Thor3

[QUOTE=jacob_m;14610150]Well then go for it and challenge my TR!
A RTW on SQ sounds like great fun! I'm looking forward to read it...


Your trip report is the first thing I read when I sign into the computer.

I also would be interested in the theory behind how you put a paid trip with embedded free segments.

jacob_m

The flight back to Europe was on my “home carrier” SAS Scandinavian Airlines, a flight of 11 hours and 10 minutes to Copenhagen in business class.

In general I have mixed feelings about SAS, despite being the airline where I have status, there are surely some ups and some downs.
During the past years I have met a few tired and grumpy FAs, however this flight had absolutely nothing of that. It ended up being a most delightful experience!



After the rather adventurous landing it was nice to get off the plane and enter the terminal building.
Transfer security was very quick with no line, I very much appreciate they have changed the set-up so security takes place before entering the transit hall rather than just before the gate.

I already had a boarding pass for my connecting flight and quite nicely when getting off the plane from Singapore there was a young woman standing there holding an SAS sign with the departure gate used for the flight to Copenhagen.

Thai Airways Royal Silk Lounge, C-Concourse, Bangkok

There are several Thai Airways lounges to use in Bangkok, however I do have a preference for the one in the C-concourse.
It is not as large as the one in the D-concourse so it feels cosier and more intimate. Also it has never been very crowded during any of my visits so far.



There was an adequate selection of food in the lounge, I believe the selection is the same in all Thai lounges in Bangkok.
Some cold and hot snacks (including different types of pies), sandwiches, pastries, vegetables and fresh fruits. There is usually some kind of hot food as well, something like noodles with chicken.



The selection of drinks was a mixed bag. The selection of spirits was extensive, definitely a wider selection than most business lounges.
The selection of beer and soft drinks was adequate, but very poorly there was no wine in the lounge. I don’t know why there is no wine in any of the TG lounges in Bangkok.

I got some light snacks and a Chang beer from the self-service buffet and had a seat at an empty table. Despite being a Friday evening with many midnight departures the lounge was surprisingly empty.
I checked my e-mails using the free WIFI, however I found it to be very slow.

The lounge was nice, tidy and well-maintained. The armchairs were quite nice and had nice comfortable cushions.

Pics
The entrance to the lounge
The self-service buffet area
Hot snacks
Decent selection of spirits
Snacks, pastries, sandwiches, vegetables and fruits

Boarding

I left the lounge around 11.30 pm and started walking towards the gate.
Apparently I had chosen a lounge quite far from the assigned gate E3, located in the E-concourse at the other end of the airport, however I did not mind stretching my legs a bit.

Boarding started almost the same moment as I arrived at the gate. There was a separate exit for business class passengers and a woman was holding a business class sign and also checked boarding passes of those who passed.
Nice to see priority boarding being enforced!



I was greeted at the entrance by a friendly crew and directed to my seat 04H, a window seat on the fourth row of the cabin.
I arrived just at the right moment to take some cabin photos before most other passengers arrived.

Trays with the pre-departure drinks (OJ, water and champagne) were already prepared at front of the cabin and shortly after I had settled in my seat I was offered a drink and naturally went for the bubbles.
The drinks were served in nice glasses designed by Orrefors with the old SAS logo engraved.

Newspapers were available by the entrance to the cabin, however I completely missed that and did not notice it until I saw the newspapers being removed by the crew.
A few moments later a female FA passed my seat and I told her I had missed the newspaper rack and asked her if they still had any Swedish papers left.
She assured me she would check and went a great length to find a few spare copies in the cabin and in fact delivered three different ones to my seat a few minutes later. Very nice!

Pics
The international transit hall
The business class cabin with pre-departure drinks prepared at the front
Still raining at Bangkok airport
The cabin in preparation for departure

Bangkok-Copenhagen, flight SK 972 operated by SAS Scandinavian Airlines
Departure: 00:25
Arrival: 06:35
Aircraft: Airbus A340-300
Class: Business Class
Seat: 04H

Boarding was completed right on time and a safety demonstration video was shown on the monitors in English.

Since SAS is the national carrier of three countries the crew on intercontinental flights is usually a mix of Swedes, Danes and Norwegians (and occasionally some more nationalities).
Language is not a problem as all crew members are used to all the three Scandinavian languages and they naturally also speak perfect English.
On this flight the captain was Swedish and the purser Danish.

