hauteboy

There seem to be a flurry of Malta reports recently... just adding one more to the mix.

I was only home a week from my previous trip (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...nuatu-png.html) when it was already time to head off on my next one. A few months ago I booked the UA business class fare sale to Malta (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/milea...n-2k-july.html) over the 4th of July long weekend. For hotels, I planned on using my Intercontinental Ambassador free weekend certificate for one free night stay at the Intercontinental Malta, their rate for the first night was 139 Euro. Originally I was booked AUS-DEN-FRA-MLA-MUC-ORD-AUS but with an early flight change had a very tight (45min) connection in Denver on the outbound. I meant to call in to see about rerouting but never got around to it.

July 3-4, 2014
Flight: Austin, TX (AUS) to Chicago, IL (ORD); United CRJ First
Flight: Chicago, IL (ORD) to Frankfurt, Germany (FRA); Lufthansa 747-400 Business
Flight: Frankfurt, Germany (FRA) to Luqa, Malta (MLA); Air Malta 320 Business
Hotel: Intercontinental Malta; 139EUR
I still hadn't fully recovered from jetlag from my previous trip and hadn't been sleeping well. My flight was supposed to depart today at 3:25PM. A few hours before I was planning on going to the airport I got an email notification that my outbound flight was delayed, due to flights being cancelled/rerouted on the east coast from Hurricane Arthur. Had to be the worst timing for a storm, the day before a holiday weekend. I checked expertflyer and saw 0's across the board in all classes on any flight out of Austin. I still hadn't finished packing yet either so finished throwing clothes in my daypack while calling United and hopping in the car to head to the airport, hoping to make the 2PM flight to Chicago. I was on hold a good length of time and finally the agent came back with new flights when I passed a dead cell zone and my phone disconnected!!

I was able to call back though to a different agent and eventually they sorted my ticket out, departing @ 5:38PM via Chicago and Frankfurt. However I would miss my connection to Malta that day, and the evening LH codeshare flight on Air Malta was sold out, meaning I would have to spend the night in Frankfurt.. losing a whole day in Malta. I wasn't too keen on that situation and was trying to decide whether to just call off the trip or see if they could change dates. Made it to the airport in good time and had to park in the G lot. When I got to the terminal the kiosks wouldn't let me checkin so had to wait on the agent. I asked about getting on the 2PM flight (it was about 1:20PM) and they put me on standby. The airport was pretty busy but The TSA pre-check lane was empty.

I went to the gate to check on my chances.. I was 2nd on the list which normally is good, but the airport was packed and many flights were delayed/cancelled. Boarding time but no luck, the flight was full. I went to the lounge to check on flight options now that I had internet again. I saw the LH codeshare flight to Malta the next evening was showing full, but the Air Malta flight still had plenty of availability. They checked on the flight but couldn't reissue it there and said I should check with Lufthansa when arriving in Frankfurt... ahhh. I now had several hours wait before the next flight so worked on my previous trip report.

Departure time approached so I go down to the gate, only to find out the plane there is for a delayed Houston flight. Houston was also experiencing some large weather adding to the flight chaos and there were several flights that had been diverted to Austin sitting out on the tarmac. Eventually they call our flight at another gate.. we board 20 minutes late, then sit another 40 minutes waiting in the queue to refuel. Luckily I still had time in Chicago to make my flight to Frankfurt. Finally we take off an hour late.. and over 5 hrs after I'd arrived at the airport. I was in First but on a CRJ so nothing special. They served a snack box of pita chips and hummus.

United CRJ F AUS-ORD

We arrived in Chicago but then proceeded to do a tour of the airport as our gate was occupied... we taxied all the way around the T1 gates to T5 then back again. Finally we pull up to C5 an hour late. It was a good walk down the tunnel and over to B16 for the Lufthansa flight. They weren't yet boarding so I hopped into the lounge for a few minutes. Eventually we boarded the flight a few minutes late. This flight was a 747-400 with the old business class seats in 2-3-2 config. Dinner was crab cakes with hollandaise sauce, fairly decent. I tried to watch a few movies but the headphones had an annoying hum/static so I wasn't able to hear very well.



LH 747-400 J ORD-FRA

Arrived into Frankfurt on time, but too late to make my original Lufthansa flight to Malta. I went by the United service desk in Z-gates but there was a huge line of people trying to sort out their flights. I had plenty of time to kill so went out through passport control to United ticketing desk where there was no line. A few clicks and they reissued my ticket for the Air Malta flight this evening! I didn't have a boarding pass but they gave me a pass to get through security. Went back through security to head to a lounge, and managed to pick the wrong line. Kept waiting and waiting and the line wasn't moving. The X-ray guys were looking at someone's fanny pack, kept pointing at the screen and running it through. Finally after waiting 20 minutes there are 4-5 guys standing around looking at the screen and our line gets shut down and moved to another line.

