Kwaj girl
Jan 15, 03, 8:33 pm
We considered just waiting it out in the lounge but were glad we didn’t when we saw the process: though there is a separate line for WBC the screening process seemed rather lengthy (or maybe it was our “short stay” that made our screening longer???) The security agent asked for our passports, tickets, and boarding passes and then asked how long was our stay in the Netherlands. When we told her we had just arrived about an hour ago, she looked somewhat surprised. We explained that we were “doing it for the miles” and then she asked to se our FF cards. Surprise #2: she wanted to know why they were CO cards instead of NW or KLM at which point we had to tell her that CO was a partner airline. Then the questions about checked baggage (we had none; after all it was just a turnaround flight and we brought a change of clothes in carry-ons just in case…) at which point she said she had to go talk to a supervisor. She returned a few minutes later, handed us our documents, and said “Have a nice flight”. Off to the x-ray and metal-detector located right at the gate, and then take a seat in the hard plastic chairs until the flight is called.
Boarding began around 730am with “families traveling with children”. Thus the beginning of the “cattle-call” as the lounge was full of kids of all ages. Parents were preboarding with TEENAGERS for cryin’ out loud! Maybe there was a language barrier, as it seemed that this gate area had a huge number of passengers for whom English was not their first language. We boarded next, as they called for WBC and Elites
NW39 AMS-DTW Jan 1, 2003
N221NW
AMS Gate E6
Seats 3JK (DC10)
Out: 8:10 am
Off: 8:19 am
On: 10:30 am
In: 10:38 am
DTW Gate A36
Boarding was through 2L again; water, OJ, champagne and Heineken were offered as soon as you got to your seat. On this flight we had about the BEST team of male flight attendants that I’ve ever had on NW. They scurried around the WBC cabin to hang up coats, passed around a basket of amenities (choose what you want from an assortment including eyeshades, ear plugs, chapstick, toothbrush/toothpaste, socks. OOPS…forgot to say this was also offered on the outbound flight, too!) and made sure passengers had their water bottles before takeoff. WBC was about 2/3 full. I was surprised that is was still totally DARK outside at 8 am!
This was a rather bumpy flight at times; I was sure Kwaj boy was going to commit Alcohol Abuse more than once by spilling his wine J. It was more annoying than anything else, and we were forewarned by the Captain to expect periodic turbulence so he kept the seatbelt sign on most of the time.
We again ordered low fat meals: this time our breakfast tray included 2 fruit items: a bowl with strawberry quarters, kiwi slices, fresh pineapple (not ripe, though L ), orange slices and a plate with melon slices, dates, and a canned fruit of some sort. Then there was a round hot plate that had something in the shape of a pancake that appeared to be a mixture of couscous, crushed pineapple, diced papaya & banana. It was baked and had a nice brown crust. We asked the flight attendant if his catering sheet said what it was; he immediately hurried off to the galley, came back VERY apologetically and said that the sheet just said “vegetarian meal”. He was quite concerned, asking us if it was all right. Even though we had ordered Low fat, this was quite an unusual but tasty dish. Unfortunately the pre-set tray had COLD rolls, but he was quick to replace them with hot rolls from the basket. He came around with a box of chocolates after the breakfast service; I indulged myself with a dark chocolate truffle this time.
A basket of “goodies” is in the galley to help yourself during the flight: Kwaj boy and I each had a Toblerone bar; he also had a bag of Lays potato chips and I had some sort of delicious prepackaged marzipan pastry (I know, I know….HOW LOWFAT IS THAT!)
Window shades were down and most people slept at least part of the time during the flight. I know I did, since I hadn’t slept on the flight over to Amsterdam, and only had enough time in the lounge to see the ball drop in Times Square on the big-screen TV in the KLM lounge at 6am local time. Flight attendants circulated throughout the cabin quite often (and quietly) to see if anyone needed anything and refilled drinks frequently.
