As a kid, I dreamed of flying this as the ultimate indulgence

[clazman]

Years ago I would have said the ultimate flight would have been British Airways, First Class, Concorde, Heathrow to New York

So what is the dream flight indulgence today?

 

[Ewing]

Etihad Residence?

Emirates Executive?

 

[Happy Dude]

I have a mate who's now a relatively successful pro-golfer. Years ago when he was just starting out he said that his reward to himself, when he won a main tour tournament, would be just the trip that clazman posits. Unfortunately, Concorde stopped flying before he had a big win. Now he makes do with private planes domestically and commercial F internationally. His treat for a big win was one of those cars they typically only sell a couple of dozen of annually.

Having been in a few of the private plane flights, it doesn't get much better than that IMO. But I've never flown a good F (MH doesn't count) and I reckon those residences look incredible.

 

[ButFli]

I took my dream flight earlier his year - upstairs on a Qantas Jumbo jet.

You see, when I was 6 years old, my family took a trip to New Zealand. My parents loved to be places early, and we arrived at the airport hours before check-in even opened. This was back when the old International Terminal in Brisbane had an observation deck upstairs, outside of security. And so my father took me up there and we watched planes take off and land. I was curious about the plane with a kangaroo on the tail and a camel hump on top. My father explained it was a Qantas Jumbo jet, and only really lucky people got to ride in the camel hump because that was business class. And, my father also explained, I would not be one of them.

Looking back he probably meant that I would not be in business class that day because we only had tickets for economy (in a 767, too). But I interpreted it as meaning I would *never* ride upstairs on a Qantas Jumbo jet. And the prophecy came true - a 767 to New Zealand and another 767 on the way back. But I was determined that *one day* I would ride a Qantas Jumbo jet upstairs. Mostly because my father told me I couldn't.

Fast forward a couple of decades to the year 2017. After several business class flights *downstairs* on a Qantas 747, I have finally managed to Advanced Seat Selection a seat upstairs. I deliberately booked a non-direct routing for the opportunity, and it paid off. At check-in, the agent has "good" news - Business is oversold, so he can change me to a direct flight, saving me 5 hours. OH HELL NO. There are phone calls to supervisors. "What happens if the passenger doesn't want to be changed to a different flight?" "Yes I told him it would save him 5 hours, he still said no!" They offer me $200, $300, $500... I ain't budging. I said I'd happily change to First Class on the parallel A380 flight - they refuse. Eventually they relent and give me my boarding pass - 12A.

And that was that. Honestly, if you remove the sentimentality and the novelty of being upstairs there are objectively better J seats on a Qantas 747. We all know it. But just that once - objectivity wasn't the point. I relished every minute of that flight.

Now if only my father had told me I'd never marry a supermodel...

 

[clazman]

Etihad's Residence would be up there, think private jet would be the ultimate now

 

[serfty]

As a kid ... simply flying ...

As an adult and a domestic QFFer with lots of business travel it was to fly ON a 747- I achieved that with an economy flight MEL-SYD on a QF10 tag flight in the mid-late 90's.

Then it was upper deck 744 - done with a QF61 CNS-DRW flight on a 742.

Next was to go international First Class - achieved around the turn of the century with a 60K point redemption SYD-SIN in seat 1K - they had a menu of Super 8 movies

Since I came across AFF 12 years ago I have done much more than that, some things I never dreamed of, or expected.

These days my dream is to continue to enjoy my family and friends, to be able to fly, to expand on the 1700+ RPT flight I have taken to date, to meet other like minded FF'ers and appreciate life in doing so.

PS, concorde would have been noice...

 

[Altair]

I too once dreamed of flying on the upper deck of a 747. First experience was on a Pan Am 747 walked through the deck on the way to a coughpit visit with my brothers. The deck was a lounge then.
First time as a passenger was on a QF 747 to Japan but that was in Economy, I do not recall if this was a 747-200 or the 747SP.
I have since travelled on the upper deck of a few QF 747, and A380, but also the 747 nose but not in row 1 or 2 to get the "forward view".
For me current indulgence is First Class on EK across the Tasman.
The "ultimate indulgence" flight since the demise of Concorde, IMO would be Virgin Galactic "SpaceShipTwo" but that has yet to take its first commercial flight, and no I do not think I will be able to afford that indulgence in my life.

 

[theweaselsteve]

I really got the bug for flying when my (recently divorced) Dad took my brother an I across the pond from LGW to DFW on a Delta DC10 in Y. He'd normally book J but sacrificed that to take us on a work trip with him. We got to visit the flight deck and I was hooked. Since then I've relished any form of flying, even the fairly regular SYD-MEL or BNE hops I used to do. Bucket list for me now is international F. QF, EK, QR or SQ would be on my list. I'm 40 in two years so working up to a special trip for SWMBO and myself. I'm not too fussed about the private jet thing, I think I like people too much to be completely private.

