Gnopps

Pre-trip


Thanks to a lucky bump ATL-IND last year my friend davsjo on FT and I both had a DBC-voucher each. It came without saying that they would be used for another segment run this year. In July the planning began for the coming run. I really love this part and will spend days and weeks with Amadeus, ITA, the Delta PDF timetable and route map planning and planning. Trying to find the most fun destinations and airplanes with availability is a lot of fun, perhaps not as much for my wife though. With this trip we wanted to spend a few nights somewhere so that we would not be in the air on all of the trip. A requirement (as always) was to have AF operated flights trans-Atlantic, furthermore I prefer travelling eastbound not from north-east USA as flying time then is too short to get a good sleep. I was hoping on flying MIA-CDG or SEA-CDG as I hadn't flown these routes before but due to inconvenient timetables this was not a good option. Instead we settled for IAD-CDG which would give us time to visit the Smithsonian air museum at IAD. Another fun thing to do would be to fly to a really remote place with a turboprop. A good place for this turned out to be Iron Mountain, MI since they had service with a Saab 340 to both MSP and DTW, with the latter making a short stop in Escanaba, MI along the way. We also wanted to make a stop in SNA to experience the fun take-offs.

DL usually has good fares ex CPH to California so we used the DBC-vouchers for a round trip ticket CPH-SNA and then added a separate ticket SNA-LAS-SNA. Finally, since I live in HEL I bought a ticket with SK and LH HEL-CPH/CDG-HEL. Total cash paid was about €880 - $400 DBC = €600. The original plan was to do this trip in conjunction with the Star Mega DO in October but my financial situation would not allow me to do both.

So it was time to go segment running again. Itinerary as below and excitement in the following posts! If you read it all please do leave a comment, it is very appreciated! Happy reading now!


KF 645 25SEP 5 HELCPH 2115 2155 -AR8
DL8423 26SEP 6 CPHCDG 0705 0905 -320 (operated by AF)
DL8504 26SEP 6 CDGATL 1040 1415 -343 (operated by AF)
DL1647 26SEP 6 ATLSTL 1901 1951 -MD8
DL6387 27SEP 7 STLCVG 0800 1014 -CRJ
DL5199 27SEP 7 CVGCAE 1105 1223 -CRJ
DL5500 27SEP 7 CAEATL 1355 1501 -CRJ
DL1167 27SEP 7 ATLSNA 1612 1755 -73W
DL1100 28SEP 1 SNASLC 0645 0930 -73H
DL1925 28SEP 1 SLCLAS 1100 1122 -73H
DL1656 30SEP 3 LASSLC 1040 1305 -738
DL1225 30SEP 3 SLCSNA 1350 1445 -M90
DL2893 01OCT 4 SNAMSP 0725 1307 -319 (operated by NW)
DL3928 01OCT 4 MSPIMT 1530 1656 -SF3 (operated by NW)
DL3924 02OCT 5 IMTESC 0545 0727 -SF3 (operated by NW)
DL3924 02OCT 5 ESCDTW 0747 0930 -SF3 (operated by NW)
DL3103 02OCT 5 DTWLGA 1155 1348 -D9S (operated by NW)
DL6546 02OCT 5 LGACHS 1510 1732 -CRJ
DL1521 02OCT 5 CHSATL 1915 2041 -M88
DL5261 03OCT 6 ATLIAD 0831 1029 -CR9
DL8331 03OCT 6 IADCDG 2155 1130+1 -772 (operated by AF)
LH4249 04OCT 7 CDGMUC 1705 1835 -320
LH3116 04OCT 7 MUCHEL 1935 2300 -320

or in a more layman-friendly layout with a map:

Day 1. Helsinki-Copenhagen
Day 2. Copenhagen-Paris-Atlanta-St Louis
Day 3. St Louis-Cincinnati-Columbia-Atlanta-Santa Ana
Day 4. Santa Ana-Salt Lake City-Las Vegas
Day 6. Las Vegas-Salt Lake City-Santa Ana
Day 7. Santa Ana-Minneapolis-Iron Mountain
Day 8. Iron Mountain-Escanaba-Detroit-New York-Charleston-Atlanta
Day 9-10. Atlanta-Washington-Paris-Munich-Helsinki


Anyway, let's get started with the flying, shall we?

