Flying Business Class on the Amazing A380

When I found insanely cheap plane tickets to Ireland earlier this year, I knew I had no choice but to book them, because hello! $300 tickets to Europe never happen. But then I did a little research on the flights & my heart jumped into my throat: our DC to Paris flight was on Air France’s A380. The A380! The world’s largest passenger plane! I was in airplane heaven. If you’re already bored by this post, you can stop reading now because my aviation nerdiness is about to hit stratospheric heights.

Imagine how much more of airplane heaven I was in when I checked us in & saw that I could upgrade to business class (upstairs!) for a ridiculously low price. Obviously I had no choice but to upgrade immediately.

We began our journey at the Air France-KLM lounge at Dulles Airport. While it was not the nicest airline lounge (it used to be the Northwest Airlines World Lounge – which means it has been around for a while), & it was super crowded with all the late afternoon long haul Europe flights, it was nice to not be stuck in a hard plastic chair at the gate. The lounge offers snacks – French cheeses, small sandwiches, espresso & a full bar of wines & champagne – & a comfortable place to watch planes come & go.

I was keeping an eye on the clock to see when the A380 arrived from her long journey over the Atlantic. When they announced the arrival, I bolted out of the lounge to gawk at her live & in person. I think I may have actually teared up a bit as I took too many selfies with the giant plane in the background. It was truly magnificent to see such an enormous plane in real life.

Finally it was time to board through one of the two jet bridges built specifically for the aircraft (with a wing span of 262′ she can’t fit in any ol’ gate!). We made our way to our seats – 72 L & K – & settled in for the flight. I loved all the little details of the seats: personal reading lights, Bose noise canceling headphones, a slot specifically for magazines & one for slippers, & an especially handy storage compartment next to B’s window seat. The seats reclined to 180 degrees are angled lay flat seats & were supposed to have in-seat massage, but mine wasn’t working.

Soon after we got settled, they handed out amenities kits. The sleek blue & red (gender neutral) bags were inspired by the amenities kits from the Concorde. If you fly business class or first class anywhere other than the U.S., you’ll also be handed a glass of champagne, but unfortunately U.S. laws don’t allow them to give you one until after takeoff.

As we started backing away from the gate & taxiing (while watching Air France’s latest viral safety video), you could barely even tell that the plane was moving – it was incredibly quiet. It was strange to be so high above the wing & nearly impossible to wrap your head around the fact that there were hundreds of passengers sitting below you. As we rumbled down the runway, the thought crossed my mind that it was truly amazing that this 650 tons of metal was going to just glide into the sky. We were able to watch take off from one of the plane’s external cameras (the tail camera was especially cool).

Once we were up in the air, in-flight service began. The flight crew came around with champagne & an amuse bouche.

Dinner was served next & ordered off of a nicely printed menu. I had the chicken & B had the steak. They were both quite good – much better than typical airline food. Dinner service was plentiful & included a foie gras appetizer, a few cheeses, bread, & an amazing chocolate hazelnut dessert. Served along with wine pairings, it almost felt like dining at a nice restaurant.

Soon enough it was time to go to sleep & try out the lay flat seats. For the first time in my life, I actually got a few hours of sleep on a plane & B slept most of the night & through breakfast (which was a pretty darn good croissant & fruit).

One of the things I didn’t love, though, was the fact that the A380 doesn’t have individual passenger temperature controls (you know, those usually annoying air nozzles), & it was a bit warm on our flight. I had to get up in the middle of the night & ask the flight crew to turn down the a/c a bit (which they were happy to do). B’s biggest complaint was that the seats made a lot of noise as they moved up & down – indeed, the whole cabin sounded like a dentist office. It would be interesting to know if A380s with newer interiors have addressed either of these issues.

As we landed in Paris for our layover, descending through the low crowds as our seven hour journey ended, I was blissed out on aviation geekery.

Have you flown on the A380? What about other great planes like the 747, the 777 or the 787? I hope to check the other ones off my list soon!