It’s true, we flew from Toronto to Madrid in Business Class on Air Canada. This may be “old hat” for you, but it is the first time we have flown up in the pointy end of a plane since we got bumped up into First Class on our way to Tokyo many years ago.
I decided to book these expensive seats for a couple of reasons. One was that the pricing was excellent compared to what these seats sell for normally. For the record, we will not be flying home in this level of comfort. In all likelihood, I at least, will be duct-taped to a wing to save money.
The second, and most important reason was that I wanted to do something nice for my life partner… she does have to put up with all my antics 24/7 after all. And I REALLY wanted to make it a surprise. As in, I didn’t want her to find out about it until we walked onto the plane… a tough assignment for sure.
Keeping the Secret
As part of the effort to keep this a secret, I hid the last charge card bill after it arrived in January. She would normally go through it upon arrival, but “out of sight, out of mind.” 🙂 Involved in the business of getting ready to go away at the end of the month, she failed to notice its absence. Hurdle #1 cleared.
The reason I thought I could stick-handle our way onto the plane without her noticing that everything about check-in was different, was because of a previous experience we had in 2022 with Air Transat. I had decided to take a cane to Spain with me that year because my feet hadn’t completely healed from surgery, and I knew I would be putting in my 10,000 steps a day just walking to complete all our errands. I anticipated that walking with a cane would be helpful.
So, when we arrived at the check-in line, the Air Transat representative took one look at me and said, “Go over there to the Priority check-in line”… YOWAZAH! It must be stated that I was trying to look as cane-essential as possible, which I sincerely regret now of course… ACTING!!! But I immediately vowed to never fly without a cane again.
I also got treated to wheelchair service in Lisbon on the way home in 2023. This resulted in me receiving special assistance through Security as well. The very long walks through airports were very hard on my surgically repaired feet, so after that, I vowed to request wheelchair assistance whenever we flew.
Fast forward to the fall of 2023. Because I was being transported from check-in to our gate in a wheelchair, I received all sorts of preferential assistance getting through Security, boarding, seating, etc. both ways on our way to and from Ireland. Of course, the Love-goddess got to avail herself of the same benefits because she was accompanying me.
The stage was set for the “Great White Business Class Lie of 2024”.
The Mind at Work
The other thing working for me that allowed me to pull this off was the fact that the human mind is an amazing thing. It will often attempt to sort out things in a meaningful, expected way when surrounded by atypical evidence, actions, and experiences. Thus, my deceit benefitted when I asked the Love-goddess for her Aeroplan number to add to our booking. No way I was going to miss out on any of the miles associated with this costly purchase.
As you will see, when we began receiving several benefits, she assumed it was because of our Aeroplan memberships. All I had to do was sit back and enjoy the unfolding theatre. 🙂
I have used three Air Canada stock photos along with my own for this little presentation.
Check-In and Security
- There is, of course, a special Business Class check-in area. The Love-goddess, knowing/thinking full well that I would never book business class seats for us, assumed we were allowed to go there because I had ordered a wheelchair and because she had just added her Aeroplan number to her ticket. I did not attempt to convince her otherwise.
2. When they check your bags, they attach the special red priority tags, so that they are the first ones off the plane and out into the carousel… Nice!
3. There were lots of clues on our boarding passes, but the mind sees what it wants to see. 🙂
4. We got through security smoothly. Once again, there is a special Preferred security clearance area for folks with special tickets. My wheelchair ride turned out to be sharing one of those large golf carts with several people who had also asked for wheelchair assistance. My feet were very happy to avoid all those long tiring walks out to our departure gate.
Air Canada Signature Lounge
5. We were dropped off in front of the Air Canada Signature Lounge. When I pointed out that we were allowed to go in, the Love-goddess again assumed it was because of our Aeroplan membership and didn’t question why we were allowed in.
6. When we entered, we were offered a choice of fine dining at a waited table, or we could choose to go into the area that offered food buffet style. They told us it would take an hour at least for table service, so not wanting to have to rush, we opted for the buffet area, pictured here. Not shown in the photo is a lounge area behind us with comfortable places to sit if you weren’t interested in eating.
7. Still a little uncertain as to why we are in this special area… but happy not to be seated out at the gate in hard chairs with a horde of our fellow… Covid infected surely… travellers. 🙂
8. When she looked at the drink menu, she could not figure out why there were no prices for the drinks or the buffet. Once again, she decided it was because we were valued Aeroplan members. I just smiled happily.
