CrimsonNL From Netherlands, joined Dec 2007, 1615 posts, RR: 42 Posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 14 hours ago) and read 17563 times:
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Here's a trip report about my vacation to New York city, with a day trip to Washington DC.
The routes I flew on were:
AMS-JFK on DL
LGA-DCA on US
DCA-JFK on AA
JFK-AMS on DL
I went to New York with 2 friends to see the city last february. We decided to visit Washington DC. For the NASM, all the city's monuments, and of course Ronald Reagan National.
I've been to the US before with KL and NW, and decided to fly DL as I never flew them before. Flight DL81 would depart for JFK at 0915 AMS Time. Scheduled plane would be a 757-200. First time I would fly narrow body across the pond. Me and my friends all chose a seat via the online booking system.
Checking in at AMS the check-in guy wanted to move us together because we had seperate seats. He looked a little surprised when we told him that's what we wanted! We went trough the customs into the departure hall. An hour or so later we headed for our gate where the plane had yet to arrive. It was a nice morning with blue skies. A few minutes later I spotted a 757 heading our way. It was the N713TW. I was hoping for a TW reg
We started boarding shortly after that and I made my way to seat 42F. The plane was equipped with a AVOD system. The seats were leather and comfortable, legroom was fine.
I noticed that half of the cabin crew, and one extra cockpit crew member were Dutch! And a lot of the Passenger announcements were in Dutch as well. Kinda disappointing as I wanted to fly an American airline, if I want Dutch I'll fly KLM..
After takeoff we climbed to cruise alt. We weren't going to see Ice/Greenland, so It would be a boring flight with a lot of blue ocean. I went to watch Eagle Eye on the PTV. What a terrible movie that was. After a while we got our first meal. It was Chicken with Risotto. It was reasonably good.
I could see the stabilizers from my seat.
After some hours I spotted a lot of ice and Canada was nearby. There were quite a few clouds and I didn't see a lot until we reached the US border. I spotted this snowy field over Maine IIRC, look at how perfectly 90 degrees that corner is!
We got another meal which consisted of a small pizza. There were two flavors but they handed them out randomly. And I ended up with a quattro fromage, and I hate cheese.. Also there was a punselie cookie
We descended into JFK over Long Island. Clear skies made for some nice views out of the window. I believe this is Republic field. On the moving map on my PTV they displayed airports with names which was pretty cool!
We landed at one of JFK's parallel runways. It was the most powerful deceleration I have ever had! If I wasn't wearing seatbelts I would have hit the seat in front of me!
After landing we went trough a long line at immigrations, and took a taxi to our hotel in Manhattan. The two days we spent in NYC visiting all the major tourist attractions. Weather was amazing! Cold, but almost no winds, clear skies and sunshine! Just as I like it. We went to the Manhattan heliport to spot some helicopters.
Next day we would be spending in Washington DC. Of course we planned our trip around the flights we wanted, not the other way. We ended up taking US from LGA to DCA. As I hadn't been to either of the airports, or flew US, this was the best choice. The flight would depart LGA at 0600 hours. We had to get up real early. Getting a taxi to LGA was no problem. Everything was just opening at LGA and it was not busy at all. We checked in at a US Shuttle counter and proceeded to the gate where we met a girl from Long Island and talked about school travel and politics.
We got aboard the N767UW and were handed out some donut/muffin style snack, which was good! I forgot the name. The seats were by far the best I had ever had on my flights!
It was still dark so no take-off video. We took off at LGA and turned south. A little later they started to serve drinks. I always like it if I get an entire can
I was a little afraid I'd miss the AC registration as I hadn't seen it on departure, luckily we could disembark via a rear stairs
We entered DCA airport and walked to the main terminal. I absolutely LOVED it!
We took a cab to the Lincoln memorial as I planned to walk all the to the capitol via all the monuments. We arrived at about 0730 at the memorial and there were like 10 people at the entire Natl mall! We were the only people in the Lincoln Memorial! We walked to the Washington Monument via the Vietnam and WOII memorial. We waited in line for tickets to the monument and got some for 1600PM. Lots of time to kill seeing it was 0800 or so. Weather was dry but the winds were freezing! I spotted a convoy of 4 police bikes, 2 police cars, 2 armored Cadillacs and 4 unmarked black Chevy's racing down Pennsylvania avenue!
