Weekend EDI-FRA
Feb 27, 2007, 3:35 pm
#1
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Join Date: May 2006
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Weekend EDI-FRA
Some friends of mine who spend winters in FRA are going to be heading out in a couple weeks, so I decided to visit the place while they were there.
The travel summary:
DND-EDI 23 Feb 0733 Virgin Trains + AirDirect 747 bus
EDI-AMS 23 Feb 1050 KL 1280
AMS-FRA 23 Feb 1615 KL 1771
FRA-AMS 26 Feb 1100 KL 1766
AMS-EDI 26 Feb 1520 KL 1285
EDI-DND 26 Feb AirLink 100 bus + 1900 Virgin Trains
In more detail:
I was up early Friday. Okay, technically, I hadn't slept a wink. Got down to Dundee station, bought a combi ticket for the train to Inverkeithing and the AirDirect 747 bus from there to EDI. Was surprised to see that the train was Virgin, since I've always wound up riding First ScotRail or GNER before. It was nice enough, though.
Got to EDI, checked in, and hit the lounge there. They didn't have the crisps, cheeses or shortbread I'd seen last time, but had everything else, and brought out some little cakes, some chocolate and others lemon. I tried a slice of the lemon one, and one of the lounge ladies asked what I thought of it, saying they hadn't had it there before. It was good, if very sweet.
Flight from EDI-AMS was... well, I suppose it was uneventful, but I'm not certain because I was sound asleep for the vast majority of it. That meant missing a sandwich of Old Amsterdam cheese on a Waldkorn roll... but not to worry, I'd get some later!
In AMS, went through passport control and such, then hit KLM lounge #25 which was very nice. Got a couple free 30-minute slips and used my laptop on Ethernet. Didn't eat much; the food options weren't as diverse as in Edinburgh, but then, I've yet to encounter a lounge where they are.
KL1771 was listed as an F70, but turned out to be an F100, and half-empty. Had a sandwich of Old Amsterdam cheese on a Waldkorn roll. We got in a bit early, but my friends arrived quickly to pick me up (which involved one of them shouting German curses at the drivers behind them who were shouting German curses becuase they'd stopped to pick me up).
I wrote up my thoughts on Frankfurt itself separately, and also posted some pictures.
Took the S-Bahn back to the airport Monday morning. Got there pretty early. I didn't spot the Delta lounge everyone raves about; don't know if maybe it's i n Terminal 1. I was flying out of T2. There was an Air France Salon that was pretty nice, though. The counter lady was surprised when this American asked whether she was from somewhere other than Germany because of her accent... and even more surprised when, upon hearing she was from Bulgaria, I asked whether she was from Sofia, or Varna. Guess she didn't expect me to know any geography.
They've got 3 flat-panel iMacs for websurfing, and all 3 appeared operational. (Compare this to only 2 in the huge AF Salon in CDG T2C, one of which was malfunctioning when I was there a couple weeks ago.) Unfortunately, the smoking area is right on the other side of a partition from them, and there's no actual barrier to the smoke, so it's not a very comfortable environment for a non-smoker to surf the web. Food options were very limited, some little round cakes that were chocolate on the outside and vanilla in the center. Good orange juice, though.
KL 1766 was late arriving, and to balance out the upgauging of the last flight from a F70 to an F100, this one turned out to be an F70 instead of the F100 it was supposed to be. Had a sandwich of Old Amsterdam cheese on a Waldkorn roll. Got into AMS about 20 minutes late. I hit lounge #25 again for a bit, then went through passport control, did some shopping (doll for my daughter, cheeses for my wife) and scouted around the other lounges. #41 was closed, #52 was open but had the same food as #25.
KL 1285 was on a 737-900, "Nightengale/Nachtegaal" with the slick new Recaro seats. Real nice looking. The plane was 2/3 empty, though! I got some duty-free chocolates for my family. Considered having a sandwich of Old Amsterdam cheese on a Waldkorn roll, but decided to mix things up and picked ham on a croissant instead. Arrival in EDI was uneventful, and for once, I didn't have to wait for my checked bag - because I had traveled with just a rollaboard!
I'd been in touch with a certain FlyerTalk Moderator who just happened to be visiting Edinburgh that weekend, so I took the AirLink 100 bus into downtown, wandered around photographing old stuff and hit a local chippy to kill some time, then met up with him and chatted a bit while waiting for my train back up to DND from Waverly station.
