And so, off to
Oslo. It’s traditional that I forget
something on every trip. For Lisbon, it was my sunglasses. For this trip, it was
my USB headset (which I use with Skype
to make cheap international phone calls) and a camera.
My itinerary was a
little unusual this time; I went DTW-ORD-AMS-OSL on the outbound, all on
Northwest and KLM. The ORD-AMS leg was on a KLM 747-400 (in the "combi"
configuration, which carries fewer passengers and more cargo than a standard
747-400). I was seated in row 2, just under the cockpit. It’s amazing how much
more you can see from this far forward– I was so far in front of the wing that
I couldn’t see it at all from my seat. I was treated to a gorgeous view of the
late-afternoon Chicago skyline as we flew over it.
How does
KLM’s business class
stack up to Delta’s? The two are similar in many respects; the seats are about
the same size and pitch (though I found KLM’s to be slightly more comfortable).
After takeoff, the initial service on both includes a small dish of nuts. Delta
heats the dishes, which definitely makes the nuts taste better. For dinner, my
choices were tenderloin of beef with a bacon and cheese crust, a stuffed chicken
breast, or teriyaki salmon (which I passed on only because of its spinach and
shiitake filling). One touch I missed from Delta flights is the inclusion of a
soup, which DL usualy makes available as both an appetizer and entree.
The in-seat video
system is very similar to Delta’s, although KLM seemed to have more recent
choices. As a bonus, they provide noise-canceling headphones, but they use a
funny plug so you can’t use your own headphones with the IFE or their
headphones with your own equipment. Alas. I watched part of Last Holiday during
dinner and got a few good laughs.
Unfortunately. KLM
doesn’t seem to have
power ports in their seats– if I had known that I would have pressed
to get on another airline! This wasn’t a major problem, as I slept for about
four hours; if I’d planned on working through the flight, though, that would
have posed a problem. I’m definitely going to have to rethink my travel plans to
Johannesburg (which involve going ATL-AMS-JNB-AMS-MEM on KLM) if I can’t use my
laptop throughout the flight.
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