Me in front of the capitol
After we spotted all the monuments we went to the NASM
I made way too many pictures here to share. When we arrived it was just getting busy, when we left the entire mall was crowded. We went to a Starbucks to get some coffee and after that we walked to the natl monument.
DCA seen from the monument.
After that we had basically seen everything and walked down to the nearest road and got into a taxi back to DCA. 10 minutes later we walked into the terminal, walked to the nearest AA check in machine, entered the reservation number and printed our boarding passes. 20 minutes since we left the monument we walked trough the TSA security! We still had to wait some hours and it was pretty busy. There were multiple groups of some Educational Trip and we were laughing at the attempts of the leaders to keep them together. They all had oversized luggage which they wanted to carry on board but the gate agent refused them and all the bags had to be loaded :P
Later we were informed that AA4756 was delayed by an hour. The aircraft finally pulled up at around 2100.
As I never flew AA or any Embraer this flight was the most logical choice and was worth waiting a few hours extra! I always wanted to sit in the back with engine view, and so I asked the guy in seat 16A if he would change seats, he asked me whether I was serious when I told him the engine-view story! I got seated in the back and found out that my gasper was stuck at maximum power and I could not switch it off! Reading light was also INOP. The seat was pretty good but no recline. I could hear the bags being loaded in the cargo hold. After that we were pushed back and the engines were started. No explanation or apology for the delay from the flight deck. There was one very kind flight attendant on board.
My view
There was a beverage service during the flight
The flight was pretty noisy in the back but that what you get if you choose to sit in front of the engine! The service was pretty good. After landing I spotted the EK A380! First time A380 for me!
After a long taxi we docked at an AA terminal and made our (very long) way to the taxis. What a nice terminal this was! We got a taxi and headed back to the hotel.
We had another 2 days to spent in the city and visited some more attractions including the USS Intrepid. I really liked that museum!
Avenger
Ive seen a handful of blackbirds, but they still impress me!
Concorde
The next day it was time to head back. Flight was at 1730 so we had some time before we had to check out at the hotel and went for some Scrambled eggs and bacon at a local diner. We got a taxi to JFK terminal 3 and checked in for DL80. I spent the following hours walking trough the terminal which was pretty big, and making pictures. Then this one showed up again!
We boarded and I headed for seat 27A. It was getting dark already.
This plane had the same layout as the N713TW and so the seats and legroom were allright. Again half of the cabin crew spoke Dutch! We were pushed back maybe 10 meters, then stood there for a full 20 minutes! The captain told us that we were not allowed to land at AMS prior to 0600 AM. While in the distance I could see a KLM 777 taking off... They are allowed to land but have to pay extra for it. They finally started E2 and taxiied to the active on one engine, exactly 1 hour after door close they started E1 and lined up on the runway!
Over NYC
It was already real dark when we took off so no video. It was a boring flight with nothing to see and I tried to sleep but failed. When it became light again somewhere over England we got our meal. It was some sort of macaroni but I forgot the name. Also I forgot to take a picture. With it came a chocolate brownie which weighed about 3 kilograms, it was great! The coffee was okay. We started descending into AMS
I had a great trip. Weather was great except for one morning. The Airports were real nice, especially DCA.
I liked the service on US Shuttle, nice seats, crew and service.
AA was oke, nice crew and aircraft.
DL was alright but nothing special. Seats and IFE were good though. I did not mind the plane being narrow body. I did not like the excuse "not being allowed to land at AMS" for the delay, they offer the flight, but apparently don't want to pay the extra fee's!
Akhmad From Netherlands, joined Sep 2005, 2329 posts, RR: 53 Reply 3, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 17023 times:
Hoi CrimsonNL,
Nice report!
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I noticed that half of the cabin crew, and one extra cockpit crew member were Dutch! And a lot of the Passenger announcements were in Dutch as well. Kinda disappointing as I wanted to fly an American airline, if I want Dutch I'll fly KLM..
On the contrary,I would have enjoyed it! It must have sounded less artificial than the prerecorded one!
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): And I ended up with a quattro fromage, and I hate cheese..