We pushed back right on time at 0.30 am and took off a few minutes at 0.45 am from runway 19L.
It was still raining in Bangkok, but the thunderstorm was gone and both the take-off and climb were smooth.
The Airbus A340 has a very low rate of climb so it took a bit of time before we had reached a safe altitude and the seat belt sign was switched off.

After take-off slippers and amenity kits were handed out. The amenity kit was a new design, a dark grey bag with the standard contents as well as some skin products from Rituals.
When handed out it was wrapped in white paper, I’m not sure what the purpose was of doing that (other than avoiding any damage).

Business class was completely full on this flight to Copenhagen.
I was seated next to a French man, not too hard to figure out as I noticed he was reading a French book.
I might be wrong, but I just got the impression that I annoyed him, just some stares I got, one possible reason could be that I took photos onboard.
Anyway, to loosen up the situation a bit, when the right moment arrived I struck up a conversation with him in perfect French and that did wonders.
He was actually rather friendly and as a small coincidence we realised we worked in the same industry, but for competing companies. It’s a small world...

Pics
The business class amenity kit

The menu

The menu was printed in a new format than the one previously used in business class.
I thought it was a refreshing change and the new menu looked and felt much more elegant than the old menu which was in the shape of a booklet.

The menu was entirely in English, no pages in any of the Scandinavian languages.

Here is the menu for the overnight flight to Copenhagen:

Pics
The business class menu

The meal service



The meal service was fortunately quite quick, it was well after midnight and many passengers wanted to get some sleep.
I thought they did it just right. The entire meal service took around an hour, it was not too long but neither did it feel rushed, those who wanted to enjoy the inflight service certainly had the chance to do so.

Hot towels were handed out, white table cloths were laid on the tables and the meal tray was handed out with the appetiser (smoked trout and potato salad) as well as a bowl with salad.
Bread rolls were offered as well as a nice selection of drinks, I asked to get a glass of the French red wine.

Next the main course was offered, delivered from a decorated table by the crew.
There were three choices of main course and I chose the pork fillet with mashed potatoes.
It was excellent, very tasty!
Refills of drinks were also offered and I accepted another glass of the French red wine.

The meal trays were collected and those who wanted coffee or tea were given cups at the same time.
Right behind another trolley passed with coffee, tea, liqueurs and exquisite petits fours.
The male FA explicitly pointed out that “you can take two if you want”...

Since I wanted to get some proper sleep I declined the coffee but I did ask for a glass of Ballantines, which was later topped up.
More lovely petits fours were offered as well as chocolate pralines.

All-in-all I was most satisfied with the meal service, it was in fact very nice and certainly one of the nicer “light meals” I have had in my life...

Pics
The light dinner in business class
Petits fours and a glass of whisky
Flying over the Bay of Bengal
The cabin after the meal service

The seat



The SAS business class seat is a modern lie-flat version with excellent legroom (a 61” seat pitch) and a nice 170 degrees recline.

The seat is controlled by a rather advanced seat control in the armrest, I found it to be very straight-forward and had no problems adjusting my seat the way I wanted it.

Each business class has a private screen and also storage for a water bottle and magazines and there is a power socket in the seat in case you want to use your laptop onboard.

There are 46 business class seats on the Airbus A340 in a 2-2-2 configuration.
Eight rows in total divided into a larger cabin with six rows and a smaller cabin behind the business class galley with two rows.

Pics
The business class seat
Seat controls
The individual screen
Storage for individual water bottles

Inflight entertainment



SAS has AVOD on longhaul flights in business class and economy extra.
The selection of movies was OK but far from spectacular and nowhere near for example the Singapore Airlines KrisWorld system.
There were around 20 movies, some documentaries, audio channels and some games to play.
The IFE also had a flight map and two cockpit cameras.

In business class the IFE is enjoyed on a 10.4” screen. Perfectly fine, but it did feel a bit small compared to some newer business class screens I used during this trip.

I watched half the movie “The girl with the dragon tattoo” (Män som hatar kvinnor) as well as a documentary about the New Hebrides.

Pics
The inflight entertainment menu
IFE control
Watching the movie “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Män som hatar kvinnor)
Cockpit camera

The self-service buffet



SAS has a self-service buffet in business class, located just by door 2L between the larger and the smaller business class cabins.

The buffet is one of the best ones around! ^
I have not seen anything comparable on any other airline so far (I don’t know if the Emirates business class bar could be considered a self-service buffet).

