Going to Europe was incredible. The section was quite empty (likely due to the season and not the usual happenstance) and we got very attentive service. The food was also quite good (for airline food) and felt ‘real’ rather than like a school room cafeteria. We started with a fresh salad (real lettuce, not iceberg) and a shrimp, prosciutto, and vegetable crudités. The main course was a choice between bacon-wrapped strip loin, pecan-crusted chicken breast and cheese totellacci (no, not tortellini). I had the beef (very good, very tender) and J had the pasta (very rich and delicious). I skipped dinner but J enjoyed his key lime cheesecake (which tasted like real key limes were used, not bottled concentrate – and it was NOT green, always a good sign). About 90 minutes before arrival we were served a nice continental breakfast of bread, yogurt, fruit and preserves.

The return trip’s food was not very good at all. Quite a disappointment. The salad was poor quality and had a lot of iceberg in it. My filet mignon was overcooked, dry and required the mashed potatoes to make it edible. My green beans were absolutely inedible. J’s cannelloni was actually more tortellini, and was decent. The ‘specialty dessert’ was a cookie. Our meal prior to arrival was a Tuscan Sandwich and was cold, hard, and may have been decent if it had been room temperature. Very unsatisfactory.

That said the seats in Business Class are worth the expense (or the miles, which is a different kind of expense, but how we managed it). We both were able to sleep and it made all the difference in the world in how we felt when we arrived.