Flight to DC

Yay, I begin my DC journey! My flight out of Honolulu was at 7:30 pm, and my family came to see me off (with hugs, lei, and spending money... they're so sweet!) It was a last minute rush to make sure everything was packed, but I got all of my essentials; including a rice pot and yarn (hey, I'm going to be in DC a month. The weight limit for American Airlines was 50 lbs, and my suitcase was 49.8 lbs! I don't know how I did it... the actual suitcase was around 20 lbs and everything I added in made up the rest; I didn't even have clothes in there! Well, my ticket to DC from Honolulu was $500 dollars, which was SUPER cheap considering I flew over an ocean and a continent (4835 miles or 7780 km). I used kayak to find the fare, in case anybody's interested. Anyway, considering the distance and price, my flight was 7 hours to Dallas Fort Worth, with a 4 hour layover there, then 2 hours to Regan International Airport in DC.

Here's the best part... I was upgraded to FIRST CLASS on the Honolulu to Texas part of my journey for FREE!!!!! I was so psyched; I have never been on first class (as I could never afford it!) It happened like this: my flight seat was unassigned, and there were directions that said to go to the ticketing agent for further instructions. When I went up they told me to wait a few minutes until my name was called. I waited and waited; almost everybody had boarded! Then they called me up and gave me my ticket. When I looked on it, it said "FIRST," and I thought that there was a mistake. But they seated me in first class! What happened was the economy cabin was completely full, and there were three empty seats in First... lucky me and my nonchalant ticket booking!

Everything was so nice... I'm totally spoiled now! The plane was a 737 so it had those seats that are like pods that recline all the way back, until you're lying down! The stewardesses had a never-ending supply of free drinks (even alcohol... to bad I don't really like alcohol!) and everything was served in real glasses and real plates, no trays in first class baby! I almost wanted to ask, "How much do I owe you?" and I had to keep stopping myself from looking around every five minutes, because of course everybody else in first class had actually paid the fare for it! First course was a little jar of mixed nuts and pineapple. They came around with a hot towel; good think I watch a lot of movies because otherwise I might not have known what to do with it (I learned from the Wedding Singer with Adam Sandler!) When they asked if I wanted Vinaigrette or Miso Cilantro dressing with my salad I was a little confused, but I snapped out of it and got the Vinaigrette… it was HUGE and delicious, with goodies like soybeans and shiso, cucumbers and beets; we even got a choice between a sweet roll and a cheesy breadstick! All of that came on a little black tray with a matching napkin, an orchid flower as decoration, personal salt and pepper shakers, and a little cup of whipped butter. For dinner we had a choice between stuffed salmon and lasagna roll; of course I got the lasagna, which was deliciously filled with ricotta and fresh spinach. Just when I thought we were done, they came around with a dessert alcohol tray featuring amarettos and creams, and a wine pairing with dessert cheese and grapes. Like I said before, I’m not a big alcohol drinker, but the stewardess came around and said, “Would you like an ice-cream sundae?” I was already so full, but come on… when else will you get ice cream on a plane? So I got the vanilla bean ice cream with strawberry sauce (we had a choice between mango syrup, strawberry or hot fudge… we also could have had pistachios and whipped cream). SOO delicious. I usually don’t sleep on planes but I was so full, and at the touch of a button the seat became a bed, so I actually slept instead of doing all my readings and work. It was SOOOO nice, and just what I needed to start the trip!

Here’s hoping you guys will get upgraded too!