I’ve just arrived in Narita, the first leg of my travel to New York, on this plane.
The flight out of Singapore was, as always, a little painful: a 6:50 departure time meant I stayed up all night and was struggling to stay awake aa I went through security. But this time round I’m travelling Business Class, and that ameliorates some of the stress.
This is the first time I’ve ever flown Business with Delta, and the first business class flight I’ve had in years. The quality of the pillows is substantially better than at the back of the plane, a big white fluffy pillow, rather than a few scraps of material stuffed in a polyester bag. Instead of a thin, staticky blanket, there was an enormous quilted white blanket that I could clamber into, and I didn’t have to battle with the rest of the plane for space to stick my bag.
And then I hit recline, on a seat that kept going back until it actually was flat, rather than a degree or two back from vertical, and I slept all the way to Tokyo.
The cabin crew remarked on what a good rest I’d had as I disembarked; I suppose if I’d slept in Economy, I’d have had as much rest, but that is a substantial if: having a spacious environment to stretch out into makes it a lot easier.
The seat itself felt a bit clunky: a huge throne of silver plastic that somehow felt like a waste of space. The flight was still a little noisy, and although the headphones, like everything else, are nicer up front, they weren’t as good as my noise-cancelling Boses, and I have no idea what the food was like, but at least, sat here in the Delta lounge at Narita, I feel rested and calm, rather than a broken mess after the early start. My fear is that I get used to this, and can never survive another economy flight.
Now if I can avoid getting sick on the way to New York…