BThumme

That's prison hostel. Not prison. Although I imagine that would make for a better story. The first part, until I got ready for my first flight, does not have any pictures but is rather my account of how hard it was to book my ticket and check in. (Actual Trip starts Next Post)

This is my first trip report so I will try to do it as clear as possible.

BACKGROUND:

About me: Love flying, love talking about it, that is after all why I'm on these boards. However as a grad student with relative little income, my flights are very limited - once a year if I'm lucky, although I had a job interview in Houston this year that boosted my miles a little bit. I've flown through star alliance since I first heard about Aegean Airlines low threshold. When I flew to Houston after achieving star silver status, it made all the world. Priority boarding, free checked bags, and upgraded (to E+ and exit row seats). I decided for X-mas I would ask for an international flight as I will hopefully have one more upcoming trip, and that should put me at the 16,000 mile threshold. Flying from pretty much anywhere in Michigan, I had the best options in terms of cost from either MBS (Saginaw) or FNT (Flint). Saginaw had a routing through Chicago and Amsterdam, and that seemed kind of boring. Through FNT I had CLE, EWR, and OSL on the way out, including 10 hours in OSL. OSL-ARN was on SAS, which I've never flown, so for me this was the easy choice. I was able to book the ticket in October, but not without problems. With this being said, this was the beginning of my first ever international trip (sans Cancun when I was 14; hardly international).


Booking Problems:

I've never flown internationally, which goes with out saying that I've never bought tickets for an international flight. Going through the wonderful United.com, I was pretty sure that it would be no different than buying a flight from Flint to Detroit. The wonderful thing about alliances, after all, is that you can book partners on the same itinerary seamlessly. I'm planning to go over Christmas break, and it works out the best leaving Christmas day and coming back a week later. So the routing I had was FNT-CLE-EWR-OSL-ARN and back ARN-EWR-CLE-FNT. All flights operated by United (commutair dba United express for FNT) except for the single OSL-ARN operated by SAS.

When I selected the flights, put in all my information, and finally got to checkout, my dad gave me his credit card to use (X-mas present), and I put the information in. It was a Visa card, and had never been used for online purchases, so I was greeted with a lovely Verified by Visa experience. Filling out everything, and tring to finish the purchase, I get a nice error screen saying that the purchase didn't work. "Probably timed out," I thought.

So go through United.com again, re-enter ALL my information, go to the seat selections and...my previous seats I had selected are greyed out. "Ok, maybe the system just needs a second to reset..." get to pay, put in the information, put in the Verified by Visa information and........error.


One more try. Enter all the information. Pick seats. New seats greyed out as well this time. Enter payment information......payment declined.

Now my father and I are starting to get upset. I'm trying to convince him that United hasn't billed him three times at this point. But I have no confirmation emails, and the seats keep getting greyed out, and the "X seats remaining at this price" has gone down by 1 every time. A phone call to United puts us on hold for 30 minutes. We call the credit card company to make sure we haven't been billed, and we have not. I have to make a three hour drive back to school so I leave without the tickets booked.

The next day I'm back on United. Down to just "3 tickets left at this price!" And my seats are still greyed out. This is right before United removed the pay by phone method, so I was able to book the reservation without paying and get a free hold for 24 hours and a reservation number, so I at least had something to work with.

So here is part of the problem too. Since a single leg of the flight was operated by SAS, United.com can't actually confirm the flights. You have to purchase tickets and wait for confirmation (although you aren't billed until that) - Why have an alliance at that point? I thought with an alliance this would all be integrated. After phoning United, giving them my hold reservation number, they were able to (after talking with SAS apparently) confirm there were seats available on the flight, and were able to book me on the flights. Ok, hard part finally done. I should have left it at that, but over the next 24 hours I couldn't stop thinking about the flight.

I had an awesome route, would get to checkout Norway, but couldn't help but think I could get a couple extra miles flying back a different route. I was very flexible with my dates, and flying in Discounted Economy (earns 50% on Aegean), I started messing around.

After stumbling across a couple threads, I decided it would be cool to see what it would have cost to fly a 747, 380, or 787 back somehow. I ended up finding that, starting in January, there was supposed to be a 787 service from AMS-IAH. After going around on United.com, for an extra $67, I was able to get this routing on the way home:

(Jan 2) ARN-ZRH-AMS
(Jan 3) -IAH-CLE-FNT

All for an extra $60! The ARN-ZRH was operated by SAS and the ZRH-AMS by Edelweiss Air dba Swiss (I think). That sounded amazing! Being as I was within the 24 hour period, I made a mock reservation which couldn't be booked, because flights would need to be confirmed through Edelweiss and SAS. Furthermore since I was already confirmed on the original OSL-ARN flight, when I was on the phone with United, there was an issue coming up because I was already confirmed on that flight and confirming me again was a big mess.

I ended up after 2 hours on the phone with them saying "You know what, I have my flights, I'm just going to leave it at that." Come to find out the 787 would eventually be swapped out with a 767-400 ER due to the ongoing 787 issues. Anyways, nothing to do now but wait 2 months.


CHECK IN (More Problems!)

My First flight was scheduled to leave Flint at 1:42 pm Christmas Day, so at T-24 I was ready to check in. Being Star Silver, I was ready to check in so I could upgrade my seats to E+.

Now you see, when I had flown to IAH after getting Star Silver status, here is what happened. The company I was interviewing with had purchased my ticket the night before so I didn't pick out my seat or check in or anything.

GRR-IAH - Asked the gate agent if there were any window seats available. Tells me "Oh, you're silver, I can put you in the exit row window seat". Nice I thought. Connecting in Chicago, I walk up to the counter and ask again, if I can get put in a window seat again. "Sorry Hun, none open. But let me put you in the bulkhead E+ row, you are after all silver."

So I was thinking, wow, this is amazing. My Silver Status gets me free checked bag, priority boarding, AND e+/exit row seats. This is absolutely wonderful!

