Swiss and Lufthansa First Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Aug 8, 2007, 8:39 am
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: BNE
Posts: 2,622
Hilton Abu Dhabi
3-6 August continued
We had arranged a 4pm late check-out upon arrival at the Hilton but had been asked to check again on the day of departure for a further extension. Our flight did not depart until just after midnight, so the later the better for us! The member of staff manning the desk confirmed that we could keep the room until 6pm but no later as the room was required for incoming guests. That was fine and suited us perfectly. I seemed to remember that, although it was not stated anywhere, as executive floor guests at the Hilton Jumeriah we were entitled to complimentary airport transfers. I enquired and after looking at our reservation was informed that we could have a complimentary taxi ride back to the airport. Good job that I remembered! Although the taxis are cheap in Abu Dhabi.
As I waited for my bags to be collected from the 10th floor check, after guest asked the lady on the desk if she could ring one of the New York Hiltons and make a reservation there for him. She politely refused and said that he could do so on the free internet available in the lounge or by ringing them on his room phone. He quickly became indignant and continued making his request. She continued to give the same answer. He claimed that ‘all of the other Hiltons that I have stayed in have done this for me’ and was off to see the manager. I have only stayed at a Hilton once before and do not really look into that forum on FT and I would be interested to know whether they would make an international call to make a reservation that you could do yourself on the internet for free. I suspect that he was full of crap though, as he used the alternate lifts that do not require you to walk right passed that desk and slipped quietly back into the lounge.
We cheekily spent around an hour in the lounge immediately after checking out and enjoyed a bit to eat and a few cans of Sprite before heading over to the shopping mall courtesy of the complimentary shuttle. After browsing for a while, I collected the suit that I had ordered a few days before and changed into it immediately for the journey home. Once I had come out of the changing room, I realised that I no longer had my wallet. The last time that I recalled seeing it was as I paid for the shirt to accompany the suit (ironically I did not really like this shirt and so kept on the polo shirt that I was wearing).
The staff had not seen the wallet left on the desk and we could not find it in any of the bags that we were carrying or in our pockets. I began to worry. The changing room was now being used by somebody else. He came out to show his friend how the suit looked on him and I stepped back inside. Once I set foot back inside I remembered putting my wallet down in there. Luckily it was still exactly where I had left it. Phew! Although this did begin a worrying trend that now has me questioning if I am getting old! But more of that later…
To my horror, there was a lengthy queue for taxis outside the air conditioned mall but I bit the bullet and joined it. To be honest, it was not quite as hot as it could have been and the queue moved quickly. Soon we were in the taxi and heading back to the Hilton. The taxi ride cost AED2.5 (a little over 30p) but we gave the guy AED10 anyway and headed back inside the Hilton We collected our bags and jumped into another taxi for the ride to the airport.
Route: AUH-DXB
Flight: LH627
Depart: 00:10
Arrive: 01:00
Aircraft: 744
Class: First
The journey is around 25kms and seemed to be a fairly quick ride. We used the first/business security entrance to access the check-in desks. This entrance had no queue and we were soon looking for our check-in desks. The information board did not show our flight as having been allocated check-in desks. This was three hours before departure so I guess it was not too unusual. Within a few minutes of taking a seat, the screen changed to show the check-in desks were the ones that we sat facing. A quick stroll over had us at the check-in desk within seconds.
The agent labelled our bags, handed over the BPs pointing out the seats together in the exit row for AUH-DXB-FRA and the lounge invitation. What he did not point out (and this does quite annoy me) was that he had given us 1F and 3A for FRA-MXP and had not thought to mention it! Note to self: always check all BPs before leaving the check-in desk. Do not assume anything!
We then followed the First/Business signs through the Etihad premium check-in area (which had a rather nice lounge area at the rear) into the departure immigration hall. Had it been busy then this would have led to a significant time saving. As there was no queue, this did not really apply to us. Once we had been stamped out of the UAE we headed straight for the departure lounge. This was to be a small highlight of the trip. As those of you that have been through AUH will know, it has quite a unique appearance. So unique in fact that I remember it vividly from the first time that I visited. This was when my uncle and grandad had taken me on my first overseas trip back in 1984 (when I was only 8) as we headed to Australia on Garuda Indonesia.
We took several photos of the lounge and us posing in it. These photos in particular were special to us due to our history at AUH and I looked forward to getting one of them printed off and framed for my uncle as a souvenir of past travels.
Perhaps ‘a little bit of shopping’ is a bit of an understatement of our economic activity in the duty free shop. 1000 Marlboro Lights at AED188 (around £25) was far too good an offer to pass up even though (and perhaps especially because) I do not smoke!!! Likewise, 3 bottles of Chivas that came with a free wheelie case that was perfect carry-on size for a total of AED315 (around £40) was too good to pass up. The choosing what to buy was the easy part. It was the paying that caused the trouble or rather trying to get the lady behind the counter to actually sell the stuff to us. I have never had to insist before that I be sold products that the other party had for sale. I would like to say that it was a pleasant change to them trying to sell me things that I did not want.
I had made the mistake of telling her, when asked if FRA was our final location, that we had a connecting flight onto MXP. Big mistake!
“Oh you can not buy these drinks"
“Why not?”
“Customs will take them off you!”
“Customs???”
“Yes – you are not allowed them”
“But you will sell me 1000 cigarettes though?”
“Yes because you are allowed cigarettes”
“So why can’t I have the drinks?”
“Sir – do you know that people tried blowing up planes with liquids in Europe a few months ago”
“Oh you mean that security will take them from me”
“Yes Sir – No more than 100ml drink containers allowed. I can not sell to you.”
“I will check them in when I get to Frankfurt”
“No Sir – you get off one plane and connect onto another right?”
