Vunder31
Jul 16, 02, 11:20 am
I guess it's time to tell you the tale of the delayed flights and the screaming babies...
Thanks to a tip on FT last year, I was able to buy a R/T HEL-PDX (via CPH and SEA) ticket for only $95 (plus tax). Getting to HEL proved to be quite tricky since I couldn't just buy a separate CPH-HEL ticket (imagine having you luggage tag saying (CPH)-HEL-CPH-SEA-PDX, not very likely to work...)
Instead, I bought a cheap MMX-ARN-HEL ticket, and thereby forcing myself to get on five flights in one day http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
Here's the first part of the story:
MMX-ARN, SK 106, B737, scheduled: 06.50-08.00, actual: 07.15-08.15, load: 100%
The day started just great, pouring rain and the taxi was late. Would I actually make it to MMX before check-in closed? Luckily, I made it by about 20 seconds...
SAS had implemented their summer schedule, meaning that there was only one MMX-ARN morning flight instead of the normal three. The flight was fully booked, and there were lots of stand-by appssengers (mostly dirty kids going home from the Roskilde rock festival) tryimg to get on the plane. No such luck for them, and they all had to wait for the next plane (4 hours later).
The chick-in was simple (no line at the check-in machine), and I headed over to the gate and the security control. Since they only had one metal detector (and people couldn't figure out that keys and mobile phones could actually set off the detector...), boarding was slow and the flight left a bit late. No major worries, though.
The SAS breakfast (bread roll, cold cuts, yoghurt, müsli) was pretty decent. No complaints, but not especially uplifting either. The landing was smooth, and then it was time to head over to the international terminal at ARN. The lines for check-in were very long, but (as usual) nobody was using the check-in machines. Go figure...
The longest lines were at the desks designated for flights to the U.S., with all the extra questions that had to be asked.
I went through security and decided to check out the new F concourse. Lots of open space, but nothing in particular to watch, so I headed back to the main terminal.
ARN-HEL, SK 1701, MD80, scheduled: 10.25-12.20, actual: 10.40-12.20, load: 75%
A short flight that should have been nice and quiet, but instead it turned pretty badly. It's amazing to see how ignorant some parents can be. There were a few kids on the plane, and the parants did absolutely NOTHING to comfort the kids that were crying. When asked to please try to make the kids quiet, the responses were really hostile." We've actually paid for a ticket for the kid. He has every right to be on the plane. Please shut up!"
I'm not questioning the kid's right to travle with his parents, but what part of a ticket purchase gives someone the right to disturb all the other passengers? I'm blaming the parents, not the kid. If the parents would at least TRY to comfort the kid, there would be less of a problem. The flight itself was nice and quick. Refreshments and a sandwich were served, and we landed safely at HEL.
After collecting my bag and cehcking it back in again (you can't check a bag from MMX to the U.S. because of the lack of baggage x-ray facilities at MMX), I met up with my parents who had also bought cheap HEL-PDX tickets. I wlaked around HEL, and couldn't help wondering how anyone could actually like this place. It is so sterile, and the prices are so high.
HEL-CPH, SK 1711, MD80, scheduled: 14.00-14.40, actual: 14.20-14.40, load: 80%
Nothing in particular to notice, but of course there were some crying kids onboard. This this, though, the parents tried to comfort the kids, so I didn't have a problem with the situation. The flight crew was the same as on the ARN-HEL flight, and the F/A recognized me. Short flight, small lunch (I don't even remember what food was served...), and we landed at CPH almost on time. We headed directly to the flight to SEA, and it was quite a long walk from gate B20 to gate C30.
A35.
CPH-SEA, SK 937, A340, scheduled: 15.35-16.35, actual: 16.30-16.35, load: 100%
The flight was severely overbooked, and they were offering big money to volunteer to fly the next day instead. I didn't want to, and neither did my parents since they were upgraded to C class because of the booking situation. I had already pre-assigned a seat, so I was stuck in Y. After a while I realized that perhaps I could also be upgraded, but by the time I made it back to the service desk, all C class seats were already gone. Bummer!
The flight was pretty nice, and the IFE system was pretty cool. The takeoff and the flight over Greenland looked pretty nice on the screen. The movie selection wasn't that great, but I watched "Johnny Q" and listened to a couple of the audio channels. The "Disco" and "vinyl" channels were really good :-)
The food was nothing fancy, fried turkey with veggies for dinner, and meatball sandwiches a short while before landing at SEA. I thought the seat was pretty cramped. The IFE box and the footrest didn't exactly improve the legroom, so it was rather uncomfortable. Oh well, I guess that's what you get when you travel in Y!
Thanks to favorable winds, we landed on time.
SEA-PDX, AS 2430, F28, scheduled: 19.30-20.20, actual: 19.50-20.30, load: 80%
Our original flight to PDX had been cancelled beacuse of technical provblems, so we had to wait for the next plane. It had been a long while since I was on an F28, and the interior looked rather worn and old, and so did the pilots. I guess there aren't any young pilots trained on the F28. The flight itself was rather eventless. The F/A (dressed in a Hawaii shirt and shorts, could you imagine that on a BA flight? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif) served a bag of potato chips (from Washington, of course...) and some microbrew beer (from Oregon).
We landed safely and headed over to Alamo to pick up the rental car. We were upgraded from a compact to an SUV (Suzuki Vitara XL-7), so we didn't complain too much even though the SUV is quite a fuel hog.