I get to check in on my phone, since I'm trying to have my pass added through the iPhones passbook system. I try selecting the e+ window seats but they insist on charging me...lame! Probably a computer problem. I keep my seats but check in and.........error. Can't complete check-in because I need "passport verification"

Having never flown internationally, I suppose I can't argue with this. My information probably needs to be entered in the system. But it's christmas eve, church is coming up, and I really want to get my e+ window seat. I decide to make the 15 minute drive over to nearby MBS airport (I live in Saginaw). My flight was leaving from Flint, 30 miles away, but I figure my information just needs to be entered into United's system.

I get to MBS. Explain my situation to the United agent. After about 10 minutes of trying, tells me there is nothing he can really do because my flight leaves from Flint. I'm a little upset, I think that's stupid, but I suppose I understand.

It's about 3pm at this time. Church starts at 5pm. It's the only day of the year I (and my immediate family) goto Church. I mine as well leave it and just show up extra early tomorrow to Flint.

Except I REALLY want those exit seats. I'm crazy, and I consider driving to Flint and back. But I realize I probably wouldn't make church (at least the start)...I contemplate the idea in my head several times on my drive back. I'm going to do this. However I'm in "street" clothes. I could show up to church in that, but, it's once a year, I can do better. I stop over to my grandmas. Run in. Grab my dress clothes, explain much to her dismay what I'm doing, and book it for Flint. I call up my brother who agrees to pick up my grandmother and take her to church at 4. We have to hold seats!

So I have two hours to make it from Saginaw to Flint (about a 45 minute drive normally), get things sorted out with United, and make it back to church. Tight, but I can probably just make it out.

Traffic on X-mas eve is surprisingly light. I am going "with traffic", and "with traffic" happened to equate to almost 85 mph. Wonderful. I get to Bishop International airport in almost 30 minutes.


Walk in, and proceed to the United Counter. Unbeknowst to me, the only United flight(s) that leave Flint are a twice/three time Flint-Cleveland flight. And there wasn't a single one leaving Flint that day. A man, who looks an awful like the Police Commissioner James Gordon, asks if he can help. He has on an american eagle shirt, so I explain my situation to him, and says there really isn't much he can do and I need to show up tomorrow before my flight and get things straightened out. At this point now, I'm thinking, "This really can't get much worse for me".

I hustle back and make it to church at 4:25, plenty of time to spare, telling my family I got everything sorted out. Little did they know, on the inside, I was freaking out more than a man on Maury awaiting the test results to see if indeed the baby was his.



Actual Check In

I could not sleep X-mas eve night. I was so excited, my first trip international, but I was also worried because I knew there would be a hiccup in my check in process. I was to the airport by 11am, and to my surprise there was a fair amount of people, mostly around the AirTran (service to ATL and MCO) desk.

No one in line for the single United Kiosk. I walk up, wait for a United rep to emerge and....er.....I realize that there actually isn't a United rep at all. Commissioner Gordon comes over (in the same American Eagle attire), proceeds to start checking me in, and after a minute says, "Hey...Weren't you here yesterday?" After the acknowledgement, he begins furiously typing into the computer, asking me for my passport. About 5 minutes of nervous, awkward silence passes. He shakes his head, and continues typing. I am at this point thinking I am not going to make this trip. Another 3 or so minutes passes and he realizes the issue:

I have flown United in the past, domestically several times with this same issue, but without a problem. If my name was John Edward Doe, I would put that in the reservation system and it would make my reservation under passenger name as Johne Doe. The middle initial gets added to the last letter of the first name. So since my passport does not have Johne (if my name were John), there was an error in matching the passport with the reservation. Some how the gate agent was able to get it working. He then proceeds to tell me that my baggage will be $100 and I will be good to go.


Wait, what? $100? I'm star alliance, I should get a free checked bag. And, wait, this is an international flight, I get one bag checked free regardless! After calmly informing him, he realizes I selected a bag online to check in (that somehow went through), tagged me up, and I was finally, at this point, ready to begin my adventure. I also realized, after looking into it at this point, that Star silver does not get me access to E+ seating. Bummer. Oh well.

The following post (will finish soon!) has my actual trip report (with pics!)

BThumme

Outbound: FNT-CLE-EWR-OSL-ARN


Boarding passes in hand (not in passbook, unfortunately), it was time for the adventure to begin. What stories would I have to tell my friends and family when I got back? Only time would tell.

The nice thing about Bishop International Airport is that it is a regional airport, slightly bigger than most regionals, but still small enough where you now it should be a relatively hassle free experience.


As to be expected, the airport was pretty quiet.

I was excited for my first flight because it was my first time I believe ever being on a turboprop plane. I originally had seat 3A, but upon checking my phone one last time I saw that seat 4A had opened up - the "exit" row, and I put exit in quotes because I don't actually think there is any extra legroom on these planes, and if there is, it's very hard to notice (I'm 6"2).

I only had a 36 minute layover in CLE, which was intentional, because I wanted to spend as much time in the lounge in EWR as I could. My other option was an hour layover in CLE, and then only having about 2 hours in EWR.

After saying my good-byes, I proceed to the security checkpoint where there is exactly 0 people in line. It's kind of surreal. I walk up, flash my passport, do the security thing, and am good to go. Total time: 2 minutes.

Now the way Flint is set up, once you clear security you are on the main floor, where there is a T shaped setup (coming from the bottom of the T). All these are for use with jetbridges, however my gate is not one of these 10 or so gates. Instead I get to go down the stairs before the path breaks off. There are a total of four gates on the ground, although I think gate is a bit of a glorified term. I actually prefer the term "corner of the ground floor" to be a bit more accurate.


Gate!

I have about 2.5 hours to pass, so I decide to run up and get a hamburger and fries. In my process to kill time I somehow slowed it down. I got back and there was about 2 hours and 15 minutes still to go. I busted out a staple of my trips - a puzzle book. I usually find these in walgreens/rite-aids for about $5. I'm expecting this flight to be completely empty, but slowly and steadily people begin to show up, to the point where the flight is going to be going out full.