The travel summary:
DND-EDI 23 Feb 0733 Virgin Trains + AirDirect 747 bus
EDI-AMS 23 Feb 1050 KL 1280
AMS-FRA 23 Feb 1615 KL 1771
FRA-AMS 26 Feb 1100 KL 1766
AMS-EDI 26 Feb 1520 KL 1285
EDI-DND 26 Feb AirLink 100 bus + 1900 Virgin Trains
In more detail:
I was up early Friday. Okay, technically, I hadn't slept a wink. Got down to Dundee station, bought a combi ticket for the train to Inverkeithing and the AirDirect 747 bus from there to EDI. Was surprised to see that the train was Virgin, since I've always wound up riding First ScotRail or GNER before. It was nice enough, though.
Got to EDI, checked in, and hit the lounge there. They didn't have the crisps, cheeses or shortbread I'd seen last time, but had everything else, and brought out some little cakes, some chocolate and others lemon. I tried a slice of the lemon one, and one of the lounge ladies asked what I thought of it, saying they hadn't had it there before. It was good, if very sweet.
Flight from EDI-AMS was... well, I suppose it was uneventful, but I'm not certain because I was sound asleep for the vast majority of it. That meant missing a sandwich of Old Amsterdam cheese on a Waldkorn roll... but not to worry, I'd get some later!
In AMS, went through passport control and such, then hit KLM lounge #25 which was very nice. Got a couple free 30-minute slips and used my laptop on Ethernet. Didn't eat much; the food options weren't as diverse as in Edinburgh, but then, I've yet to encounter a lounge where they are.
KL1771 was listed as an F70, but turned out to be an F100, and half-empty. Had a sandwich of Old Amsterdam cheese on a Waldkorn roll. We got in a bit early, but my friends arrived quickly to pick me up (which involved one of them shouting German curses at the drivers behind them who were shouting German curses becuase they'd stopped to pick me up).
I wrote up my thoughts on Frankfurt itself separately, and also posted some pictures.
Took the S-Bahn back to the airport Monday morning. Got there pretty early. I didn't spot the Delta lounge everyone raves about; don't know if maybe it's i n Terminal 1. I was flying out of T2. There was an Air France Salon that was pretty nice, though. The counter lady was surprised when this American asked whether she was from somewhere other than Germany because of her accent... and even more surprised when, upon hearing she was from Bulgaria, I asked whether she was from Sofia, or Varna. Guess she didn't expect me to know any geography.
They've got 3 flat-panel iMacs for websurfing, and all 3 appeared operational. (Compare this to only 2 in the huge AF Salon in CDG T2C, one of which was malfunctioning when I was there a couple weeks ago.) Unfortunately, the smoking area is right on the other side of a partition from them, and there's no actual barrier to the smoke, so it's not a very comfortable environment for a non-smoker to surf the web. Food options were very limited, some little round cakes that were chocolate on the outside and vanilla in the center. Good orange juice, though.
KL 1766 was late arriving, and to balance out the upgauging of the last flight from a F70 to an F100, this one turned out to be an F70 instead of the F100 it was supposed to be. Had a sandwich of Old Amsterdam cheese on a Waldkorn roll. Got into AMS about 20 minutes late. I hit lounge #25 again for a bit, then went through passport control, did some shopping (doll for my daughter, cheeses for my wife) and scouted around the other lounges. #41 was closed, #52 was open but had the same food as #25.
KL 1285 was on a 737-900, "Nightengale/Nachtegaal" with the slick new Recaro seats. Real nice looking. The plane was 2/3 empty, though! I got some duty-free chocolates for my family. Considered having a sandwich of Old Amsterdam cheese on a Waldkorn roll, but decided to mix things up and picked ham on a croissant instead. Arrival in EDI was uneventful, and for once, I didn't have to wait for my checked bag - because I had traveled with just a rollaboard!
I'd been in touch with a certain FlyerTalk Moderator who just happened to be visiting Edinburgh that weekend, so I took the AirLink 100 bus into downtown, wandered around photographing old stuff and hit a local chippy to kill some time, then met up with him and chatted a bit while waiting for my train back up to DND from Waverly station.
Feb 27, 2007, 5:00 pm
#2
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: DCA
Posts: 3,395
Thanks for a great intra-Europe trip report. With almost 4 hours in AMS did you consider heading into town? I find AMS easy enough that for anything over 4 hour layover I always head into town rather than hang at the KLM lounge.
Feb 27, 2007, 5:04 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2006
Programs: DL SkyClub Lifer
Posts: 10,000
I'll get there sooner or later, though.