What One Guy Misses About Flying

[PeterRS]

Me? It's much less the flying itself and much more missing meeting up with old friends again in various countries in Asia. I'm an admitted travel junkie and so I can't wait to get vaccinated and for travel bubbles finally to open up.

For another self-confessed travel geek what he misses most is - airline food! Nik Sennhauser grew up almost on planes between Thailand where his Dad worked for a multi-national company and Austria where he went to school. Now based in Scotland, he spends his Sunday mornings making airline food for himself and his husband. 

I can't think why anyone would want to recreate airline food. When working for a multinational company, I had the luxury of business class travel most of the time, but the meals remain forgotten. Bumped up to first class on a few occasions, I was introduced to caviar and did enjoy it to the point where I always asked for a second helping - to the annoyance of the flight attendants who were probably limited to how much each passenger could be served. If there is one other item I recall it would be the wines, a few of which were spectacular.

Perhaps oddly, the one meal I recall with pure pleasure was on JAL returning on an evening flight from Tokyo in economy class not so long ago. The airline had asked some chefs to prepare some new economy meals. I thought mine the best airline meal I had ever enjoyed in any class in decades of travelling. Pity the wine was cheap plonk, though!

Nik's recreation of a United Airlines meal! Urghh!

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-57411754

[vinapu]

if one is hungry it actually looks good

[Vessey]

I have found that it helps to get to London Heathrow in good time so that I can have a decent meal before I board the aircraft.

Almost all airline meals disappoint me, some disgust me. But there again I travel cattle-class so my expectations are never very high in the first place haha.

British Airways breakfast sausages are the worst, small, greyish-white and tasteless. If I met a Thai boy with a 'sausage' like that I would send him home!  

 

[vinapu]

2 hours ago, Vessey said:

.......I travel cattle-class so my expectations are never very high in the first place....

the same here, 

actually I find those meals quite edible but usually I board aircraft a bit hungry and being hungry greatly improves taste of  almost anything.

In reality I think we eat aboard more to entertain ourselves and pass time more than satisfy hunger - how much one must east when sitting busy doing noting for several hours?

[TotallyOz]

I enjoy airplane food. My favorite story of food was about 20 years ago I took my two elderly aunts to Thailand from USA. First time on a plane. I flew them Northwest Business Class as they were in their 70's.  We took off and they were eating lobster when one of them said, "I see why you fly so much. This isn't hard at all. I could get use to this."  I told them to go back and look in the other section of the plane. They did, and they were so grateful to me for flying them in business. My Aunt died a few years back, but her best memories were from that trip. My BF back then showed them a great time. There were tons of photos as we spent 3 weeks in Thailand and every major city. When they were on the plane home, my aunt said to her sister, "what are we going to tell people about the Thai guy in all our pictures" and she said, "I'll tell them this is my nephew's boyfriend and he was good to us." The defrost started with the lobster and ended with them always asking about the BF.

[PeterRS]

7 hours ago, Vessey said:

British Airways breakfast sausages are the worst, small, greyish-white and tasteless. If I met a Thai boy with a 'sausage' like that I would send him home! 

To be fair, I had to take Northwest a lot and found their breakfasts pretty good (although that was in business class). Not being American, I particularly loved their pancakes with fruit and lashings of maple syrup. Most of my flights were trans Pacific and I could never understand why it had earned the name "Northworst". But then I rarely had to take a flight in coach within the USA!

One of my most amusing flights was on British Airways flying from London to Singapore. I was travelling with the Asian Regional Director of the company and since he was in First Class he arranged for me to sit next to him. In the BA Lounge, he asked if BA served caviar on the flight. I'm certain they must, I suggested, but said i would check. The British Airways lounge personnel usually seemed to believe they were members of some snooty aristocratic class. Having asked my question, the young lady brushed me off with, "Oh, of course they will. But I will check and page you"

Back at the desk five minutes later, that stupid lady had to crawl and admit she had been wrong. Caviar was not on the menu for our flight. When I told my colleague, he literally screamed, "F-U-C-K" and the entire lounge went silent. He then stormed out with "I'll see you on the plane."

15 minutes later I got to our double seat in the centre at the back of the cabin. My colleague arrived clearly happier than when I had last seen him. I assumed he'd been to the caviar bar in the main departure area and snacked there. But no. "Guess what I got?" He then held up a brown paper bag. Inside was a £250 tin of caviar and a bag of Melba toast. £250 then is probably closer to £500 now. As soon as the flight attendants started to come round, he summoned one. "Please bring us two side plates, two knives, two tea spoons and two patties of butter - fast!" When she eventually realised that it was to serve ourselves caviar, she exclaimed, "Goodness! You are lucky. You have caviar," to which my colleague said in a loud voice, "Thats because this fucking airline is so mean it won't serve it for first class passengers!" We were not very popular with the others in the cabin!

[vinapu]

34 minutes ago, PeterRS said:

 "Thats because this fucking airline is so mean it won't serve it for first class passengers!" We were not very popular with the others in the cabin!

and rightly so , even on economy one will not hear that kind of language more than once per 127.3 flight hour

[Ruthrieston]

When I got to Heathrow ready for my flight to Thailand I would always treat myself to a seat at the Champagne bar to indulge in some smoked salmon and a few glasses of Champagne, a great start to my holiday!

