Almost every time I post a trip report someone asks me why I never write reviews of international coach. The simple answer is that if I can avoid coach, why wouldn’t I? That’s one of the beautiful things about this hobby — we can often fly first class for less than we’d pay for coach.
The truth is I don’t remember the last time I flew international coach. It’s something I never take for granted and am extremely grateful for, though at the same time I’d like to think I’ve “put in” my miles. I’m 23 and have flown north of three million miles, so I think my rear is justifiably sore enough to seek out flat beds whenever possible. If I had any more crow’s feet at my age I’d be running an aviary.
The last time I’ve flown international coach must have been close to 10 years ago, I believe on Condor from Tampa to Frankfurt, back when they still had a smoking section. My mom’s a smoker and would always book us in the first few rows of the smoking section, figuring it would “smell less like smoke” up there. What she failed to consider is all the selfish morons that booked the non-smoking section and would literally stand in the aisle by the first row of the smoking section and puff away for half of the flight. Oy.
Anyway, one of my favorite perks of being an American Executive Platinum member are the eight systemwide upgrades I get annually. I’ve yet to have one not clear, though I have a trip this week where my upgrade is still waitlisted and business class is sold out, so it’s very likely I’ll be sitting in the rear. I actually booked this ticket way in advance and at the time I booked, only a handful of seats were taken in business class and coach was almost empty, so I have to imagine I’m right at the top of the upgrade list. Damn impressive if American actually sold all those business class seats — good for them!
Fortunately — or unfortunately for you guys, depending on how you look at it — it’ll be on a 777-300ER with Wi-Fi, so you can bet I’ll be “sharing” my experiences the entire way (so be sure you’re following along on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook). On the plus side, at least I’m in Main Cabin Extra, which is about as pleasant as coach gets, in my opinion.
In the likely event I do end up in coach, any special requests? I may even make a video of the experience, if that’s something you guys would enjoy.
Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you guys if you send bad upgrade karma my way and hope it doesn’t clear…
Again, ultimately coach isn’t a big deal, but it’ll certainly be a new experience for me, given that the last time I flew it internationally was back in the days where I wore velcro shoes (or something like that). 😉
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