Royal Treatment

There are many discomforts to endure when one embarks upon a long journey: the high price of a ticket; frustrations booking online; long lines to get through security and indignity of scrutiny by TSA agents for starters. Then you wait to board, fight for overhead bin space, and pray you don’t get seated next to a Typhoid Mary or screaming toddler.

Today has been a refreshingly different experience altogether. Our tickets were booked on United’s partner to Asia, the Japanese airline ANA. We checked our bags and the friendly agents inquired as to the nature of our trip (I mean, they might wonder why two mature women would be going to Thailand alone…). Carlotta explained the nature of our long friendship and I chimed in with my appreciation for her incredible generosity. All very pleasant and normal casual conversation. Nice.

We settled into our seats and as soon as the doors closed and we lifted off, the passengers were offered towels, water, rice cracker snacks…also usual. And also nice. But when we were shown the menu card it was clear that they had no vegan or vegetarian options so I said “no thank you” figuring I’d certainly survive a 10-hour flight without having to engage in the great American pass time: eating.

When lunch was served, I was presented with a tray and assured it was all vegetarian. These women had gone to the trouble to put a special meal together for me that included curried vegetables and garbanzo beans over rice, grilled peppers and portobello mushrooms and a salad. Plus sliced melon! Incredible!

We were about 2 minutes to the International Date Line when one of the lovely lady attendants come to us (the plane was in dark mode by then even though the sun was shining outside) and asked if we were the two people listed on the copy of the manifest she had in hand. We said yes, wondering why in the heck they’d come to us and ask. Then she said she had a message for us from the ground crew at the desk at SFO and handed us this card:

We were flabbergasted. Here we were, above the world crossing an imaginary border at the stroke of the New Year are receiving this touching message. We marveled at the experience.

But wait, there’s more.

8 hours into the trip it came time for a second meal. Once again I declined the choices available (fish or drunken chicken). After about 20 minutes, before the other passengers were served, here comes another tray for me! Somehow, they cooked up a dish of onions, potato dumplings, portobello mushrooms and a tomato confit. What? They out it together for me in the tiny galley. Talk about service!

I was speechless. Well, not really, but I got rather emotional trying to express my gratitude. I had a good quality note card in my purse, so wrote them a gushy note of thanks and took it back to them before it was time to land. Here they are in a selfie We took:

They were very surprised with the note and hugged me. Then the brought little souvenirs back to our seats – a pen and cute notepad and an kid’s inflatable toy airplane with personalized New Year wishes written on it.

TMI I’m sure. It was just too good a story to not share. Plus we had time at Narita before the flight to Bangkok.

Bye for now, more later…and maybe not as verbose.