If I were there, I would have been more than happy to take it over from you.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): We got aboard the N767UW and were handed out some donut/muffin style snack, which was good! I forgot the name. The seats were by far the best I had ever had on my flights!
It was still dark so no take-off video. We took off at LGA and turned south. A little later they started to serve drinks. I always like it if I get an entire can
Did you get it for free? In that case I would consider it as a plus.
Mk777 From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 1186 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 10 hours ago) and read 17019 times:
I loved the TR
Nice pictures and of course clear blue skies help.
You seemed to have had fun visiting NYC and DC.
I live close to IAD, so always fly from there, would love to fly into DCA someday, the approach over the river seems exciting.
ELAL772 From Israel, joined Jun 2008, 158 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 5 hours ago) and read 16402 times:
what a great report! I'm glad you enjoyed America
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): Kinda disappointing as I wanted to fly an American airline, if I want Dutch I'll fly KLM..
On flights to TLV I know DL and CO have a few Hebrew speaking crew memebers aswell as an Arab speaking crew member.
By the way,I connected at Schipol last night.It was my 1st time in the Netherlands and on KLM. I found the Dutch to be amazingly nice. KLM was excellent, AMS-BGO was 1.5 hours and we got a nice sandwich, as many soda cans as we wanted, beer, wine and hot drinks + dutch cookies.
and the F/As were beautiful!
Bridogger6 From United States of America, joined Apr 2005, 710 posts, RR: 11 Reply 6, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 1 day 4 hours ago) and read 16380 times:
Hey nice report! Thanks for sharing and I'm glad you enjoyed another trip to the US. Try checking out some more cool cities next time, west coast perhaps?
DFW13L From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 8, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 21 hours ago) and read 15787 times:
Loved the trip report. And guess what? I have flown on both the 757s and the Embraer that you flew on! I flew on the 757s while they were AA 757s (705 SEA-DFW and 713 DFW-LAS) and the Embraer on a DFW-SHV run! That's rather amazing (at least to me).
Great pics and commentary. Looks like fun. I really want to go to the Intrepid museum sometime soon. I keep putting it off because NYC is expensive, but I should go.
Looks like you had fun. Sorry our plane was late (the Eagle) but at least the FA was OK. I'm glad that DL tidied up the 757s for you!
CrimsonNL From Netherlands, joined Dec 2007, 1615 posts, RR: 42 Reply 9, posted (4 years 2 months 1 week 6 hours ago) and read 15211 times:
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Quoting Akhmad (Reply 3): Did you get it for free? In that case I would consider it as a plus.
It was a "US Shuttle" flight, something a little better then regular as I found out later, with free snack and beverage!
Quoting Bridogger6 (Reply 6): Try checking out some more cool cities next time, west coast perhaps?
I've been there some years back, I loved it. The USA is my favorite country for vacations. I wish to see the deep South on my next trip!
Quoting DFW13L (Reply 8): And guess what? I have flown on both the 757s and the Embraer that you flew on! I flew on the 757s while they were AA 757s (705 SEA-DFW and 713 DFW-LAS) and the Embraer on a DFW-SHV run! That's rather amazing (at least to me).
That IS amazing! Wow, not one but 3 common planes!
Maverick623 From United States of America, joined Nov 2006, 4744 posts, RR: 6 Reply 10, posted (4 years 2 months 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 14832 times:
Skoker From United States of America, joined Apr 2006, 439 posts, RR: 1 Reply 11, posted (4 years 2 months 6 days 22 hours ago) and read 14832 times:
I flew on the sister ship of the DL 757's you were on (I was on ship 6810 and you got 6809 and 6811 ha) and it's my favorite aircraft in the DL fleet. I was in BizElite from CVG to JFK and the seats on that aircraft are amazing! DL Tech Ops did an amazing job refurbishing them as well, they were absolutely spotless and beautiful on the interiors, esp. compared to the older 757's like ship 624 I was on yesterday.
Hejmatt From Ireland, joined Mar 2009, 11 posts, RR: 0 Reply 13, posted (4 years 2 months 6 days 1 hour ago) and read 14296 times:
Great report, CrimsonNL. I've never flown with DL before.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I did not like the excuse "not being allowed to land at AMS" for the delay, they offer the flight, but apparently don't want to pay the extra fees!