Gnopps

KF 645 25SEP 5 HELCPH 2115 2155 -AR8

Helsinki airport has seen a lot of changes lately. The old domestic terminal has now become the Star-alliance terminal 1 and the rest of the airport is home to Finnair in Terminal 2. Other airlines are present in both terminals. A silly change in my opinion is that the ticketing counters have been moved far away from the check-in counters (!). Should there be something wrong with your eticket at check-in you now need to go down to arrivals, continue to the other end and then depending on the airline proceed another level down. While this does indeed give more space to the check-in area it must be a nervous, long run for anyone with ticketing problems and a check-in closing soon.

As is always the case when you have an upcoming big trip I had not slept much the previous night. Due to last minute packing and excitement I had only gotten 5 hours of sleep before it was off to work. After leaving the office in the afternoon and buying some literature I arrived a few hours early to the airport. Checking in for my Copenhagen flight was done in the remodelled terminal 1. Even though Helsinki is my current home airport I had only used this terminal once before, back when it was for domestic flights only. It is has a pretty roomy check-in area, while the gate area feels much smaller and more cramped. Renovations were on the way still to hopefully trying to deal with this. The SAS lounge was then still in its old terminal making it quite a walk from the SAS gates, now it has been moved closer though but with no runway view as before. In the lounge, the combination of red wine, Spotify and chatting with old friends put me in a glorious mood. :-D

My wife had been on a week long business trip to GOT and was due to land with Blue1 at 2110, my Blue1 flight was due to depart at 2115. As we wouldn't see each other for a long time we were both really hoping we could at least have a quick hug at the airport. I was happy to see that her flight had departed early and was due to land a few minutes early at the airport! I inquired at the lounge and found out that her arriving gate was just 30 meters away from the one I was due to leave on. About 40 minutes before my flight I made my way to my gate and explained the situation to the gate agent. She said that she would need me on board 10 minutes before departure time and was not interested in delaying the flight for our hug :-) I began a nervous wait, pacing back and forth outside my wife's gate. Eventually I had to give up and left a hand written sign on a baggage cart pointing the way to my gate. At my gate there were still a handful of people boarding when I saw my wife's plane taxiing to the gate. I managed to get her on the phone and she came running as fast as a pregnant woman can to my gate. Oh, how wonderful our hug was! I gave my BP and passport to the gate agent and then finally let go of my wife when GA insisted I board. A hug as good as that one do not come often.

Once on board the plane I discovered that this was one of the leased Avro-jets. Blue1 is operating a 3+2 configuration on their Avro jets. However, they have recently leased a few more from Cityjet with a 3+3 configuration. With the same cabin width this of course means less space per passenger. Though the outside of the aircraft was painted in Blue1 colours the inside still had many Cityjet markings. Perhaps I one flew this aircraft when I lived in DUB?

The flight itself was uneventful. Standard bob service and I didn't buy anything, instead still savouring the hug :-) I'm not particularly fond of the Avro-jets, whether 2+3 or 3+3 configuration. They often feel cramped, especially with the overhead wings and engines restricting the view.

On my last MR I had slept on a very comfortable couch in CPH. This time I was planning to do the same and will happily do it more times. Upon arrival I waited a bit until the area had cleared and then spread out on the couch. It was still as comfortable and I was soon sleeping.