I was tracking the inbound flight - the plane was coming from CLE, turning around, and going back to CLE. The plane was supposed to land in Flint around 1:10pm, but on my app and united I noticed the flight hadn't left CLE yet, and was void of status updates. My phone finally beeped that the flight was going to leave CLE 25 minutes late, and I began to think about what might happen.

When I say I had a 36 minute layover, that means 36 minutes from when I was supposed to land to when the next flight was supposed to take off (Not depart the gate). Never having been on a flight this late, I'm wondering what will happen. I'm not overly concerned because there is another CLE-EWR flight leaving an hour after the CLE-EWR flight I'm on.

The plane eventually comes in late, and we finally get to board 15 minutes later than the scheduled takeoff.


Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Flight: United 4820 (commutair dba United express)
Service: Flint, MI - Cleveland, OH
Aircraft: de Havilland Dash 8
Seat: 4A (exit row...i suppose)
Scheduled Gate Departure: 1:42 PM
Actual Gate Departure: 2:05 PM
Scheduled Gate Arrival: 2:41 PM
Actual Gate Arrival: 3:05 PM



I have the exit row to myself, which is nice, but I don't actually think there is any extra leg room on the dash 8's. When we are in the air, I inform the flight attendant of my situation and ask if they can get an update for me or see if theres anyway they can radio CLE that I'm on a very short connecting flight; maybe I could be whisked away in a golf cart. I didn't realize it, but boarding for the CLE-EWR flight was about 2:25.....shortly after we had taken off. The gate departure was supposed to be 3:17, and we were projected to land about 3:05. As we land, the flight attendant asks those that don't have tight connections to wait for those of us who do so that we can make it. I ask the flight attendant if there is anything special (carts, holding for us, etc)...she doesnt know.

"So am I running?"
"Yeah I guess so"

"Awesome..."

So we land, I hustle out of the plane, then proceed to fast walk from outside up the stairs into Hopkins. As I enter the terminal, I hear a gate agent say to somebody behind me "Newark? You're not going to make that" - turns out there was somebody else connecting as well. The woman says to go see a CSR to re-book.

Non-sense I said. I have 3 minutes to make it from terminal D to terminal C in an airport I've never been to. I can do this. And with that thought, I began the first airport sprint of my life.

Bolting down the D corridor, spotting a sign for terminal C, I'm (literally) running on adrenaline. It's actually kind of a cool feeling. I knew that if I didn't get on, there was a flight in an hour I could get on so this really wasn't an end all to end alls.

But running in an airport is one of those things that you would think is unacceptable (in terms of safety/security), but yet is completely acceptable - kind of like when men have to go out shopping and get items for women. People stop and stare at you, sure, but they're all thinking "Do what you have to do man. Good Luck."

Down the escalator I go, and through what seems like a mile-long underground tunnel, up through more stairs, and then a sharp turn to my gate.

I run up to the agent, asking if there is still time.

"Flint?"
"Yep"
"Okay. Sounds like there is a couple more coming with you"

I didn't see anyone, no one else made the run. I was guessing they tried to get re-booked (if they knew about the later flight).

Out of breath and sweating, I make it down onto the plane in seat 27A. Sighing, out of breath, thinking I just did something special. Apparently we are going to sit at the gate for an extra couple minutes for "a connecting flight." Turns out the plane was going to wait for us afterall. About 5 minutes later the pilot comes on and says that we are being issues about a 15 minute hold from the tower; apparently, someone traveling to EWR and onto an international destination left their passport in their checked luggage, and that we would have to wait for them to go down and pull it out.

I would have been fine with walking it appears. Anyways sitting in on the plane in CLE, looks like I was finally done with the craziness.


Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Flight: United 588
Aircraft: Airbus 319
Service: Cleveland, OH - Newark, New Jersey
Seat: 27A
Scheduled Gate Departure: 3:17 PM
Actual Gate Departure: 3:31 PM
Scheduled Gate Arrival: 5:04 PM
Actual Gate Arrival: 4:56 PM

Sat down, covered in sweat, but very satisfied, I was ready to relax. Then a man, from the same Flint flight, informs me I'm in his seat. Uh....27A I have, I'm positive...

I sat in 28A. In front of me, 27A was open. The man says he will take 27A, however does not look happy in doing that. The one row makes all the difference apparently. In CLE, the weather is gloomy, which always makes me appreciate what it is like when you emerge above the clouds. It was starting to get dark at this point, and we took off from 6L/24R over lake Erie. Halfway into the flight it was completely dark, so not much to see.

A beverage service is offered and I opt for the 2012 Tropicana "Premimum" Orange Juice, followed by the napkin service.


The flight went by very fast - only about an hour and 25 minutes in the air. Landing into EWR at night, ahead of time, it looked like the problems were now, finally behind me. Rolling up to the gate, taking my time, I had about 3 hours to explore one of the EWR united lounges.

For chirstmas, I received three passes as gifts. I wasn't sure which club to check out, but went for the one in the C90s - the "donut" one above the food court. I walked in, presented the pass, and the woman mentioned to me "Must have been a christmas present". I was kind of expecting her to say no, can't take these or no, these aren't even real. But she signs it and says welcome. I ask, as politely as possible, if she can see if there are any E+ window seats open on my flight to Oslo, explaining to her that I'm star silver and I thought that that would let me pick them. She mentions to me it looks like they are all filled up, and nothing she can do. I thank her, and go into the lounge.

In terms of offering, the lounge is really sparse. There are crackers, buttered and non-buttered. Goldfish crackers, apples and bananas and carrots, and chocolate covered pretzels. This is apparently what I've been missing out on.

There is however Sam Adams on draft complimentary, which I do take advantage of once or four times.



I did rather enjoy the layout. It has a nice view overlooking the food court, but I would much rather be looking out at planes.



With it being Christmas day, I'm kind of surprised by how many people are actually on this flight.

About an hour out, I decide to leave the club and head to a CSR desk one last time to try and get an E+ seat.