“Yeah”
“Then I can not sell to you”
“But I have a five hour layover in Frankfurt and will get them checked in there”
“Sir – you have already checked all of your bags in.”
The lady who had assisted us in our shopping began to talk to the check-out lady and seemed to be supporting us but as they were speaking in their own language I can not be certain.
“Don’t worry about it I will take the risk”
“When they get taken from you, do not bring them back here for a refund!”
“If they are taken from me I will not have them to bring back for a refund!”
“Sir – If I sell them to you they will be taken”
“I have done this before, it is no problem. When I get to Frankfurt they will check these in for me and I will not have to take them on the plane.”
Again, her colleague tries to help her understand.
“Okay, okay, I will sell them but I have told you that you will not be allowed them and they will be taken from you”
“Okay”
Money handed over
“Sir – I must write on receipt that I told you that they will be taken okay?”
“Yes of course you can”
She writes ‘informed the passenger regarding restrictions of liquids’ on the receipt and then signs it before handing the receipt over and considerately packing all of the drinks and cigarettes into the free case.
I do understand her concerns obviously and the mix up about customs/security did not help initially but all’s well that ends well.
After the shopping we located the Ghazal (I think that was its name) Lounge and found somewhere comfy to sit. I ignored the food and made straight for the bar which is accessed by descending a set of stairs in the open plan lounge. I returned with my Vodka & Red Bull along with my uncle’s tea. This was repeating several times sans tea and I was soon I was beginning the feel the affects of the drinks.
Once through the secondary security screening at the gate, boarding was quick. Passengers for this AUH-DXB flight were quite thin on the ground. I would guess that we saw around 30 other passengers but can not say whether other had boarded before we had arrived. There were around 5 people seated in Business as we passed through. You could see the joy and excitement on my uncle’s face as he climbed the steps to enter the upper deck of a 747 for the first time ever. We were the first into the First cabin and were informed that we were the only First passengers on this leg of the journey.
We were served a drink along with a few canapés whilst boarding was completed. My poor uncle had been lugging around my video camera in his hand luggage for the entire trip and I had yet to use it. I knew that I would use it on this flight but thought we’d use it around DXB or AUH. The purpose of the video camera was to take footage of each cabin onboard because now as a Teacher of Travel and Tourism I have to educate my students as to the differentiation of services offered to passengers dependent upon their class of travel. It has been mentioned before that I have at last found the right job and one for which I am extremely well qualified!!!
7th August
As we were seated in 83 A&C we chatted to the FA who occupied the crew seat facing us. She was very pleasant and we enjoyed talking to her as we taxied towards the runway. She told us that they fly FRA-DXB-AUH-DXB, take a 24 hour rest in DXB and then return DXB-FRA. Having three flights in one day must make for quite a long day for long haul crew. She was even kind enough to ask the captain about our cruising altitude on this 72 mile flight. We had taken a guess each that we thought would be a bit low but were surprised to hear that we did not make it above 9000ft on this flight.
I asked whether I could take a quick walk down to Business and back to Economy to take some video footage and explained the reason why. She said that the seatbelt sign usually does not go off on this flight and that if it was possible it could only take a few minutes. I said that was fine and she went to have a word with the Purser to check that it was okay. She returned to say that the purser had said no not because of the seatbelt sign but because “use of a video camera is not allowed due to security concerns” and that the purser will come up to talk to me herself and will offer an alternate solution.
A minute or two later, the purser introduced herself and reiterated that ‘security concerns post Sept 11’ was the reason why I could do take video of First, Business and Economy cabins. Instead she gave me the name and email address of a contact with LH PR department and informed me that that have produced a video or DVD that explains all about First, Business and Economy products including food etc for students.
The taxi to the gate at DXB seemed to take just about as long as the flight itself. We had taxied towards the gate area only to be informed that no gate was available and sent out to a remote stand. Just before arriving at the remote stand, the captain had been informed that a gate at the terminal was now available. Eventually we were reached the gate. We were all instructed to stay onboard but to remove our seatbelts as fuelling commenced. The crew said farewell to us as they headed off for their hotel and a well earned rest as they were replaced by a new fresh crew.
Route: DXB-FRA
Flight: LH627
Depart: 02:10
Arrive: 06:40
Aircraft: 744
Class: First
After nearly an hour of being at the gate, boarding commenced and the First cabin began to fill. However, by the time that ‘boarding completed’ was announced over the PA system, only 10 of the 16 First seats were occupied. We were then distributed our slipper/sock type thingies, toiletry bag and PJs. These all went straight into my bag and I changed into an older pair of SQ F PJs in the toilet whilst we were still at the gate. Just in the nick of time did I remember to close the window shade before exposing myself to all of the ramp workers and the passengers of the 777 parked beside us.
We enjoyed a pre-departure glass of Champagne before push back but were soon on our way towards FRA. The crew came around to take orders for breakfast and to ask whether we wanted waking for it. A light snack was offered before we slept and I doubted for a serving of caviar followed by a serving of caviar and accompanied by another glass of Champagne.
Dinner Menu
Caviar with the traditional Garnishes
Tabouleh marinated Parsley Salad on red Cabbage Leaf,
Loubieh Bil Zeit in green Pepper Boat
Plum Crumble with Cinnamon Sauce
It must have been 3am UAE time before we had finished our light snack. I listened to my mp3 player, reclined my seat into fully flatbed mode and tried to sleep. For some reason, it was just not happening. Is this what it is like to be impotent? You know what you want to do but your body just will not comply! Extremely frustrating stuff.