9. We ordered drinks… A glass of wine and a glass of Coke. I prefer not to drink when flying because I get dehydrated enough without alcohol in my system. Knowing that we would be having a lovely three-course meal on the plane, I just grabbed a few charcuterie items, including a nice roast beef slider – and went back for seconds. Here she is pondering my choices and considering whether to get a small plate herself.
10. Lots of folks were choosing just to sit at the bar to have a few drinks and chitchat with their fellow travellers.
11. Even the bathrooms were fantastic. Note the rolled-up hand towels Instead of paper towels. 🙂
12. We arrived at our gate, just as boarding began. I walked up to the front counter and asked where the preferred boarding individuals should line up and she just waved me towards the nice folks who were going to be checking boarding passes, etc. As we were waiting at the plane door, the Love-goddess finally looked at her boarding pass and wondered out loud why we were in row five. More smiling on my part ensued.
13. This was the moment she discovered that we were flying Business Class and all the amenities she had been enjoying were because of that.
On Board
14. Here she is still smiling. That may only be because I have not yet told her what we paid to fly in these seats. She is 100% percent Scottish by heritage. I did not feel like getting yelled at and openly chastised on the plane. 🙂
15. Such a nice way to board. Everybody is just casually putting their bags in their overhead compartment and getting their things organized at their seat. No competing with others to grab space in an overhead compartment.
16. After we got seated, Jacqueline brought around a selection of sparkling water or champagne so we could have a pre-takeoff drink. It took me a while to convince her to let me take a picture of her during the serving. I had to give her a business card to show her my website address to make it all seem legit. She seemed moderately amused.
17. Amongst the benefits of flying Business Class is everybody gets one of these lovely toiletry bags which include…
18. A dental kit, (toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, dental floss), earplugs, hand lotion, lip balm, glasses cloth, sleep mask, and finally a long pair of socks. I assume the socks are to help keep your tootsies warm when you have your shoes off, and you are stretched out on the reclining seat/bed.
19. You get a great pair set of headphones which you do not get to keep. 🙂
20. The viewing screens are an impressive size, and ideal for watching movies or any other media that you feel like streaming from one of your devices. I got a chuckle out of this image because it shows the Puerta del Sol in Madrid where we were headed, including the hotel I have pointed to, in which we were planning to stay.
21. We did not depart quite at 8:15 PM as expected because of the need to de-ice. I was a little surprised when they said we were headed for de-icing given that it was +2 degrees at the time.
22. I love night photography, and I think I simply took this photo because it was a nice image as we made our way up to elevation.
23. I thought this was adorable. We got the white tablecloth treatment. The flight attendants came around and put down a little white tablecloth over our very large trays before serving dinner.
24. We were offered drinks before dinner was served. I asked for Veuve Clicquot champagne but had to settle for a can of Canadian. I guess there are limits even in business class. 🙂
25. Here is the menu for our evening meal. It was served in three courses, an entrée, a main, and finally dessert. There were four choices for the main and two for the dessert, including a cheese plate.
26. Each seat has one of these large storage units as part of the armrest. It also has jacks for you to plug in your own electronic devices as required.
27. The entrée was a nice little shrimp and baby Romain salad. I forgot to take a picture of my main, which was a nice-sized piece of veal with potatoes and fresh vegetables.
Sleepy Time
28. I was feeling tired, so I opted out of dessert and spent some time working my way through the second half of David McPherson‘s great new book about Canadian music facts.
29. Not long after 10 PM, over Newfoundland, I lowered my bed and prepared myself for sleep. No pictures of me sleeping so here is a stock photo of how these units are configured when they are flattened out. All you do is push a button and the whole thing flattens right out. I believe I read there’s about 6 1/2 feet of room. The sleeping arrangement was very comfortable with a nice blanket and good-sized pillow.
30. When I eventually woke, my screen was still on, and I was startled to see that we were descending into Madrid, I had slept for about five hours undisturbed. I even missed breakfast being served.
Arrival
And yes, there was a wheelchair waiting for me as soon as I got off the plane, and away we went. The young woman who wheeled me even loaded our bags onto the luggage cart. Our bags came out onto the carrousel first of course. She took us out into a special section for reserved taxis, so we did not have to line up with everybody else to try and get one. I did give her a nice tip.
31. I can’t tell if I’m looking tired or smug in this photo. You will have to decide. I am overdressed because I always wear all my outer layers and a hat on the plane, so I don’t have to pack them.
Sadly, the Love-goddess reported that she didn’t sleep but enjoyed being able to stretch out flat and relax. She said part of the reason she didn’t sleep was because she was engrossed in the movie Oppenheimer, which is 3+ hours. They even have better movies in Business Class. 🙂
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