Flying via KLM to Norway

Due to COVID-19, I accumulated a lot of leave that I had to clear by this year. Taiwan and Japan have always been at the top of my travel list but they were not open to visitors until recently. I decided to look for the best destinations to view Northern Lights since one big regret from my university exchange trip to Canada was not seeing them. After some intense googling, I settled on Norway, a stunning country boasting not only Northern Lights but also beautiful fjords and landscapes.

I used Skyscanner to search for the cheapest flight to Oslo, the capital of Norway. KLM and Luthansa had the best prices but both were plagued by operational issues - Schiphol airport, the hub for KLM, was severely understaffed and checked luggage were going missing while Luthansa was experiencing pilot strikes. In the end, I settled for KLM and planned to travel carry-on only. This was particularly challenging for me since I love to bring a lot of heavy camera gear with me.

I filmed so many footages during the trip and I wonder when I will finish editing them. I am glad to report that I have finished editing D0 of my trip, which consisted of KLM flights to Amsterdam and Oslo.

Check-in for the flights opened around 30 hours before departure. I wanted to upgrade to business class since the SIN-AMS leg was 13h long, but the app kept glitching. Moreover, the flight was full and I was left with the undesirable middle seats during online check-in. I sought help from KLM via Twitter and Whatsapp and the staff actually advised me to change my flight instead of upgrading, which meant exorbitant fees in the thousands. I gave up in the end since I managed to get a window seat. The KLM ground staff were very friendly and helpful though.

The good things about my KLM flight: great seat mates and movie (I watched The Infernal Walker)

Bad things: mediocre food (the vegetarian pasta was meh), my seat was kinda stuck so I could not recline for a while, USB charging did not work, tight seat pitch

Most importantly... there was no pillow for a long-haul red-eye flight! It is easy enough for me to bring one but not providing such basic amenities showed how much KLM cared about their customers' comfort. I remember Emirates and Korean Air had amenity kits and hot towel services even for Economy class. The lack of pillow should be quite a recent change since the flight reviews I watched mentioned that small pillows were provided.

Somehow, I still managed to doze off for the most of the flight. My transfer was in Schiphol airport, Amsterdam. I thought Schiphol airport was quite modern with good facilities, although Changi is still the best :D. I spent most of my time in Schiphol trying to eject my SIM card tray from my LG phone and failed miserably. Thankfully, I brought a spare phone. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise since I used my credit card a lot in Norway and I needed my Singapore SIM card for the OTP.

I enjoyed the KLM cityhopper flight more than the long-haul one. Firstly, I think the seat pitch was wider. The snack served was delicious too (cheese sandwich).

The flight was only 1.5h long and we landed in Oslo Gardermoen airport. Brilliant fall colours welcomed us into the country amidst the cloudy and gloomy weather. I did some research beforehand and took the Vy train to Oslo S (instead of the expensive Flytoget express train). I was pretty exhausted after the long flights and ate a quick meal before resting in my hotel.

Here is the video for D0! I initially filmed some portrait videos as I thought of making Tiktoks. Gen Z apps are obviously not for me as I totally forgot about making Tiktoks upon reaching Changi airport. This entire video was filmed using my phone as carrying two bags meant no free hands for my DSLR. It worked out well though as I love this vlog.

Here is the video where I packed my carry-on bags (I made it through my entire trip with these two bags!):