[spoon]

I dont like flying. Weird since i.love travelling so much but flying is just a thing one must do to go to places. I dont mind the food, can live with the cramped seats, but a good flight for me is one i can sleep through, ideally as soon as the flight took off, and woke up as we are landing.

I had one bad experience when i was 17, where our flight had to turn back and make emergency landing at the departure airport and we heard people said they see smokes while we are descending. The landing was rough but safe and there is a scores of fire trucks and ambulance ready but thankfully no one needed them. We were put on a different plane to travel again on the same day. Also, i hate turbulence lol.

I had taken few business class flight for work, and it was definitely much better especially for long haul travel. I also took northwest 13 hours direct flight from minneapolis to narita, on a flight that doesnt even have in flight entertainment. The most pleasant flight ive taken is on the airbus business class with emirates, between KL and Dubai. 

[Guest]

9 hours ago, TotallyOz said:

I enjoy airplane food.

You must be almost unique!   

On my long haul flight from London to Bangkok, the first meal is OK, particularly when washed down with some wine.  The second meal is something I ought to turn away, but it's something I eat more or less to pass the time, as suggested by Vinapu.  

As for enjoying flying, in my case, it's more a case of enjoying the holiday and I look forward to boarding the flight because of that.    I try to spend just enough to make it bearable.

[PeterRS]

On 6/14/2021 at 3:12 PM, spoon said:

The most pleasant flight ive taken is on the airbus business class with emirates, between KL and Dubai. 

Was that on the A380 super jumbo? After the 747 I just love the Emirates A380s, especially if one can afford business class upstairs with the flat bed seats, huge video screens and the great stand up bar at the back serving premium brands and snacks. Sadly Airbus roled out the last ever A380 just a week or so ago. With fuel prices about to rocket, it was just the wrong plane launched at the wrong time. Part of me hopes that once the pandemic is finally in the background there will be such a demand for travel that the aircraft will keep flying for many more years. At least one of the aircraft on the several daily flights out of Bangkok could hold 615 passengers.

[spoon]

1 hour ago, PeterRS said:

Was that on the A380 super jumbo? After the 747 I just love the Emirates A380s, especially if one can afford business class upstairs with the flat bed seats, huge video screens and the great stand up bar at the back serving premium brands and snacks.

Sounds about right. And Dubai airport have one terminal dedicated to A380s flight, and business/firstclass passengers can board to the upper floor of the airplace straight from the lounge. 

[Registar]

Breakfast flight food is normally ok, it's everything after I don't really like.

The one meal I can remember was on the way to Sri Lanka. They served a hot curry dish (it was actually spicy!) and very tasty. Didn't get it on the way back though!

[a-447]

I'm with PeterRS - I love the a380.

I've been flying since I was in elementary school and have flown on all types of planes over the years and the a380 is by far the best. 

At first I was surprised at the number of seats in business class on Emirates and wondered how they would be able to serve us all.  Not to worry; they just divided us into groups and assigned a flight attendant to us. 

And I love that little bar down the back of the plane. I'm very fussy when it comes to food and sometimes if I can't find something I like on the menu, I'll just go to the bar and eat a few snacks and wash them down with a glass of two of champagne. 

I also like being chauffeured to and from the airport and the separate line at security at Dubai.

The business class lounges in Dubai are awesome - huge choice of food and drink, very comfortable seats. I love the convenience is walking straight out of the lounge and onto the plane.

I'm used to flying Cathay whenever I travel to Japan, and they have a separate, much smaller,  business class cabin behind the main one. It's very cosy and even quieter with fewer people walking up and down the aisle.

I can't wait to try the Qatar Airlines Q-suite. It hasn't been available out of Perth but I live in hope.

I really miss all that. I can't wait to get on a plane and fly off somewhere. At this point, I'm willing to fly anywhere! 

 

 

 

[thaiophilus]

On 6/16/2021 at 3:34 AM, PeterRS said:

. At least one of the aircraft on the several daily flights out of Bangkok could hold 615 passengers.

The downside of that is when you arrive at BKK, go through fast-track business class immigration and then find that the carousel due to handle 615 people's luggage is down until Somchai can find the right spanner to fix it.

Yes, I too love upstairs on the A380, particuarly the Emirates version.  Just thinking EK016 - EK376 gets my spine tingling.  Add on the other business-class perks like limousine service (a generous 70 miles as the crow flies in UK), lounge access, priority immigration and it's a happy daydream at the moment.

 

 

 

[PeterRS]

3 hours ago, a-447 said:

I can't wait to try the Qatar Airlines Q-suite. It hasn't been available out of Perth but I live in hope.

I usually take Qatar back to the UK but only because I'm quite happy to book far ahead to take advantage of various special deals. In 2018 I got a biz return for 63,00 baht - roughly half the list price - during a 48-hour sale. On my last trip in October 2019 the aircraft was changed to one with the Q Suites and I was in 1K which is backward facing. Does not concern me in the slightest. The rows alternate backwards/forwards facing. The window seats have more privacy and tons of space - more than on the Emirates A380s. I reckon 1A and 1K are the quietest and best seats in the entire cabin. I do think Qatar beats Emirates hands down when it comes to meals and wines.

[vinapu]

3 hours ago, thaiophilus said:

it's a happy daydream at the moment.

 

 

 

My daydream is to hug Nut from Moonlight, no matter how I 'd fly there