The first time I flew Malaysia Airlines it was a pretty big deal.
Up to that point in my wee little life, I’d only made one other set of flights, and that had been a short hop to Dallas the summer before (I don’t count the whole baby-to-be-adopted-and-flying-from-Korea flight as I don’t remember it at all). So, this was definitely my first long-haul trip. In fact, up until I took that westward-flying jet, the furthest west I’d been was The Little Apple AKA Manhattan, kansas AKA The Armpit of America (or at least it smells that way). Needless to say, everything about the flight was impressive. (Movies? Cool! Food every few hours? No way! A Nintendo-like controller for video games? Super!) But by far the most impressive thing for me was that I’d been given a choice of either taking a four-hour layover in KL en route to Perth or a whole-day layover, in which case they’d provide me with a four-star hotel room. As you might recall, I chose the latter. (And loved my free room so much that I overslept the 4 p.m. checkout)
Nearly seven years later, I’ve done a bit more traveling in my life, racked up some frequent flier miles, and gotten a few more stamps in the passport. Am I still as impressed by Malaysia? Well, this time, the airline didn’t offer me seven free nights of hotel stays for my chosen layover, but the airline with its (I now realize) horribly small amount of legroom, still found a way to impress me. When my flight was delayed an hour and a half, unlike most airlines that just send you on your bored little way, they gave me a free meal at an airport eatery of my choice, which happened to be sbarro. Yummy, yum, yum in my tummy, tum, tum.
So, yeah, I’d say I’m still easily impressed. (And loved my free food so much that afterward I napped and nearly overslept my flight…woke up to last call)
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if airport food weren’t so expensive and security weren’t so hard to get through…i’d totally be a regular diner at airports
I love people watching while I’m on layovers or delays. I too am easily impressed and easily amused. i think that’s key when you travel a lot.
jayna -
i’m taking malaysian air to india and they’re giving me free hotel stays too for the layover! i have a 7 hour layover. i wonder if that’s enough time for me to wander around KL. probably not a good idea eh?