The crew gave a gentle nudge to wake me (which was not strictly necessary as I was not asleep despite having my eyes closed) and to serve breakfast. Through sleep deprivation I could not face breakfast, so I thanked him but turned it away. I returned to the toilets to change back into my new suit and upon exiting he offered to serve my breakfast whenever I wanted it if I changed my mind. That was not going to happen as I was beginning to feel a little nausea. I tidied my belongings away leaving out only my camera for a few pictures of out of the wing upon descent. I took the pictures and placed the camera into the small armrest storage compartment on the right hand side of seat 83A.
Five hours on the ground at FRA
Upon landing my nausea felt worse and I just wanted to get into the FCT and sleep. We were soon on our way down the stairs and into the terminal. Once at passport control my uncle began looking for a toilet. I told him that we would wait until through passport control now. Once through we utilised the first toilets we found and I rearranged a few belongings so that I had my new Chivas bag with the drinks inside ready to check in my we arrived at the FCT.
Before we had left the terminal, it dawned on me that I did not have my camera. We search all of our pockets and hand luggage but could not find it. I went looking for LH Customer services but found an empty LH F check-in lounge first. I explained that I had left my camera onboard and she began to make phone calls. Nobody answered and she informed me that the aircraft had already been taken to a remote stand. I thanked her as a queue began to form behind me and told her I would ask the PA at the FCT to help locate it.
I have learnt my lesson about requesting a ride over to the FCT at the LH F check-in desks within the terminal! This time we exited the terminal on the ground floor, turned left and walked over to the FCT. It was must quicker than the last time when I had to wait over 40 minutes for the ride and then had to share the van with Mr Congestion.
Soon enough after requesting admission, a PA came down in the lift and let us in. Once back upstairs we explained our three problems starting with the most important, the camera, the additional drink containing case that required checking in and seat 1F and 3A seating assignments for the FRA-MXP leg. She said that she had already spotted the seat problem whilst I had been explaining the first two. He said that she would take care of all of it and led through to security and into the lounge.
I abandoned my uncle when I realised that both the sleep rooms were free. I thought he would take one but opted to sit around the lounge instead. I had 2 hours 30 minutes in there and still could not sleep. It was not a total waste of effort though as it was by far the longest amount of time that I had had to myself in over a week and the privacy and solitude was most welcome.
I found my uncle and we sat down together in the restaurant area. He was still not hungry after his breakfast on the aircraft but I was ready to eat after turning the onboard breakfast away. I helped myself to a traditional English breakfast along with an extremely generous serving of smoked salmon and a glass of Rosé Champagne. My uncle informed me that he had been given our passports and BPs (along with the extra bag check label) back and that the PA had sorted out our seat assignments - we now had 1D&F on the A320. He had been told that they were looking into the camera issue.
Once we had finished talking once my breakfast was complete, I decided to take a shower. I foolishly asked the attendant for a ‘shower room’ and was led into one. After closing the door, I realised that this room did not have a bath and therefore no LH FCT branded ducky to take home. It just had a shower, toilet and sink. Oops!
Cleaned and refreshed, I found my uncle sitting on one of the lounge seats looking out the window where you can just see some aircraft climbing away after take-off. We both relaxed there for a while but as departure time approached I began to worry about the camera. I had assumed that they would take care of it but it was only 30mins away from boarding and I had heard nothing. I found a PA, introduced myself and asked about progress with regards to locating the camera. She said a colleague was dealing with it and that she’ll come over soon.
She did not come over soon but only when it was time to board. She informed me that they had not found the camera onboard and that I should file a lost item report when I get to MXP. I was absolutely amazed that it took 4hours 30 minutes to find this out and to inform me about it. The chap that I took to TLV once told me about him leaving his baseball cap on a BA jet once at a remote stand when travelling in Economy. Within 30 minutes he had been reunited with it. LH failed to even inform me within nearly five hours as their progress.
If they had informed me earlier then I could perhaps have filed the report with them so saving me the hassle at MXP. I was tempted to ask them to get the police for me so that I could report the item as lost, which is required by my insurance policy, and to miss my flight. I would have liked to have done this but was concerned that the next LH flight to MXP may arrive too late for our easyjet flight back to LGW which probably would have cost more to rectify that purchasing a new camera. It did seem that they just did not want the hassle of helping me with the paperwork there but rather just wanted to get me on the plane and to make the issue somebody else’s.
I did not want to create a scene as I knew that it would not achieve anything. It was entirely my fault that I left the camera behind and ultimately I only have myself to blame. I just do not believe LH acted as good as they could have done as quickly as they should have done. I am 100% certainly that I left it in the compartment in 83A and the only way it could not be found was if somebody had found it before hand or if they did not check. Personally my money is on an aircraft cleaner smiling smugly at their find whilst deleting my photographs, some of which were irreplaceable sentimental images. Seriously, forget the camera; I would be delighted just to be reunited with the memory card and its data.
I have never been stupid enough to leave anything behind on an aircraft before and am still kicking myself over this and no doubt will do for a considerable amount of time. Hope is not all yet lost as the search is not yet over and as such can only report my trusty camera that has accompanied my on all of my other TRs as ‘Missing in Action’. I trust you will understand and forgive me for the lack of pictures of the Hilton, the AUH departure lounge and the return journey.
To cheer me up a little we were chauffeured out to the aircraft in a Mercedes S class and a rather attractive young lady in sat in the front passenger seat beside the driver. I think that she was a new recruit and was being shown around the job. At the remote stand where the aircraft was located, we waited in the car as the driver checked that they were ready for us. They were and we were soon enough onboard.
Route: FRA-MXP
Flight: LH3886
Depart: 12:30
Arrive: 13:35
Aircraft: 320
Class: Business
From being greeted onboard, though the meal and drinks services and upon disembarking this flight one of the FAs without fail addressed us my name and deserves a huge thumbs up especially for such a short European flight. Nice touch. The Business cabin was very quiet with only around 6 of us onboard. Otherwise, this flight itself was rather uneventful.