An excellent selection of sandwiches, pastries, muffins, chocolates and fruits.
There is also wine for self-service, beer and soft drinks, and if you fancy a coffee you can make yourself an espresso using the espresso machine.



Just by the buffet they had also placed a nicely decorated tray with the remaining petits fours from the meal service.

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night to visit the lavatory, and that tray is there... Dangerous!!
They were irresistible, the petits fours tasted like small drops of heaven.

Pics
The nice buffet
Petits fours for self-service

Sleeping onboard



After the meal service they played a short movie on the monitors about SAS, presumably for Asian passengers onboard, but it was in Mandarin which made no sense on a flight from Bangkok.
Someone must have completed mixed up the languages...

The crew also passed through the cabin and asked if we wanted to be woken up for breakfast.



After finishing my glass of whisky and watching an hour of the movie I went to the lavatory to change into my sleeper suit pants and get ready for bed.

Pillows and comfortable blue duvets are provided in business class and I found the seat to be fine to sleep in.
However although the seat is lie-flat and not too far from horizontal I found the slope to be a bit strange.

It took a bit of time before I fell asleep, but I eventually got a few hours of proper sleep onboard and was in a reasonably good shape when I got off the plane.

Pics
Passengers getting some sleep in the business class cabin
The business class cabin darkened
Cosy ambiance in the cabin

Breakfast



Around two hours before landing the lights were turned on in the cabin and the crew started preparing for the breakfast service.

Hot towels were handed out to all passengers followed by very nicely decorated juice cocktails.

Table cloths were once again laid on the tables and the meal tray was handed out with the continental breakfast. A very extensive breakfast tray with fresh fruits, cheese and cold cuts, yoghurt, cereals, butter and marmalade.
Bread rolls, croissants as well as coffee and tea were offered by the crew.

Next a trolley passed through the cabin with the hot breakfast.
All of it was à la carte, so you could decide yourself what you wanted to eat out of bacon, sausages, poached eggs, beans, tomatoes, spinach, ham and mushroom pancakes, and Asian-style noodles with fish cubes.

I asked to have a bit of everything and it ended up being a very filling breakfast, I was very full afterwards.

More coffee, tea, orange juice and bread rolls were offered before the tables were cleared.

Actually this was one of the best and most extensive airline breakfasts during the entire trip!

Pics
Flying over western Russia
Morning cocktail
Continental breakfast
Hot breakfast

Arrival in Copenhagen

After breakfast I changed back to my regular clothes in the lavatory.
There are only two lavatories for all business class passengers (46 passengers on a full flight), which is simply not enough. Many business class passengers (like me) want to change into something more comfortable to sleep in and freshen up before landing, and inevitably that takes time.
There is a lavatory in the forward galley as well, but it is for crew use only.
However I got there quickly after the breakfast service, it was worse for those after me who had to wait several minutes.



We started our descent around 30 minutes before landing and a short video was shown on the monitors about Copenhagen airport and the transfer procedures.
The crew passed through the cabin to collect earphones and duvets.

The approach to Copenhagen was most beautiful!
We flew just south of the city of Malmö and then along the Öresund bridge (which connects Sweden and Denmark) while the sun was rising in the background. Absolutely spectacular!

I could spot the airport in the far distance as we passed south of it. A sharp 180 degrees turn was made for a visual approach to runway 04L where we landed at 6.20 am, a few minutes ahead of timetable.
The cockpit camera was turned on during the entire approach.

Copenhagen airport was very quiet this Saturday morning and we were safely parked at the terminal in no time and we were waived goodbye by the friendly and smiling crew.

Pics
The city of Malmö with the famous building “Turning Torso” to the left
Copenhagen airport in the far distance
Sunrise over the strait of Öresund
Final approach with the Öresund bridge in the background
Just landed, cockpit camera
The apron for smaller aircrafts at the airport
The SAS Airbus A340 seen from the terminal

Verdict

This was a delightful flight with SAS, just perfect in almost every aspect.

The food and drinks were great, lovely petits fours, an excellent self-service buffet, and a reasonably comfortable seat which I managed to sleep a few hours in.
Also very refreshing to see new elegant menus and amenity kits in business class.

However what always makes or breaks a flight is of course the crew, on this flight they were all nothing but fantastic.