DL8423 26SEP 6 CPHCDG 0705 0905 -320 (operated by AF)

davsjo and I had agreed to meet at 0545 at the check-in counters. Thus I had set my alarm for 20 minutes before that (how often can you sleep this close to check-in?) but davsjo had arrived early with the train and woke me up with a sms already at 0455. Not happy to miss out on 20 minutes of precious sleep I proceeded to the check-in area after a short morning routine. The check-in for AF was the usual mess with one long, disorganised queue for the 4 check-in counters. They were separately marked business, economy and bag drop but there was so separation for the queues. I don't understand why not more ground personnel bother to setup the best system; a common queue for economy (so you can't risk ending up in a slow one) and two separate ones for bag drop and business. In no mood to stand in line behind 70+ people we positioned ourselves behind the couple currently check-in in at the business class check-in. Part of the big queue was aiming at this desk as well but after having asked if they were in business class (they were not) we made our way to the business check-in as soon as it became free. This did upset the next in line but thankfully the check-in agent came to our rescue saying that his is business check in and that they should wait for the economy check-in. Not often I see the lines actually enforced and it was nice somebody actually cared. Still, it could all have been avoided and made easier for all with separated queues instead.

As is usual when booking DL-coded AF-operated flights pre-seating is a very risky business. We had managed to reserve an aisle and window CDG-ATL and dared not to change this beforehand, even though bulkhead was available. However, now at check-in we asked for an emergency row on that plane which the agent said he arranged. Later we discovered this was incorrect. We still had the same seats that were pre-booked.. Oh well, the agent still did something right by enforcing right queuing. We continued on to the lounge where I force fed myself a sandwich, no appetite that early in the morning. We also stopped by the charity box to donate 10 years of change accumulated, getting it all in to the slot did take a good while.

Boarding was on time and we were soon on our way. All announcements made on the plane were extremely loud prompting most passengers to hold their ears while they were playing. Surprisingly the attendants didn't lower the volume at all so I was happy to have my trusty ear plugs nearby. Air France offers a very reduced catering and we were now offered only coffee, tea or water to drink. On the plus side however was that they were offering regional Swedish newspapers and not just the big international ones. Before landing I went to the lavatory and changed my clothes for the upcoming transfer in CDG. While sleeping in CPH I had been wearing thick clothes not to be cold but knowing CDG and how stressful it can be I thought it would be better to dress light.




DL8504 26SEP 6 CDGATL 1040 1415 -343 (operated by AF)

Transferring in CDG is always (in my experience) an unpleasant experience. This time we had a hard time using the inter-terminal bus. While finding it was relatively easy, signage inside was less than stellar. The little guidance that was present was almost impossible to see due to the extremely crowded bus. Even as an experienced traveller I managed to almost get off the bus at the wrong stop. Well, the error was discovered and there were about 10 of us that had to quickly jump on the bus again. Security went faster than usual, and this time we were let through (unlike last time for those of you who have been following my trip reports).

The lounges in CDG have in my experience been not so great. The newspaper selection has been poor, the same goes for snacks and working computers. Only upside is that soft drink selection has been pretty good. Today though the lounge was surprisingly well stocked with fresh fruit salad and simple breakfast selection with yoghurt available. This tasted really fresh and after a quick ginger ale it was time to proceed to boarding. Although it was hard to get to the desk (where I wanted to ask about better seats) our priority boarding worked well. Even though our seats were now the normal ones legroom was decent enough. We had the new AVOD but the screens are very small and not very responsive. I find it strange that the entertainment doesn't pause when there is an in-flight announcement, instead the screen just goes blank. Sure this can't be hard for the manufacturers to program?

Once in the air we were treated to the Air France servings - best economy class food in the business in my opinion. The selection was also unusual; lamb or fish instead of the usual chicken or pasta. The food was good but I was surprised that AF does not serve Baileys nor Martini at all (at least in economy class). However their soft drink selection is good and I had many Schweppes Agrum (never seen besides on AF planes).

Arrival was the usual affair though wait was longer than usual. My immigration officer found my itinerary very intriguing and called for a supervisor. Both were very friendly and laughed hard when I tried to explain the Swedish saying that "taste (interest) is like the behind - it is divided".




DL1647 26SEP 6 ATLSTL 1901 1951 -MD88 booked but flew
DL5218 26SeP 6 ATLSTL 1655 1722 -CRJ9

Knowing immigration can take time we had booked a long layover in ATL. As we were both tired we would be happy if we could shorten it. The gate agent (who had the longest eyelashes I ever seen in an airport) said it would cost stand by fee but since I had a gold card with Czech airlines we could stand by for free. My travel partner was excluded but after some begging and flashing his silver card we were both added to the waitlist. Thanks to my status we were first on the list but were worried as the flight was overbooked. The neighbouring gates called for volunteers to HSV and BHM and we would have loved to get a travel voucher. Eventually we were called and got on the flight, whohoo!

