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I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy rides in airline lie-flat seats more often than I remember. But when I recline and fully extend my seat, it takes me a long time to finally doze off into my nap or overnight sleep.
Maybe you’ve experienced the same issue—and for the same reason.
Trigger warning: We’re going to discuss First World situations. If that upsets you, perhaps you should stop reading now and consider finding a blog about curing parasitic worm cooties in rural areas or solving economic equity issues between jackrabbits and werewolves. Report back.
Flashback: Being a Kid (and Older)
When I was a little kid (and teenager and young adult), I fantasized about traveling on an airplane, spacecraft (hello, Star Wars!), boat, or even a bus with a bed where I could sleep the ride away.
Go to sleep in one city or country (or galaxy!) and wake up in another. Brilliant! Wouldn’t that be so cool?
Cruise ships and tour buses were already in service, of course. But my family wasn’t into taking cruises. And while my parents will always be rock stars to me, they weren’t actually rock stars with a tour bus. I digress.
I went to bed at night imagining being on a plane, spaceship (even as a teenager, don’t judge!), motor coach, or boat. I’d think about traveling somewhere as I drifted off in more than one metaphorical sense of the word.
Some airlines eventually introduced lie-flat seats. But I could never afford that.
Just one time… I wished.
Dreams Coming True
My wife and I dove head-first into the points and miles hobby. Our first goal: visit Bruges, Belgium. We both love the dark comedy In Bruges and wanted to visit some Christmas markets around Belgium and the Netherlands.
We also made it a point to fly business class. That was a bucket-list item. So, for 110,000 SkyMiles each, we flew business class roundtrip from Los Angeles (LAX) to Amsterdam (AMS). We took Air France from LAX to Paris (CDG) and then to AMS. On the way home, we flew KLM to San Francisco (SFO) and a Delta hop home to LAX.
Yep. It was a while ago. 110,000 SkyMiles for a business class redemption on a Delta partner.
We acted like the proverbial jerks whose first limousine ride is at a funeral. We pressed all the buttons, giggled loudly, and acted like the annoying tourists we were.
After our three (or was it four?) course dinner, it was time to catch some sleep. I extended my seat, got all snug under my comforter, rested my head on the pillow — and started choking up. Tears dripped onto the pillow. I was literally living out something I had dreamt about hundreds of times over the past 20 years. I’m going to bed on an airplane! I’m over North America and will wake up in Paris! (Actually, I woke up somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean just in time for an omelette and coffee.)
Every time — and I mean every time — I experience the privilege of lying in a bed on an airplane, that excitement kicks in. I’m overwhelmed that my dreams literally come true — again! It takes a while to fall asleep simply because I feel like I’m seven years old. It’s not uncommon for me to get a little misty. I sometimes simply enjoy relaxing on a bed (I know it’s not “a real bed” but it’ll do) while I ride an airplane. Relaxing while you fly?! How cool is that?
It’s never lost on me how damn lucky I am to experience all of this. There are people who go through life always wanting to fly on a plane but never get the chance. Here I am, getting a few chances to have a makeshift bed during a long-haul flight.
Are you a nostalgic, romantic nerd like me and think this is a dream come true? Tell us in the Comments section!
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
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The very few times I could enjoy flying business class were indeed quite exciting but I was able to get way more minutes of sleep than I usually get in economy class 😉
And that feeling of experiencing something absolutely awesome … yes I remember several occasions. Like my very first flight ever which was with the German Luftwaffe from Germany to Canada. How cool was that? Entering a metal tube in my home country and then exiting it in a totally different world. And then our transfer from the airport to our base by bus I was sitting there and watching outside the window and while we were passing through some random North American city I was thinking, “Just like on tv.”
Or my first time seeing the Lakers with Kobe Bryant playing in Staples Center or visiting my first show in Las Vegas (Celine Dion). I sat there and thought, “Wow. I just made a few mouse clicks and typed something back at home (to buy a ticket) and now I sit here and experience this.”
So totally understandable to me that there are moments where one gets emotional about some miracle happening. Like when a new soccer season starts, I take my seat in my favorite team’s stadium and then the hymn of our region, the Palzlied, starts being played and the whole crowd joins in singing it. A moment I usually get goose bumps and my eyes might start sweating.