The second meal (snack) service started about an hour and a half before arrival. Our wonderful FA’s brought around the hot wake-up towels again, and then a beverage service before the meal. Our low fat meal had 2 fruit items again (WHAT A SURPRISE), similar to the breakfast bowl/plate. I think I’m going to swear-off fruit for a while after this trip! Would have made much more sense to provide a salad and a fruit, instead of 2 fruits. Anyway, the “main” was a delicious whole-grain sunflower-seed-topped roll spread with a delicious garbanzo bean spread seasoned with cumin. Very unusual and very good! Our flight attendant again came by to make sure our “special meal” was acceptable. All too soon, this flight was over. Wish I could remember these guys’ names but it was obvious that they knew each other and had worked together before, as their service was seamless.
Off to the main DTW WorldClub this time. Kwaj boy and I decided to take advantage of the shower room to get a nice, hot shower (especially appreciated after this long trek). At least there was water pressure this time (last trip through, the water was a mere trickle. WC agent said they have that problem on occasion). Same snacks in the Club (or lack thereof) since we got in just late enough that they had already removed the muffins and English muffins normally there during early morning hours. Oh well; time for some more Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon I suppose….. Had a couple hours of people-watching as this WC overlooks the center concourse area near the escalator passengers use after clearing the security screening area. Lots of TSA people (“thousands strolling around” and “thousands slurping (coffee) around”…wait a minute, let’s not get side-tracked!).
NW704 DTW-PVD Jan 1, 2003
Missed the tail number
DTW Gate A5
Seats 2AB
Out: 1:41 pm
Off: 1:52 pm
On: 3:20 pm
In: 3:24 pm
PVD Gate 11
Only a few “families with children” to preboard this flight, then FC and Elites. No preflight beverages as the aisle was too crowded with passengers drifting in with their multiple (?) carryons. Maybe they were being lenient due to people carrying their holiday packages, I suppose. Beverage service was offered after takeoff, as well as 2 rounds of the basket with roasted almonds and Spinzels. Kwaj boy and I stuck to soft drinks on this leg, as we had an hour’s drive after landing in PVD. Parking ended up costing us 21 bucks for 29 hours. The drive back was uneventful.
We’re STILL waiting for them to post our mileage….as noted in the CO Forum under the “No OnePass Miles for Northwest World Business Class (Z Class)” we might consider ourselves fortunate that they posted the actual mileage and the Elite bonus, although NOT the fare bonus, for the DTW-AMS-DTW segments. Somehow they also “missed” the PVD-DTW-PVD segments that were on the same ticket, so we had to fax them in to OPSC yesterday for credit. The jury is still out on the total # of miles we’ll get for this tripthat cost less than 800 bucks apiece.
Boarding began around 730am with “families traveling with children”. Thus the beginning of the “cattle-call” as the lounge was full of kids of all ages. Parents were preboarding with TEENAGERS for cryin’ out loud! Maybe there was a language barrier, as it seemed that this gate area had a huge number of passengers for whom English was not their first language. We boarded next, as they called for WBC and Elites
NW39 AMS-DTW Jan 1, 2003
N221NW
AMS Gate E6
Seats 3JK (DC10)
Out: 8:10 am
Off: 8:19 am
On: 10:30 am
In: 10:38 am
DTW Gate A36
Boarding was through 2L again; water, OJ, champagne and Heineken were offered as soon as you got to your seat. On this flight we had about the BEST team of male flight attendants that I’ve ever had on NW. They scurried around the WBC cabin to hang up coats, passed around a basket of amenities (choose what you want from an assortment including eyeshades, ear plugs, chapstick, toothbrush/toothpaste, socks. OOPS…forgot to say this was also offered on the outbound flight, too!) and made sure passengers had their water bottles before takeoff. WBC was about 2/3 full. I was surprised that is was still totally DARK outside at 8 am!
This was a rather bumpy flight at times; I was sure Kwaj boy was going to commit Alcohol Abuse more than once by spilling his wine J. It was more annoying than anything else, and we were forewarned by the Captain to expect periodic turbulence so he kept the seatbelt sign on most of the time.
