Anxiety in the Air
How Business Class Helped Me and How I Do It (Almost) Free
I am a business class girl--lie-flat seat, bubbly and boarding first. But I didn’t always fly business class. In fact, at one point in my life, I could barely fly at all.
From Panic to Prosecco: My Personal Struggle with Fear of Flying
Just walking through the sliding glass door of the departures entrance would give me dry heaves. Cold sweat? You bet. Sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in a crowded tube with a couple hundred strangers with only two bathrooms to share between us? Absolutely not cool. Guaranteed panic attacks. Exhausting. Demoralizing. If my parents didn’t live a few states away in my 20s and 30s, I probably would have never gotten on a plane ever.
Over time, I got help for my panic disorder with the dynamic duo of therapy and medication. Not miracle cures, but definite game changers. Slowly, my world opened up.
Eventually, something incredible happened: I started to WANT to fly.
I wish so badly that I could go back and tell that girl who sat near tears at the boarding gate that one day, she’d get on a plane joyfully.That she’d walk into an airport with a gleam in her eye instead of a pit in her stomach. A better future was in store and that future involved something she’d never imagined she could have: Business Class.
Helloooo you sexy super wide Singapore Air seat
Why Business Class Feels Like an Flying Anxiety Solution
At the insistence of my then-boyfriend-now-husband, who I credit with even opening up the idea of world travel to me, I used our Chase Ultimate Rewards points to get us those sweet biz class points. (See the end of this post to learn more!) Once I experienced it, I was changed!
And not just in a “ooh la la, free champagne!” kind of way. Though, let’s be real—that’s quite a perk.
Four times in Paris is not enough times in Paris.
For someone with a nervous system like mine, it’s more than luxury. It’s about space, calm, control. It’s about bypassing the overstimulating madness of the terminal in favor of the lounge. It’s about the privacy of a pod that, if my adrenaline system kicks in, I can quietly manage it without an audience.
Honestly? I feel like it’s almost a medical necessity! It’s not about being high maintenance, it’s about being human.
As a friend put it: “It’s like your vacation starts as soon as you get on the plane.” The experience of having a relaxing flight changed the way I feel about travel. Getting to know France, England, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Japan (with more countries to come!) has made me happier than I ever dreamed.
Making dear friends in Nara, Japan.
How I Use Points to Book Premium Seats (Without Spending Thousands)
Before you go thinking “Ok, Heidi. Must be nice to drop $8k just because you feel anxious,” let me be clear: I have never paid retail for international business class. I wouldn’t! What I have done is learn how to earn points through everyday spending and use them strategically.
It took some time to get good at it though. My redemption skills have gotten way savvier over time. But it started with one decision: I wanted to travel without dreading it, so I found a way.
These days, few things light me up more than helping people I love do the same. Just ask the friends I’ve lovingly lectured at lunch when they try to pay with (GASP!) a debit card. I would do a whole PowerPoint presentation right there at the table, if they’d let me.
What About Economy Flights?
All that said—do I still “rough it” in economy? Definitely. Mainly on domestic flights when the points don’t pencil out or the cash price for the front is just way too high. And when I do? I feel it. That little monster from the old days pipes up again: the one who hates being boxed in, who worries she’ll get sick, the one I have to remind that it’s going to be ok about 45 times an hour.
In those moments, I do whatever I can to give myself a soothe:
Book an aisle seat ahead of time.
Get my water bottle filled up with ice water and pop a sugar free mint.
Plop on my noise-canceling headphones (those 10+ year old Bose Quiet Comforts still going strong)
remind myself the front of the plane is just a redemption or two away.
I’m not high maintenance. I’m just human. And if there’s a way to make this wild, beautiful, exciting world feel a little more comfortable, I’m going to take it.
And I want you to take it, too.
Cheers, friends.
