Sunday, April 17, 2022
Being the rule followers that we are, we arrived for check-in 3 hours before takeoff time. There was a small check-in snafu requiring us to step out of line and complete our Spain Travel Health forms that I thought were complete! I’m grateful to have had my laptop available to complete them and that the process went off without a hitch. When the gate agent scanned our QR codes, she exclaimed with a smile, “They’re in there like swimwear!”
Because it’s an international flight on American Airlines, and we have business class seats on an international flight, we have access to the Admiral Club Lounges for this trip.
We spent the 2.5-hour wait for takeoff in the Charlotte Airport club, where it’s “better waiting with complimentary food and drinks.” And no blasting TVs like at the gate.
We departed Charlotte just after 1 p.m. on AA 327 to JFK in first class, because we booked business class seats for this trip and there’s no business class section on the plane for this leg.
We had a 2-hour layover at JFK, which we spent in the “Flagship” Admiral’s Club (a step even further up as if the regular club wasn’t enough).
We settled into our luxurious business class seats on American Airlines flight 66 from JFK to Barcelona on a Boeing 737-200ER, which were obscene! I don’t know why we thought we needed to bring earbuds when Bang and Olufsen headphones were supplied as part of the seat. And we had a quilt and a pillow for our fully reclining seats, which reclined all the way to flat as a bed. The 20-inch screen was about 2 feet from us but god forbid we should have to reach for it, when we could just use the remote off to the right. Our “Shinola” bag has a sleep mask, Ted hose socks for circulation, a pen, and a toothbrush and toothpaste.
Once settled into my “pod,” I ordered a cocktail, listened to some instrumental music, and read my current book.
Dinner was served toward the beginning of the trip, and Bob and I had chosen the “Created and inspired by our partnership with the J Beard Foundation and Chef Sarah Grueneberg: Spinach and ricotta rotola pasta served with pomodoro sauce, basil pesto, and pine nuts,” which started with some shrimp cocktail and a salad and was followed by a butterscotch sundae.
I’m so jealous of the business class accommodations. I’ll be traveling to Europe with my menagerie of children this summer and will ride–in much less style–in the way, way back with all the rest of the commoners! 🙂 Enjoy!
Ha! Thanks for reading and commenting!
That dinner looks fabulous. How long was the flight? Did you actually sleep? Did you get breakfast?
It was a 6.5-hours. I slept for about 2 hours. We did get breakfast about an hour before landing in Barcelona. There was a choice of 2, although I only remember the one I got, which was scrambled eggs and melted cheese in a wrap, with some black breans on the side (which I didn’t eat), a choice of breads (I chose a biscuit), a small fruit plate of melon, cantaloupe, and strawberries, orange juice and some coffee. Thanks for reading and commenting!
Just fabulous!
♥
Bellissimo