I Had the Luckiest Flight Ever!
My 4 leaf clover economy class flight aboard Qantas A330–200 from Sydney to Shanghai
Right from the beginning this flight was lucky.
I needed a flight ASAP to get back to Shanghai from Australia for my work. I jumped online and begged the universe for a flight that wouldn’t cost the earth on such short notice.
Whenever I’m booking a flight connecting Australia with anywhere else I open Qantas first, followed by my universal booking site, SkyScanner.
I can usually rely on SkyScanner for the best prices, but will always check Qantas because their great onboard service makes flying economy a bit less terrible.
(Their service off the plane is a different story).
Price
My search for a flight was short lived because for some reason the first flight I found from Sydney to Shanghai was only $400!
And I don’t mean US dollars, I mean New Zealand dollars!
This price is insanely fantastic, especially on such short notice.
I then had another stroke of luck, the exit row had one seat left and was going for an additional $100.
“Not worth it” I hear some people say. But when you’re 6'3" and stuck on a plane for 10.5 hours, that extra legroom goes a long way.
Exit Row Seat
The seat was everything I could have hoped for, and more.
While my seat wouldn’t turn into a bed, I had more legroom than even the business class passengers!
I was literally on top of the world.
My seat-mate was strange, but not terrible.
He sat almost the entire flight doing nothing. He didn’t watch TV, sleep, read, nothing. He just sat with his hands on his lap and stared forward.
The only way I even knew he was alive was because he ate and checked the progress of the flight occassionally.
As much as he acted like a martian, he never disturbed me. So he’s all good in my book.
In this seat your screen must be stowed for takeoff and landing, so bring alternative entertainment for the approximately 1.5 hours combined that you’ll be unable to use the screen.
I watched pre-downloaded episodes of Glow on my Netflix app.
Service
The flight attendants for this flight were really funny, they made a lot of jokes and did a lot of flirting.
One joked that while I sleeping, I had apparently said out loud that I’d wanted to take one of the other flight attendants on a date.
(This guy was a solid wingman for his coworker).
Through this flirting and joking I learned that they were all spending the night in Shanghai and were looking for something to do.
I couldn’t help them out with their problem however, but it made for a hilarious flight.
Meal
When it came to meal time, my charming flight attendants claimed to have run out of the meal option I wanted, despite having enough for seemingly everyone else on board. (Including my martian seat mate).
They didn’t make me choose one of the other options though, they just had me wait a while.
The wait was worth it though, because after about a 20 minute wait, I was given a medley of food options from the Business Class cabin.
This amazing turn of events proved once and for all that how you treat your flight attendants will make or break a flight.
Post Flight
My good luck carried on once the plane landed and the flight experience was over.
Somehow my bag was the first one on the conveyer belt, which should be impossible if you fly economy.
Not only that, there was no line at customs. I flew out of the airport.
It was just one of those once-in-a-lifetime flights where everything goes perfectly.
What about you?
What’s your luckiest flight story? Have you ever had a flight as lucky as this?
All I’m hoping is that this level of luck isn’t just a one time thing.
