I haven’t posted a TR in a while, so I thought my first time flying business class would be a good opportunity to start up again!

Over the course of 2012, I was flying a lot for work and by the end of the year, I had flown over 110K miles, effectively qualifying me for United’s 1K status. Since I’ve never had such a status before, I was super psyched! My first trip of 2013, and first opportunity to use my Global Premier Upgrades, was to Nigeria. Rather than taking a more logical route through Europe, I opted to backtrack a little and go with a DCA-IAH-LOS routing, since I would prefer taking one really long flight than two long-ish flights. I had taken this routing in December and it worked out well since it also gets into Lagos in the early afternoon.

When I booked the ticket, it was originally scheduled to be a 787, but a few days after my reservation was confirmed, the FAA grounded them. Wah wah! However, this was a blessing in disguise because when I applied for the upgrades, I was on a waitlist…once the flight was put on a 777, I was cleared! This would be my first time flying business class, so I thought being able to taking for two 12-13 hour flights would certainly make it worth it!

I’m not going to provide much about the DCA-IAH leg since it was rather dull and a very simple flight. After landing in IAH, I spent some time in the United Club prior to boarding. I was rather excited to board the plane because this was my first time to turn “left” into an airplane, much less BusinessFirst! I was welcomed by the flight attendants and the “International Inflight Service Manager” who were all very nice. Menus were passed out as well as amenity kits…unfortunately I forgot to swipe mine in Lagos to include in the report.

After take-off the crew got busy prepping the cabin for dinner service. Warm toilettes were passed out, followed by table cloths and beverages. The food followed shortly…unfortunately since I don’t have the menu I can’t provide many details, other than it being ok. I wasn’t too impressed, but I’ve never been so full on an airplane in my life! So much food! Here are the courses:

Appetizer


Salad


Entrée (steak)


In between courses watching Best in Show


Cheese Plate


Dessert


Following dinner, I watched a little bit more TV, but then slept for a good portion of the flight. Breakfast was served prior to landing (sorry, no pictures), which was also a bit rushed. We landed in Lagos a little bit early after a bumpy descent. Spent about two weeks in (hazy) Lagos and have attached some additional pictures from a side trip to the beach.

Apologies for the brevity of this report, but I didn’t have much to go on. I’d be more than happy to answer questions if you have them!

Boat got stuck on the beach


Arts and Crafts


Snake charmer


Hazy sunset