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Background of the Trip
Again I went visiting my mother in Holland this week. I shuttle between Argentina and the Netherlands every two months. As always, I chose Lufthansa for this flight - they offer the best prices and connecting times from South America to Europe, and I am a Frequent Traveller with their milleage programme.
Here I go. Enjoy your reading.
Trip Report
To Ezeiza I went with my dad, who drove me there. As the flight left almost at 4 pm, we decided we could have lunch at the airport, which was not a bad idea.
I checked-in very quickly in the empty Lufthansa Business Class counters. The attendant was always smiling and gave me both boarding cards, for this flight and the following one to Amsterdam. I was also given an invitation for the Lufthansa lounge. Interesting; I always enter those lounges with my Frequent Traveller card, no need of invitation. I only had carry-on luggage, which always makes things faster.
We then had luch at one of Ezeiza's restaurants. This one was located just next to the arrivals section of the terminal. I had a beef with french fries, which was very good.
After luch I said bye-bye to my dad and went through security. No big lines, just five persons behind me. I should say the whole airport was empty that day.
Anyway, passport control took a little bit longer, due to the very few desks opened this Saturday afternoon. However I believe it didn't last more than 10 minutes. At 14:30 I officially left Argentina.
Now that I was on the air-side of the airport I went to the lounge. Lufthansa does not have its own lounge at Ezeiza, as other airlines, such as American, United and Iberia, do. They share the Salón de las Américas with Air France and Grupo TACA, among others. The Salón de las Américas is located just opposite of gate 3.
I gave the invitation to a pretty young-lady, who welcomed me on a very friendly way. I started then to inspect the area. The Salón consists of two rooms, one very big and another quite small. The smaller one is the smoking area. There is a good selection of beverages and a respectable one of food, mostly snacks. Seats are very comfortable and so are the tables. There are two free Internet-connected computers. It really surprises me how the majority of the lounges in Argentina have free Internet access, while the European ones don't. Maybe we Argentineans are more addict to Internet than others?
There is a wide selection of newspapers and magazines, mostly German and French-speaking. Since I was flying on May 1st, there were no Argentinean newspapers. I took a Paris Match and an indian tonic and comfortably seated in one of the armchairs. Oh, the pleasure of being a frequent flier!
At 15:20 I left the lounge. I bought a magazine in the kiosk and then started spotting the planes which were parked. Of course I could see lots of Aerolíneas Argentinas. In addition to that, there were some United, American, Air France and Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano aircrafts. In the meantime a Varig 737-300 arrived from Rio de Janeiro. Our big bird was a little bid delayed, apparently because of adverse weather conditions in Santiago de Chile. I was not worried at all - Lufthansa always manages to leave late and arrive on time. It finally appeared at 15:30.
Boarding started at 16:00. First, connecting passengers from Chile, then Business and Star Gold and assistance-required persons and finally Economy. Queuing seems to be a national sport in Argentina - people were up waiting in front of the gate already at 15:30, half an hour before any message was said. I boarded one of the very last, just like always.
Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) to Frankfurt Rhein-Main (FRA)
01 May 2004
Lufthansa LH527
Airbus A340-600
D-AIHE "Leverkusen"
Seat 39H (Economy - aisle)
Estimated/Actual time of departure: 15:55/16:30 (GMT -3)
Estimated/Actual time of arrival: 10:20/10:20 +1 (GMT +2)
[photoid=267818][photoid=240614]
When I entered the plane I was greeted with the classical "Hallo, guten Abend!" by two flight attendants, a male and a woman. I answered "Hallo, neununddreißig-ha (39H) bitte" and was told to go to the second aisle. Then we had to pass through the last rows of Business. I am convinced this is done on purpose by the Lufthansa marketing agents. They want Economy passengers to see how comfortable they could fly if they paid Business. From my point of view, the new Business Class looks simply amazing, even better than the old First. I wish I could try it someday.
I found my seat quickly and put my luggage in the overhead bins. My neighbour was already installed. A few moments later, the purser said "Boarding completed, danke" and the security video started. Lufthansa has a new security video for its A340-600, which is however still very similar to the old. I guess a "normal" passenger would not realize the differences. As always, the video is in German and Spanish, plus a short English version. Actually, the English version is only:
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're now ready for take off. Please ensure your seat belts are fasten and your tables are in the up-right position. For more information, please read the small instructive located in the seat pocket in front of you. Our cabin attendants will be happy to assist you. Thank you for flying with Lufthansa."
