Overflowing cup of travel woes - Part 2
Continued from Part 1
Day 2 - Sunday - 1130 hrs
----------------------------
We are now careful people and reach Dulles airport 4.5 hrs before our slated take off time. The Lufthansa checkin desk which is a mess and definitely NOT an example of Immaculate German Efficiency tells us that we are on standby since we are lowly United passengers palmed off to Lufthansa. They take our bags though. We run to the United counter and wait for 45 mins to talk to the lady there and explain how it's unacceptable to be on standby after all that we've been through. She pecks at her keyboard and tells me that Real Nice United Agent from Pittsburgh went beyond what was necessary by rebooking us on a new route and we should be eternally grateful to United. I don't want to antagonise her and proclaim that United was indeed greater than Kanye West who is in turn bigger than Jesus. The United Lady then gets us boarding passes for a United flight from Dulles to Pittsburgh. I am however told to go back to Lufthansa and tell them to retag the bags and send it to United. I trudge back to the Lufthansa line and am near my wits end having spent close to 2.5 hrs in queues since morning. Lufthansa woman believes all United personnel are incompetent Americans and tells me that it isn't their job to retag bags. I tell her all I want is a decent chance of having my bags reach Bangalore. After a few more trips to both the United and Lufthansa counters I finally talk to a Lufthansa supervisor who is sweet and tells us that she'll send the bags along on Lufthansa. We're bushed and nod our heads in a state that can only be described as whateverdom.
After a horrid United flight we finally reach Frankfurt with a significant chance that we were breaking immigration rules by not possessing boarding passes to travel out of Frankfurt.
Day 3 - Monday - 0730 hrs in Frankfurt
-----------------------------------------
Not surprisingly, the line at the Frankfurt Lufthansa transfer check in counter is long. After 90 mins of waiting, we reach the head of the queue where the Lufthansa Lady tells us that we need to contact United because she "can't open" the reservation. I have no idea what that means and head over to the United counter which is manned (or womanned) by a Lufthansa agent (probably because it's against the law for incompetent United employees to do anything beyond exist in the Fatherland) who tells us to go right back to the Lufthansa counter. Going from counter to counter is second nature to us now and we head back cattle-like. The line at the Lufthansa counter is now even longer. I'm in no mood to wait another 90 mins so I grab an agent and explain our situation. He takes our passports and returns after 20 mins with 2 boarding passes. Finally we are done, I think. We head towards a cafe to down our irritation in pilsener. I then glance at the boarding passes and realise that my boarding pass doesn't have my name. I head back to the Lufthansa line and glare at the agent who glares back at me. I accusingly tell him about the incorrect names and he tries to send me away to another counter. The lady at the counter points me right back at Rude Boy who finally gives me the right boarding passes. I definitely have earned my pilsener.
The flight from Frankfurt to Bangalore is great with the Super Sweet Stewardess being very nice to us.
Day 4 - Tuesday - 0100 hrs in Bangalore
-----------------------------------------
We land in the new airport in Bangalore which is gleaming and looks like a modern intl airport as opposed to the cattle shed that passed for an airport earlier. We have no hope of getting our luggage so we hit the duty free store before heading to the Lufthansa counter to file our missing luggage claims. One of our suitcases manages to sneak in much to our surprise. The lost luggage queue takes up another 45 mins. The Lufthansa folks hand us a handy chunk of change "for our troubles". We are pleased. We head out into the terminal and marvel at the magnificient new airport complete with a 45 feet gigantic Louis Vuitton bag sculpture. Just when we think it's all done and we are home free, the cab driver who's pushing the luggage cart doesn't notice that the duty free bag is precariously placed and a bottle of tequila hits the floor and shatters. We mourn our loss and climb into the cab reeking of tequila which splashed onto our pants. The 45 min ride home is great.
We finally reach home albeit sans 3 bags. We are bruised, battered, exhausted, relieved.
The bags reach us 2 days later. I have never thought I'd be so glad to see my old pair of shorts. It's a wonder what two days of stewing in a dirty pair of jeans in Bangalore's muggy weather can do to you.
We vow that long scenic routes are really not for us. We also agree that United is to be intensely disliked.