The service was extremely friendly and attentive.
When I missed the newspapers in the beginning of the flight they went out of their way to find spare ones in the cabin. When I asked for a refill of my whisky glass it took 20 seconds before another FA was at my seat with the bottle.
Every time I went to either the lavatory or the self-service buffet (especially to take photos) someone stepped out of the galley to greet me and talk to me and ask if they could do anything for me or get me something to drink. It happened every time, at any time during the flight...

Another nice touch was when they rolled out the trolleys in the cabin, they always did it simultaneously in both aisles which looked very elegant and professional.

I’m surprised to say it, but my own airline actually surprised me! I have flown SAS longhaul business class before, but this was actually a much better experience than expected...

Very well done SAS! ^

jth

As i also have experienced when flying C on the long haul routes. Also, i have to say the buffet area looked very well stocked. Actually, i have never seen such a selection of fruits and pastrys. On my last trip back from PEK, they had candy and cakes but not that kind of goodies. Or i was just late to the party...

I have also found out that when sitting in the minicabin (rows 7 to 11) the service can be a bit less attentive and infrequent. I don't know if there are less FA's assigned to that area or if they just tend to congegrate in the larger cabin... but all in all, i agree with you on the service!

SASDC8

Wow this has to be the most fantastic journey I have ever read about and such a excellent read as well!!

Congratulations and thank you so much for hours of fabulous entertainment ^^

I awestruck with your attention to detail and great writing^ Kudos

I have to agree with you when it comes to SK. Within the last two years they have gone threw hell, but now it seems that things are brighter and their long haul product has seen vast improvements.

I actually fly SK972/SK973 quite often (three times this year and next time in Oct.) and their improvement has been quite remarkable. SK does it perfect in my opinion, with the light dinner and fast (but not rushed) service. Their Petits fours and their breakfast is amongst the best in C-Class ^^

Thank again for great report and please keep traveling ^

Cheers
Stein

OttoMH

Fantastic trip report!

24.05.2004

Extremely enjoyable read -- thank you kindly for all the effort you put into this report!

Looking forward to the recap on the planning/ticketing details as well.

jacob_m

Yes, that was exactly my reflection, the flight was so much better than I anticipated.
SAS is by no means a new airline to me and I have flown several legs in longhaul business class, but it's never been as good as this!
Let's hope it continues...

jacob_m

So it’s time for the very last leg on this trip, a one hour flight between Copenhagen and Stockholm.

Interestingly the last leg is also the only one not flown in business class or first class.
Well technically I was flying business class to Stockholm. I got business class miles for the flight, I was entitled to the business class baggage allowance and I was entitled to lounge access (not that it mattered much with my gold card), it’s just that there was no business class cabin onboard.
Passengers on business class tickets and full-fare economy class tickets are all seated in premium economy called “Economy Extra” within Scandinavia.

Transfer in Copenhagen

Transfer security was very quick, especially as I was travelling in business class and arrived before the masses.
There was only one counter open at the transit passport control to get to the Schengen zone and the officer there was mildly interested in looking at my passport and basically just waived me through.

I already had a boarding pass for my flight to Stockholm, so no formalities to take care of.

This was an early Saturday morning and the transit hall was almost empty. I have passed through Copenhagen tons of times but never seen it so quiet.

Pics
The very empty transit hall Saturday morning at 7 am

SAS Scandinavian Lounge, Copenhagen

After a quick visit to the main tax-free shop to look for a gift for a friend I headed to the SAS lounge.

There are two different sections in the lounge.
The Scandinavian lounge used for first class and gold card holders is upstairs and the business lounge used for business class passengers without status is downstairs.
Just like in Stockholm (as I mentioned in the beginning of the report) the SAS lounge partly closes during the summer for refurbishment, but now both sections were open again.

The Scandinavian lounge in Copenhagen is quite nice, it’s very airy with lots of natural light and good facilities.
They have two nice fireplaces for example and tired passengers have access to two day rooms with toilet and shower. I have used it once during a long layover and it was a nice experience



The lounge was very empty this morning, most passengers in the lounge had arrived on longhaul flights and were waiting for their connecting flights within Scandinavia.

The buffet area had breakfast for self-service. A rather nice selection including bread rolls, cold cuts, cereals and fresh fruits. And not to forget, Danishes...

I wasn’t very hungry after the very extensive breakfast on the plane from Bangkok, but I made myself another cup of coffee and got some light snacks from the buffet.



The buffet also had a very cool cheese cutting device. Very original!



