Business class travel is about comfort and joy rather than luxury and extravagance. Flying Business Class is still a dream for many middle-income Indian families. Just imagine how middle-class parents feel when they get to travel on business class flights with cozy seating, extra legroom, sumptuous meals and other indulgences! Undeniably, it is more than honor and pride, especially for those parents who invest in their daughters’ education and career rather than fairytale wedding.
“Let’s not throw our tickets. We will frame them,” said Ishpreet Kaur’s father on seeing business class air tickets to the US in his hand after he entered the terminal at New Delhi International Airport. Her parents had no knowledge of the travel class they were actually about to fly in until Ishpreet revealed it to them as a surprise just before they were going to check in for the Economy class.
Ishpreet would never forget her father’s words of joy, “First time in our life, we are traveling in business class. Ishu converted our economy class tickets to business…” At the airport, she told her father to look at the boarding passes carefully before moving further. At first, he could not understand what was so special about the boarding passes. The very next moment, he uttered “business class” out of his absolute surprise, as if a cloud of happiness burst inside him to shed tears of joy.
She recorded a video of the heartwarming moment and shared it on Instagram first. The viral video resonated with overseas Indians, many of them struggle to fly out their visiting parents on business class flights. In the video, her father is seen checking the boarding passes with all smiles over and again, and telling her mother not to throw them ever. Hundreds of feel-good comments poured in for Ishpreet Kaur on Instagram. Some comments were in praise of what she did, while some comments echoed similar sentiments:
“I feel so happy for your parents. They are lucky to have a daughter like you,” wrote an Instagram user praising Ishpreet. Another social media user wrote, “Being able to afford business class travel for parents is the best feeling. It is a child’s way of appreciating all that the parents have done for the child over the years.” One of the users commented, “My dad would have sent me to the airline counter to change the tickets back to economy class and get refund.”
“Coming from a middle class family, it’s a huge deal to be so financially independent that I’m able to see my parents flying with me in business class,” wrote Ishpreet Kaur, a lifestyle coach, in her Instagram post. She wanted to experience business class air travel herself, but her conscience did not allow her to splurge only on herself. She had always wished to do something special for her parents. Flying them out with Air India’s business class tickets to USA is the super manifestation of that wish nurtured within the deepest recess of her heart.
She upgraded Air India’s economy tickets to business class in the last minute, and described it as “the BEST decision ever.” “There reactions were priceless and my dad almost cried but held back. The joy was so pure and real. I did not have to think twice before doing this for them,” her Instagram post reads. She concluded the post wishing for her parents to travel in business class every time they would be flying.