Concorde would indeed have been fabulous. What an experience! And as a Brit, throughout my childhood it was a (probably misguided) huge sense of pride for me.

 

[OrangeRoughie]

My ultimate desire is to sit in the jump seat of a commercial flight, the whole operation of the aircraft/traffic control from push back to taxiing back to the gate after landing fascinates me. When my brother became a pilot for one of our domestic carriers i briefly thought that could be my opportunity, however it is not something i would ever ask him to risk his career in doing for me. Unfortunately i didn't share his dedication to study. For now the closest i will get to the flight deck is through point redemption's.

 

[hm520]

As a younger (<30 years) person I'm fortunate in that I've done a lot of flying in my childhood. In my early 20s flying was purely a way to get A-->B quickly. Now I enjoy the flight and it's as much a part of the holiday.

I was fortunate to fly J on a 744 in my first overseas holiday during my first year of serious employment. I had the holiday (USA) planned for months and planned through CC signup bonus and ongoign spend to have enough points to upgrade to J flying BNE-LAX. When I got the text confirming my upgrade I couldn't contain my excitement. It was my first 744 flight and in J! Although I was on the bottom deck I did get the seat 5J which is the solo seat and well positioned. I had plenty of time in the lounge and made the most of the service through my flight.

They say you can never beat your first high and I would have to agree with that. Last year I flew QF J BNE-NRT in A333 and while it was an amazing experience that I enjoyed, it's not as though I couldn't contain my excitement like previous trips.

As for the future? I'd love to do the flight PER-LHR in J. What I enjoy is the duration of time in a premium cabin - all the food and IFE. Of course I'd also like to experience international F too.

 

[jb747]

Any biz jet conversion of a large airliner (777, 747 or 380).

 

[JohnK]

I have flown in my dreams. I'd love to do that in reality....

 

[serfty]

Any biz jet conversion of a large airliner (777, 747 or 380).

Hah, a new dream - Pockets deep enough to finance such a biz jet.

 

[OATEK]

If we are talking about what we dreamed of as youngster, then flying to the other side of the world to see where my family came from was it. I flew a lot as a child because we lived for nearly 4 years in Hobart, and came back to Sydney via Melbourne in various combinations of car, boat and plane for Christmas and some school holidays. Having my first flight at 5yo gave me a love of flying, but it was seeing the Super Constellations at SYD in the 1950s that started me dreaming of flying to the UK. I received my first tin-plate Constellation from Santa at Christmas 1956.

Mind you it was not until the Constellations and B707s had come and gone before I ever really thought it might be possible. It was over 30 years after seeing the first Constellation that I finally climbed aboard a B747 bound for London in 1987 - it was every bit as exciting as I had dreamed.

 

[Deleted member]

My dream flight was a result of being a small boy living on an air force base in NZ when the military version Sunderland Flying Boats were just nearing the end of their service. We used to climb all,over them ( unless we were caught by security guards). These planes seemed enormous to us (we were 7 year old boys) and we knew that the civilian version was more luxurious, as one was in temporary storage at the time, an old "Teal" boat, which is now at MOTAT in AKL. They were slow and noisy, but that was their charm. My father got to fly in and as a civilian pilot was also allowed to sit in as co-pilot on some of his flights, one of which was to Fiji . I never got to experience a flight in one, so maybe my "romantic" ideal is better than the reality.

 

[clazman]

Think my dream has changed, a flight in Spitfire over the cliffs of Dover..... even if it is in a 2 seater .....

 

[harvyk]

As a kid, my ultimate indulgence would have been flying as often as my grandfather. To be honest I doubt there would be many even here whom would have kept up with his schedule (and it was all in F)
I always imagined the top deck of the 747 to be somewhere pretty special, so you could imagine how chuffed I was when I got my first trip upstairs.

As a kid I didn't really know about Concorde, I mean I knew it existed, but I didn't realise flying in one was special, I'd always thought of it as just another plane.

These days for the ultimate indulgence would be the residence, short of private jets.

 

[gaz0303]

I think I need to upgrade my dream flight as a kid.

I always wanted to be upstairs in the 747. Still haven't made up there as a passenger in J and still a dream. Just need to find a reason to travel on one of the limited routes left. I've done upstairs on the A380 a few times but still want to fly in the bubble on the 747 before they all retire.

 

[kevinkhchan]

747 Upper Deck was part of that dream as a kid. Fulfilled it this last trip with the LAX - JFK - LAX sectors in the 747 Upper Deck. Scored a bonus of F in the SYD - LAX - SYD sectors. So the next one is SQ R next year.

Flew a lot as a kid with the first trip at the age of 3 (KUL - PEN). Enjoyed every flight. Dreams of premium were fuelled by an unexpected upgrade as a teen flying solo on Alitalia Y to J. Did not achieve the next J flight until a couple of years ago.

 

[Straubs]

Still early in my AFF 'career' ... would like to frequent an inflight bar a la Emirates. Obviously, this was not my childhood dream