Around 6:45 I head down, and am the only one in line. I explain my situation to the CSR, and he says "come over here." We head next door to one of the Kiosk. He puts in my information, and says "select a seat." I pick the one I want and it says "$119." I mention the star silver, still at this point not sure if I'm supposed to get it like I did in houston and chicago or if they were just being nice to me. He shakes his head no - apparently that is for Star Gold members only (which I don't think is true). "You need to fly more, as he lets out a fake chuckle"

I leave, and in about 15 seconds am at my gate. They are actually boarding priority members at this time. I pull out my passport and am waved onto the plane. For me, this was really the starting point of my trip. It actually hit me, I'm going on a long-haul flight finally. And that is just happened so seamlessly (from the CSR) rep it didn't actually hit me. I make my way down to seat 27A, and plop down, ready to do this.

Until a man comes down and says I'm in his seat.

(Me) "Uh...27A I have..."
(Him) "This is 28A...."

What is going on here? I swear these airplanes must have dynamic seating configurations where the rows magically change after you sit. I just made that same mistake 3 hours ago. How does that happen.

I get up, move up to 27A, sit down again, and am now ready for the "Trip" to begin.

michlflyer

Ok...keep going. The excitement has really built up. A great read so far!

BThumme

I have hockey this weekend so can't finish it all until tomorrow night .
Will have it completed ASAP

BThumme

Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Flight: United 38
Aircraft: Boeing 757
Service: Newark, New Jersey - Oslo, Norway
Seat: 27A
Scheduled Gate Departure: 8:00 PM (-5)
Actual Gate Departure: 8:00 PM
Scheduled Gate Arrival: 9:45 AM (+6)
Actual Gate Arrival: 9:20 AM




So this was it. I was BIS (in 27A!) for what would easily be twice as long as any flight I've ever been on before. I was kind of anxious, because I would be alone halfway around the world for about a day and a half - I was meeting up with a buddy of mine from Nottingham, and he wasn't scheduled to arrive in Stockholm until Friday the 28th around 5pm. I wasn't sure about money, so I (foolishly) exchanged $100 USD for NOK and ended up with I think 450 NOK - google says $100USD = 551.78. I knew I would be getting screwed over (to the tune of about $25), but I figured it was better to have cash on me in case something were to happen. Mind you, I thought $100USD (or 75 after the exchange) would be more than enough to keep me occupied in Oslo for half a day...(rookie mistake #1. more on that later.)

The flight I would say was about 85% full in economy. I had only seen 3 people as I walked through Biz on my way to the back of the plane. I was lucky enough to be going out with the middle seat unoccupied between me and an older gentlemen. The crowd on this plane was also heavily Norwegian, more so than I thought but hey, the plane was going to Oslo, what do you expect.

I was excited because, for the first time ever, I would be on a plane that has AVOD. Well, I take that back. I flew Airtran from FNT-ATL maybe 5 years ago, and they had live XM radio. It was quite nice actually, I had the NHL network on and they were re-playing a Red Wings game from 2002. Perfect!



I began flipping through everything they had available. The selection wasn't bad. I have nothing to compare this to, mind you, but I do feel there was something for everyone. I had my iPad with me and I planned on re-watching Ted and Project X, but I decided to mess around with the system a little more.

I boarded around 7:15, so I decided to start off the night with some reversi. Big mistake. I was handed my rear end. Maybe a nice game of chess. Chess was offered in easy (You have to try to lose at this difficulty), medium (Hard), and Hard (LOL yea right). I opt for medium thinking maybe I can outsmart the computer. After offering my queen as a sacrifice to the chess gods, I proceed to be routed by his knight. This is not my night for games, it seems. I contemplate checkers but opt not for the embarrassment.

I will say that I was surprised by how much force you had to apply to the screens. Perhaps I'm used to my apple devices that require almost no touch; I felt like I was poking the person sitting in front of me; hopefully I was just overthinking it. 8pm rolls back, I'm presented again with how happy united is to have the 787 and that we should all love united, and then we begin the taxi-ing. I catch a glimpse of 22L/4R and we take off, right on time, to the North. It just got real.

The take-off felt quite longer than ones I've been on before. Probably because this was the largest plane I've ever been on, and certainly much bigger than the A319 and Dash-8.

Service begins with a light snack. Coke and Pretzels for me.

pictured: definition of snack

After escaping the lights of NY/NJ, it was a pretty dark flight, flying northeast towards Canada and Iceland. Without having the flight map (which I turned on in the middle seat), it was almost impossible to tell where we were by looking out. I could not tell when we crossed over the water.

Dinner service comes and we are asked for Chicken or Beef. Myself, I am a VERY picky eater. I'm not really a big fan of sauces, and I have the feeling the Beef would be covered...in something. So I opt for the chicken.


Now when I'm presented with this, I think, "Oh, this won't be that bad." I don't know how airlines expect you to eat this with only inches to maneuver, but I'm kind of excited I might get a decent meal. Then I decide to open the "chicken"...



What is that?! Seriously. What is that. That looks like infected rice with...some cheese amalgamation. And what is that stuff in the rice. Lentil? I've never even seen lentil.

My stomach tightens up and I opt to just eat the vegetables. The after-dessert brownie is nice. Good thing I took a couple extra crackers and milano cookies from the lounge.

After the meal I kick back and turn on the AVOD. I opt for The Watch. I had seen it about two weeks earlier, and loved it, and decided it was worth another watch. It was fantastic. I believe I also watched two episodes of The Office which were pretty good. I know I watched another movie, but can't recall which one.

At this point in time, its now around midnight (est), so I've been traveling for around 14 hours. I decide to try and nap and maybe pass out for an hour or so. The remainder of the flight is spent messing with my puzzle book, listening to music, and just getting stoked up for Oslo and Stockholm. Around 8:15 (local time +6), we start to emerge over Norway. But I'm puzzled, because it is still really dark. I keep thinking, I'll be on the ground in an hour, but it is really dark still. I didn't really stop to think about since we are so far north, the sun doesn't come out til much later in the day (and as I would learn go down early).



