We’ll meet again…

Last Updated on Friday, 8 January 2010 04:20 Written by Fish Friday, 8 January 2010 09:15

The past three weeks have been my absolute pleasure, and really my honour, to author the content for KLM’s Blog.

Today is the last day of the ‘beta test’ for KLM’s Blog and the end of this series of entries. I am sure we’ll all meet back here again in the near future to continue this journey, but if I may be quite biased, what KLM has offered here has been quite remarkable.

My instructions for the blog were simple…post the content you want and create honest content that helps all travellers…not just KLM’s travellers.   While I worked KLM into my posts at times, it was at my choosing, as KLM has been my host, this was in no way required by KLM.  It takes a leap of faith for a major airline, or any company for that matter, to allow someone the open space to create content at their own discretion.

There are many more topics to cover, many more discussions to be created and an infinite amount of travel information to be shared.

I hope to be back here, in this space, in the future helping KLM to continue what we have started to create.

For those of you who may think I have received special treatment as a traveller with Air France-KLM in the past, I’d like to set the record straight…I sit in the back of the plane far to often and have slept on airport couches around the world. In 2009 alone I spent at least four nights I can remember sleeping on a couch at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport…and did not score a single upgrade while flying with Air France-KLM (as mentioned in a previous post…I need to speak with someone about that…).

As evidence that my words and experiences for the travelling masses are those of someone who usually travels with the masses…two photos follow at the end of this blog entry.

The first photo is of me working while flying in a KLM Economy Class seat from Paris to Amsterdam…the second photo is of me sleeping on a couch (sometime around 3:00am) at Schiphol Airport.

I’d like to invite you to read my regular content on Flying With Fish and follow me on Twitter at @FlyingWithFish … I’d also suggest you follow KLM on Twitter at @KLM

If you have any comments regarding KLM’s Blog ping KLM or Me on Twitter. Not on Twitter? Send me an email at fish @ flyingwithfish.com.

Thank you for allowing me to spend the past three weeks with you all here on KLM’s Blog. I hope to see you all again soon…and So Long & Thanks For All The Fish!

Happy Flying!

- Fish

What’s Beneath Your Seat?

Last Updated on Friday, 8 January 2010 04:23 Written by Fish Friday, 8 January 2010 07:15

You get on the plane, you sit in your seat, you put your seatbelt on, you face forward or look out the window, at the ceiling, or just sleep. Something you probably never do is look down and wonder “What’s beneath my seat?”

Well, in fact, there is quite a lot beneath your seat, aside from your life vest.

Did you know that many aircraft now have standard electrical outlets beneath the seats?  Not just on KLM aircraft, but also on an increasing number of airlines and aircraft around the world. One of the first things I do on my planes is look for an outlet, even if I don’t expect to find an outlet.  See a ‘red light’ on the outlet? Ask a flight attendant to flip the switch, watch the light turn green then plug in and relax.

When flying with KLM you can find in-seat power in all World Business Class seats, as well as the economy class seats installed on-board KLM’s 737-Next Generation aircraft (737-700, 737-800, 737-900). The airline is continuing to roll out in seat power on additional aircraft as well.

Below your seat and below the floor is the cargo hold. Sure we all know that baggage is in the cargo hold, but you might not know that nearly all-commercial flights fly with a substantial amount of commercial cargo as well. Your flight may have cases of champagne or an exotic sports car. The belly of a Boeing 747-400 can hold an astonishing amount of cargo, even with an aircraft full of passengers flying with baggage.

Next time you’re boarding a flight look out the window, you may be surprised at what you see being loaded onto your plane.

Below are two photos I shot while recently flying with KLM. I had in-seat power on my flight to Milan and an unexpected piece of cargo while flying to New York.

- Fish

Choosing A Guide Book To Help Explore The World

Last Updated on Thursday, 7 January 2010 07:19 Written by Fish Thursday, 7 January 2010 07:16

Most travelers have experienced the frustration of heading to the bookstore to find an easy to use, resourceful and pocket-sized guide. Like most travelers, I have found myself on the floor of the books store surrounded by half-a-dozen books, and none of them giving me easy access to the information I want.

I admit, my travel patterns tend to be unconventional, I am often in a city for less than a day…if I am lucky I may get a day and a half. The information I am seeking while I travel needs to be short, easy to find and directly to the point.  I have read many excellent guide books that are quite detailed about every square inch of a city with andectdotal stories about history and culture. These detailed guides are quite interesting, but they cannot be read quickly while on the road and they certainly do not fit in your back pocket.

A little more than a year ago I became acquainted with Lonely Planet’s “Encounter Guides.” While I have been using Lonely Planet’s web site for years, but didn’t know they made the idea “hit-the-ground-running’ guidebook for travelers.  Yeats of searching for the ideal travel guide was washed away following a mere 15 minutes of looking through the Lonely Planet “Encounter Guide.” In these books, I realized I had found the pocket sized city guide I had been searching for!

Lonely Planet describes the Encounter Guides as “Discover Twice The City In Half The Time” and this description by the publisher lives up to the hype. I have used these guides in cities I have traveled to in the past; cities I am acquainted with and they were fantastic. The layout of the books from start to finish allow for easy reference of anything you are looking for. Each book is broken up into logical and easy to find subjects, locations, sites and other useful information. The back page of many of these guides is a city transit map. In addition to the basic content in the guides, you’ll find full colour maps throughout the book. Included in the rear of each book is a compact pull out map of the city. The layout and easy design of the map makes it ideal for finding your bearings while on the move.

The physical size of the Lonely Planet “Encounter Guide” is not much larger than a passport. Obviously the book is thicker, but the ‘footprint’ is not much larger. The pull out full colour map that comes with the book is nearly the same size as a passport when it is folded up.

To make my life easier, I use a little Post-It Flags on each page that offers something of interest to me; I have about 18-20 Post-It Flags in each of these approximately 200 page books.

There are currently 50 Lonely Planet “Encounter Guide” books, and they appear to be creating new destination guides as well!

You can take an interactive tour of these books online at :
www.lonelyplanet.com/encounter

Below are a few images of two of my “Encounter Guide” books. These images include the books in comparison to a passport, the pullout map with the book, a two page map display and the green Post-It Flags sticking out of the top

Looking for a place to explore?  Check out KLM’s Destinations Guide HERE

- Fish