I think you meant Lufthansa, not Luftwaffe!!
Maybe he was in the post WWII German Air Force at the time!
No, I definitely didn’t mean Lufthansa. Of course I meant Luftwaffe. English name: German Air Force (flight number back then started with GAF … don’t remember the number part). Luftwaffe is not just a historical name of something from the past. Maybe you know that “Air Force” is not German, but English. So, German Air Force literally is “Deutsche Luftwaffe”. Or, to be more precise, we flew with “Flugbereitschaft des Bundesministeriums fuer Verteidigung”.
And, Mike, no I wasn’t with the Luftwaffe at the time but I was in the German Army (Heer).
Alan, the German Army did not charter Lufthansa flights to bring us to Canada. After landing we were transported to our base for the next three weeks, which was CFB Shilo near Brandon, Manitoba. The Germans were stationed in an area of that base, that was simply called ‘Q’.
That was fun when we spent an evening in Brandon and returned using a taxi cab. At the gate the driver just said, “Q”, and the Canadian guard opened the gate.
Sounds like me! I can sleep anywhere. Work. The floor. Even the dentist. But my first lie flat seat trips were just too fun / exciting and short (9 hours) to go to sleep. I didn’t want to miss anything.
I finally did get some sleep on a couple of long flights (14 and 15 hrs) and that almost forced me to sleep. But I still l didn’t sleep much. To dang fun.
Once a year we get to experience the flat beds and it is always a fun experience! On our last trip we got to do a new over the top experience —-La Premíere in AF!! It was WOW but probably never get that opportunity again. I am concerned about the new” cheap biz and First Class” levels.- and all the other horrid new levels Delta has just rolled out! I will keep to myself what other problems it will mean to us who fly DL a lot.
This is what copious amounts of wine are for.
Been there, done that. It only kept me up!
Ha, that’s good! Good intention but still a fail 😉
Like back when I browsed through the film selection on the flight’s ife to choose something I would watch in order to fall asleep. You know like sleeping at home on the couch while the tv runs. Might be a good idea but unfortunately I chose a Johnny English movie with Rowan Atkinson. A movie I hadn’t seen before. Of course it kept me up till the end and I tried hard not to laugh too loud. My +1 said the aircraft was shaking due to my excessive chuckling 😉
Ha, similar to me in 1996 when BA announced their Club World Cradle seat – not the flat bed yet, those weren’t until a few years later. 14 year old me was excited about the possibility of one day flying in the Cradle seat – which I did in August 1997, on a 772, LHR-JFK. I was so happy!
This was a great read because I can totally relate. I subscribe and read your emails, messages, etc. and I get so jealous of all the opportunities to travel “high-class”, but it’s nice to know that you still get that special feeling. Im the exact same way, it makes me feel happy and even more happy that I get to share that feeling with my partner. It’s even bringing a smile to my face as I write this. I have a difficult time sleeping as it is, but I think the overall excitement of travel, of a lie-flat seat on an airplane, just gets me too pumped up – my sleep is minimal on a plane when I get thr chance. However, I always feel so refreshed and landing brings a new excitement of being somewhere, anywhere different. At the same time, I ALWAYS want extra time on that plane, in that special seat. Thanks for sharing, I’m excited that you still get that feeling and glad to know others have that as well.
Oh I so relate to that feeling and being so grateful that I don’t actually want to waste the experience by sleeping, just spend time luxuriating. I have been able to find special offers each year for the last four years so that we can enjoy this experience on our annual long trip between dfw and jnb, apparently those glorious days are over and we are back to cattle class so am looking at the airlines that have the best economy class offerings .. it was good while it lasted and I am back to dreaming and scheming
Chris, I share your excitement about air travel. “Most” of the time, it’s truly fun!
Now that I’m not making nearly as many mileage runs as before, I miss it.
One comment about the lie-flats is that they are so darn hard. I think sleep would come easier if Delta wasn’t so stingy with that additional mattress (bedroll?) that is provided on very long flights.