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.