags each, which was a game changer in terms of bringing stuff we’d bought in New York back with us and meaning that we could keep our hand luggage to the bare essentials and not have to lug multiple bags through JFK.
It also gave us access to the Aer Lingus lounge. As someone with limited experience of lounges (my first ever lounge visit was before the outbound flight) I was really impressed.
Food and drink is self-serve – with a coffee machine, fridges full of beers and soft drinks and a whole range of spirits that you can be as generous with as you like.
As well as a salad bar, cheese/crackers and little brownies, there was a hot food offering of honey mustard chicken, boxty potato pancakes, cheesy cabbage gratin and roasted brussels sprouts.
The chicken in particular was really tender and the honey mustard sauce was delicious; I ended up going back for seconds.
Naturally, we were invited to board the plane first and were greeted with a glass of champagne, along with a washbag containing socks, a sleep mask, ear plugs, toothbrush, toothpaste, a pen, lip balm and moisturiser. Over-ear headphones, a blanket and pillow were also provided.
Despite having tons of leg room, we were told no bags could be left in the footwell so we had to transfer anything we wanted for the flight into the dedicated storage area in between our seats.
Best plane food ever
After a few minutes, one of the flight attendants took my food order and I opted for the salmon starter rather than the artichoke soup. It tasted really fresh, with the zingyness of the burnt lemon wedge and the crunchiness of the fennel slaw providing a perfect accompaniment.
The real star of the show was the seared grass-fed beef fillet main. It was generously sized, well seasoned and surprisingly tender; I genuinely have no idea how something prepared on a plane can be so good. I’ll even let them off for serving it with celeriac, which happens to be one of my most hated vegetables.
I also really enjoyed the flourless chocolate cake dessert, served with a tangy strawberry flavoured (and shaped) crémeux to cut through the rich cake.
I washed it all down with a Jameson and Coke and in my younger, heavier drinking days I’d have probably had several more but one was sufficient before deciding to try and get some rest.
It’s probably worth adding at this point that the menu was ‘carefully crafted’ using ‘melatonin-rich ingredients’ to help passengers ‘relax and drift into a restful sleep’ – I thought this was really thoughtful and a nice touch.
Lie-flat seats
One of the main selling points of business is the lie-flat seats, which are a bit of a lifesaver for a night flight where you need to get a bit of shut-eye. However, with it being my first ever business class flight and with me having no idea when I might get the chance to fly business again, there was a little bit of FOMO that meant I couldn’t fully relax, as I didn’t want the experience to feel as if it was over too quickly.
And although the seats are lie-flat and wider than a regular seat, it’s still narrower than a single bed and it took me a while to get comfy. I did manage to get around 2 hours of decent rest though, which is definitely more than I’d have got in economy.
I spent the remaining couple of hours having my back massaged by my seat, while watching Malcolm in the Middle on my iPad. There was also a great selection of films, TV shows and games on the built-in entertainment system, which also had a wider screen than in economy.
About an hour before landing, we were served breakfast, which was a bacon roll and granola with yoghurt and apricot compote. It wasn’t on the same level as the main meal but it definitely did a job.
Was it worth it?
It’s hard to say really.
While not an exact science, Avios points are generally valued at about 1p, which would mean that the 74,000 points needed to upgrade two adults is the equivalent of £740 (or £370 per person) and if you were paying for an upgrade in cash, it would likely cost you a lot more than that.
So you’ve got to ask yourself is a good meal, a better chance of a decent sleep, free drinks and more comfort worth that?
Ridiculous as it may sound, I did find the experience quite overwhelming as well, with a weird sense of imposter syndrome. I don’t think that the flight attendant looking after my side of the plane was the friendliest and some of his responses made me feel a bit stupid for asking questions.
I’m definitely glad I’ve done it and if the opportunity presents itself again, I’ll definitely take it but going to New York is already a bit of a treat so I think that would only be with points again rather than paying at least a few hundred pounds on top of my economy fare.
Have you ever flown Business Class and do you think it’s worth it? Let me know in the comments.
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