Well, I'm here!

Lots to catch up on, but I finally have as comfy chair and decent internet service.

Flying over

Generally uneventful. Flight to DTW was a half-hour late but more than enough for my connections. The  headDL flight attendant - who was told by another pax that some of us (not me!) might be a bit surly - kept the jokes coming. After asking us to turn off "anything battery-powered that's not keeping you alive," she told us the pilot was a former Blue Angel and that "he'll fly it like he stole it."

Upon landing she said if we liked the flight, they are a Delta crew out of Orlando. If we didn't, then they are an Eastern crew out of Seattle. On the way out, I grinned at the attendant and said "Eastern out of Seattle, right?"
That got me a "Hey now!" and a playful slap on the arm.

DTW-AMS was likewise uneventful. No one was sitting next to me so I had some space. Ambien was much appreciated on this leg.

AMS-JRO was also nice, but not sleeping (intentionally) made this flight seem quite a bit longer than it was. I paid extra for a Premium Economy seat, which is still cattle class but with a bit more seat pitch and recline. I was wedged between a nun and a teenage British girl. It wasn't terribly comfy for any of us. 3-4-3 layouts seldom are. The gal said there were plenty of open seats in the back. I took a look and sure enough, there were probably 30-40 empty seats in the back section, enough room for several to actually lie down. I plunked myself down in 61D (next to last row). While it lacked the recline of the PE seat, I had a lot more room. I was right by the galley so easy access to mid-meal snacks and - surprisingly enough - got served first.

There was aside from what I'd call moderate turbulence as we approached the Swiss Alps. You know it's not good when the captain tells the cabin crew to sit down and buckle up.

Sidebar: We flew over the Sahara and it's as tan and desolate as you think it is.


I thought it would take forever to get off the plane from the back, but they wheeled up a second set of stairs to the rear. More in the next post...

Delta Sky Club

If you're going to do a fair amount of flying in a short amount of time - and happen to be on DL or one of the SkyTeam airlines - it's well worth your while to spring for a 30-day club membership. It's $90 and well worth it. The DCA and DTW clubs are nice, comfortable and quiet. Only one club at DCA so it can get crowded. DTW has four of them. I went to the one at the center of Terminal A. Very spacious with plenty of seats, showers, and a self-service bar.

Membership also gets you into some partner airline lounges, which for me includes KLM's Royal Crown Lounge 52 at AMS. It was a wee bit of a rush, but I managed to get a shower, a shave and a reasonable breakfast in a 1.5hr layover. It was a little busy when I got there, but was pretty quiet by 10am.

KLM Premium Economy seats

Long story short: If you're thinking about this upgrade, check to see how booked the flight is first. If I had known this flight had so many empty seats, I would've saved myself the $150 and sat in the back.