I am beginning my European Tour for 2010 in the Dutch city of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
After spending some time in New York City, I flew from Newark’s Liberty International Airport to Brussels, Belgium. Then I got a connecting flight on KLM Royal Dutch Airways to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. I got a good price on the ticket, about $350 one-way including taxes and airport fees.
My flight from Newark to Brussels was on Jet Airways, which is an Indian airline. The flight goes from Newark to Mumbai with a stop in Brussels maybe to fill up the gas tank? The Jet Airways stewardesses all wore yellow Nehru jackets–very sharp looking. Overall the service on Jet Airways was very good–I would choose them over America Airlines any day of the week. The lucky passengers in Premier class had seats that folded out as beds. The rest of us had normal cramped seating found on modern jetliners.
Flying Is No Longer Fun
At one time, flying was half the fun of travel. Those days are pretty much gone. Today flying is a real chore, especially on domestic flights in the U.S. Airport security by the TSA is a big hassle for travelers.
Most people can see that screening every passenger the way they do is not an effective use of resources. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack by carefully examing every single haystraw under a microscope to see if it is the needle. TSA workers just go through the motions. Airport security is really just a sad joke. I am sure any bad guy that wanted to could find a way to get on board.
Plus, reaching for profitability, the airlines have cut back on services and cram more than twice as many passengers on each flight. Many flights have no food service, not even a bag of peanuts! There is simply not enough room and long flights are almost intolerable.
However, my flight on KLM from Brussels to Amsterdam was a pleasure that brought back memories of flying back in the old days. There was more leg room and the plane wasn’t over-crowded. Security seems more intelligent. The Europeans haven’t over-reacted with paranoia as much as America has.
Train from Shiphol Airport to Amsterdam
From Schiphol Airport, a 20-minute train ride takes you to Amsterdam Centraal Station. The ticket is 4.50 Euros one-way. This is a regional train and they run very often and on time. I find that Dutch train service is generally very good.
