A Taste of the High Life

#sol- January 24, 2017

I love professional development but hate sub plans, so what crazy decisions this sometimes leads me to make. In November I flew to Manila for a weekend PD with my friend. We were the only ones attending from our school that did not miss a day of school on one end of the weekend or the other to make it work- we paid the price in that our flight on the way there was delayed, so we were in very late at night.

Last weekend I was back to Manila- this time most colleagues were making it in to a four day weekend, but again my stubborn side rebelled and I booked the same travel route again. Happily this time the flight there was on time. A friend convinced me since I was going to stress myself by squeezing in this PD the least I should do was cough up for the extra cost to upgrade once the airline started sending me tempting emails. On Malaysian Airlines if there is room in first class you can make an offer on an upgrade. I decided to splurge, but only within my own bounds. There was a minimum bid required (equivalent to $65), so I decided that would be my limit. Sure enough, mid week they tried to entice me to up my chances by bidding more, but I held fast. I was informed I would only find out 48 hours in advance, but when Thursday night my credit card was charged I knew I was in for a treat on Sunday night.

After a ful weekend of PD I arrived at the airport ready to be spoiled! I spent time in the lounge (I have never been in first class before, so even being in the lounge was a treat). I left to board the plane at the published time (rookie mistake I later learned- I should have waited until the lounge staff called me, since it turned out the flight was delayed and I could have stayed longer). Once on the plane I settled into the comfy seat-what, a center armrest we did not have to fight over?! My feet could not even touch the seat in front of me, so the leg room was great. The man sharing my row moved to another row once it became clear that the row was empty, so I had the row all to myself. I did not even really mind the time spent on the ground before take off. Once we were finally in the air we were given our menu and I opened my Kindle and enjoyed the time to settle my brain. I have to say the food was better, the seats were better, the thrill was fun, and I am now keeping in the back of my brain that upgrading is a viable option if the price is right.

I was back home at 11:10 PM and the next morning back at school the luxurious flight was but a distant memory. I think I could get used to flying that way.