The carousel start up not too long after we had arrived there ourselves and several priority bags began to appear. There was a considerable wait until the next batch of bags arrived that even gave me enough time to try to sort out my LH lost item report at the LH desk in baggage reclaim. I was not entirely surprised that, once I had explained the situation, the agent behind the desk informed me that it could not be done there. All that she could do to help was to give me the phone number that I could ring to file the report. It was a Frankfurt number!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I asked if I could file the report at the landside Customer service desk LH desk and was informed that I had to ring Frankfurt.
Finally our bags arrived and the two that we had checked in back in AUH had an additional tag with the word ‘HOT’ printed on. I had never seen this before and wonder what it indicated! It was not like we were on a short connection. Strange!
We found a nice quiet area on the -1 level beside the glass display cabinets housing a wide selection of model aircraft. Here we relaxed and wiled away a couple of hours as we waited for easyjet check-in to open for our flight back to LGW from terminal 2. We also used the time to rearrange our bags so that all security regulations were met, bags were not over loaded and that our hand baggage did not weigh a ton. Eventually, it was all sorted and we caught the courtesy coach over to T2.
Route: MXP-LGW
Flight: EZ4349
Depart: 19:30
Arrive: 20:30
Aircraft: 319
Class: Economy
The easyjet check in was very busy with all desks open and lengthy queues at each. It must have taken over 30mins to check-in that is something that I have not had to endure for quite some time. Security took an interest in my uncle’s hand baggage and requested to see inside. The item that the x-ray screener took an interest in was the two trays of a Turkish Delight style product that we had bought from the supermarket in Abu Dhabi.
The inbound flight arrived 30 minutes just as our departure time passed. We were soon onboard a rather full easyjet A319 and heading back to the UK. I think that I heard during boarding over the PA system that there were only a couple of spare seats. I finally managed to get some sleep on this flight and was glad when we touched down LGW. We were seated on the third to last row of the aircraft and by the time we arrived at immigration it seemed that several other aircraft had just landed as the place was full. I put my hand into my bag and gave my uncle his passport and told him that I would meet him by our carousel.
I darted around the back of the queues to the unutilised IRIS machine. Within 45 seconds of leaving my uncle I was through immigration and on the escalator up to baggage reclaim. It was then that I decided to check and it was a good job that I did! I had given him my passport!!!! Off the escalator at the top, through a 180º turn and the top and then back down the stairs, a long wait at the far side of immigration whilst I scanned for my uncle in the queues. I could not see him at all. There is a staff entrance that runs along the side of the immigration queue with a secure door at the far end. Walking down to this door allowed me to see the back of the queue where my uncle, looking extremely nervous, was waiting with a staff member. The chap manning the secure door saw me and I gesticulated that the passport in my hand belonged to my uncle over there!
Panic over and my uncle rejoined the queue. I again began to wonder whether the temporary loss of my wallet in the suit shop at Abu Dhabi, the potentially terminal separation of me from my camera and now the passport mix up are the first signs of me getting old. I have a full head of hair without a single grey hair but perhaps my mind’s already gone. Maybe that instead of me educating my uncle as to the world of airport operations and travel, I have acquired senior persons absent mindedness. With my next trip barely two weeks away, I will save a definitive answer until I do an inventory check upon my return!
3-6 August continued
We had arranged a 4pm late check-out upon arrival at the Hilton but had been asked to check again on the day of departure for a further extension. Our flight did not depart until just after midnight, so the later the better for us! The member of staff manning the desk confirmed that we could keep the room until 6pm but no later as the room was required for incoming guests. That was fine and suited us perfectly. I seemed to remember that, although it was not stated anywhere, as executive floor guests at the Hilton Jumeriah we were entitled to complimentary airport transfers. I enquired and after looking at our reservation was informed that we could have a complimentary taxi ride back to the airport. Good job that I remembered! Although the taxis are cheap in Abu Dhabi.
As I waited for my bags to be collected from the 10th floor check, after guest asked the lady on the desk if she could ring one of the New York Hiltons and make a reservation there for him. She politely refused and said that he could do so on the free internet available in the lounge or by ringing them on his room phone. He quickly became indignant and continued making his request. She continued to give the same answer. He claimed that ‘all of the other Hiltons that I have stayed in have done this for me’ and was off to see the manager. I have only stayed at a Hilton once before and do not really look into that forum on FT and I would be interested to know whether they would make an international call to make a reservation that you could do yourself on the internet for free. I suspect that he was full of crap though, as he used the alternate lifts that do not require you to walk right passed that desk and slipped quietly back into the lounge.
We cheekily spent around an hour in the lounge immediately after checking out and enjoyed a bit to eat and a few cans of Sprite before heading over to the shopping mall courtesy of the complimentary shuttle. After browsing for a while, I collected the suit that I had ordered a few days before and changed into it immediately for the journey home. Once I had come out of the changing room, I realised that I no longer had my wallet. The last time that I recalled seeing it was as I paid for the shirt to accompany the suit (ironically I did not really like this shirt and so kept on the polo shirt that I was wearing).
The staff had not seen the wallet left on the desk and we could not find it in any of the bags that we were carrying or in our pockets. I began to worry. The changing room was now being used by somebody else. He came out to show his friend how the suit looked on him and I stepped back inside. Once I set foot back inside I remembered putting my wallet down in there. Luckily it was still exactly where I had left it. Phew! Although this did begin a worrying trend that now has me questioning if I am getting old! But more of that later…
To my horror, there was a lengthy queue for taxis outside the air conditioned mall but I bit the bullet and joined it. To be honest, it was not quite as hot as it could have been and the queue moved quickly. Soon we were in the taxi and heading back to the Hilton. The taxi ride cost AED2.5 (a little over 30p) but we gave the guy AED10 anyway and headed back inside the Hilton We collected our bags and jumped into another taxi for the ride to the airport.