The Malta flight left from B1 but I still had about 5 hours to kill. There didn't appear to be a lounge in that part of the terminal so ended up heading over to A-gates via the tunnel and to the lounge there way at the end. I wasn't sure if I could get in as I was departing on KM instead of LH-flight#, but as I had arrived on LH-J class they let me in the lounge. Managed to get the last shower room to freshen up.

I still couldn't see my KM flight on my United itineraries page (turns out ticket# had changed), so ended up going back out through security to the Air Malta checkin desk. They initially handed me a boarding pass with 10A on it.. that didn't sound like business class so after more typing and checking printouts they eventually gave me a boarding pass for the business cabin. There wasn't enough time for a lounge after going through security again. We boarded via bus to a remote stand. The 320 plane seemed a little old with 3 rows of 2-2 EuroBusiness seating. The 2-hr flight went smoothly and they served a hot meal enroute. Arrived at Malta airport about 9:45PM and went to catch the X2 express bus to my hotel. There is a kiosk near the exit where you can buy a one-way ticket for €1.30 or a day ticket for €1.50. I had previously downloaded Malta bus transit maps and they also had a huge one printed on the bus stop. As I was waiting for the bus they started setting off fireworks nearby! Not sure if that was a July 4th thing or something else.



KM A320 C FRA-MLA

Eventually the bus arrives and a huge crowd jumps on. I started talking with the cute Polish girl who sat down beside me, she was also in Malta just for a long weekend. The bus took about an hour to reach St. Julians stop, the closest stop to the Intercontinental. Actually getting to the hotel was a bit confusing.. the back end of the hotel is close to the bus stop but there isn't an entrance from that street. Checkin was easy and they gave me an upgrade to a terrace suite on the 12th floor. Two bathrooms, three balconies with a view out over the pool below. I was so tired by this point I just plopped into bed.




Intercontinental Malta

hauteboy

Jul 5, 2014
Hotel: Intercontinental Malta
I was up early this morning at 6AM. I had lost 6 hrs yesterday afternoon so I wanted to get out and see what I could today. I debated doing a 'quick' morning trip out to Gozo to visit the Ggantija neolithic ruins. Unfortunately there wasn't anywhere open for breakfast at 7AM.. I eventually found an open cafe that had a sad looking sausage wrap before heading to the bus stop. I must have just missed the last bus to Cirkewwa (Ferry) as I was sitting there waiting a good while. The bus arrived about 7:40 and took an hour driving to get to the ferry port. This wasn't the express bus so it made several stops along the way in Bugibba and St. Pauls. The landscape was pretty dry and rocky along the way. We arrived at the ferry port just in time to see the previous ferry sailing away. The ferries only run every 45 minutes so I had a bit of a wait for the next one. I bought my ticket (€4.65 r/t) just in time as the tour buses started arriving.. by the time the ferry left at 9AM the waiting room was packed. I went upstairs on the ferry to get away from the crowds but eventually they turned up there as well. The crossing took about 25 minutes to Mgarr Harbor on the southwest side of Gozo.

Gozo Ferry


Malta Bus map

From Mgarr, I caught a bus heading towards Rabat (Victoria), the main town. The bus routes there operate in hub-spoke out of town, so getting to Ggantija requries one or two bus changes normally. There are also two hop-on/off tourist bus routes that operate circuits (http://www.city-sightseeing.com/tours/malta/gozo.htm) around the island for €15. I hopped off the main bus some distance out of town and using my GPS started walking towards Ggantija (about 1.5mile walk). It was pretty warm already and no shade, so not recommended to walk! I came across another bus station just in time to catch the bus heading towards the temples. Once there I was confused as apparently the entrance and exit are in different locations.. I came across the exit gate but the entrance was a few hundred meters further up the road. It was about 10:30AM at this point so had taken me ~3 hrs from my hotel. Entrance to the ruins was €9 and included entrance fee to a nearby windmill. There was a small museum at the entrance showing some of the figurines that had been found on site. Visiting the ruins didn't take very long... there was another tour group there visiting. The megalithic ruins are ancient, even older than the pyramids in Egypt. The two remaining temples were thought to be home to a fertility cult. The ruins were on top of a hill and there was a good view across to the huge Xewkija church. After the museum I bought a postcard and a drink and checked the bus schedule. I had just missed the last one and the next one back to the harbor wasn't for 45 minutes.. so ended up going to the windmill museum a block away to kill a few minutes.



