What it’s Like to Fly Business Class with Garuda Indonesia

As soon as I stepped onboard, fresh from the priority boarding area, and clapped eyes on the plush leather seats, I instantly forgot about the long flight ahead of me. I made myself comfortable and checked out my surroundings; my seat went completely flat at the push of a button and I’d been fully equipped with a pillow, blankets and an amenity kit. A quick glance inside revealed an eye mask, socks, a dental kit, hairbrush, Clarins lip balm and moisturiser and – my personal favourite – slippers. Within minutes of settling down, I was offered a chilled glass of Champagne and handed a menu of all of the food I could look forward to during the flight. Before I knew it, we were taking off – something I usually spend a good 30 minutes fretting over once I’m on the plane. But not this time. Instead, I continued to peruse the menu, weighing up my delicious dinner choices.

“Would you like some more Champagne, madam?” From this point on, I knew the air stewardess and I were going to be friends. The Garuda Indonesia crew were attentive, knowledgeable and extremely helpful throughout the flight – they pre-empted every request I had, cleared my drinks glass away without me even noticing, and talked me through that delicious menu. Speaking of which…

Oh, the food. Being a major foodie, I’m one of those weird people who actually enjoys normal aeroplane food – so you can imagine how much I was in my element on this flight. After agonising over the menu, I opted for a tofu and long bean salad served with warm (warm!) rolls, followed by salmon fillet, with prawns, potatoes and vegetables. I had just enough room left for my strawberry cheesecake and the best red wine I’ve ever had on a flight, before it was time to bed down for the night. Lying flat on a moving plane was a novelty for me, and those seven hours of kip made for a new record – I usually barely sleep at all on night flights, eventually giving up and switching a film on. This time around, I was in such a deep sleep; I had to be woken up for breakfast! The previous evening, the attentive crew had taken my order, and I was served my breakfast starter (yes – there was a breakfast starter!) of cereal, fruit, and warm croissants with butter and jam, before the main event – scrambled egg with vegetarian sausages, hash browns and beans. While I was sipping my tea from a mug (a real mug – no plastic here), the chef came out to chat to passengers about whether they’d enjoyed the food. I’ve no idea how he managed to conjure up such culinary delights in what I can only imagine are some pretty challenging kitchen conditions; but what I do know is that I heaped so much praise on him, I definitely made him blush.

I’d never used noise-cancelling headphones on a flight before, and now I don’t think I’ll ever be able to use anything else. As soon as we took off, I settled down to watch one of my favourite films, The Greatest Showman (which I may have seen a few times before, but who’s counting?). In fact, the choice of films, television shows, documentaries and music onboard was so vast, I found myself wishing the flight was longer so that I could fit in everything I wanted to watch. The sound was so crisp and clear on the touch-screen televisions, I only noticed the air stewardess was attempting to offer me some snacks when she waved at me! I was even able to continue enjoying my film while we landed. As we touched down and taxied to the runway, I took a last sip of my morning latte, and reluctantly gathered my belongings. But my experience wasn’t over just yet – Business Class passengers were among the first to disembark the plane, and after zipping through immigration and collecting our priority-tagged luggage, we were soon out of the airport and ready for our Balinese adventure. And what a way to start it…