My buddy is an A330 captain for NWA. He and I ride bicycles together, and I mentioned that it would be fun to ride bicycles in Amsterdam together. He stated that their buddy pass policy forbids a companion traveling on the same flight that the NW employee is working. However, when he checked with corporate via telephone, they stated those rules had recently changed and that it was possible.

So, because I already had no vacation left that wasn’t spoken for for the rest of the year, the plan became to fly DTW-AMS when he was scheduled for an outbound Friday and a return Sunday. This way, I could get by with only missing a ½ day of work.

He wait-listed me in the internal NW system. I had the lowest standby priority, after all family members. Therefore, the loads for my potential flights would be important. For my outbound, I was to be on the first of 5 daily direct flights, which was the flight my friend was assigned. Four were 330 flights and one was a 757. The planes, or more importantly business class, looked fairly full. But, I only needed one seat. The plan was for me to standby for all five flights, and if no business class seats became available, I’d go home and we’d try again another weekend.

Now, some may think that the economy seats on a 330 are not that bad, and ask why would I jeopardize the weekend for the business seat. First, I’d never experienced the NW WBC product, and second, the business seat was only $20 more each way than the coach seat. That has to be one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever made. Plus, he flies there regularly, so I’d get a chance to go with him in the near future.

Looking at the loads the night before, it would be close for me to get on the first flight. There are 34 business seats on a 330-200, and there were 32 seats sold, with me third on the waitlist.

My friend picked me up 3 hours before the flight. We live ½ hour from the airport. He dropped me off where all departing passengers are let off, because I needed to go through security. The plan was after I went through regular security, he would meet me around Gate 20 and take me to Flight Operations in the basement of the McNamara terminal where the pilots and FAs prepare for their flights.

I made it through security and met my friend. We took an elevator down one floor and entered a long hallway with many rooms. We first went to a room where all the pilots have mail slots and checked for mail. Then, we went to the pilots’ international flight planning room where the pilots prepare for the flight. Because this flight is longer than the 8-hour FAA maximum for a two-pilot crew, there were 3 pilots assigned, two Captains and one First Officer. NWA is transitioning to flying these trips with one Captain and two First Officers. If there are two first officers working with the one captain, the captain must take his break in the middle of the flight and be on deck for the takeoff and landing.

Along the Flight Operations hallway I noticed rooms for crew bags and a general store offering everything from suitcases to uniforms to pens. In the flight attendant’s check-in area, there was a wall with pictures of the proper way specific meals for WBC customers were to be presented.

The pilots were all very thorough, looking at the weather reported enroute and determining which cities they would divert to if that became necessary. There was a big map generated specifically for this flight, with flight pattern and weather printed out.

After a phone briefing between the pilots and their dispatcher in Minneapolis, the two captains signed the “release” taking responsibility for the airplane and it’s safe arrival in Amsterdam, and we took the elevator back upstairs to the gate level. It was about an hour before scheduled takeoff, and my friend had to go in the airplane to accomplish his preflight, so we headed to the departure gate. We let the gate agent know I was flying standby on a companion pass and that I’d be back.

I headed to the World Club and relaxed. At about 45 minutes before departure, I asked the agent at the WC how many passengers had already checked in. She said 30, but check-in was still open. It was looking good. I got to the gate about 30 minutes prior to departure and the boarding area was basically empty. I walked to the counter and asked if there was room for me in business. I was handed a BP with 1H on it! Awesome! I was going to AMS for the weekend. After I boarded and took my seat, I asked the purser if I could say hi to the captain. He looked at me in such a way that I knew “No” was going to be the answer. Before he could say anything, I explained that the captain was a friend of mine. The purser smiled and said I should have mentioned that first. I agreed and headed for the cockpit. Please note, the captain assures me that passengers are always welcome to visit the cockpit while the airplane is at the gate. The purser was joking.

I got to sit in the captain’s seat and get my picture taken. Some of the controls were explained to me. I asked to see the bunk-room, which is right behind the cockpit on the right side. There is a chair and a bed that folds down out of the wall for sleeping. I still think it’s interesting that a pilot gets paid for the flight time, gate to gate, even if on break and asleep.

I really enjoyed WBC. The seat next to me was empty, which gave me even more room. Shortly after takeoff, amenity kits and menus for dinner were passed out. There were already blankets and a pillow on the seat. I watched a movie and had dinner. As I was on a buddy pass, all the full paying passengers got first choice of meals. Pic1 Pic2 Pic3 Pic4 I ended up with the stuffed chicken. I finished dinner before the movie was over, and actually wished the movie ended a little sooner, as I wanted to go to sleep.

As soon as the movie was over, I converted the WBC seat to the flat configuration and fell asleep within minutes. This was a wonderful treat. I have done way too many redeyes on domestic products and have a hard time sleeping, even in F. My preferred way to sleep domestically is in row 19 or row 25 of a 757, depending on the configuration. For NW, this is the row where the only seat available without paying the extra $15 is the middle seat. It is only a bit of a gamble to sit here, as the window and aisle are most likely not taken.

Even when I have been UGed for a redeye home, I have on several occasions asked the GA to downgrade me to coach if I can have 3 seats to myself, as I sleep better laying on my side.

But three seats in coach doesn’t come close to one business seat. How much more I value a seat in WBC versus row 10 (an exit row with six feet of leg room) probably isn’t too much more, but for any other coach seat the dollar amount keeps getting higher. I thought it was around $200 a while ago, but that amount just got increased. Just so the readers know, my business seat experience just started this January on a Delta flight ATL-JFK, and was followed by LGW-EWR on CO. In my mind, the video on demand makes the whole experience so much more satisfying for me. I hate missing even small sections of movies I’m watching, and on NW I keep my finger on the pause button. This way I can pause the movie any time there is interaction with a FA. I found the lack of a pause button on CO very frustrating during meal service. That, and a 2 ¾ hour loop diminished my CO BusinessFirst experience.

I awoke 3 hours later to a breakfast service of a blueberry scone, fresh fruit and yogurt.

We landed about 5:30 AM Amsterdam time and deplaned by 5:45. My pilot friend took me down some stairs to an immigration area with no one there. The immigration officer had to come out of his office for us.

We then went outside and met the rest of the crew in the area where the hotel bus picks them all up. The bus that arrived was a full sized bus, although there were only 12 crew members and myself. On the way to the hotel, it was determined that there were several other people into biking, and one of the FAs had actually purchased a bike that she leaves at the hotel. The hotel, NH Central Station, has free bikes for guests issued on a first come, first served basis. The hotel is about 15 minutes from the airport, north of the city. By the time we got to the hotel, it was determined six of us would go for a ride that would leave at 2PM. We’d head north and east, riding along the top of a dike that has a bike path that leads to the town of Marken.

We went to sleep, but not before deciding to wake up at 12 so we could take a quick tour of downtown before the ride in the country-side.