A truly shocking in-flight experience

Diary of an SLA: 3 November 2025

I am currently on a plane, travelling to Los Angeles (or as I believe it is colloquially known, ‘Los A’) to meet with a literary agent.

On boarding the plane for what is my first ever long haul flight, I was delighted to discover that the seats were much larger, more luxurious and more private than those on domestic flights. I approached a flight attendant, handed over my boarding pass and suavely asked which seat was mine. She pointed down the aisle and said my seat was in the next cabin. I thanked her and, with a calm air of grace, strolled towards my seat, nodding and smiling sophisticatedly at my fellow passengers as they reclined in their booths and sipped their champagne.

On entering the next cabin, I was shocked and appalled to find that the seats were much smaller and more cramped. There were no private booths, there was no horizontal reclining and no champagne. I immediately returned to the previous cabin and hailed my flight attendant, explaining to her that there had been a …