Ggantija Temple Ruins


Xewkija church

While I was back waiting for the bus, a taxi pulls up and drops off a tourist. He asked me if I wanted to go anywhere. On a whim I asked about going to the Azure Window on the west side of the island. He said to there and back to the port was €30. My trip had been cheap to this point, so why not go. I'd hoped to get back to the port for the 12:00 or 12:45 ferry. The taxi driver started giving me a tour as well, pointing out different landmarks and buildings. The town of Victoria was all decorated in preparation for the festival of St. George the following week. There was a good bit of traffic going through the center of Victoria (it's the transport bottleneck) and we arrived out at the Azure Window about 11:45. The place was packed with tour buses, food carts and souvenir stalls. There was a huge line of people waiting to take boats through the Inland Sea, a bay of water reached through a sea cave. The Azure Window is a natural arch formed out over the Mediterranean. The weather was great for views, there were people swimming down below and I saw a group of scuba divers suiting up. I was pretty hungry by this point too and grabbed a sandwich at one of the kiosks before heading back to the taxi and the drive back to Mgarr on the opposite side of the island.

Victoria Festival


Azure Window


Fungus Rock

Still had some time before the 12:45 ferry and grabbed a gelato at one of the kiosks across from the ferry terminal. The ferry ride back was much quieter than the outbound, then caught the bus back towards the hotel. I wasn't sure what to do next... I definitely wanted to head into Valletta but I was also pretty tired but I knew if I went back to the hotel heading back out again would be tough. Tiredness won out and I went back to the hotel for an hour nap.... 4 hrs later and I'm still at the hotel and really needed to head out if I wanted a chance to see anything. My flight back home left tomorrow at 12:30 but that meant I would have to leave the hotel at 9:30AM to catch the bus and get to the airport in time, I was worried about there being long lines with the large number of tourists.

Gelato

I finally head out about 6:30PM and catch the bus towards Sliema. Good thing I left the hotel when I did as I just caught the last water taxi (19:00, €1.50) across the harbor. Valletta has some pretty formidable fortifications. The city was mostly built during the control of the Knights Hospitaller. Most of the streets were pretty dead by now, shops were closed until I reached the pedestrian streets near St. Georges square and Great Siege Square. I hadn't checked the hours on the St. Johns Co-Cathedral.. turns out they had already closed at 12PM on Saturday! I went by anyway and saw some people walking out, so decided to just walk in and see. There was someone there that said they were closed, but I asked if I could snap a picture or three from the entryway. Spent awhile more walking around town as it was getting dark. There were lots of little cafes and restaurants with people watching the World Cup. I finally came across the Saluting Battery where there was a wedding reception going on.

Sliema-Valleta ferry times







Valletta


St. John's Co-Cathedral

I was pretty hungry again and decided to check out a restaurant I had seen that advertised Maltese home cooking. Legligin turned out to be an excellent choice, a dimly lit place with tables setup in the cellar. It's mainly a wine bar but they serve tapa-style dishes that just keep coming for €20. Started off with Maltese bread, crunchy sourdough with soft insides, great for sopping up the olive oil. First course was a vegetable soup, then Maltese sausages with sundried tomato tepenade (sooo good), goats cheese, meatballs, quail salad, etc. I lost count of the number of dishes I ate. The owner was very friendly and described each dish as they were brought out. He said they have no fixed menu, they just go to the market and buy what is fresh every day. I finally called surrender after sitting and eating for nearly an hour and a half. All that for I wanted to catch the 10:00PM bus. The main bus station is just outside the gate and from here buses go out all over Malta. The St. Julians bus didn't appear to be running so they put a huge group on another bus but I had no idea where we were going. Eventually I ended up at the right bus stop. Walking back to the hotel I ended up in party alley, surrounded by bars and girls handing out cards to burlesque shows, etc. Some were pretty aggressive and actually grabbed at my sleeve. I must be getting old though as all I wanted to do was get back to the hotel and sleep! The Hard Rock cafe is right across from the Intercontinental so I stopped by there and picked up a t-shirt.

Restaurant

DanielW

Nothing like bad weather and flight cancellations to make for an interesting start to a TR!

The Azure Window on Gozo looks like it was definitely worth the ferry & taxi ride. Great that you go to see St. John's Co-Cathedral, I guess it pays to be a little inquisitive even if it appears to be past closing.