The CRJ900 is an ok plane to fly, a big improvement compared to the smaller CRJs. The weather was pretty calm but 10 minutes after departure came a really big shake, probably the biggest I have experienced. Though scary in the moment it was mostly exciting and helped keep us awake :-). We landed 30 minutes late and were very, very happy that we got on this earlier flight when we saw on the arrivals board that our original flight would be 2 hours delayed.

We had booked Hilton St. Louis Airport via Priceline. Forgetting that we were in a place designed for cars we decided to get some air and try walk to the hotel from the airport. Alas, we first had great difficulty finding a pedestrian way out of the airport and then a walkable way to the hotel. There was none so we had to cross roads with our trolleys running as there were no crossings... Still, it was nice to move after sitting so much. Once at the hotel we asked for a room with a view of the airport as well as twin beds. The view was confirmed but the hotel wanted an extra charge of $10 for twin beds. This we declined out of principle and shared a bed. Of course our room did not have a view either..




DL6387 27SEP 7 STLCVG 0800 1014 -CRJ

There were two long lines to security check and we made a five Dollar bet who would get through quickest. I felt sorry for davsjo as his line moved incredibly slow due to a lot of staff cutting in to it. I was feeling on top of the world expecting to get rich soon. In what would have been a great final had it been broadcast on live tv, I was held up at the very last minute by the young couple in front of me. Their infant and accessories took an eternity and I could do nothing but to stand and watch my defeat in the shape of davsjo come closer and closer. By the time I got through davsjo had already won by several minutes. Shocking but a very fun airport game! The flight itself was normal and I was happy to see Ginger ale had been reinstated on the flights.


DL5199 27SEP 7 CVGCAE 1105 1223 -CRJ

Though we're not officially entitled access without a same day international flight we are usually allowed to enter the domestic lounges in USA. Having a Skyteam Elite Plus card from a small airline half of the agents never heard of seems to help. Not always though and sometimes rightfully have to turn back at the door. This time we got in to the lounge and were surprised to find that it was not allowed to serve alcohol before 13 on Sundays. They did however serve Nutella without bread or even any utensil to eat it with! Strange. Flight was as usual.


DL5500 27SEP 7 CAEATL 1355 1501 -CRJ booked but flew
DL5220 27SEP 7 CAEATL 1248 1353 -CRJ

Once in Columbia we asked if we could get on the earlier flight to Atlanta. No problem and so we stayed only 10 minutes on the ground! The plane and crew were the same that we had just arrived with which prompted some questions from the flight attendants. My answer that I wanted more of the good service was satisfactory :-)

We had to wait 25 minutes on the taxiway before departing. The flight was nice and as is often the case with Atlanta airport the approached contained a lot of beautiful clouds. As a bonus there was also a B757 (?) landing on the parallel runway adding to the view. Once on the ground everyone were asked to applaud a soldier that was also aboard the flight. For me this feels very strange and mixing politics and business. On a personal level I can understand it better but I'd rather applaud had it been a soldier protecting the country rather than attacking another.. Oh well, let's keep the politics to OMNI.




DL1167 27SEP 7 ATLSNA 1612 1755 -73W

As usual our flight was not overbooked so we headed to the lounge instead and had a few drinks. The attendant was kind enough to give us a few extra lime wedges for the flight so we could have the same drink we liked so much on board. We did so and enjoyed the flight. The IFE is ok but why oh why is the quiz program so painfully slow? Another downside was that I kept hearing my neighbour's IFE in my headphones, seems like the cables could do with extra padding. Landing in Santa Ana was as hoped interesting, this is a fun airport!




DL1100 28SEP 1 SNASLC 0645 0930 -73H

Once we had checked in at the machines we noticed that the frequent flyer number on one of the boarding passes was wrong. We proceeded to a check-in counter but the agent there didn't know how to change it, wouldn't this be one of the basics taught to check in people? Anyway the gate agent handled the change for us but put the number in wrongly. We simply gave up and welcomed retro-registration.