Route: AUH-DXB
Flight: LH627
Depart: 00:10
Arrive: 01:00
Aircraft: 744
Class: First
The journey is around 25kms and seemed to be a fairly quick ride. We used the first/business security entrance to access the check-in desks. This entrance had no queue and we were soon looking for our check-in desks. The information board did not show our flight as having been allocated check-in desks. This was three hours before departure so I guess it was not too unusual. Within a few minutes of taking a seat, the screen changed to show the check-in desks were the ones that we sat facing. A quick stroll over had us at the check-in desk within seconds.
The agent labelled our bags, handed over the BPs pointing out the seats together in the exit row for AUH-DXB-FRA and the lounge invitation. What he did not point out (and this does quite annoy me) was that he had given us 1F and 3A for FRA-MXP and had not thought to mention it! Note to self: always check all BPs before leaving the check-in desk. Do not assume anything!
We then followed the First/Business signs through the Etihad premium check-in area (which had a rather nice lounge area at the rear) into the departure immigration hall. Had it been busy then this would have led to a significant time saving. As there was no queue, this did not really apply to us. Once we had been stamped out of the UAE we headed straight for the departure lounge. This was to be a small highlight of the trip. As those of you that have been through AUH will know, it has quite a unique appearance. So unique in fact that I remember it vividly from the first time that I visited. This was when my uncle and grandad had taken me on my first overseas trip back in 1984 (when I was only 8) as we headed to Australia on Garuda Indonesia.
We took several photos of the lounge and us posing in it. These photos in particular were special to us due to our history at AUH and I looked forward to getting one of them printed off and framed for my uncle as a souvenir of past travels.
Perhaps ‘a little bit of shopping’ is a bit of an understatement of our economic activity in the duty free shop. 1000 Marlboro Lights at AED188 (around £25) was far too good an offer to pass up even though (and perhaps especially because) I do not smoke!!! Likewise, 3 bottles of Chivas that came with a free wheelie case that was perfect carry-on size for a total of AED315 (around £40) was too good to pass up. The choosing what to buy was the easy part. It was the paying that caused the trouble or rather trying to get the lady behind the counter to actually sell the stuff to us. I have never had to insist before that I be sold products that the other party had for sale. I would like to say that it was a pleasant change to them trying to sell me things that I did not want.
I had made the mistake of telling her, when asked if FRA was our final location, that we had a connecting flight onto MXP. Big mistake!
“Oh you can not buy these drinks"
“Why not?”
“Customs will take them off you!”
“Customs???”
“Yes – you are not allowed them”
“But you will sell me 1000 cigarettes though?”
“Yes because you are allowed cigarettes”
“So why can’t I have the drinks?”
“Sir – do you know that people tried blowing up planes with liquids in Europe a few months ago”
“Oh you mean that security will take them from me”
“Yes Sir – No more than 100ml drink containers allowed. I can not sell to you.”
“I will check them in when I get to Frankfurt”
“No Sir – you get off one plane and connect onto another right?”
“Yeah”
“Then I can not sell to you”
“But I have a five hour layover in Frankfurt and will get them checked in there”
“Sir – you have already checked all of your bags in.”
The lady who had assisted us in our shopping began to talk to the check-out lady and seemed to be supporting us but as they were speaking in their own language I can not be certain.
“Don’t worry about it I will take the risk”
“When they get taken from you, do not bring them back here for a refund!”
“If they are taken from me I will not have them to bring back for a refund!”
“Sir – If I sell them to you they will be taken”
“I have done this before, it is no problem. When I get to Frankfurt they will check these in for me and I will not have to take them on the plane.”
Again, her colleague tries to help her understand.
“Okay, okay, I will sell them but I have told you that you will not be allowed them and they will be taken from you”
“Okay”
Money handed over
“Sir – I must write on receipt that I told you that they will be taken okay?”
“Yes of course you can”
She writes ‘informed the passenger regarding restrictions of liquids’ on the receipt and then signs it before handing the receipt over and considerately packing all of the drinks and cigarettes into the free case.
I do understand her concerns obviously and the mix up about customs/security did not help initially but all’s well that ends well.
After the shopping we located the Ghazal (I think that was its name) Lounge and found somewhere comfy to sit. I ignored the food and made straight for the bar which is accessed by descending a set of stairs in the open plan lounge. I returned with my Vodka & Red Bull along with my uncle’s tea. This was repeating several times sans tea and I was soon I was beginning the feel the affects of the drinks.
Once through the secondary security screening at the gate, boarding was quick. Passengers for this AUH-DXB flight were quite thin on the ground. I would guess that we saw around 30 other passengers but can not say whether other had boarded before we had arrived. There were around 5 people seated in Business as we passed through. You could see the joy and excitement on my uncle’s face as he climbed the steps to enter the upper deck of a 747 for the first time ever. We were the first into the First cabin and were informed that we were the only First passengers on this leg of the journey.
We were served a drink along with a few canapés whilst boarding was completed. My poor uncle had been lugging around my video camera in his hand luggage for the entire trip and I had yet to use it. I knew that I would use it on this flight but thought we’d use it around DXB or AUH. The purpose of the video camera was to take footage of each cabin onboard because now as a Teacher of Travel and Tourism I have to educate my students as to the differentiation of services offered to passengers dependent upon their class of travel. It has been mentioned before that I have at last found the right job and one for which I am extremely well qualified!!!