We again ordered low fat meals: this time our breakfast tray included 2 fruit items: a bowl with strawberry quarters, kiwi slices, fresh pineapple (not ripe, though L ), orange slices and a plate with melon slices, dates, and a canned fruit of some sort. Then there was a round hot plate that had something in the shape of a pancake that appeared to be a mixture of couscous, crushed pineapple, diced papaya & banana. It was baked and had a nice brown crust. We asked the flight attendant if his catering sheet said what it was; he immediately hurried off to the galley, came back VERY apologetically and said that the sheet just said “vegetarian meal”. He was quite concerned, asking us if it was all right. Even though we had ordered Low fat, this was quite an unusual but tasty dish. Unfortunately the pre-set tray had COLD rolls, but he was quick to replace them with hot rolls from the basket. He came around with a box of chocolates after the breakfast service; I indulged myself with a dark chocolate truffle this time.
A basket of “goodies” is in the galley to help yourself during the flight: Kwaj boy and I each had a Toblerone bar; he also had a bag of Lays potato chips and I had some sort of delicious prepackaged marzipan pastry (I know, I know….HOW LOWFAT IS THAT!)
Window shades were down and most people slept at least part of the time during the flight. I know I did, since I hadn’t slept on the flight over to Amsterdam, and only had enough time in the lounge to see the ball drop in Times Square on the big-screen TV in the KLM lounge at 6am local time. Flight attendants circulated throughout the cabin quite often (and quietly) to see if anyone needed anything and refilled drinks frequently.
The second meal (snack) service started about an hour and a half before arrival. Our wonderful FA’s brought around the hot wake-up towels again, and then a beverage service before the meal. Our low fat meal had 2 fruit items again (WHAT A SURPRISE), similar to the breakfast bowl/plate. I think I’m going to swear-off fruit for a while after this trip! Would have made much more sense to provide a salad and a fruit, instead of 2 fruits. Anyway, the “main” was a delicious whole-grain sunflower-seed-topped roll spread with a delicious garbanzo bean spread seasoned with cumin. Very unusual and very good! Our flight attendant again came by to make sure our “special meal” was acceptable. All too soon, this flight was over. Wish I could remember these guys’ names but it was obvious that they knew each other and had worked together before, as their service was seamless.
Off to the main DTW WorldClub this time. Kwaj boy and I decided to take advantage of the shower room to get a nice, hot shower (especially appreciated after this long trek). At least there was water pressure this time (last trip through, the water was a mere trickle. WC agent said they have that problem on occasion). Same snacks in the Club (or lack thereof) since we got in just late enough that they had already removed the muffins and English muffins normally there during early morning hours. Oh well; time for some more Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon I suppose….. Had a couple hours of people-watching as this WC overlooks the center concourse area near the escalator passengers use after clearing the security screening area. Lots of TSA people (“thousands strolling around” and “thousands slurping (coffee) around”…wait a minute, let’s not get side-tracked!).
NW704 DTW-PVD Jan 1, 2003
Missed the tail number
DTW Gate A5
Seats 2AB
Out: 1:41 pm
Off: 1:52 pm
On: 3:20 pm
In: 3:24 pm
PVD Gate 11
Only a few “families with children” to preboard this flight, then FC and Elites. No preflight beverages as the aisle was too crowded with passengers drifting in with their multiple (?) carryons. Maybe they were being lenient due to people carrying their holiday packages, I suppose. Beverage service was offered after takeoff, as well as 2 rounds of the basket with roasted almonds and Spinzels. Kwaj boy and I stuck to soft drinks on this leg, as we had an hour’s drive after landing in PVD. Parking ended up costing us 21 bucks for 29 hours. The drive back was uneventful.
We’re STILL waiting for them to post our mileage….as noted in the CO Forum under the “No OnePass Miles for Northwest World Business Class (Z Class)” we might consider ourselves fortunate that they posted the actual mileage and the Elite bonus, although NOT the fare bonus, for the DTW-AMS-DTW segments. Somehow they also “missed” the PVD-DTW-PVD segments that were on the same ticket, so we had to fax them in to OPSC yesterday for credit. The jury is still out on the total # of miles we’ll get for this tripthat cost less than 800 bucks apiece.