Winston Aldworth: Rest easy

I'm actually pretty adept at sleeping in Economy, provided I have an aisle seat, my neck rest and sleeping pills. Photo / iStock

By the time you're reading this, I'll be in New Orleans. Not meaning to brag, of course - but, hey, did I mention I'll be in New Orleans?

I'm due to fly out on NZ28, Air New Zealand's recently launched service to Houston. That's a meaty 13h 30m longhaul. From there, I'll be connecting onwards to New Orleans (I did tell you I was going to be in New Orleans, right?) on a United Airlines domestic service.

But disaster has struck: at time of writing, my usual avenues of nailing an upgrade haven't come through. It seems I'll be sitting back in Economy. My ticket is marked for seat 59D, near the galley, down the back, in the deepest darkest reaches of Economy Class - a fact I'm sure will bring immense joy to those people who email me to say I should fly in Economy Class more often when compiling Flight Check reviews.

It should be a particularly good day for the bloke who keeps ringing my ad manager, the long-suffering Sandy Kilgour, demanding that the Travel Editor should "get his fat arse back into Economy"!

Happily, 59D is an aisle seat, and I have a good supply of sleeping pills, so with a couple of glasses of red under the belt, I should be able to get a good sleep.

Sleeping is the key.

I'll let you in on three secrets: 1.) I fly in Economy Class plenty; 2.) I'm actually pretty adept at sleeping in Economy, provided I have an aisle seat, my neck rest and sleeping pills; 3.) If you don't ask (politely) for upgrades, you're a mug.