ebayj

Tue., July 24, 2007
KLM 605 AMS-SFO Boeing 747-400
Or, the rather long day, courtesy KLM

I got up early to get to Schiphol early, as I had figured there would be complications from changing my award ticket the prior day (and of course I was right.) Amsterdam is beautiful in the early morning - it had just rained, and even with a lot of the grime and litter - the riches of the Dutch empire's heyday still shone through to me, along with the forward mindedness of today's Holland. Many Flyertalkers like to snark about KLM and the Dutch "that is not possible" attitude - which can be rigid - but every time I go to Holland I come away with a great respect for the Dutch people, their incredibly humane society and the country they have literally wrested from the North Sea.

I got to Schiphol before 9am - (along with Munich - the two best airports in Europe in my book for so many reasons) - and checked to see how delayed KL 605 was. It normally leaves at 11am, and was delayed to 1:10pm. Par for the course. Anyone who has followed HB-IWC's exceptionally informative Flyertalk thread on KLM delays knows that KLM is having an awful summer. Their long haul fleet is astonishingly overstretched - such that the second the slightest thing goes wrong, it's a big domino effect. I tried to online check in for World Business Class and it didn't recognize the changed res, so I wisely traipsed over the service area to the left of the thousands of people checking bags. Oddly there was no one waiting there.

As it turned out the NW agent I talked to the day before had changed the award res, but not actually reticketed. My agent grumbled through it, and I tried to be pleasant, appreciative and positive - it must have helped a little as I ended up in 77A on the upper deck - The Holy Grail of KLM WBC 747 Seating TM - so I had no complaints at that point. Off to shopping and lounges. The KLM lounge (52, between E and F) was perfectly fine. I picked up some little gifties for friends. There are much worse places to have to hang out than Schiphol.

After the cursory gate check in and x-ray - I realized there was no way they would have all these 450 people loaded by 1:10pm - but we had a plane at least. Apparently there was a mechanical earlier in the day, but a fairly minor one. We loaded on (again, mob scene, although I think they let families with kids on first - beyond that it was everyone for themselves) - and I headed up to the wonderful 747 upper deck. Our crew was the best I've had ever had transatlantic - they were in a great humor despite all the delays, kept the champagne flowing and really made the extra effort the whole trip. We pulled back from the gate about 1:30pm - rolled around for a while, and then it became clear to me we really weren't moving toward takeoff.

Announcement - flap problem. Anyone who knows anything about avionics knows a flap problem is not a good idea - so they did runwayside maintenance - I predicted takeoff between 3pm and 3:30pm - and I was right. No big - I would still get home hours before my prior res via MSP and in the comfort of the 747 upper deck of World Business Class no less. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow - and this was one of those times. I felt sort of bad for everyone waiting in SFO that would be delayed four hours - and the havoc that would wreak with their AMS connections the next day, but not my problem this given day.

Much Flyertalk discussion has transpired about the new KLM WBC seat - so suffice to say I am in the extreme minority - I find it to be perfectly comfortable, and much better than the AF biz seat. I'm 6'4" and 180 pounds - so it may help to be tall and thin. WBC AVOD has been great ever since the WBC refurbishment. I watched The 300 and it was wild. A cross between historical drama and soft core gay porn. But I'll watch anything with Gerard Butler or David Wenham.

My Dinner:
Appetizer
Smoked salmon served with marinated cucumber and an Eigenheimer potato salad with shrimps

Main Course
Lamb in rosemary and thyme gravy - fillet with mustard and herb topping served with a tomato compote, aubergine caviar and pearl barley risotto with Reypenaar cheese shavings - rather busy as entrees go - but tasty

Dessert
Orange chocolate mousse

Pre-nap I had my usual Tawny Port and had a nice rest over Greenland and Hudson Bay.

Light Snack
Appetizer
Fennel and mushroom salad with peppadew, baby asparagus and basil

Main Course
Lasagna with wild mushrooms - sort of looked like mystery pasta, but tasted fine

I watched a number of the AVOD travelogues and found them wildly dated, but sort of amusing.

Given the complications of this trip on this day, KLM did the best they could in the air. The cabin crew cannot do anything about mechanicals, and I do have empathy for service personnel dealing with 450 cranky-ish delayed travelers. Crew was stellar, AVOD was great, seat is great for me, and I got home safely, if four hours late. Could have been a lot worse. I will continue to happily give KL/AF/NW my business (I have also traveled as paid C/Z) as all my miles are earned there. I am encouraged by the newly announced United Biz product, so will want to try that out once they have the rollout shaken out.

As always after every big trip, I came home further enlightened about the world, greatly encouraged by my fellow gay men (and hardy lesbians) and realized some changes I need to make - starting with my job. I hope you enjoyed my trip report, and if you are curious about a gay cruise, just do it. They can really restore you in so many ways.