Our departure time seemed to be very popular and we counted 9 planes take off before us. davsjo didn't recognise the livery on one of them and asked what airline that is with Bob Marley on the tail? I think the rest of you can already guess that the plane in question was heading to SEA with someone from much colder surroundings on the tail .




DL1925 28SEP 1 SLCLAS 1100 1122 -73H

I was happy to see that SLC had introduced free wifi although it was incredibly slow. Flight was all right and we found a guy to share a taxi with to the hotel. Las Vegas was fun but too much. Everything was too big and too artificial. Our hotel (Palazzo) was nice but not relaxing at all. Still, the days passed quickly and we left with a new friend made during the night out.

Gnopps

DL1656 30SEP 3 LASSLC 1040 1305 -738

After two days in Vegas we managed to time the shuttle to the airport perfectly. We were soon inside the aircraft but again had to wait on the taxiway due to bad weather in SLC. This continued en route where we did two 360-degree turns and then had a bumpy and fun landing. While taxing to our arrival gate I saw our departure gate to SNA. There was a B737 parked at it, strange as boarding was about to start and the flight was supposed to be a MD90.




DL1225 30SEP 3 SLCSNA 1350 1445 -M90

When we reached the gate boarding was already under way and I saw a pilot trying to explain something to a gate agent but couldn't hear what it was about. Suddenly boarding was halted and everyone were asked back to the gate area. The aircraft change was announced and everyone were to receive new seats. I went online to try to make sure we could keep exit seating as we originally had but I could not change my seating via the webpage. This shortly got its explanation when open seating and general boarding was announced. No breezeway was available but we soon got on anyway and managed to snag exit seats. As I passed the podium I heard the gate agent tell the pilot "...so THAT was what you tried to warn me about!", it seems she was not the best of the bunch :-).

The flight wasn't very full and the delay ended up being about 25 minutes. Upon arrival we were out of the airport surprisingly fast and soon checked in to our hotel.


DL2893 01OCT 4 SNAMSP 0725 1307 -319 (operated by NW)

Upon checking in we learned that this flight was delayed to due ATC problems. Shortly after an announcement was made that there was a further delay due to poor weather in MSP. Using the NW check-in machine was a pleasure compared to the DL-one. Really too bad to see NW's superior IT systems succumb with the DL merger.

Although not ready for departure the plane boarded at 0745 since the gate was needed for a new flight. We pushed back at 0835 and sat waiting on the tarmac while the safety demo was conducted. I didn't learn much though since the curtain in front of my bulkhead seat was closed, blocking my view. Furthermore you couldn't hear the announcements very well since there was a loud background chime. Finally at 0935 we took off.

The flight was quicker than I imagined it would be and with the seat pretty comfortable I managed to sleep a little. Weather was pretty rough and thus we were placed in an holding pattern 20 minutes before arrival, with new arrival time estimated at 1445. Eventually we started our final descent and where hit by lightning! By 1505 we arrived at the gate with 25 minutes until our departure to IMT, a connection we didn't want to miss since there were no later flights. We ran to the train, rode it to the next terminal and continued running. Once at the gate the plane wasn't even boarding yet, we made it!




DL3928 01OCT 4 MSPIMT 1530 1656 -SF3 (operated by NW)

According to the gate agent there were many missed connections due to the weather. 28 passengers were booked but only 13 made it! Boarding soon began and we were looking forward to flying a small turboprop in bad weather, always exciting! The chairs were comfortable but the armrests so low that they were unusable. Having sat on the plane a few minutes the very nice GA came on the speakers and announced they needed to check some mechanical stuff and that everyone would have to deboard. We did so and at the gate agent our flight disappeared from the monitor. Had it been cancelled? A few minutes passed and then we got the explanation: we would be flying with the aircraft at the neighbouring gate instead. A short walk later and we were again boarding, this time 18 passengers as a few more had managed to get to the flight. Pushback was 1600, not very delayed considering what had happened.

