Travelling Soul Sister

Booking a business class ticket for the first time in my life was a big deal. Sure, it was a Jetstar business class ticket which certainly isn’t in the league of other airlines Business class, but to me, it was a super indulgent treat, it took a fair while to save for and it most certainly wasn’t a cheap ticket.

This trip to Vietnam was my first overseas trip in years and the fact that I was going business class just made all that much sweeter. I am not a great fan of flying, but going Business Class meant I was actually looking forward to the flight and was hoping to enjoy every single minute in the sky.

I’ll begin by saying, overall, the flight to Singapore was good, we were the first to board which meant not fighting for overhead luggage space,  we were offered champagne before takeoff, our meal orders were taken, life was good! I thought to myself, I could definitely get used to this.

The seats are certainly not on the large side but considering I am 5’2 meant that it was roomy enough for me to stretch my legs. Takeoff was enjoyable, we were flying on the Dreamliner which is a lovely plane, which boasts larger windows, less cabin noise and cleaner air.  Not long after we were up in the sky we were offered a cold hand towel and shortly after we were served lunch.  I chose the ‘Chicken Petit Pois’, crispy chicken breast pan fried with petit pois vegetables, green peas, shallot and bacon served with creamy paper pappardelle pasta, it was delicious, accompanied with a warm crusty bread roll and small cucumber ribbon salad. The drinks list included the usual spirits, along with wine, beer and sparkling wine.

Lunch was cleared and shortly after dessert was offered, two choices, a small plate of cheese and crackers or a white chocolate and caramel cheesecake, my sister and I got one each and shared,  the cheese was nice but the standout was the cheesecake.

Coffee and tea came around and thats where the service started to slip. My empty coffee cup and dessert plate sat on my tray for almost two solid hours before it was cleared. The flight attendants seemed to disappear and it became quite difficult to get a drink if you wanted one. There seemed to be a total change of staff mid flight and I can definitely say the staff on the second half of the flight could have done with some customer service training.

Being quite a foodie, I was really excited about the Business Class culinary experience, and so far I had been quite happy. That was until, a few hours later, when afternoon tea came around. There were two choices on the menu, a vegetarian bean quesadilla or  battered fish and mushy peas. My sister and I both decided on the vegetarian, to which we were informed, there were only two of those meals on board and they are already taken, you must pre order those……um, we were confused as to why is it on the menu then? We were then served up a room temperature piece of fish that resembled the sole of a shoe, and quite frankly, tasted just as bad. It was served on a saucer size plate so it was just kind of hanging off the edge clinging for its dear life. I had one bite and that was enough. Bland, rubbery, cold and unimpressive is how I would describe it.

It was at this point, I began to think my Jetstar Business Class experience had reached it’s peak and was now well and truly on a decline.

At this point we pretty much gave up on service and just settled in for a movie. Needless to say, we weren’t too sad to disembark once we reached our stopover in Singapore. My first experience aboard Business Class whilst mostly pleasant, was certainly no stand out and at times we felt like an inconvenience to the flight attendants. I walked off feeling slightly let down and also pretty hungry.

We flew Jetstar Asia for the remainder of the trip to Hi Chi Minh, it was a smaller plane so there was no business class seating, the flight was fine,  the food was typical airline food and the flight attendants were friendly, we were just happy to have finally arrived in Ho Chi Minh! Let the adventure begin!