I agree with that.
Quoting Atlanta (Reply 12): I have never flown the DL TATL 757 in Y so it was nice to have a comparison.
Me neither. Good to see some PTVs on those 757s. I didn't think AVOD was on offer on board their 757s in transatlantic economy. I know CO definitely don't have any on their EWR service ex BFS.
Looking forward to reading more.
Beste wensen vanuit Ierland.
JRadier From Netherlands, joined Sep 2004, 4597 posts, RR: 51 Reply 14, posted (4 years 2 months 5 days 7 hours ago) and read 13957 times:
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I did not like the excuse "not being allowed to land at AMS" for the delay, they offer the flight, but apparently don't want to pay the extra fee's!
Well, like it or not, DL isn't as cheap as you think it is. DL doesn't have any nightslots at AMS, so they can not (apart from an emergency) land at AMS during the night, while KLM does have them, so they can. So you take your pick, either wait around at JFK or in a holding pattern above western Europe... I'm sure the former is the cheaper option, and not by a small margin.
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and ther
CrimsonNL From Netherlands, joined Dec 2007, 1615 posts, RR: 42 Reply 15, posted (4 years 2 months 5 days 7 hours ago) and read 13941 times:
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Quoting JRadier (Reply 14):
Well, like it or not, DL isn't as cheap as you think it is. DL doesn't have any nightslots at AMS, so they can not (apart from an emergency) land at AMS during the night, while KLM does have them, so they can. So you take your pick, either wait around at JFK or in a holding pattern above western Europe... I'm sure the former is the cheaper option, and not by a small margi
True, but DL offers it as a service with arrival times in the AMS night regime, yet they deliberately delay the flight..
TheGMan From United States of America, joined Nov 2008, 606 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (4 years 2 months 5 days ago) and read 13674 times:
I am curious as to why you used taxis for your movements around the cities, especially DC. Whenever I visit NYC or DC I always use the subway or metro.
DC is especially easy, station right outside the terminal and short 20 minute access to the mall. $5 would have gotten you all around the city for the day.
You can go inside the Concorde on the USS Intrepid, correct? If that is the case I want to get up there ASAP.
JRadier From Netherlands, joined Sep 2004, 4597 posts, RR: 51 Reply 17, posted (4 years 2 months 4 days 19 hours ago) and read 13580 times:
Quoting CrimsonNL (Reply 15): True, but DL offers it as a service with arrival times in the AMS night regime, yet they deliberately delay the flight..
I just checked delta.com and they show DL80 (JFK-AMS) with a scheduled arrival time of 06:30 and to my knowledge the night regime ends at 06:00. I can't really see where DL is at fault here
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and ther
Carlisle From United States of America, joined Feb 2009, 271 posts, RR: 5 Reply 18, posted (4 years 2 months 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 13502 times:
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): I noticed that half of the cabin crew, and one extra cockpit crew member were Dutch!
This does not surprise me as I once saw a job posting somewhere with DL seaking F/As who are fluent in Dutch.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): And I ended up with a quattro fromage, and I hate cheese..
I personally don't know why DL insists on serving pizza for the arrival snack on US boung transatlantics. I also had it coming back from CDG on DL 118.
If you are ever looking for a better way of getting into the city ... if not cheaper ... take the AirTrain to the Long Island Rail Road station in Jamaica, Queens and then hop on the LIRR to Penn Station. Much cheaper and effective.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): The captain told us that we were not allowed to land at AMS prior to 0600 AM. While in the distance I could see a KLM 777 taking off... They are allowed to land but have to pay extra for it
That is very strange. Is this the case for all (European/non-American) airports or only AMS?
Airbuseric From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4015 posts, RR: 52 Reply 19, posted (4 years 2 months 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 13500 times:
Hi, nice report!
Will visit JFK and NYC next month myself, so I wondered a bit about JFK airport.
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): The captain told us that we were not allowed to land at AMS prior to 0600 AM. While in the distance I could see a KLM 777 taking off... They are allowed to land but have to pay extra for it.
Good excuse!! But better set a later departure time prior to boarding the plane.