We sat at the bulkhead seats and talked a lot to the flight attendant. Turns out she would be on our following flight the next morning as well, though she was not staying at the same hotel. Upon arrival at the small airport we managed to call the town's only (?) taxi and arrived at our hotel after a bit of a wait. We made the 25 minute walk down town, had a few beers and listened to some live music. Nice and unexpected in this small town. It was nice both flying with a smaller aircraft and staying in a smaller town, you get more contact with people that way.




DL3924 02OCT 5 IMTESC 0545 0727 -SF3 (operated by NW)

We had pre-ordered the same taxi that drove us the night before. However it was a bit problematic as he already had a booking for our flight, thus we went 30 minutes earlier than necessary. The driver was funny (both he and the car looked like they had just come from a hunting session) and told us about _every_ customer he had had during the night.

The small airport was cosy in the morning. Security check was done by one of the TSA-guys shouting "All right folks, let's get started". There were many inexperienced travellers who didn't know how the check worked. Everything felt very cosy. Flying time to ESC was only 16 minutes but it felt much longer. I had expected it to be over in a jiff.




DL3924 02OCT 5 ESCDTW 0747 0930 -SF3 (operated by NW)

We sat on the ground for 20 minutes while more passengers got on the plane and then continued. For a while it was very bumpy and I noticed how secure a FA can make you feel. During the heavy bumps she calmly worked in the galley, giving reassuring smiles to the passengers. Even with all the flight I've done this helped calm me and I managed to get a little sleep.




DL3103 02OCT 5 DTWLGA 1155 1348 -D9S (operated by NW)

We had a longer layover and decided to try our luck at a lounge. As in many American airports there were no signs showing directions to the lounges. We really did go to the wrong place two times before finally finding a lounge. There we weren't let in as we had no same day international flight and got the same message at the second lounge we tried, bummer.

Instead we went to have breakfast at a restaurant and then did some shopping. I was surprised at the really poor selection of magazines in the newsstand. Wouldn't a store specialising in newspapers in an international airport be able to offer a wider selection? Speciality magazines were very few.

At the gate we saw what must have been two non-status passengers upgraded to F. They were really surprised and had no idea what this premium cabin was.. Funnily on this flight there were 2 FAs in F and 1 in Y. We had a really good view of Manhattan as we were landing. Nice knowing it was not to the mess that is JFK.




DL6546 02OCT 5 LGACHS 1510 1732 -CRJ

In LGA we were given access to the lounge and had a few drinks. I tried to enter delta.com on the lounge-computer but it didn't work as Flash wasn't installed. Kind of funny that you can't access the Delta website in the Delta lounge. We were bussed to the plane which felt kind of unusual seeing all the gates, then again I haven't flown out of LGA before. However, many flights shared the same gate at the same time, making it too crowded with nowhere to sit.




DL1521 02OCT 5 CHSATL 1915 2041 -M88

We tried to get on the earlier flight to ATL but this time it didn't work. They wanted $50 to arrange it so we waited instead watching a movie and eating a sandwich (which was devoid of any vegetables).

When our flight started boarding our boarding passes didn't work. Apparently we weren't checked in for the flight. My guess is that since we had received our boarding passes in IMT it had been too early for this flight. My previous experience is that check-in for flights more than 6h in the future does not work on DL.

We taxied to the runway but then stood there for 15 minutes, apparently there was congestion at ATL. One of the flight attendants on this flight was dressed in jeans and t-shirt, was she working I wondered? Though it has its advantages, I think flying in USA is sometimes too relaxed.

In ATL we had a hard time finding our way to the hotel shuttles. Poor signage really is a key feature of American airports. (Then again, HEL is not always that clear either since they rebuilt it).


DL5261 03OCT 6 ATLIAD 0831 1029 -CR9

Strangely I couldn't find any security fast track so the security check took quite a while. In the lounge (again, no signs how to get there) davsjo had a very good idea regarding north American power sockets. For some reason they are designed in a way that the power chord easily falls out, especially if you are using a heavy adapter or the chord is heavy. The design is really stupid but could easily be rectified if the socket was turned 90 degrees. Why are the sockets built like this? Are there no engineers present when buildings are built?

