Early
Spring in the Big Apple
Having just started a new job (37 hours a week + 3 hours of transportation
each day) my spare time seems to have been pretty much eliminated.
It did not help providing a solution to this problem that on Wednesday
(March 21st) a Danish X-files association and its Star Trek counterpart
had planned a meeting from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., even worse: as Director
of one of these associations my attendance was mandatory. Having
missed the planned train I arrived at Elsinore station at almost
1 a.m. (March 24th) having no choice but to take a cab home. Needless
to say, when I arrived home from work at around 7 p.m. on the following
day I surely was not too keen on having to complete a transatlantic
flight the next morning.
However, the thought of the good business class seats being confirmed
on my economy class reservation did help to keep up my spirits.
Scandinavian Airlines on their somewhat old planes flying transatlantic
routes have three different cabin segments. The first 2 have business
class seats. Often, however, there are only enough business class
passengers for the first cabin segment. The result being that some
very lucky economy class passengers get to fly the middle cabin
segment - it will then be economy service of course - but the seats
are business class seats never the less.
It was one of those seats that I had managed to get a hold of.
I packed pretty late and did not get much sleep. The train left
my local station at 7:58am.
I arrived at CPH (Copenhagen Airport) at 9:35 a.m.
I faced some pretty long lines at economy check-in and thanked
god that I have EuroBonus Silver status with Scandinavian Airlines.
I headed for a business class check-in counter and checked-in smoothly
- I even remembered to show my Aeroplan basic member card so the
miles would be credited right.
I found my way to the Servisair Lounge pretty quickly and showed
my Diners Club card to gain access. The first pleasant surprise
of this morning was to find that they had redone the lounge, now
offering the most popular soft (and hot) drinks from different machines
while still maintaining all different kinds of drinks (beer, wine,
liquor, special drinks, juices) at the self-serve bar. They were
still serving breakfast and having left the house without breakfast,
as usual, this was also greatly appreciated. I have actually grown
quite fond of my local Servisair lounge each time I add to my lounge
visit experiences: foreign lounges are often disappointing.
Once the departure screen changed the status of my flight from
"Go to gate" to "Boarding" I decided that I
might as well head out to the gate. There is hardly any reason to
go to the gate before "Boarding" shows on the screen -
at least not for transatlantic journeys anyway.
Once at the gate I waited for about 10 minutes and then boarded.
The service on board was a bit unsatisfactory. Maybe my former remarks
about the Lufthansa economy product have been a little to harsh
considering that Scandinavian Airlines - in my most definite opinion
- also need to fresh up their economy service, and how they treat
passengers in coach in general.
The main food was okay (I chose chicken) but the pasta was uneatable
to me due to a very nasty sauce. I kicked myself for not ordering
a special meal. Before touchdown we got roast beef and a very strange
cold mixture of potato and (what I would think was) cheese. It did
not taste great and I really doubt that it was as "healthy",
as advertisements from Scandinavian Airlines would argue all their
food is.
Having no pen (strange I forgot to bring one but I guess my packing
was not perfect) I asked a flight attendant for one. She spoke in
a rather disrespectful voice telling me that she had none. When
she went by 10 minutes later I asked her if she could maybe ask
one of her colleagues if he or she had a pen to spare. This request
resulted in a very disapproving look and the remark "You really
have no pen?" - in Danish we don't really have any "Sir"
to add to such remarks making it worse, I think. Well, it was not
a big deal. She said she would ask (as I recall) but never returned.
Fortunately another flight attendant saved the day by brining a
pen pretty promptly when so asked.
Immigrations went smoothly. I got lucky and got a pretty funny
INS officer. In front of me were 2 Danish ladies and one of them
told the officer "We're together" - after seeing the look
on his face she added, "Not the way you think" which caused
some smiles and him telling her "I don't think anything".
My suitcase came out almost first. Customs: no problems.
I paid $11 for a bus to the Times Square bus depot. Walked the
final block without too much trouble.
