The lap of luxury
I just finished writing a recommendation for a friend who's up for a Macarthur fellowship. These are often called "genius grants", and provide a substantial amount of money ($100k, I believe) each year for five years - they're designed to let artists, innovators, etc. work without distractions or requirements, with the hope that something wonderful will arise.
I'm not holding my breath for a Macarthur, but I do find myself wishing for a slightly less lofty grant, one I'm calling the Boeing grant. Recipients of a Boeing get to fly wherever they want, whenever they want, in Business Class. Nothing more, nothing less - business class airfare anywhere, any time (plus lounge access, of course... :-) This grant doesn't exist, but I invite Boeing, Airbus, American Express or anyone else to create it and issue me the first one - I promise to blog the living hell out of it.
The Business Class bit of the grant is a critical one. I flew about 250,000 miles last year and didn't enjoy the vast majority of them. I remember being wedged next to a fleshy South African woman for 13 hours enroute to Johannesburg and thinking, "there's a finite number of times I can do this".
The sponsor of the conference I'm heading to paid for Business Class tickets for me from Boston to Doha. That's $6200, according to the receipt they gave me. I'm hoping they didn't actually pay that much money, as I can't think of anything I have to say that would be worth that much money. I've never paid more than $2000 for a plane ticket, and I shudder every time I pay more than $1000.
But it's really a different experience to travel internationally in biz class. Trying to maximize the amount of sleep you get on board, British Air serves you dinner on the ground in their bizclass lounge. On board, they cosset you in litttle mini-cabins which turn into near-flat beds. Two minutes into the air, they brought me a glass of (very good) red wine - I took a sleeping pill and slept until 10 minutes before landing, when they brought me coffee and a bacon roll.
BA evidently has a First Class service which is nicer than their business class service. I don't even want to hear about it. It's already going to be nigh impossible to fly overseas in coach the next time I have to do so...
Qatar Airways isn't quite as luxurious - closer to "first class" on Northwest (which is a significant step down from BA's business class.) Still, the food's edible, the seat is roomy, I've got legroom and enough space to work. (And, to my surprise, they serve alcohol. I bought a pint of cheap whiskey in Heathrow, figuring it might be the only alcohol I encountered for the next three days...) I have this odd fantasy that my flights back on Friday - both in daytime hours, both about seven hours, both in bizclass - will be some of the more productive time I've had recently.
Usually by this point in an international trip, I want to kill people. I tend to ward off murder by checking into my hotel, locking the door and ignoring humanity for at least twelve hours. It's vaguely possible that I might actually head down to the bar of the hotel tonight and see if any friends are around... bizarre.
I'm not holding my breath for a Macarthur, but I do find myself wishing for a slightly less lofty grant, one I'm calling the Boeing grant. Recipients of a Boeing get to fly wherever they want, whenever they want, in Business Class. Nothing more, nothing less - business class airfare anywhere, any time (plus lounge access, of course... :-) This grant doesn't exist, but I invite Boeing, Airbus, American Express or anyone else to create it and issue me the first one - I promise to blog the living hell out of it.
The Business Class bit of the grant is a critical one. I flew about 250,000 miles last year and didn't enjoy the vast majority of them. I remember being wedged next to a fleshy South African woman for 13 hours enroute to Johannesburg and thinking, "there's a finite number of times I can do this".
The sponsor of the conference I'm heading to paid for Business Class tickets for me from Boston to Doha. That's $6200, according to the receipt they gave me. I'm hoping they didn't actually pay that much money, as I can't think of anything I have to say that would be worth that much money. I've never paid more than $2000 for a plane ticket, and I shudder every time I pay more than $1000.
But it's really a different experience to travel internationally in biz class. Trying to maximize the amount of sleep you get on board, British Air serves you dinner on the ground in their bizclass lounge. On board, they cosset you in litttle mini-cabins which turn into near-flat beds. Two minutes into the air, they brought me a glass of (very good) red wine - I took a sleeping pill and slept until 10 minutes before landing, when they brought me coffee and a bacon roll.
BA evidently has a First Class service which is nicer than their business class service. I don't even want to hear about it. It's already going to be nigh impossible to fly overseas in coach the next time I have to do so...
Qatar Airways isn't quite as luxurious - closer to "first class" on Northwest (which is a significant step down from BA's business class.) Still, the food's edible, the seat is roomy, I've got legroom and enough space to work. (And, to my surprise, they serve alcohol. I bought a pint of cheap whiskey in Heathrow, figuring it might be the only alcohol I encountered for the next three days...) I have this odd fantasy that my flights back on Friday - both in daytime hours, both about seven hours, both in bizclass - will be some of the more productive time I've had recently.
Usually by this point in an international trip, I want to kill people. I tend to ward off murder by checking into my hotel, locking the door and ignoring humanity for at least twelve hours. It's vaguely possible that I might actually head down to the bar of the hotel tonight and see if any friends are around... bizarre.