Well, short rant aside the flight was ok. We sat in the exit row and noticed it had no blinds, nor did it hardly recline. IAD was funny as usual with the mobile gates for terminal changes. We had long layover here and proceeded to the Smithsonian museum. Of course there was hardly any signage to the bus stop but we were used by know.. Eventually we did find a small paper taped to a pier so we knew we were waiting at the right stop.




DL8331 03OCT 6 IADCDG 2155 1130+1 -772 (operated by AF) booked but flew
AF 25 03OCT 6 IADCDG 1840 0815+1 -340

The museum was fun and we were back at the airport around 1500. As there were two earlier AF flights to CDG check-in was open but we were not allowed to check-in despite trying at two different times. We noticed an inbound flight from CDG was badly delayed but thought it was the plane that would turn around for one of the earlier flights back to Paris. At 1800 we were finally allowed to check-in and only now were we notified that is was our flight that was delayed by 3h with new departure time 0055 in the night! We were given meal vouchers and no explanation as to why we hadn't been told about the delay when inquired about check-in several times earlier. When we now asked about rebooking to the earlier flight it was too late, but it hadn't been when we first tried. As I had a separate ticket from CDG I was especially keen not to miss my flight there.

Instead davsjo and I decided to runt to the gate of the earlier AF flight that was due to depart at 1840. We ran and ran and got to a deserted gate, boarding was already completed... We asked the GA about getting on this flight but were told the flight was already closed. We resigned and started looking for the lounge. However, another gate agent came running after us saying that she could still get us on the plane! Yihuu! We ran back to the gate and after a lot of typing we got on. She did tell us that our seats would not be bulkheads as we had on the later flight but rather two separate middle seats. Getting back in time was more important than comfort so we gladly accepted and were soon on the plane (I later sent a letter to AF complementing the gate agent and asking why we weren't told about the delay sooner.. Of course they had no explanation to give.). As we were leaving the gate two more passengers came running asking to be transferred to this earlier flight, but they were denied. If it was too late now or if we got the last seats I don't know - but I doubt our elite status had anything to do with it.

I sat next to a nice Hungarian guy and we had a couple of drinks together with the selection of chicken or fish meal. Using earplugs, eye shades and neck support I managed to sleep 3 hours before woken for breakfast above Ireland. Having a middle seat was actually ok on a night flight like this.

We had now arrived early enough for davsjo to be able to catch an earlier connection to CPH. We asked at the transfer desk about this but they refused, ignoring the delay of our booked flight. Instead we tried again at the ticketing desk and they were happy to rebook him. So in the end davsjo managed to get home earlier than booked thanks to the delay! I was also booked to CPH to lower the price but was not planning on taking that flight.




LH4249 04OCT 7 CDGMUC 1705 1835 -320

Using my AF boarding pass to CPH I went to the AF lounge for a short while. At the entrance there was a guy asking nicely if he could get in, even though he had no status. Of course he was refused but I decided I could guest him in and - to the annoyance of the lounge dragons - told them he could be my guest. However, they found a loophole saying that we must be on the same flight for me to guest him. Is this correct?

I asked if my flight to CPH was overbooked and was told "Gate 70". Thus I asked again and was told "It is on time". When I asked for the third time their reply was "Can you please tell me what you want?". The flight wasn't overbooked so I spent a while in the lounge before telling the dragons that I would not be taking the flight to CPH (I didn't want to have the flight be delayed because of me). They took my boarding pass I proceeded to change terminals.

The train to terminal 1 took a long time. My ticket allowed changes and as I had 9 hours waiting time I asked if there were any earlier connections available. There were but not in my booking class so I would have to wait. Lufthansa had its own small finger but instead I went to the the non-Schengen area to get in to the shared Star alliance lounge. First I had to queue 30 minutes for passport control and explain to them that although I had no flight from this pier I wanted to get in to try the lounge. Then the lounge dragon wouldn't let me in saying all of the following: "You have to go to the LH-lounge", "We don't accept BD Gold here", "We can not scan your boarding pass", "We can not read your card". Standing firm and polite for a couple of minutes I was finally accepted by her supervisor without any registration done.. I ate a bit, showered and then went to the LH lounge instead as departure came closer. Priority boarding was enforced and on the plane we were served a small sandwich, both items non-existent on AF. By now I was very tired and so I slept the rest of the flight.