Day 2 - Sunday - 1130 hrs
----------------------------
We are now careful people and reach Dulles airport 4.5 hrs before our slated take off time. The Lufthansa checkin desk which is a mess and definitely NOT an example of Immaculate German Efficiency tells us that we are on standby since we are lowly United passengers palmed off to Lufthansa. They take our bags though. We run to the United counter and wait for 45 mins to talk to the lady there and explain how it's unacceptable to be on standby after all that we've been through. She pecks at her keyboard and tells me that Real Nice United Agent from Pittsburgh went beyond what was necessary by rebooking us on a new route and we should be eternally grateful to United. I don't want to antagonise her and proclaim that United was indeed greater than Kanye West who is in turn bigger than Jesus. The United Lady then gets us boarding passes for a United flight from Dulles to Pittsburgh. I am however told to go back to Lufthansa and tell them to retag the bags and send it to United. I trudge back to the Lufthansa line and am near my wits end having spent close to 2.5 hrs in queues since morning. Lufthansa woman believes all United personnel are incompetent Americans and tells me that it isn't their job to retag bags. I tell her all I want is a decent chance of having my bags reach Bangalore. After a few more trips to both the United and Lufthansa counters I finally talk to a Lufthansa supervisor who is sweet and tells us that she'll send the bags along on Lufthansa. We're bushed and nod our heads in a state that can only be described as whateverdom.
After a horrid United flight we finally reach Frankfurt with a significant chance that we were breaking immigration rules by not possessing boarding passes to travel out of Frankfurt.
Day 3 - Monday - 0730 hrs in Frankfurt
-----------------------------------------
Not surprisingly, the line at the Frankfurt Lufthansa transfer check in counter is long. After 90 mins of waiting, we reach the head of the queue where the Lufthansa Lady tells us that we need to contact United because she "can't open" the reservation. I have no idea what that means and head over to the United counter which is manned (or womanned) by a Lufthansa agent (probably because it's against the law for incompetent United employees to do anything beyond exist in the Fatherland) who tells us to go right back to the Lufthansa counter. Going from counter to counter is second nature to us now and we head back cattle-like. The line at the Lufthansa counter is now even longer. I'm in no mood to wait another 90 mins so I grab an agent and explain our situation. He takes our passports and returns after 20 mins with 2 boarding passes. Finally we are done, I think. We head towards a cafe to down our irritation in pilsener. I then glance at the boarding passes and realise that my boarding pass doesn't have my name. I head back to the Lufthansa line and glare at the agent who glares back at me. I accusingly tell him about the incorrect names and he tries to send me away to another counter. The lady at the counter points me right back at Rude Boy who finally gives me the right boarding passes. I definitely have earned my pilsener.
The flight from Frankfurt to Bangalore is great with the Super Sweet Stewardess being very nice to us.
Day 4 - Tuesday - 0100 hrs in Bangalore
-----------------------------------------
We land in the new airport in Bangalore which is gleaming and looks like a modern intl airport as opposed to the cattle shed that passed for an airport earlier. We have no hope of getting our luggage so we hit the duty free store before heading to the Lufthansa counter to file our missing luggage claims. One of our suitcases manages to sneak in much to our surprise. The lost luggage queue takes up another 45 mins. The Lufthansa folks hand us a handy chunk of change "for our troubles". We are pleased. We head out into the terminal and marvel at the magnificient new airport complete with a 45 feet gigantic Louis Vuitton bag sculpture. Just when we think it's all done and we are home free, the cab driver who's pushing the luggage cart doesn't notice that the duty free bag is precariously placed and a bottle of tequila hits the floor and shatters. We mourn our loss and climb into the cab reeking of tequila which splashed onto our pants. The 45 min ride home is great.
We finally reach home albeit sans 3 bags. We are bruised, battered, exhausted, relieved.
The bags reach us 2 days later. I have never thought I'd be so glad to see my old pair of shorts. It's a wonder what two days of stewing in a dirty pair of jeans in Bangalore's muggy weather can do to you.
We vow that long scenic routes are really not for us. We also agree that United is to be intensely disliked.