Paul Brady: I Was Quite Surprised By Some Things On My International "Economy Class" Flight

There is always someone complaining about how horrible flying is.

Many people say that flying is painful and can be the worst part of any trip. For me, a recent flight turned out to be a surprising experience in many ways, least of all in the fact that I — along with a couple hundred other people — traveled 3,651 miles in less than nine hours while watching movies, eating, drinking, napping and generally enjoying ourselves.

Saturday afternoon, I found myself on an international flight, assigned to economy class for an eight-hour-plus long-haul to Lima. It was LAN 2535 and we were riding on one of the airline’s many 767-300ER aircraft. I was in seat 24D.

Knowing that airlines often ferry passengers to different cities around the planet, I thought it could be useful to discuss the experience. I, for example, always fly economy unless someone else is footing the bill. Maybe other people are considering flying economy and want to know what it’s like in case they choose not to fly business class some time. I would hate for those people to be shocked by the conditions in the main cabin.

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• Service

  Boarding was managed well by the airline staff, who helped people get their oversized carry ons into luggage compartments.

• Espacio

  Probably for no other reason than being nice to the check-in agent, I was given this aisle exit row seat with more leg room than I needed. That was pretty great.

• Great Room, Great Responsibility

  Here’s another look at the exit row because why not.

• Exit Row

  This exit row seating was on the other side of the plane and also offered lots of space.

• Swag

  I didn’t end up using these free headphones they were giving out.

• Very Remote

  Here’s what the remote control looks like. It worked perfectly.

• Entertainment

  My seat had a pull-out video screen that had all sorts of features which I will explain.

• Theater

  First-run movies like Argo, Lincoln and others were available for free. (Which is $13 less than they cost at the theater near my place in New York.)

• More Entertainment

  Even more movies to watch for free!

• Mad

  There is also lots and lots of TV. a href=”http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/business/media/netflix-to-deliver-all-13-episodes-of-house-of-cards-on-one-day.html?_r=0″Brian Stelter says we’re binging on shows these days/a, so maybe that explains the availability of the full first season of Mad Men? I watched a lot of that.

• Informacion

  Along the way, we were getting continuous updates about our status on these screens.

• Information

  They also came in English.

• Flight Path

  And showed our progress on a map.

• Foodstuffs

  Soon it was time for a late lunch. This isn’t the best meal I’ve ever had at a restaurant, but most restaurants I go to aren’t at 35,000 feet traveling more than 500 miles an hour.

• Magazine

  Flipped through this free bi-lingual seat back magazine for a bit. Didn’t like their advice to go to Taganga, Colombia — I think it’s a dump — but you get what you pay for when it comes to travel tips, I guess.

• Candy Is Dandy…

  After our late lunch, I had myself a free whisky and some of the MMs they were handing out. That was pretty great to do while watching Seven Psychopaths, a movie I’m still deciding if I like.

• Sunset

  A bit later, they dimmed the lights, which was fine by me since the sun was going down anyway.

• Night

  See? Pretty dark!

• Snack

  Later I was watching another movie because why not and they came around with a hot snack and more drinks. (All free for the price of an economy seat!)

• Screens

  Additional video screens supplemented our seat-back units.

• The View

  Here’s one more look at the seat in front of me. We made it to Lima, and lots of people gave a round of applause for the captain and crew. They earned it!

Paul Brady: I Was Quite Surprised By Some Things On My International "Economy Class" Flight