The sun begins to seep through and I am presented with Norway. I'm starting to get anxious/nervous again because I've never flown internationally; I knew my bag would be checked through to ARN and I was set there; but I've never gone through passport control and didn't know what to expect. It was nice flying into Norway as well since there was no custom declarations that had to be filled out. As we come down from the north to land, all I see is snow. The landscape is absolutely stunning. I picture this to be what all of Scandanavia is like. It's about a 15 minute taxi over to the gate.

As I read about earlier, OSL has glass jetways, so you can see through on your way out/in of the plane. It is absolutely stunning. Since we are going through passport control we head upstairs and down the corridor before a bend. Looks like we are the only international flight here. There is a line for EU control and All Others. In the all-others section there are two lines, and I am presented with the choice of the older woman, or the younger woman. Not sure which to choose. I opt for the older woman, since I'm hoping she will be a little more lax than the fresh out of school younger woman. I get up, she asks me why I'm here. I tell her I'm transiting to Stockholm. She again asks why I'm here. Ah. I get it. "I'm on break from school and here on a vacation." She asks how long I will be here, stamps me, and I am through.

As I'm walking down, I am in awe of Gardermoen. It is absolutely beautiful. Here are a couple pictures.






Being as we were at the gate 25 minutes early, and it only took me about 5 minutes to get through passport control, I have about 10 hours to catch a train downtown and explore Oslo. Let the international part begin!

Fredrik74

Looking forward to that. Interested to see what you have to say about my hometown Stockholm...

BThumme

I had my choice of two different trains to get downtown. There is the NSB, the local train, which is 90 nok ($16.33 usd), and the Flytoget airport express. This train cost twice as much, however has student discounts for 89 nok. I opt for this and buy a return ticket. As I head to the gate and downstairs, I see that the train is departing at 10am. My watch says it is 10am exactly. I hurry down the stairs, see a train, and proceed to sit in said train. I'm thinking..."am I on the right train?" The train is completely empty. Very nice, but completely empty. Much nicer than the "Blue Water" line I've been on that has service Port Huron, MI to Chicago, Il. I look out the window, and see Oslo S, so I assure myself I'm on the right train.

So we start moving a little after 10am. My body is still set to 4am time, and I've had maybe 35 minutes of sleep now going on almost 24 hours. We leave the airport and I am greeted by absolute stunning scenery. I have a video, but am having troubles linking it and will do so ASAP, so you will have to settle for a couple pictures.


The train. Nice, quiet, empty.



As you can see from the view outside, lots of snow and trees everywhere. Oh, and what's this? Free Wi-Fi on the train?

OSL has free wi-fi, but you have to have it send you a SMS message to get an activation code to get on the wifi. Being as I have a CDMA-based Verizon phone, I can't even get a (Roaming) phone network in the country, so I couldn't get on wi-fi. But here, on the train it works. I take this time to send an iMessage to my dad, brother, grandma, and mom. I know its way early back there, and they had the ability to track my flight, but they still wanted to hear from me.

I send the messages, and about 2 minutes later I get a message back from Grandma. And I can't begin to explain what the experience is like. Here I am, on a train, in the middle of a country, halfway around the world. And in the span of half a second I can send, and receive, a message to my family. I ask and apologize if I woke her, and she says no not really. So then there is only one thing left to do now.

VIDEO CHAT!!!!!!!!!!
My grandma has an iPad, so I am able to use my phone or ipad to video chat with her. I call her, and when I see the screen go from "calling...." to "connecting...", I can't actually believe it's going to work.

Then the picture comes on. Now, it's not the clearest, or most stable picture. But it works. It is such an incredible feeling the first time, I really can't explain it. I would video chat a lot of friend and family on this trip in the future, but being in Norway for the first time, on a train, hi-speed, snow covered trees everywhere, it was amazing. It definitely felt like a dream. My mom also messaged me and I gave her a quick call too. A very calm 20 minutes later we roll into the station.

my first view of the, let's say architecturally diverse, city of Oslo


I walk up a slight elevator and am greeted with a very modern, sleek terminal. It is similar in feel to the airport, but not quite the same; but still better than any American airport and train station.

I don't actually have an agenda for Oslo; With it being the 26th it's a national holiday and most of the stores in the city are actually closed.

I decide to begin by finding a small cafe upstairs that has free wi-fi.


As I sit-down, and begin to catchup on my emails and other games and what not that require wi-fi, I begin to look at the cafe menu. Nice variety of foods. Oh, fish and chips, my favorite! 149- nok. Yum. Let's see, I have...uh, 300 nok? What?

Wait a second...I plug in 149 nok to usd on google, and it spits out $27 usd.

27 usd? I have never, in my 24 years in america, ordered anything that was 27. I think the record goes to the ultimate feast at red lobster, which is around $22 for crab legs, shrimp, lobster, a baked potato, and broccoli.

Ok ok I think...I'm in a major city, in the main city terminal, there's going to be a slight premium here. I'll go outside and grab a mcdonalds or something, no big deal. As I'm walking around towards an exit, I spot a Burger King. I can do BK. I look at the menu, think to myself I'll get a chicken nugget meal, and...99- nok? That's...2/3 of 27, so that means about $18...no, this isn't right.

I'm begining to think that I must have gotten royally screwed at the exchange counter. But when I realize I "only" lost about $25 in the transaction, I begin to realize that at this rate, I would run out of spending money on just food alone today.

IF YOU ARE EVER TRAVELING TO THE NORDIC COUNTRIES
Do your research on costs. I brought a fair amount of money. I thought it'd be a little pricey, but I in no way was expecting this. DO YOUR RESEARCH!

A quick google yields that, get this, Oslo is the most expensive city in the world

(source: http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/l...h-tokyo-051406)

Yikes! Ok, I can still get by on McDonalds in the city...right?