7th August
As we were seated in 83 A&C we chatted to the FA who occupied the crew seat facing us. She was very pleasant and we enjoyed talking to her as we taxied towards the runway. She told us that they fly FRA-DXB-AUH-DXB, take a 24 hour rest in DXB and then return DXB-FRA. Having three flights in one day must make for quite a long day for long haul crew. She was even kind enough to ask the captain about our cruising altitude on this 72 mile flight. We had taken a guess each that we thought would be a bit low but were surprised to hear that we did not make it above 9000ft on this flight.
I asked whether I could take a quick walk down to Business and back to Economy to take some video footage and explained the reason why. She said that the seatbelt sign usually does not go off on this flight and that if it was possible it could only take a few minutes. I said that was fine and she went to have a word with the Purser to check that it was okay. She returned to say that the purser had said no not because of the seatbelt sign but because “use of a video camera is not allowed due to security concerns” and that the purser will come up to talk to me herself and will offer an alternate solution.
A minute or two later, the purser introduced herself and reiterated that ‘security concerns post Sept 11’ was the reason why I could do take video of First, Business and Economy cabins. Instead she gave me the name and email address of a contact with LH PR department and informed me that that have produced a video or DVD that explains all about First, Business and Economy products including food etc for students.
The taxi to the gate at DXB seemed to take just about as long as the flight itself. We had taxied towards the gate area only to be informed that no gate was available and sent out to a remote stand. Just before arriving at the remote stand, the captain had been informed that a gate at the terminal was now available. Eventually we were reached the gate. We were all instructed to stay onboard but to remove our seatbelts as fuelling commenced. The crew said farewell to us as they headed off for their hotel and a well earned rest as they were replaced by a new fresh crew.
Route: DXB-FRA
Flight: LH627
Depart: 02:10
Arrive: 06:40
Aircraft: 744
Class: First
After nearly an hour of being at the gate, boarding commenced and the First cabin began to fill. However, by the time that ‘boarding completed’ was announced over the PA system, only 10 of the 16 First seats were occupied. We were then distributed our slipper/sock type thingies, toiletry bag and PJs. These all went straight into my bag and I changed into an older pair of SQ F PJs in the toilet whilst we were still at the gate. Just in the nick of time did I remember to close the window shade before exposing myself to all of the ramp workers and the passengers of the 777 parked beside us.
We enjoyed a pre-departure glass of Champagne before push back but were soon on our way towards FRA. The crew came around to take orders for breakfast and to ask whether we wanted waking for it. A light snack was offered before we slept and I doubted for a serving of caviar followed by a serving of caviar and accompanied by another glass of Champagne.
Dinner Menu
Caviar with the traditional Garnishes
Tabouleh marinated Parsley Salad on red Cabbage Leaf,
Loubieh Bil Zeit in green Pepper Boat
Plum Crumble with Cinnamon Sauce
It must have been 3am UAE time before we had finished our light snack. I listened to my mp3 player, reclined my seat into fully flatbed mode and tried to sleep. For some reason, it was just not happening. Is this what it is like to be impotent? You know what you want to do but your body just will not comply! Extremely frustrating stuff.
Breakfast Menu
Fitness Breakfast
Coffee or Tea
Freshly squeezed Orange Juice
Fresh Fruit
Müsli
Continental Breakfast
Coffee or Tea
Freshly squeezed Orange Juice
Plain Yoghurt with Fruit
Beef Pastrami, Emmental and Camembert with Arabic Pickles
American Breakfast
Coffee or Tea
Freshly squeezed Orange Juice
Fresh Fruit
Cheese Omelette with Hash-Brown Potatoes and roasted Cherry Tomato
Fitness Breakfast
Coffee or Tea
Freshly squeezed Orange Juice
Fresh Fruit
Müsli
Continental Breakfast
Coffee or Tea
Freshly squeezed Orange Juice
Plain Yoghurt with Fruit
Beef Pastrami, Emmental and Camembert with Arabic Pickles
American Breakfast
Coffee or Tea
Freshly squeezed Orange Juice
Fresh Fruit
Cheese Omelette with Hash-Brown Potatoes and roasted Cherry Tomato
The crew gave a gentle nudge to wake me (which was not strictly necessary as I was not asleep despite having my eyes closed) and to serve breakfast. Through sleep deprivation I could not face breakfast, so I thanked him but turned it away. I returned to the toilets to change back into my new suit and upon exiting he offered to serve my breakfast whenever I wanted it if I changed my mind. That was not going to happen as I was beginning to feel a little nausea. I tidied my belongings away leaving out only my camera for a few pictures of out of the wing upon descent. I took the pictures and placed the camera into the small armrest storage compartment on the right hand side of seat 83A.
Five hours on the ground at FRA
Upon landing my nausea felt worse and I just wanted to get into the FCT and sleep. We were soon on our way down the stairs and into the terminal. Once at passport control my uncle began looking for a toilet. I told him that we would wait until through passport control now. Once through we utilised the first toilets we found and I rearranged a few belongings so that I had my new Chivas bag with the drinks inside ready to check in my we arrived at the FCT.
Before we had left the terminal, it dawned on me that I did not have my camera. We search all of our pockets and hand luggage but could not find it. I went looking for LH Customer services but found an empty LH F check-in lounge first. I explained that I had left my camera onboard and she began to make phone calls. Nobody answered and she informed me that the aircraft had already been taken to a remote stand. I thanked her as a queue began to form behind me and told her I would ask the PA at the FCT to help locate it.
I have learnt my lesson about requesting a ride over to the FCT at the LH F check-in desks within the terminal! This time we exited the terminal on the ground floor, turned left and walked over to the FCT. It was must quicker than the last time when I had to wait over 40 minutes for the ride and then had to share the van with Mr Congestion.
Soon enough after requesting admission, a PA came down in the lift and let us in. Once back upstairs we explained our three problems starting with the most important, the camera, the additional drink containing case that required checking in and seat 1F and 3A seating assignments for the FRA-MXP leg. She said that she had already spotted the seat problem whilst I had been explaining the first two. He said that she would take care of all of it and led through to security and into the lounge.