LH3116 04OCT 7 MUCHEL 1935 2300 -320

In Munich a bus was waiting to take us to the gate. Having just woken up I got up as the last passenger and hurried on the bus, only to discover as I was about to get off that I had forgotten my trolley in the overhead bin in the plane! I told the bus driver but he said I had to fix it in the terminal.

I ran to the transfer desk but after waiting in line and realising it was not moving I instead ran to the gate. The friendly gate agent helped me and made a few calls. My trolley hadn't been discovered and though I waited until last it was still missing when I had to board... :-(

My seat had two neighbours but I found the exit row deserted so sat down there instead. After the hot meal I slept all the way to Helsinki.

My bag was still missing 2 days later even though I had been calling lost baggage in HEL, MUC and BCN (to where my plane from CDG had continued) frantically. However the next day I got a call from the LH station in Barcelona saying my trolley had continued with the plane there. In BCN they were very nice and sent the bag with delivery to my office free of charge. They even added some padding inside it to protect my laptop. Excellent service indeed! ^ However, both time and money would have been saved had the gate agent at the BCN-flight in MUC simply boarded the plane and taken my trolley since I knew exactly where it was. Or they could have asked the flight attendants there to give it to the bus driver or what ever.. All ended well though and I got home to a good sleep.




Another segment run over. Since both a baby and new home has come along I don't know when I can afford the next one. But I am sure it will be fun when it comes!

Gnopps

More of my trip reports:

• Flying galore! 38 segments in 11 days HEL-SBA-HEL-LAS-HEL on DL/AF/BT/AB/SN/AA (pics)
• Flying the Airbus 380 FRA-JFK-FRA; plus 8 other LH/DL segments!
• DUB-PRG-HEL and return in an excellent business class with Czech Airlines
• The trip my friends wouldn't understand: 17 flights in 11 days. AF/DL/CO in Y.
• Surprise trip to my girlfriend: KLM C VIE-AMS-HEL
• SK & KL CPH-AMS-SXM in Y except one upgrade
• CPH-MUC-FRA-AGP-MUC-CPH on SK/LH/JK in Y
• OS & JZ CPH-VIE-INN INN-VIE-CPH-VXO with Upgrade/(Downgrade)
• DM BLL-MUC in Y with CRJ-200

Please do leave a comment what you thought of the report!

Cheers, Gnopps

bervol

I went into sarcasm overload about 1/3 the way through but the pics are excellent.

vulle

Excellent TR Gnopps! Quite a trip - and a lot of pictures. I was especially impressed with the pictures from Bellagio

view

Crazy itinerary as always, thanks for sharing^

jacob_m

Tackar så mycket!

I do admire you for always managing to maximise even the cheapest tickets, getting both segments and plenty of miles. ^

The Star Alliance lounge at CDG is still a sad story though, so many people have had to argue at that reception desk.

Tibas

Tack för den roliga rapporten!

Very nice indeed! DL could hire you for some product testing!

Good luck with your new home and the baby!

FlyingFinn

Whoa! Excellent account on your impressive trip zigzagging around the US. I'm just exhausted from reading it - now that I finally found the time to do so.

Iron Mountain - now that's a town that's not very often featured on mileage runs

How much time did it take to actually put all this together? Of course it helps being a travel agent and having access to the professional planning tools, but still it must've been quite a few hours...

PS. Are those Finnish Markkas on your coin deposit photo?!

Gnopps

Thank you all for your comments, they are appreciated! It did indeed take quite a few hours to plan this trip but it so much fun so I don't mind.

sobore

Nice report. Good lookin buffet food too!

NordicLane

Tack Gnopps för utförlig och inspirerande rapport!
Nice report :-)