Now up to this point, I still haven't really felt like I'm in another country. Depending on who you ask, some people will say getting in an airport is being in another country, some will say no. I was on the train, but honestly, I still felt like I was in the States. I had wi-fi, was talking to my family, checking emails, etc. It wasn't until I walked out of the doors, into the City, that I truly felt I was away from home.

It just hit hard. WOW. Here I am. Alone (kind of), half-way around the world. There are huge pieces of snow falling down. It is very quiet outside, but there is a fair amount of people out. I just let it soak in.

Here are three pictures of the first three things I seen:




Before I left, I went to use the restroom, and get this. THEY WERE CHARGING FOR IT. It blew my mind. I mentioned this on my facebook and one of my british friends mentioned back that I come from a country where you're supposed to tip a bartender for drinks. I mentioned that, you don't actually have to. You still get the drink. Not like this. If I want to use the bathroom, I have to pay. The fee was either 5 or 10 nok, I can't remember, ($1 or $2).

I decide to look for a starbucks, so I pull up my phone and find a starbucks nearby, about half a mile. I walk around, taking everything in, and come towards the location. Except I don't see a starbucks. I don't really see anything actually. I was expecting this big city with stores everywhere and people walking everywhere; maybe it was because of the holiday, maybe not. Either way I really have to goto a bathroom. I round a couple street corners and, what is this? Mcdonalds!


pictured: cheap food, free-wifi, and a bathroom...I think.


I walk in, and am surprised that this is a two-story McD's. I've never been in one in the states. It is very modern looking inside. I look at the prices on the menu, and am shocked to see them almost similar to the BK in the central station. I make it to the bathroom, free of charge, and settle down for a bit. There is no wi-fi here, but that doesn't really bother me. I munch on a couple crackers from the EWR lounge. Still 9 hours to go. I'm almost kind of bored. Maybe I'm just starting to get a little tired.

I decide to mosey on back towards more of the central station area. There's a (closed) TGI fridays near the station. I look at the menu, and am utterly dismayed at the prices on the menu. I think one of the steaks was 249 nok - That's almost $50 usd. I think I managed to say LOL out loud. That is insane.

I get back towards the station, and take one last great look at it.


It's around 2:30, and my flight doesn't leave until 8. I'm hungry, and still have what nok I didn't use (about 200), so I decide I will go with the fish and chips. I also grab a coke for 39 nok...that's $7! For a half-litre bottle of coke. Good God.
The food was great; don't get me wrong. But for what I paid, I usually get a full meal and unlimited drinks. Here is the fish and chips:


$30 USD worth of food.

I decide to get on the 3pm train back to the airport and hang around the airport for a bit.
I get into the airport and am now really starting to get tired. I goto an SAS kiosk as I never got to pick my seat. I look at my seat assignment, and reference it with seatguru. I was assigned seat 22C - the very back aisle of the plane. Nice try SAS! I opt up for seat 12A toward the front and a window. I stand in line for security, unsure if I can go through the premium security line as this isn't United territory. About 25 minutes later I get through. Oh, I kept my shoes on too. That was...nice.

By now, it's almost 4, and dark out. I fight to stay awake and go to a little found lounge area overlooking the gates. I go in and out of consciousness a couple times, probably falling alseep for no more than minutes at a time. I set my alarm, should I need it, but I don't end up. Fast forward to about 3 hours and it was getting close to boarding time.

The gate area is again, absolutely beautiful. Nearby there is a bar, playing some Johnny Cash. I don't really like Johny Cash, but it fits the atmosphere perfectly. Along the bar is full view of outside. I cannot stress enough how beautiful this airport is.

Here are a couple pics of the gate and bird. Stockholm up next!

BThumme

One more piece I forgot to include from OSL.
While walking through the duty free shop, I was greeted with this guy:



That is 265 000 NOK. THAT IS $47,425 USD. I think my spending money would be more spent. Actually, that bottle is pretty much equal to the amount of student debt I have accrued over the last couple years. For that much, I can only imagine what it is like to taste that. I would imagine the mead glazes my tongue, sending me into an instant euphoria without a care in the world. Until the bottle is gone. Which would then send me into an oblivion of which the likes I have never seen.

I make it onto the plane, put on my seat belt, and pass out.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Flight: SAS 890
Aircraft: Boeing 737
Service: Oslo, Norway - Stockholm, Sweden
Seat: 12A
Registration: LN-RRP "Vilborg Viking"
Scheduled Gate Departure: 7:45 PM
Actual Gate Departure: 7:48 PM
Scheduled Gate Arrival: 8:45 PM
Actual Gate Arrival: 8:45 PM

There really wasn't much legroom on my flight, and we went out around 80% full. Not much to say, I was extremely tired at this point as I only managed about a total of an hour sleep over the last 30 hours.


There wasn't much to see on the flight, it was almost entirely dark out. We landed into Arlanda a quick hour after, into a very quiet setting. I casually strolled to the luggage carousel, and decided to exchange the rest of my cash for krowns. I traded $450 USD and ended up "losing" about $40 in the exchange. I was getting screwed, I knew it, but I always thought it would be better to have cash on me for an emergency.

To my surprise, my bag makes it out, and follow the signs I go. My "plan" is this:
Tonight - Stay at the jumbo jet hostel
Tomorrow - Catch a bus downtown and stay at another hostel by myself
Friday - Meet up with my friend, and head to the prison hostel for a week.

I didn't really have a set plan, just that I had a bit of time to catchup on sleep and do some scouting.

I make my way to the information desk and ask about how to get to the jumbo jet hostel - I'm told bus 14.

I get outside, and well I'm technically on Swedish grounds now, to me this really isn't Sweden yet. I wait at the bus stop and about 10 minutes later it comes. The bus goes From terminal to terminal, sky city, hotel, jumbo jet hostel, then all the parking lots and back. I sit and as we come up to the hostel....we keep going by. We had stopped at all the other stops, so I figured I didn't have to do or say anything; apparently I should have pulled the stop cord. Oh well. I make it to the end of the line, tell the bus driver what happened, and on the way back we stop at the hostel.