At the Hilton Times Square I was not impressed. I had thought it
would be at a better location, and not just the top floor of a building
with the ground entrance squeezed in. On the positive side, I stayed
at the YMCA Upper West Side the last time I visited the Big Apple
and this Hilton was certainly an improvement in comparison. They
had no executive floor. No suites available for upgrade. I was told
that he (being the check-in person) would put me on a waitlist for
a suite. I did not really believe him.
I was on floor 36. My view did NOT impress (at least not compared
to what I had expected). I went with one of my friends for a short
walk to add up on my coke supplies.
We found a pharmacy and bought some coke and chips - much better
deal than taking this stuff from the mini-bar in the room, really.
Returning to the hotel I took a refreshing bath and suddenly felt
more tired. After having enjoyed being alone in the room, I decided
to call Guest Services to check about my status on the waitlist
for a suite. They said they would call me back. Once they did it
turned out I had almost been had, "There is no waitlist for
a suite" the manager told me. He offered me a corner room on
the 43rd floor, and we agreed I could have a look before deciding
whether to switch. Very quickly (only a minute or two) a knock on
my door and the assistant manager was there - I'd been told he would
send "someone" up, but not someone being as high ranking
as this man was. We went to the room, which I liked better (had
a view of the World Trade Center, Empire State Building and even
the Statue of Liberty). I packed and switched rooms in 15 minutes.
I think the flight now seemed much more devastating than it had
at touchdown so I went to bed. I woke at around 4:29 a.m. - slept
more and woke for real at around 6:45am. I called the operator at
around 7 o'clock and asked to be connected to the voicemail of one
of my friends staying at the same hotel - apparently voicemail seemed
like and unknown concept to this operator so she connected me to
his phone instead, causing me to wake him - but really, not my fault!
We had a very unsatisfactory breakfast. This HHonors Gold Continental
Breakfast is a joke. Four cakes that are fat and unhealthy, a microscopic
glass of orange juice and a cup of tee do not constitute breakfast
- at least not to me. (I found out Sunday that the certificate has
a value towards purchases of $12 - making what we got even more
of a bad joke). My friend was informed that if he wanted another
glass of juice there would be a charge. I did not like the service
either. We left a small tip: nothing. Apart from the bad service,
being Europeans we had both left our rooms with only the free breakfast
certificates, and no cash at all.
I called the concierge after breakfast and got directions for the
Barnes and Noble on Fifth Ave. There I picked up some books for
my father when it opened at ten and then headed back for the hotel.
We met our guide for our arranged city van tour in the lobby.
The guide was really nice and knew NYC really well. I especially
liked our visit to Katz Deli near Little Italy. It was quite an
experience. I was a little shocked at the bill of $15. Back in the
car I said "Pretty good meal for $15" and apparently it
was very easy to read my true meaning since the guide immediately
explained the place was quite expensive but the quality was thereafter.
I agree with that, the tuna I got was real good, and the atmosphere
alone was worth all the money.
We went to the Cite restaurant with more peers.
The Cite was filled with people. I spoke with a few and did not
manage to remember more than a few people's names.
Food was okay.
Some of my friends wanted to leave and since I felt rather tired
that was okay (the time was actually about 1 a.m.). We stopped by
at the Sheraton to say goodbye to all.
I slept.
On Sunday we had a buffet for breakfast at $8 with our certificate
cutting $12 off the real price of $20. Having tried the buffet at
the Las Vegas Hilton this was not impressive.
I checked out of the hotel.
We then went on a tour with some people we had met at the Cite.
We went on the Staten Island ferry. I had a very thin jacket on
and it ruined everything. I must have seemed like a real anti-social
but I was just freezing so much, it was really bad.
I said thanks after the ferry trip and spent the remainder of time
in warm stores doing shopping.
We went at a "different" kind of trip to Newark and I
don't think I want to do that again with a suitcase as large as
mine. I used coupons to upgrade EWR-OSL and was actually upgraded
at check-in despite of this being against the rules.
I said goodbye to all but one of my friends and headed with him
to the Continental Airlines lounge (since my plane had the latest
departure I had plenty of time).
After this I headed for the Scandinavian Airlines lounge in my
flight's departure terminal.
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