I used the X2 bus too to get to and from the airport. Not as quick as a taxi/limo, but was a great way to see a bit of island as well as the everyday life of the locals. Unfortunately didn't get to sit next a cute girl, but had a bus driver who kept cranking the volume up on some Black Sabbath.

Congratulations on country #163 too. You must have been tempted though taking a 45 minute KM flight to TIP for #164(?).

offerendum

Memories came back! Nice report

hauteboy

Libya was tempting! But ticket prices were running $400+. And still not sure about visa situation.

hauteboy

Jan 6, 2014
Flight: Luqa, Malta (MLA) to Munich, Germany (MUC); Lufthansa A320 Business
Flight: Munich, Germany (MUC) to Chicago, IL (ORD); Lufthansa A340 Business
Flight: Chicago, IL (ORD) to Austin, TX (AUS); United 737 First
I woke up about 7AM this morning. I'd hoped to get out and see some more this morning but since I had to leave the hotel by 9:20 that didn't really give me much time. I took it slow and went down to the breakfast (€23.30) buffet. They had a decent selection (full English Breakfast, waffles, juice, etc). I headed down about 9:10 to checkout but it took quite awhile as there was a line.. eventually the concierge helped me out but that took awhile too as he had to keep going back to the front desk for printout, then they gave me a 'gift' (sea salt + candies) and an Ambassador pin. By then it was 9:30 and the airport bus was supposed to leave at 9:38... I'm pretty sure it was early as I saw a bus pulling away when I was still a few hundred meters from the stop. After waiting for 10 minutes I realized I'd left my Hard Rock shirt in the bed in the hotel! The next bus wasn't for another 20-25 minutes so wasn't sure what to do. I really should have gone back to the hotel to get my shirt at that point.

I walked back to the taxi rank and caught a taxi (€20) to the airport. The ATM there wasn't working but we stopped at one along the way. Barely twenty minutes later I'm at the airport and checked and through security... no lines at all. I guess there are a lot of tourists but it isn't Mallorca here. I was given a pass to the La Valette lounge which is located inside the duty free shop. There is also a Hard Rock shop at the airport so went there to pick up another shirt before going back to the lounge. The lounge was OK, free wifi and drinks and some cold snacks.


La Valette Lounge


Leaving Malta

The flight to Munich was fine. I was a bit worried about my connection here as I only had an hour. No worries as we actually arrived about 15 minutes early. I was through immigration very quickly (used my UK passport and EU e-gates) and headed to the LH lounge, which was absolutely packed. Decided to go wait at the gate instead. After all the warnings about enhanced security on US-bound flights, the x-ray and metal detectors were turned off on the way to the gate. We boarded the A340 (old business class seats) on time, but then sat on the ground for 40 minutes while they fixed a mechanical problem. That cut my connection in Chicago down to only an hour. The flight back was OK, between sleeping and watching some movies.


LH A320 J MLA-MUC



Near Munich





LH A340 J MUC-ORD
Arrived in Chicago gate M4 at 7PM for my flight out (C-gates) at 8PM.. luckily that time of night there were no other inbound flights. I had Global Entry though so that wouldn't have mattered. Made it through security and over to T1 by 7:20PM but then had problems trying to get my boarding pass from the kiosk (found out later they'd already rerouted me on a later AA flight to Austin) but eventually the agent was able to check me in and hand me my TSA Precheck boarding pass. Through security was quick and down the tunnel across to C-gates. My final flight to Austin left on time (yay!) with no other issues.

T8191

Everyone is going to Malta ... excellent!!

I like the look of the Air Malta food ... more interesting than BA's offering, but we need the Tier Points and Avios
Nice suite at the IC too.
Good photos - its a very 'visual' country. And wasn't the weather lovely?
And MUCH better pictures of the La Valette lounge than mine!

It's a cultural thing. It could be a Saint's Day Festa (festival) or a big wedding, or anything. And it can sound like a barrage on the Western Front in WW1 - we had it in stereo at the Phoenicia one evening.


There's a link to my TR (published yesterday) in my signature

offerendum

When we were in Malta they had an election. A big festival, they really like to celebrate....

steveman518

Very nice! What could have been if I decided to pull the trigger on this one...

rgmonkey

Great review!

Bretteee

I loved Malta and Gozo. Spent 10 days there. There is a lot to see.

UNITED F is a joke.

DanielW

The BBC are reporting that TIP will be out of action for months after the latest rocket attack.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28304004

hauteboy

Yep.. saw that. Ugh, what a mess. Libya has been thwarting my visit for years now... wanted to go since 2006. 90% of their planes destroyed!

hauteboy

Sad to hear the Azure Window is no more... the whole thing collapsed in a storm yesterday.