So what this is, is a re-modeled 747 turned into a hostel. The plane is on airport grounds, but still a bit ways from the actual terminals. Here is a couple pictures to give you a better idea of what it was like:


lounge area. this would be from the nose, looking inwards.


the hall-ways, leading into the rooms


my room


day-view of the hostel

I get at night, and check in is pretty painless. I attempt to use my debit card and...it works. In fact it rang up faster than any transaction I've ever had in the US. I get my key, and the wifi code, and head down to drop off my stuff in the room.

The rooms aren't really huge, but they are..."cozy". The windows are still there, and the overhead bins serve as the closet. One of the few regrets I have on this trip and not getting to know the person who was also in this room. As I only paid for one person I was sharing this room. The guy I was with told me he was a student from stockholm, leaving the next morning to head to Vancouver as an exchange student. Seemed like a really nice person, and I wish I would have gotten an email or facebook link to him.

Anyways, I went out into the lobby and again FaceTimed by Mom and Grandma. First I was on a train in norway doing this, now i'm in a plane in sweden. They are just as amazed as me. I spend some time talking with them before finally having to retire for the night.

My bed was actually really comfortable. That, or I was just really tired. I had a memory foam pillow which felt wonderful. Checkout was unfortunately 10am the next morning, so I wouldn't get much time to sleep.

I should add that the room was US $62. It's not bad at all, especially if you have to travel the next morning. In the morning, I get up, take a couple pictures, and am back off to the airport to catch a bus downtown.

It looks like I have a couple options. I can take the train (too pricey), or one of two busses. There is flygbussarna, and swedebus. Both have plenty of kiosks in and around the airport. I look at both, and see that swedebus has student pricing, and wi-fi readily available. And the next bus leaves in 5 minutes. Easy choice! The student price is 79 kr, ~ $12 USD. Not a bad price at all. Compared to everything I just had in Oslo, that's practically a steal.

The wi-fi works pretty well; not amazing, but it certainly got the job done. It's about 35 minutes later we roll into Stockholm city station that I finally feel like im in Sweden.

My initial impression is that Stockholm feels much more industrious than it's neighbor to the west. It's around 11am, and I'm not even sure when I can check into the other hostel. I'm starting to get a bit hungry, as my supply of buttered crackers and milano cookies are running low from EWR. I decide on a shop in the station for a chocolate muffin and pepsi. It costs me around $7. I pull up walking directions on my phone, and set out on the trek.

There is some snow remnants on the ground, but it is almost all slush. There is a lot of people out and about, which gives it a more city feel than what I saw in Oslo. I have about a 2.5 mile walk over a couple bridges to Zinkensdamn. I begin navigating my way in and out of the streets, and through the slush. Even though I have no phone signal my GPS on my phone still works. After walking for about an hour, I see my phone is less than 5%. I'm only about a half mile away, and I feel pretty sure I can make it, but start to worry just a tad. It doesn't help I'm rolling my luggage around, and carrying a messenger bag. As my phone dies, I look and sigh, only to look up and see across from me...McDonalds.

Those glorious golden arches! I am a bit hungry after the hike. I look at the prices in the McDonalds and ....ugh. The chicken mcnugget meals start at 59 kr - $7 usd. It sucks, but again, compared to what I saw in Oslo this actually isn't that bad. I order, and attempt to try and sit by a power outlet and...I actually don't see one. Whatever. I sit down and enjoy my food - it's slightly better than most McD's over here. but the "normal" soda without refills does not quench by thirst brought on by the amount of salt I like to put on my food. There is wi-fi, however, and I put my phone away and use my iPad to bring up the directions again. Before I leave, I head to use the restroom.

Except they charge for the restrooms here.

Seriously. Why. Is it to prevent people coming in jut to use them? the price is 5kr - ~.75 usd. However, a woman exits the bathroom and holds the door open for me.


I begin walking towards the hostel, and come across what I think is a soccer rink. That has been flooded.

I've played hockey for 20 years. One of the few things I brought with me was my ice skates. Part of the reason of coming to Sweden was to watch a hockey game as the NHL was still locked out at that point. There were people skating around, and the scene was just blissful.

I can't find my first pictures, but here is what the rink looked like at night:

Pictured: Heaven

I also saw some bandy, which I've never seen. Some research shows that the bandy world championships have been held here, most recently as 2006.

I eventually make it to the hotel/hostel, and it's already starting to get dark out.

I believe this one cost me about USD 22. I had to share it with three others though. The hostel has a real nice feel to it. There is a little cafe/restaurant off to the side that has a couple people chatting and drinking coffee. I pay and head down to my room.

Not glamorous by any means, but I paid $22.
The rooms I am in have 4 beds, and one little desk in the middle.


I'm the only one in the room, hopefully that's how it will be. It's around 3 and I take a nap until around 7pm. After I wake up, I decide to head back to the mcdonalds (you're going to hear that a lot).

As I'm sitting in McDonalds, i think of what to do for tomorrow. My friend is scheduled to land around 5pm; I have to be out of the hostel at 10am. I decide that I can get out at 10, head to mcdonalds for an hour or two, walk back to the train station, and then kill the rest of the time there.

I get back, and there are two older gentlemen in my room. Just a "hi", nothing more, and I grab my iPad and head back to the lobby where there is free wi-fi. I'm messing around until around 10pm, when I decide to head back towards my room. As I walk down I hear a bit of noise from the other end of the hallway. I follow the signs to the (public) kitchen where there are a couple groups of people I would say roughly my age (early twenties). One group of spanish speakers, one french, and another speaking english with a thick accent. I decide to hang around here until midnight, when I finally go to bed. I try to be as quiet as possible, but feel like I am making a lot of noise. I keep trying to sleep but the older gentlemen are having what appears to be a snoring competition. I get maybe one to two hours of sleep before waking up at 930. I pack up, buy a souvenir (next pic), and check out.


