The adventure began with a short connection from DCA to JFK. This was the leg that had caused the most worry leading up to the trip, as it involved going from one cold-weather city to another cold-weather city at the end of December. A winter storm had swept across the country just a few days prior, bringing freezing temperatures and causing chaos with Christmas travel. But thankfully the weather cooperated for us.

We got lounge access at both airports, which made waiting for the flights more pleasant. The Greenwich Lounge at JFK was chaotic compared to the Admiral’s Club at DCA. The food at the Lounge was good, but the atmosphere was terrible and the chairs were worse.

This was my first time ever in international business class and as soon as I sat down, I knew economy class had been ruined for me forever. The plane from JFK was an American Airlines 777-200 with the better seat configuration (nobody was facing backward). 

We boarded 50 minutes late and left JFK an hour and a half late (11:15p) because they were missing a pilot (from some other delayed flight) and then that snowballed into other issues. The crew was very apologetic and kind. I was tired but couldn’t resist getting an ice cream sundae before bed (it was delicious).

It took a little bit to get to sleep; I was merely dozing and trying to find a comfortable position for a while. The seat is more like sleeping on a recliner (with its bumps and grooves) than on a bed. But I did eventually get to sleep so well that it was hard to wake up. Breakfast was small and did not live up to the sundae (a dry biscuit, not-ripe fruit, and yogurt). Before I knew it, we were descending into Buenos Aires. We landed about 45 minutes late, which wasn’t too bad after how late we took off.