I spent around an hour in the lounge having another cup of coffee and surfing the internet using the free WIFI.
As the lounge was pretty empty I could also take a fair number of photos without disturbing the other guests too much.

Pics
The entrance to the SAS lounge in Copenhagen
Inside the Scandinavian lounge
The restaurant part of the lounge
The inner part of the lounge
The breakfast buffet
Fresh fruits, marmalade and cereals
The cool cheese-cutting device
The drinks area
Red wine and danishes
One of the coffee machines
Internet computers
View from the lounge of Öresund and the landside car drop-off
The business lounge reception desk
View of the business lounge

Anniversary lounge of the world’s first designer hotel

On the lower floor almost right opposite the reception desk they had a small exhibition about the Royal Hotel in Copenhagen.
It’s marketed as the world’s first designer hotel and celebrates its 50th anniversary now.

The hotel still exists in Copenhagen, located right opposite the main railway station. Nowadays it’s part of the Radisson chain and the hotel called “Radisson Blu Royal Hotel”.
A large part of the interior in the hotel still has the old design from the 60’s.



One room in the hotel still has the original furniture and fittings designed by Arne Jacobsen.
It’s room 606 in the hotel and it’s actually available for booking, although at most times I believe they only use it to show visitors.

There was a replica of room 606 in the exhibition in the lounge. Very nicely made!

The original china used in the hotel was also on display.



Pics
Hotel furniture
A replica of room 606 at the Royal hotel
Inside room 606
The original hotel china

Copenhagen airport

The flight to Stockholm departed from gate A22 in the A-concourse, on the complete opposite end of the terminal.
So a long walk from the gate in the D-concourse through the entire shopping area to reach the gate.
The transit area was far more crowded now than when I landed at 6.30 am.

All longhaul flights use the C-concourse and I was surprised to see a fair number of interesting widebodies parked at the concourse including Thai Airways, Singapore Airlines, Qatar Airways and Air Canada.

Pics
Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and SAS widebodies
SAS, Qatar Airways and Air Canada on the apron
Busy transit area

Boarding



The gate area at gate A22 was quite packed and there was a young man responsible for the flight who had to do all the work himself.
Apparently he had a problem with his computer so eventually he had to ask all passengers in the gate lounge to leave so he could use the computer at the entrance to the gate lounge for boarding.

Scandinavian and international newspapers were available at the gate for self-service.

Pics
The Airbus A319 at the gate
Our gate area

Copenhagen-Stockholm, flight SK 402 operated by SAS Scandinavian Airlines
Departure: 08:30
Arrival: 09:40
Aircraft: Airbus A319
Class: Economy Extra (ticket booked in Business Class)
Seat: 03F

The flight to Stockholm ended up being completely full, I don’t think there was a single spare seat in the entire cabin.

On all intra-Scandinavian flights there are two classes onboard:
Economy class: No frills, just buy onboard from the Cloud Shop
Economy Extra: Free breakfast until 9.30 am and free drinks (including champagne) and a small cold meal during the rest of the day.

The seats are the same in both classes and the partition between the two classes varies according to demand. On this flight there were eight rows of economy extra.
Unfortunately the seats on the newer Airbus A319 and Boeing 737 aircrafts are much more cramped than the older MD-80s which was the main aircraft type used within Europe for many years but is now being faced out.



A safety demonstration video was shown on the monitors before the cabin was prepared for departure.

Unfortunately it took a long time before they started loading the luggage on the aircraft. For some reason they didn’t start until 8.30 am, the scheduled departure time of the flight, and there was lots of checked luggage!

The cabin doors had already been closed, however the air condition did not work very well on the ground so the cabin became unbearably hot.
Eventually they were forced to open the doors again to get some ventilation in the cabin. There was some light rain in the air (in contrast to when I landed) however I don’t think anyone really cared in the heat.

Eventually we pushed back at 8.55 am. The captain kept a very high taxi speed and was immediately cleared for take-off, so we were airborne at 9.05 am from runway 04R.

Expected flight time to Stockholm was just under an hour.

Pics
The cabin on the A319

Breakfast



On this flight a light breakfast was served in economy extra packed in a paper box.
Nothing remarkable, but there was some yoghurt, cold cuts and marmalade, and a bottle of orange juice.
The crew served bread rolls from a basket as well as tea and coffee.