More to come later!
Thanks to a tip on FT last year, I was able to buy a R/T HEL-PDX (via CPH and SEA) ticket for only $95 (plus tax). Getting to HEL proved to be quite tricky since I couldn't just buy a separate CPH-HEL ticket (imagine having you luggage tag saying (CPH)-HEL-CPH-SEA-PDX, not very likely to work...)
Instead, I bought a cheap MMX-ARN-HEL ticket, and thereby forcing myself to get on five flights in one day http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
Here's the first part of the story:
MMX-ARN, SK 106, B737, scheduled: 06.50-08.00, actual: 07.15-08.15, load: 100%
The day started just great, pouring rain and the taxi was late. Would I actually make it to MMX before check-in closed? Luckily, I made it by about 20 seconds...
SAS had implemented their summer schedule, meaning that there was only one MMX-ARN morning flight instead of the normal three. The flight was fully booked, and there were lots of stand-by appssengers (mostly dirty kids going home from the Roskilde rock festival) tryimg to get on the plane. No such luck for them, and they all had to wait for the next plane (4 hours later).
The chick-in was simple (no line at the check-in machine), and I headed over to the gate and the security control. Since they only had one metal detector (and people couldn't figure out that keys and mobile phones could actually set off the detector...), boarding was slow and the flight left a bit late. No major worries, though.
The SAS breakfast (bread roll, cold cuts, yoghurt, müsli) was pretty decent. No complaints, but not especially uplifting either. The landing was smooth, and then it was time to head over to the international terminal at ARN. The lines for check-in were very long, but (as usual) nobody was using the check-in machines. Go figure...
The longest lines were at the desks designated for flights to the U.S., with all the extra questions that had to be asked.
I went through security and decided to check out the new F concourse. Lots of open space, but nothing in particular to watch, so I headed back to the main terminal.
ARN-HEL, SK 1701, MD80, scheduled: 10.25-12.20, actual: 10.40-12.20, load: 75%
A short flight that should have been nice and quiet, but instead it turned pretty badly. It's amazing to see how ignorant some parents can be. There were a few kids on the plane, and the parants did absolutely NOTHING to comfort the kids that were crying. When asked to please try to make the kids quiet, the responses were really hostile." We've actually paid for a ticket for the kid. He has every right to be on the plane. Please shut up!"
I'm not questioning the kid's right to travle with his parents, but what part of a ticket purchase gives someone the right to disturb all the other passengers? I'm blaming the parents, not the kid. If the parents would at least TRY to comfort the kid, there would be less of a problem. The flight itself was nice and quick. Refreshments and a sandwich were served, and we landed safely at HEL.
After collecting my bag and cehcking it back in again (you can't check a bag from MMX to the U.S. because of the lack of baggage x-ray facilities at MMX), I met up with my parents who had also bought cheap HEL-PDX tickets. I wlaked around HEL, and couldn't help wondering how anyone could actually like this place. It is so sterile, and the prices are so high.
HEL-CPH, SK 1711, MD80, scheduled: 14.00-14.40, actual: 14.20-14.40, load: 80%
Nothing in particular to notice, but of course there were some crying kids onboard. This this, though, the parents tried to comfort the kids, so I didn't have a problem with the situation. The flight crew was the same as on the ARN-HEL flight, and the F/A recognized me. Short flight, small lunch (I don't even remember what food was served...), and we landed at CPH almost on time. We headed directly to the flight to SEA, and it was quite a long walk from gate B20 to gate C30.
A35.
CPH-SEA, SK 937, A340, scheduled: 15.35-16.35, actual: 16.30-16.35, load: 100%
The flight was severely overbooked, and they were offering big money to volunteer to fly the next day instead. I didn't want to, and neither did my parents since they were upgraded to C class because of the booking situation. I had already pre-assigned a seat, so I was stuck in Y. After a while I realized that perhaps I could also be upgraded, but by the time I made it back to the service desk, all C class seats were already gone. Bummer!
The flight was pretty nice, and the IFE system was pretty cool. The takeoff and the flight over Greenland looked pretty nice on the screen. The movie selection wasn't that great, but I watched "Johnny Q" and listened to a couple of the audio channels. The "Disco" and "vinyl" channels were really good :-)
The food was nothing fancy, fried turkey with veggies for dinner, and meatball sandwiches a short while before landing at SEA. I thought the seat was pretty cramped. The IFE box and the footrest didn't exactly improve the legroom, so it was rather uncomfortable. Oh well, I guess that's what you get when you travel in Y!
Thanks to favorable winds, we landed on time.
SEA-PDX, AS 2430, F28, scheduled: 19.30-20.20, actual: 19.50-20.30, load: 80%
Our original flight to PDX had been cancelled beacuse of technical provblems, so we had to wait for the next plane. It had been a long while since I was on an F28, and the interior looked rather worn and old, and so did the pilots. I guess there aren't any young pilots trained on the F28. The flight itself was rather eventless. The F/A (dressed in a Hawaii shirt and shorts, could you imagine that on a BA flight? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif) served a bag of potato chips (from Washington, of course...) and some microbrew beer (from Oregon).
We landed safely and headed over to Alamo to pick up the rental car. We were upgraded from a compact to an SUV (Suzuki Vitara XL-7), so we didn't complain too much even though the SUV is quite a fuel hog.
More to come later!