Our Going Global TV Crews travel a lot and so we spend many hours on airplanes. Producing a TV Series about international business travel means that most of our trips are long hauls and that means we get to experience many global carriers. Of course we appreciate the big things like lay flat beds in Business Class, a well-stocked IFE (Inflight Entertainment System) and attentive and helpful flight crews. We also confess to having an unnatural obsession with watching our Frequent Flyer Miles grow and our Elite Statuses compound. But it isn’t only the large perks that we appreciate when we travel, in fact sometimes the smaller ones are even nicer; thus this blog on the merits of Champagne.
As the title says, it is ALWAYS the right time for Champagne. Transferring from an overnight flight so it’s 6 am in the morning your time? Well that’s the perfect time for a glass of bubbly. Catching the last flight out after shooting for 18 hours straight with no break for lunch? Again that’s an ideal occasion for a glass (or three) of champers. In fact we don’t care if the airline offers a nice fruity Prosecco, a simple sparkling wine or a classic Veuve Clicquot, a toast of bubbly makes any international journey that much nicer.
Our team has a ritual; we never turn down a pre-take off drink of sparkling wine. Why? Because we like it and we’ve grown to believe that this brings us good luck. Also we don’t want to be rude. OK it’s mainly because we like it. But as you can see our team has developed their own rituals when they travel and I think this is quite common. It seems as if many international road warriors are somewhat superstitious.
We once met a very well traveled Lawyer who always packs a dog-eared copy of Jack Kerouac’s classic novel On The Road. He says, “I got in the habit of reading it on take offs and landings years ago and so happily flip through it on every flight.” He also says it has become a good conversation starter with seatmates. That’s something foreign to Susan Kirkman, a US Pharmaceutical Manager who says her inflight ritual always starts with, “Putting on my Bose Headphones so that the person beside me knows not to engage. I look forward to 12 hour long flights where I don’t have to speak to anyone.”
Of course not all inflight rituals are out of habit or superstition, some make sense. A recent study says that 48% of Elite Flyers change into more comfortable clothes for flights over 8 hours and if you ask any Ground Agent they’ll tell you that most seasoned travelers ritually, maybe even obsessively research and pre-book their seats on long hauls. After all not every Business Class or First Class seat is equal.
But we like our ritual of always accepting a glass of Champagne the best. In a world of lines and security checks, crowds and shuttle buses, taking the time to enjoy a glass of bubbly with friends and co-workers as you settle into a long flight is a real luxury and a true pleasure that we look forward to every time we travel as a team.