I abandoned my uncle when I realised that both the sleep rooms were free. I thought he would take one but opted to sit around the lounge instead. I had 2 hours 30 minutes in there and still could not sleep. It was not a total waste of effort though as it was by far the longest amount of time that I had had to myself in over a week and the privacy and solitude was most welcome.
I found my uncle and we sat down together in the restaurant area. He was still not hungry after his breakfast on the aircraft but I was ready to eat after turning the onboard breakfast away. I helped myself to a traditional English breakfast along with an extremely generous serving of smoked salmon and a glass of Rosé Champagne. My uncle informed me that he had been given our passports and BPs (along with the extra bag check label) back and that the PA had sorted out our seat assignments - we now had 1D&F on the A320. He had been told that they were looking into the camera issue.
Once we had finished talking once my breakfast was complete, I decided to take a shower. I foolishly asked the attendant for a ‘shower room’ and was led into one. After closing the door, I realised that this room did not have a bath and therefore no LH FCT branded ducky to take home. It just had a shower, toilet and sink. Oops!
Cleaned and refreshed, I found my uncle sitting on one of the lounge seats looking out the window where you can just see some aircraft climbing away after take-off. We both relaxed there for a while but as departure time approached I began to worry about the camera. I had assumed that they would take care of it but it was only 30mins away from boarding and I had heard nothing. I found a PA, introduced myself and asked about progress with regards to locating the camera. She said a colleague was dealing with it and that she’ll come over soon.
She did not come over soon but only when it was time to board. She informed me that they had not found the camera onboard and that I should file a lost item report when I get to MXP. I was absolutely amazed that it took 4hours 30 minutes to find this out and to inform me about it. The chap that I took to TLV once told me about him leaving his baseball cap on a BA jet once at a remote stand when travelling in Economy. Within 30 minutes he had been reunited with it. LH failed to even inform me within nearly five hours as their progress.
If they had informed me earlier then I could perhaps have filed the report with them so saving me the hassle at MXP. I was tempted to ask them to get the police for me so that I could report the item as lost, which is required by my insurance policy, and to miss my flight. I would have liked to have done this but was concerned that the next LH flight to MXP may arrive too late for our easyjet flight back to LGW which probably would have cost more to rectify that purchasing a new camera. It did seem that they just did not want the hassle of helping me with the paperwork there but rather just wanted to get me on the plane and to make the issue somebody else’s.
I did not want to create a scene as I knew that it would not achieve anything. It was entirely my fault that I left the camera behind and ultimately I only have myself to blame. I just do not believe LH acted as good as they could have done as quickly as they should have done. I am 100% certainly that I left it in the compartment in 83A and the only way it could not be found was if somebody had found it before hand or if they did not check. Personally my money is on an aircraft cleaner smiling smugly at their find whilst deleting my photographs, some of which were irreplaceable sentimental images. Seriously, forget the camera; I would be delighted just to be reunited with the memory card and its data.
I have never been stupid enough to leave anything behind on an aircraft before and am still kicking myself over this and no doubt will do for a considerable amount of time. Hope is not all yet lost as the search is not yet over and as such can only report my trusty camera that has accompanied my on all of my other TRs as ‘Missing in Action’. I trust you will understand and forgive me for the lack of pictures of the Hilton, the AUH departure lounge and the return journey.
To cheer me up a little we were chauffeured out to the aircraft in a Mercedes S class and a rather attractive young lady in sat in the front passenger seat beside the driver. I think that she was a new recruit and was being shown around the job. At the remote stand where the aircraft was located, we waited in the car as the driver checked that they were ready for us. They were and we were soon enough onboard.
Route: FRA-MXP
Flight: LH3886
Depart: 12:30
Arrive: 13:35
Aircraft: 320
Class: Business
From being greeted onboard, though the meal and drinks services and upon disembarking this flight one of the FAs without fail addressed us my name and deserves a huge thumbs up especially for such a short European flight. Nice touch. The Business cabin was very quiet with only around 6 of us onboard. Otherwise, this flight itself was rather uneventful.
The carousel start up not too long after we had arrived there ourselves and several priority bags began to appear. There was a considerable wait until the next batch of bags arrived that even gave me enough time to try to sort out my LH lost item report at the LH desk in baggage reclaim. I was not entirely surprised that, once I had explained the situation, the agent behind the desk informed me that it could not be done there. All that she could do to help was to give me the phone number that I could ring to file the report. It was a Frankfurt number!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I asked if I could file the report at the landside Customer service desk LH desk and was informed that I had to ring Frankfurt.
Finally our bags arrived and the two that we had checked in back in AUH had an additional tag with the word ‘HOT’ printed on. I had never seen this before and wonder what it indicated! It was not like we were on a short connection. Strange!
We found a nice quiet area on the -1 level beside the glass display cabinets housing a wide selection of model aircraft. Here we relaxed and wiled away a couple of hours as we waited for easyjet check-in to open for our flight back to LGW from terminal 2. We also used the time to rearrange our bags so that all security regulations were met, bags were not over loaded and that our hand baggage did not weigh a ton. Eventually, it was all sorted and we caught the courtesy coach over to T2.
Route: MXP-LGW
Flight: EZ4349
Depart: 19:30
Arrive: 20:30
Aircraft: 319
Class: Economy
The easyjet check in was very busy with all desks open and lengthy queues at each. It must have taken over 30mins to check-in that is something that I have not had to endure for quite some time. Security took an interest in my uncle’s hand baggage and requested to see inside. The item that the x-ray screener took an interest in was the two trays of a Turkish Delight style product that we had bought from the supermarket in Abu Dhabi.
