13 hours – no TV. No free alcohol. This might just be the very definition of #firstworldproblems

For the time of year (second week of April), nonstop flights from JFK to AMS were a little over $1,000. With a stop in Madrid, the flight was $250 cheaper at $777, so we went with this option. But this also meant a 13 hour flight (including a 3.5 hour layover), instead of just 7 hours, with no stops. And since seat selection wasn’t free, we would have had to pay for $30 for each leg. The only way to select your seat for free is if you do so online, 24 hours before departure. However, their website is not intuitive. Not to mention that it was having errors, so I ended up having to call them.

Air Europa seriously needs to update their planes. Not only was there no entertainment, but none of the seats even had screens on the back. So even if you wanted to order a movie on demand or something, you can’t. They just had screens for each section, that didn’t play any movies throughout the flight.

The only pleasant aspect was probably the food. It’s your typical airplane food but they do keep you well-fed. One of the meals comes with a cup of (bad) wine.

Air Europa was probably my least favorite flying experience. Prior to the trip, I did read some bad reviews but I decided to risk it since the flight was a lot cheaper than other airlines. Boarding was always half an hour late but they still got us there early, so I guess it could have been worse.