I get ready to leave and head to mcdonalds but instead decide to visit the cafe that is attached to the hostel. I get a cup of coffee, and proceed to sit down and bust out my puzzle book. Why should I be rushed? There's also a TV nearby. With it being 10am, I know Canada and Slovakia are playing in the world juniors hockey tournament. Maybe, just maybe, the game would be on TV. I turn on the tv, flip through a couple channels, and SCORE! The game is on. Albeit with swedeish telecasters. At this point, I realize I should get set in for the next couple of hours. I have about 7 to kill.

At this point I truly feel like I'm on vacation. The location I'm in has an "up north" feel to it. Cold out, but nice and cozy inside. Drinking some coffee, with a hockey game on, my iPad out and playing some puzzle games. A man from Egypt chats me up for a little bit, says to make sure I get a refil on my coffee. Sweden and Switzerland are on at 1pm, so I know that I will be set here until at least four. There is also various snacks - I decide on a chokoball - a ball of chocolate.


The bar area of the cafe.

I chat with my friend via imessage for a bit, and it appears that his flight is going to be delayed for a little bit - the plane that was supposed to take him here was arriving late. My friend is flying Norwegian Shuttle from Manchester to ARN. After I stop hearing from him, I assume he was on the plane.

I catch a quick start of the USA-RUSSIA game, before proceeding to head back to the station.
As I walk through galma stan - literally old town - I glance into several bars to see that they have the USA Russia game on much to my surprise.

I make it back to the train/bus station and continue to check my phone for flight updates, but I get none. My wifi is also a bit spotty, and I continue to try and get a hold of my friend but do not.

After what seems like an eternity, he messages me around 6 pm that he has landed, got his stuff, and on the bus. He was supposed to land at 4pm.

The only thing I really, really wanted to do was check out a hockey game. This was the only night to do this, as AIK was playing. Starting at 7pm, and his flight (supposed) to land at 4, I figured plenty of time. I knew my plans were now in jeopardy. He makes it to the station around 635. We drop our luggage off and pay to store it, and buy a train ticket to get down to the arena and back. As we eventually get to the arena around 720 (game started at 7), we ask about getting tickets and they point us across the building to another building to buy them. We go back across the seat and our told, flat out, that they are "completely" sold out.

Bummer.
We get dinner at a nearby McDonalds and start to catchup.

After we get back and get our stuff, we walk over to our hostel. Our hostel of choice is a well-rated, former prison on the island of Langholmen. On the walk back we exchange stories, and he tells me about his adventures after summer camp when him and a couple buddies road-tripped across the eastern us; stops in Charleston, SC and Austin, TX were the highlights. Also a stop with another friend in Tuscaloosa and having to drive through Hurricane Sandy.

After a long walk, we make it on the island and walk towards the entrance. I begin thinking to myself that I'm not going to like this place, that this was a mistake, etc etc. When we finally walk in and check in, the very cute swedeish girl says to my friend that we've been upgraded to a 2 bedroom from a 3-bedroom. Awesome. She asks us if we want linens and that there is an extra charge and my buddy says no. After we check in, he asks about linens - apparently he didn't hear her. She says that there is usually a charge but we can just take them. After she gives them to us he says "How much?"...I wanted to tell him to just shutup and take them.

As we walk through what would be the original first floor cell, all I can say is wow. First, it is almost soundproof. It is creepy how quiet it is. It's been renovated, so it is a bit modern, but still has the feel to it.

Here are a couple pics of the hallway, before leading up to our cell. I mean room.





We paid about $30 USD a night here. We got two beds, a TV, and our own bathroom that had a nice shower in it. I would compare this to being in a cruise ship normal room, but slightly bigger. Oh and what's this? Free Wi-Fi in the room? Time for more video chatting.

One thing bothers me though. I have been rolling my luggage everywhere. I got a brand new suitcase from my dad for Christmas and this was what it looked like 2 days later



One wheel was completely off; the other wore down to about nothing. Very disappointed that this was only due to wheeling it around in Stockholm for a day.

One final shot of the room to show you what we got:

mkjr

Great tr. one of the best stories I have from doing my grad degree in Sweden was when my buddies went to Oslo. Beer was so expensive, they went around nicking three quarter drunk pints and then putting them back into their own pitcher. So bad, i know. Sweden was not much cheaper but at least I could buy duty free crossing borders but my eu buddies could not.

michlflyer

Enjoyed catching up on further instalments of this TR. I certainly liked the range of budget accommodation!

Scandinavia is expensive - particularly eating and drinking - but in my case it-s usually been a worthwhile travel experience.

Look forward to reading about the return leg to Michigan - on another 757 TATL?

PurduExpat37

An excellent read!

This really reminds me of my first trip to Europe, back when I was 13 or so... It feels like eons ago now that I'm in my twenties.

Scandinavia is extremely expensive (as you've found out), as are many other places in Europe. Next time, spend some time in Berlin... a city with lots of students so it's very cheap. Also a great town with lots of history, art and neat clubs/bars.

Also, it's nice to hear you're from AZO. Used to have family that lived there-- it is a nice place.

tommyleo

This photo and caption is freaking hilarious!!! ^

fieldeng

Is there not a non-American chain over in Scandinavia? I can't imagine flying several thousand miles only to eat at a place that I could drive 5 minutes from home to eat..

Excellent report and I want to go there for sure based on this!

This is why I spent extra for Briggs and Riley. 100% warranty against Airport damage. The extra premium makes it worthwhile.

BThumme

I'm from closer to MBS, but being as I'm out here for college AZO is technically more of my home airport; actually I'd rather say GRR in terms of flying.

I had to be out of town for hockey again so I'll have the return details posted a little bit later on tonight;

Indeed, it was a 757 starting with ARN-EWR and my first ever trip through immigration and customs in the US. A fun time indeed.

BThumme

The last day we ate at a place called Max Burgers. I will post a pic later, but the hamburger was freaking amazing! A quick google search says its a chain, but I only remember seeing one.