The inbound flight arrived 30 minutes just as our departure time passed. We were soon onboard a rather full easyjet A319 and heading back to the UK. I think that I heard during boarding over the PA system that there were only a couple of spare seats. I finally managed to get some sleep on this flight and was glad when we touched down LGW. We were seated on the third to last row of the aircraft and by the time we arrived at immigration it seemed that several other aircraft had just landed as the place was full. I put my hand into my bag and gave my uncle his passport and told him that I would meet him by our carousel.
I darted around the back of the queues to the unutilised IRIS machine. Within 45 seconds of leaving my uncle I was through immigration and on the escalator up to baggage reclaim. It was then that I decided to check and it was a good job that I did! I had given him my passport!!!! Off the escalator at the top, through a 180º turn and the top and then back down the stairs, a long wait at the far side of immigration whilst I scanned for my uncle in the queues. I could not see him at all. There is a staff entrance that runs along the side of the immigration queue with a secure door at the far end. Walking down to this door allowed me to see the back of the queue where my uncle, looking extremely nervous, was waiting with a staff member. The chap manning the secure door saw me and I gesticulated that the passport in my hand belonged to my uncle over there!
Panic over and my uncle rejoined the queue. I again began to wonder whether the temporary loss of my wallet in the suit shop at Abu Dhabi, the potentially terminal separation of me from my camera and now the passport mix up are the first signs of me getting old. I have a full head of hair without a single grey hair but perhaps my mind’s already gone. Maybe that instead of me educating my uncle as to the world of airport operations and travel, I have acquired senior persons absent mindedness. With my next trip barely two weeks away, I will save a definitive answer until I do an inventory check upon my return!
Last edited by TEX277; Aug 8, 2007 at 9:43 am
Aug 8, 2007, 8:51 am
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: BNE
Posts: 2,622
Thanks for the info. It was on my list of 'to dos' today. I emailed them a few hours ago and am awaiting a response. Fingers crossed but like I say above in the concluding instalment of this TR, I think that an aircraft cleaner must have found it and decided to keep it.
Aug 8, 2007, 9:17 am
#18
Join Date: Jul 2004
Programs: AC.SE
Posts: 2,578
Aug 8, 2007, 9:48 am
#19
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 23,999
Wonderful continuation of a great report! Are you sure your bags didn't have a "HON" tag instead of a "HOT" tag? If it was "HOT," I have no clue what it was! Sorry to hear about your camera, that is pretty bad service at the FCT!
Either way, sounds like you and especially your uncle had a fantastic trip!
Either way, sounds like you and especially your uncle had a fantastic trip!
Aug 8, 2007, 10:26 am
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: BNE
Posts: 2,622
Wonderful continuation of a great report! Are you sure your bags didn't have a "HON" tag instead of a "HOT" tag? If it was "HOT," I have no clue what it was! Sorry to hear about your camera, that is pretty bad service at the FCT!
Either way, sounds like you and especially your uncle had a fantastic trip!
Either way, sounds like you and especially your uncle had a fantastic trip!
At first I just saw the first two letters and just assumed that it was HON. But my uncle noticed 'HOT' and asked what that meant. I still have them here (and if I had a camera I may have been tempted to upload a picture
) and they are yellow labels with HOT in black letters along with a LH logo and the word 'Lufthansa'.
Aug 8, 2007, 12:38 pm
#24
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: BNE
Posts: 2,622
Both answers are very much IIRC. As I remember it the only service offered was on the ground predeparture and consisted of a drink or two and some canapes. The flight itself took around 25 minutes.
Aug 8, 2007, 12:43 pm
#25
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Another great report, TEX277. I recently flew AUH-FRA in J on LH on the days it goes via BAH [the crew also do 3 legs there and stay in BAH] which meant an Airbus not a jumbo - I had a similar problem trying to force myself to want sleep too despite the time...I found abandoning champagne and switching to a few G&Ts (Bombay on LH ^) solved it 
Sorry to hear about the camera Fingers crossed you get it back.
Sorry to hear about the camera
Fingers crossed you get it back.
Aug 8, 2007, 8:37 pm
#26
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Posts: 10,820
Nice trip report, including the nugget of good advice re walking to the FCT rather than waiting for a lift. Thanks!
Hope your camera somehow turns up, but FWIW many of us make mistakes like this, especially in the middle of travel, when jet-lagged, when tired, etc. I'd never left anything behind before, but last year I was in an airport lounge and somehow left my laptop sitting on top of a table when I went to board the plane. It was just dumb luck that I noticed my shoulder bag was unusually light as I stowed it, and was able to run back up to retrieve the computer.
Hope your camera somehow turns up, but FWIW many of us make mistakes like this, especially in the middle of travel, when jet-lagged, when tired, etc. I'd never left anything behind before, but last year I was in an airport lounge and somehow left my laptop sitting on top of a table when I went to board the plane. It was just dumb luck that I noticed my shoulder bag was unusually light as I stowed it, and was able to run back up to retrieve the computer.
Aug 9, 2007, 8:52 am
#29
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Aug 15, 2007, 6:03 am
#30
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Join Date: Nov 2003
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Posts: 2,622
Camera update
Eight days after the initial loss, the search has been called off. Lost & Found at both FRA airport and LH at FRA still have no record of the camera being handed in.
Although money will never be able to reunite me with all of the sentimental photos that were lost
...it will get me a 10m pixel Samsung that will allow large prints of our impending Bali trip 
Eight days after the initial loss, the search has been called off. Lost & Found at both FRA airport and LH at FRA still have no record of the camera being handed in.
Although money will never be able to reunite me with all of the sentimental photos that were lost
...it will get me a 10m pixel Samsung that will allow large prints of our impending Bali trip