Magna Carta gets its own lay-flat First Class seat on British Airways flight

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Forget frequent flier miles, airline status or even breaking out your crispest suit and sharpest red-soled stilettos. Apparently the easiest way to score a first-class upgrade is to be 800 years old. An original version of the Magna Carta – which was drafted in 1217 – was given its own seat in the first class cabin of a British Airways flight from the United Kingdom to New York.

British Airways Captain Ian Aird said:

"VIPs regularly travel across the pond with us, but with a price tag of £24 million the Magna Carta and the King’s Writ are definitely one of the most precious pieces of cargo we’ve ever had the honor of carrying. The news that we had such an important piece of history on board certainly created a buzz in our First class cabin.”

This version of the rare 13th century document is on loan from Hereford Cathedral and is going on display at the New York Historical Society, the first stop (and only U.S. stop) on the Magna Carta 800 Global Tour. British Airways will be giving the document the very literal white glove treatment as it travels an estimated 65,000 miles to China, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Singapore.

When any of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta travel, they go in high style, under heavy security. In 1976, the Lincoln Cathedral's version of the document was flown to San Francisco by members of the British Royal Air Force. Alan Young, a now-retired RAF flight lieutenant who took part in that unorthodox mission wrote:

"On 29th September 1976 an armed convoy arrived at our aircraft (XM 651). ‘The box’ [containing the Magna Carta] was secured in the bomb-aimer’s compartment with the co-pilot and I each being presented with a key to one of the two securing locks. Five hours later we arrived [at] Goose Bay and had to remain in the aircraft until it had been moved into a hangar which was then locked and guarded by RCMP for the next 8 hours. Our 7 man crew, including 2 crew chiefs, guarded the aircraft in pairs overnight."

Is it weird to be jealous of a piece of paper? Because I totally am.