To Bucharest by SkyTeam - AGAIN
 

Here we go for round two of my personal Bucharest Bounce

This afternoon I'm back on KLM to Bucharest via Amsterdam although this time it will be all back of the bus as the business fare was ridiculous once more at £1600 vs £400 economy. I checked for upgrades when I checked in but they were a lot more expensive than last week at £149 and £229 for NCL-AMS and AMS-OTP respectively so it was a pass on those.

STRIKE THAT!

As I was writing this I thought I'd go check again for upgrades and they are now bargain basement, £102 total for the two legs, SOLD!

There is little planned again, just a visit to the dentist for 09:30 Tuesday which I am absolutely dreading. Not planned anything else because I don't even know if I'll be allowed or able to eat anything afterwards.

The return is very different to last week, I'm flying Air France OTP-CDG and then CDG-BHX as I needed to be in Birmingham for a meeting Friday.... Note the 'needed to be', that meeting was cancelled minutes ago... it is going to be one of THOSE weeks, I can tell.

Again I'm in economy on the way back but you can be sure I'll be checking the upgrade prices once check in opens.

Time to get back to work and clear the decks before I head off to the airport in a couple of hours time.

If our own BAEC moderator hadn't posted his absolutely nuts trip for the next 4 weeks, I'd have called you certifiable gain. But you now appear absolutely normal again! :D

Do those check-in upgrades earn higher XPs? Or are you stuck with the Y haul?

I honestly don’t know about the XP, I’ll check last weeks if they’re showing on account

Update: Shows as 0 XP against the upgrade

And we’re off! When I arrived at the airport work was in full swing on the lane rearrangement

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Because of the last minute upgrade the KLM app steadfastly refuses to issue new boarding passes so over to the KLM desk that was really quiet. This should be quick, thinks I

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And quick it might have been, were it not for the group checking in ahead of me whose every bag was either overweight or oversize because they had bags within bags within bags. A complete faff and a good five minutes to sort their lives out. In the end they wheeled away the largest bag with other empty large bags inside it, I suspect these’ll get dumped somewhere!

Boarding passes printed, the desk agent told me that I probably would not get food onboard as it would already have been catered. When I jokingly asked if she had seen a KLM short haul business box she said she hadn’t so I showed her what I would be missing out on. Her face was an absolute picture and her only comment was “well, at least there are macarons” :D

Straight through security and into an incredibly quiet departures

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I decided to skip the fizz and head straight down to the Aspire lounge which is surprisingly busy considering the quietness of the departures area.

Standard fare on the buffet, I’ll probably have a plate of the pasta a little later.

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Time for a Madri or three before I need to head out to the gate in forty minutes or so.

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This seems relatively normal by your standards. I'm a bit miffed though. Why SkyTeam?

This is a last minute, needs must, dentist demands, trip :). Absolutely chosen on price. At time of booking BA was closer to £1000 economy return, LH was £700 and KL/AF was £400.

I no longer need to prioritise BA as I’ll not get status under the new rules, so I’ll maximise the benefits and minimise the spend for the next year, and my filler and last minute flights will be decided on price for 2025.

Ok this makes more sense. In fact, it sounds even rational - but then again, no one ever accused BA people of being pragmatic. And agreed, £1000 quid is excessive...

I know, completely out of character ;)

Looks like we are boarding by stairs from gate 20 today

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Passengers are just now disembarking so 10-15 minutes until we start boarding I’d guess

Bon voyage 😎

Boarding commenced on time and by the time I was on board, 2nd into the business cabin, I took the last of the bin space. Mr 2C came on board a few minutes later and was very vocally displeased to the point the crew removed their bags to fit his in!

Only two rows in the business cabin with a total of six passengers on this otherwise full flight.

Acres of leg room in 1D as you might expect.

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1C on this cabin layout is even worse than on the BA 320s, most of it is looking into the entrance space and Mr 1C is not quiet it his disapproval every time he gets clipped. I may nickname him Mr huff for this flight :D

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Pleasant crew once again and looking forward to the short hop to Amsterdam.

17:15 and they’re still waiting for some passengers so there’s nothing to do now but buckle up and enjoy the ride.

Next Stop: Amsterdam in about an hour and a half’s time.

Dispatcher has just come on board, two missing, no bags. A quick chat to the captain and he has left the plane, looks like our two wayward souls are out of luck.

And indeed they are! Doors are closed , stairs have been pulled away, and we are pushing back exactly on time.

Much better departure than last week, I may even get time to check out the lounge in Amsterdam and see what delights it has to offer today, surely it cannot be worse than last week!

Tally Ho!

Wish you luck

The usual short taxi here at Newcastle and quickly off the ground. I’ll say it again, these 737s really do wallow around on the ground like a rowboat In the ocean!

Coffee and JW this evening, and, fear not, they had a wanderbox for me :D

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I am starting a little collection of these salt and pepper letters. A completely non-functional bit of packing and I like it :D

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The purser thought he was a comedian and was wisecracking with the other passengers through the flight, however I got deadpan Dan… clearly my mojo is broken tonight :D

A couple more coffees and whisky’s saw the flight out nicely until the Pilots announcement that we would be landing in 15 minutes at 19:30 local and 19:45 at the gate, D44. The last I saw before we took off, the Bucharest flight is also from the D gates, so, tempting fate, I should get a bit of lounge time :D

On the ground at 19:34 local and now enjoying the lights and sights
of Schiphol airport as we taxi around to the D gates.

Ten minutes in the Crown lounge again was enough to tell me I’d rather be in NCL aspire. The buffet was the same dire offering as before, and I couldn’t even get any photos due to the clearly ravenous hordes troughing it up, The lounge is undeniably busy but it took 3 attempts to find a dispenser with napkins, half the dishes were empty and the lounge is filthy

A baileys and the very last piece of chocolate cake and then I’m off to the gate

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