Paul's Down-Home Page

Oslo, part 1

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.