AMS is slot restricted. DL does not have rights to land before 0600am. When they do, they get a governmental warning and can be fined (a lot of €€€). Early arrivals can be caused by upper winds enroute, and when the crew thinks they might arrive too early, they better hold the plane a while longer on the ground.
KL does have night slots, and can arrive earlier for a decided amount of flights.
Regards,
Eric
"The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going"
JRadier From Netherlands, joined Sep 2004, 4597 posts, RR: 51 Reply 20, posted (4 years 2 months 4 days 9 hours ago) and read 13368 times:
Quoting Airbuseric (Reply 19): Good excuse!! But better set a later departure time prior to boarding the plane.
Better for the passengers, yes. Better for the airline, no. Let me quote the following:
Quoting CrimsonNL (Thread starter): We were pushed back maybe 10 meters, then stood there for a full 20 minutes! The captain told us that we were not allowed to land at AMS prior to 0600 AM.
By pushing back (even a little) the computer registers an 'off-block' or statistical departure. Doing that you (probably) get registered as an on-time departure, as opposed to pushing back 20 minutes late which get counted as 'delayed'. So by doing this time and time again you improve your on-time statistics, and it's not just DL that's doing this.
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and ther
Airbuseric From Netherlands, joined Jan 2005, 4015 posts, RR: 52 Reply 21, posted (4 years 2 months 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 13309 times:
Quoting JRadier (Reply 20): By pushing back (even a little) the computer registers an 'off-block' or statistical departure.
I know that very well, but anyway, thanks for pointing it out for others.
Night regime at AMS is until 06.00L and/or 07.00L, depending on aircraft category, when I'm not mistaken. At least, this applies for departing flights.
"The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going"
Evan767 From United States of America, joined Aug 2005, 2957 posts, RR: 2 Reply 22, posted (4 years 2 months 4 days 3 hours ago) and read 13234 times:
Quoting Skoker (Reply 11):
I flew on the sister ship of the DL 757's you were on (I was on ship 6810 and you got 6809 and 6811 ha) and it's my favorite aircraft in the DL fleet. I was in BizElite from CVG to JFK and the seats on that aircraft are amazing! DL Tech Ops did an amazing job refurbishing them as well, they were absolutely spotless and beautiful on the interiors, esp. compared to the older 757's like ship 624 I was on yesterday.
Indeed, I flew on one of these babies from LAX-JFK on a redeye this weekend. Coach and Business Elite were spotless. Wonderful refurbishments done by all DL tech's.
Quoting JRadier (Reply 17):
I just checked delta.com and they show DL80 (JFK-AMS) with a scheduled arrival time of 06:30 and to my knowledge the night regime ends at 06:00. I can't really see where DL is at fault here
Delta pads their JFK flights like crazy. If there is little taxi time expected, an eastbound ex-JFK flight can easily, and typically does arrive over 30 minutes early.
The proper term is "on final" not "on finals" bud...
Vandenheuvel From Netherlands, joined Dec 2008, 469 posts, RR: 2 Reply 24, posted (4 years 1 month 4 weeks 13 hours ago) and read 12600 times:
Hi Martijn.
Very nice trip report. It must have been fun, flying the 757 transatlantic. How are things like going to the restroom? Is there enough capacity on such a long flight?
NYC is a very nice place. Do you have any more trips to look forward to?
Tim,
25 Soon7x7: I recently started viewing these trip reports...i called yours out as I did the reverse sort of...JFK on KLM to AMS, then city hopper to Cardiff. Flew
26 CrimsonNL: I agree, it was a very clean interior! Especially compared to some pictures I've seen of the old stuff! Lavatory's were no problem on the flights, at
27 B747forever: Great TR The pics/videos are good Seems you had good flights with DL, AA and US. Thank you for sharing B747forever
28 SANAV8R: Nice TR. DCA is a nice airport and if you ever get a chance to go back to D.C., you should visit the Udvar-Hazy Museum by IAD. It has numerous aircraf
29 Burnsie28: I wonder if they are going to change this now since a few NW flights typically land before 6:00am. In fact one is scheduled to arrive at 5:55am. NW 5
30 EWRkid1990: Where do the DL international flights to JFK park at? I didn't think T3 had immigration facilities....
31 JRadier: Well, from the actual manufacturer for example: http://www.punselie.nl/
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