More bread and hot drinks were offered before the boxes were collected.
The boxes are easy for the crew to handle and can naturally also be recycled, however getting a meal served on a proper tray is of course much nicer. Previously the boxes were made of plastic.

Pics
The breakfast box
Contents of the breakfast box

Arrival in Stockholm



The flight passed very quickly and I dozed off during the remaining part of the flight.

Around 9.40 am we started our descent to Stockholm and overflew the city centre which I could clearly spot through my window. Most major sights were easy to recognise including the old town and the royal castle.

A 180 degrees right turn was made and we landed at 9.57 am on runway 19R at Arlanda airport, 20 minutes behind timetable.

Baggage delivery started reasonably quick but in no particular order, in fact it took quite a bit of time before my priority-tagged suitcase appeared on the belt.
They just never seem to get it right in Stockholm, such a contrast to all those great baggage deliveries I experienced in Asia and the South Pacific during the trip.

I caught the airport bus at 10.30 am from the airport to the city centre and my flat.
In fact I was just making a quick stop at home to leave my luggage, have a quick shower and change clothes before I would attend a wedding in the afternoon which was starting at 3.45 pm.

After 23 hours of travelling I was already in full swing for a long wedding party and more nice food and drinks, however I can assure you a very long sleep followed afterwards...

Pics
The city centre of Stockholm with the old town on the bottom left seen from the air
Another photo of the city centre from the air
Just landed at Arlanda airport passing terminal 5 with SU, DL and TG aircrafts
The baggage hall

Verdict

Not much to say about the flight, a quick feeder flight between the Scandinavian capitals.
It would have been nice with a slightly more extensive breakfast box when travelling on a full-fare ticket or a business class ticket, but not a big deal.

A few final words...

This concludes my summer trip of 2010! The trip is over and there are no more flights to post…

So what do you think?
I spent a lot of time planning this trip, maximising every single part of it and getting as much as possible out of the tickets and my time away. There were many sleepless nights and many changes before I was happy, then everything was verified, and finally I was ready to book.
I will include more details about the tickets later as promised, but to those who wonder how the itinerary was created I can say there is just one answer and it’s called hard work. There is no shortcut to creating something like this...

I was slightly nervous when I booked all the tickets and even more nervous when I headed to the airport for departure, wondering what I had got myself into and if I would really cope with all these hours of flying.
And then there were of course the risks of flight delays and missing checked luggage that could have ruined quite a bit.

But it all worked out extremely well, not a single mishappening, and what a trip!
I was just blown away by airlines like Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Korean Air in first class.
And it was really great fun to try a few unusual and exotic airlines like Air Calin, Air Austral, Shanghai Airlines and LAN Airlines. Airlines I had very little knowledge about.

In retrorespective it was a magnificent and delightful trip and I still can’t quite believe I actually did all this, it’s just a bit surreal.

I will post a few summaries, some last reflections and of course some details about the tickets, but afterwards the report will be added to the Flyertalk archive.

Thanks a lot for reading and thanks a lot for all the very nice and encouraging comments!! ^

It’s taken a massive number of hours to get this report completed, to sort out and upload all the photos, so it’s very rewarding to see people are enjoying it. Thanks again!

fcs

Dear Jacob_M,

Thank you so much for your effort - I cannot tell you how much I have enjoyed reading about this insane trip ^

Tomorrow I'm flying SGD-CPH-BKK-MEL in a combination of Y and C class and I cannot wait - in part due to your fantastic trip report!!!

Thanks, looking forward to the wrap-up

Best regards

Peter

FinalCallDXB

Excellent report on an awesome trip. Have thoroughly enjoyed travelling vicariously with you on this one. Many thanks for taking the time to put this together.

glennaa11

I think you need to take another trip...if not for you, then for us!

hbush

Enjoying indeed, but not only that! Your trip as such and this excellent report is highly inspirational and motivating! I wouldn't even think before that something like that is possible Certainly not everyone has moral and physical strength, courage and some money to repeat something on that scale but nevertheless after reading your report some interesting things now start to look possible.

What I liked very much is also your permanent optimism and positive attitude even in very difficult situations. Something to think about and learn from your experience.

Thanks a lot! I told several friends as well and gave them URL to this report.

Thor3

I agree. You have a great writing style.

jacob_m

Yeah, we'll see what I can come up with for next summer...

jacob_m

Menus and more menus, and some wine lists...


Care for an amenity kit?


Airline goodies, there could have been more of it...


Boarding passes


I’m a high priority person...