So it was the spring season holiday and the university was going to close for the week Mar. 14-18. My parents are expatriates in Egypt so they booked a roundtrip ticket for me GFK-MSP-AMS-CAI. The booking was done with KLM but the GFK-MSP and MSP-AMS legs are code-shared with Delta.
Then the Egyptian civil unrest took place early in the year. As a result, the Egyptian authorities imposed an overnight curfew to prevent further uprisings/protests. KLM notified me by phone about a week before my trip that because of this curfew, KLM had to temporary reschedule KL553 to the next morning. KLM normally flies KL553 so that it arrives early in the morning in CAI, but is not possible with the curfew in place. KLM was generous in giving me accommodation for the night due to the reschedule.
Nothing was out of the ordinary for the GFK-MSP leg. It was operated by a subsidiary, Pinnacle Airlines, under the Delta Air Lines name. The flight was in a CRJ-200, probably, one of my least favorite aircraft to fly in. Fortunately, it was only a 55 minute ride to MSP. My camera bag cannot even fit in the overhead bin and I had to place it under the seat in front of me. That already took away some legroom. Also, the windows on the CRJ are way too low. I had to actually lower my head to get a view. For the light snack, mini pretzels or salted peanuts were the choices along with a beverage of your choice.
After I landed in MSP, I had a couple of hours to spare until my next flight to AMS, DL264. After I grabbed a bite to eat, I headed for the gate and prepared to board a DL A330 for the first time. I have to say, I’m quite impressed with the DL A330. Y seating is 2-4-2 abreast and seats are in full leather. PTVs are fitted in Y with AVOD available free of charge on international flights. The screen size is adequate and the brightness qualities are good. Screen size is about the same as the old SQ PTVs. The resolution is very good. It was a good 7 hour journey to AMS. Delta Air Lines, in my opinion, is the worst in its food. They need to work on the catering and presentation and organization of Y meals. Bun is not properly heated and the coffee cup still has visible plastic shavings from the manufacturing.
So I land in AMS and I’m supposed to board later that night, but because of the flight reschedule to the next morning, I was entitled a hotel. Now here’s the problem. KLM was nice to give me a free hotel, but not a visa! I hoped the hotel would be in the terminal, so I didn’t have to get out of Schiphol. After asking the transfer desk agent, they told me I had to go through immigration and go to the baggage claim to get to my hotel. I told them I didn’t have a visa but they simply said I should just explain the unexpected flight reschedule to them.
So I head over to the immigration desk and they said I should get an emergency visa from the office. So I head to the immigration office and gave them my request. I handed over my passport and the necessary documents and they said it would take about 45 minutes to have it processed. I thought to myself that it isn’t that long, so I headed upstairs to McDonald’s for something to eat while they work on my visa.
It was until nearly 2 hours later, I was finally granted my 24-hour visa. I headed out to the baggage claim area to obtain the free hotel voucher from the KLM Arrival Services desk. In addition to the hotel voucher, they gave me the following:
Complimentary 5 minute phone card
Amenity Coupon
Travel Discount
They even gave me an amenity kit along with the hotel voucher:
So I headed out of Schiphol and hopped aboard the shuttle bus for the Hotel Schiphol A4 / Van der Valk, which is the one KLM provided for me. It’s a ten minute ride from the airport to the hotel.
I handed my voucher and the receptionist handed me some hotel info along with my meal vouchers:
I was assigned hotel room 325 for the night:
Inside of hotel card holder with hotel information
Rear of hotel card holder with the shuttle schedule, very handy!
Then the Egyptian civil unrest took place early in the year. As a result, the Egyptian authorities imposed an overnight curfew to prevent further uprisings/protests. KLM notified me by phone about a week before my trip that because of this curfew, KLM had to temporary reschedule KL553 to the next morning. KLM normally flies KL553 so that it arrives early in the morning in CAI, but is not possible with the curfew in place. KLM was generous in giving me accommodation for the night due to the reschedule.
Nothing was out of the ordinary for the GFK-MSP leg. It was operated by a subsidiary, Pinnacle Airlines, under the Delta Air Lines name. The flight was in a CRJ-200, probably, one of my least favorite aircraft to fly in. Fortunately, it was only a 55 minute ride to MSP. My camera bag cannot even fit in the overhead bin and I had to place it under the seat in front of me. That already took away some legroom. Also, the windows on the CRJ are way too low. I had to actually lower my head to get a view. For the light snack, mini pretzels or salted peanuts were the choices along with a beverage of your choice.
After I landed in MSP, I had a couple of hours to spare until my next flight to AMS, DL264. After I grabbed a bite to eat, I headed for the gate and prepared to board a DL A330 for the first time. I have to say, I’m quite impressed with the DL A330. Y seating is 2-4-2 abreast and seats are in full leather. PTVs are fitted in Y with AVOD available free of charge on international flights. The screen size is adequate and the brightness qualities are good. Screen size is about the same as the old SQ PTVs. The resolution is very good. It was a good 7 hour journey to AMS. Delta Air Lines, in my opinion, is the worst in its food. They need to work on the catering and presentation and organization of Y meals. Bun is not properly heated and the coffee cup still has visible plastic shavings from the manufacturing.
So I land in AMS and I’m supposed to board later that night, but because of the flight reschedule to the next morning, I was entitled a hotel. Now here’s the problem. KLM was nice to give me a free hotel, but not a visa! I hoped the hotel would be in the terminal, so I didn’t have to get out of Schiphol. After asking the transfer desk agent, they told me I had to go through immigration and go to the baggage claim to get to my hotel. I told them I didn’t have a visa but they simply said I should just explain the unexpected flight reschedule to them.
So I head over to the immigration desk and they said I should get an emergency visa from the office. So I head to the immigration office and gave them my request. I handed over my passport and the necessary documents and they said it would take about 45 minutes to have it processed. I thought to myself that it isn’t that long, so I headed upstairs to McDonald’s for something to eat while they work on my visa.
It was until nearly 2 hours later, I was finally granted my 24-hour visa. I headed out to the baggage claim area to obtain the free hotel voucher from the KLM Arrival Services desk. In addition to the hotel voucher, they gave me the following:
Complimentary 5 minute phone card
Amenity Coupon
Travel Discount
They even gave me an amenity kit along with the hotel voucher:
So I headed out of Schiphol and hopped aboard the shuttle bus for the Hotel Schiphol A4 / Van der Valk, which is the one KLM provided for me. It’s a ten minute ride from the airport to the hotel.
I handed my voucher and the receptionist handed me some hotel info along with my meal vouchers:
I was assigned hotel room 325 for the night:
Inside of hotel card holder with hotel information
Rear of hotel card holder with the shuttle schedule, very handy!
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