As soon as we reached the cruising altitude, service started. First, the so-called Cocktail Service. Lufthansa seems to be the only airline that still has these cool features in Economy. After dinner, they also offer liqueurs and spirits. Nice touches that make flights nicer. My "cocktail" was an apple juice. My neighbour's, a Campari Orange. The napkins we were given had an advertisement printed. A good advertising policy, except for the fact that they were written in German - a language about half of the passengers didn't speak.
Then, in the TVs we could see an advertising of the new "Lufthansa BodyBelt". The BodyBelt is the old nécessaire, which is not free anymore in Economy. It costs €5. After that, we were showed EuroNews.
Surprisingly, there was only one dinner option: ravioli with meat. I don't know if they run out of other possibilities or what. I din't asked either as I was fine with the ravioli. On the tray there were also a salad and a strange sort of apple pie. I had a Warsteiner beer to drink. The food was, like always, very good. We were also given hot bread. I spent the dinner chatting with my neighbour, an Argentinean Tango teacher.
After dinner I read the Lufthansa magazine, which is called Lufthansa Magazin. That name is almost as original as the "There's no better way to fly" slogan. Lufthansa Magazin was dedicated this April to Buenos Aires, with lots of interesting articles. Even though they started with the left foot (Spanish expression), LH Magazin is now very good and interesting; not only advertising, as in the past.
Movies shown were How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Anger Management and Blood Work. I didn't watch them and spent my time reading magazines and newspapers. Among them, a Bunte magazine I found on the plane. Not that I am a fan of those kind of magazines, but it is always funny to see pictures the marriage of Prince Johan Friso of Holland. Meanwhile, Free Shop was available. I managed to sleep 4 hours.
We followed a very strange route on this flight. For some unknown reason, we avoided Uruguay. Instead, we followed river Paraná until the Iguazú falls. Then we entered Brazil and flew over Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza. We flew over the Canary Islands and entered Europe through Spain. Then the Pyrénées mountains, southern France, Lyon, the Alps and Switzerland. We entered Germany by the south: Baden-Württemberg, then Hessen and finally Frankfurt. I found very nice to see the Alps from 30,000 feet.
Breakfast was served when we were flying just over Madrid. It was the classical cheese omelette, a fruit salad and a yoghurt. Very tasty.
About 45 minutes before landing, we were showed a video regarding Frankfurt airport. It was very well done and, if I didn't knew the airport, it would have been very helpful. It also mentioned that passengers going to Mannheim, Strasbourg and Heidelberg can catch the Lufthansa Airport Bus, and the ones going to Stuttgart and Cologne the Lufthansa AIRail. New features I didn't know.
Landing at Frankfurt was good. We disembarked at gate B20.
Transfer at Frankfurt Rhein-Main (FRA)
At the gate there were four Bundesgrenzschutz (German Border Police) checking some persons' passports. There was also a drug-detecting dog. New measures, apparently.
I asked in the Lufthansa Transfer Desk where was located the Business Lounge, and was told that it was next to gate B44. I walked all the way to it. Entering with my Frequent Traveller card was not a problem at all. I only had to show my boarding pass and the card and the lady told me "Herzlich Willkommen, Herr Roca". Again, that's why I like being a Frequent Traveller!
The lounge was really crowded and I had a hard time finding a seat. I finally did. I also noted myself for a shower, which I never was able to have - when I left, there still were 13 persons before me. I am happy they plan to expand the lounges. Those are certainly not enough for all Business, LH Frequent Traveller and Star Gold passengers.
However, those German cookies they offer are simply great. They remember me my childhood; my grandma always made those when I was a kid. I had lots of cookies with a Kaffee-Schokolade, a mixture of coffee and hot chocolate. I also took a Frankfurter Rundschau and a La Vanguardia Spanish newspaper.
I left the lounge at noon and slowly walked towards the A-pier. Passport control was done in a breeze. There was a considerable queue for non-EU nationals, though.
I arrived to A16 at 12:15 and boarding was just starting. We were bussed to the plane. In the bus, a recorded tape asked us in German and English to please board through the first door if our seats were in rows 1-14 and through the rear door if our seats were in rows 15 onwards.
Frankfurt Rhein-Main (FRA) to Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS)
02 May 2004
Lufthansa LH4676
Airbus A321-200
D-AISD "Chemnitz"
Seat 12F (Economy - window)
Estimated/Actual time of departure: 12:35/12:40 (GMT +2)
Estimated/Actual time of arrival: 13:40/13:30 (GMT +2)
[photoid=278696][photoid=230301]
This flight was half empty and almost all the passengers came from other connecting flights, most of them from the US. As I had the whole row of three for myself, I spent the whole flight reading La Vanguardia.
The service on this flight has been reduced. Now Lufthansa offers small boxes, containing a sandwich and a glass of water. Although I will miss the big selection of beverages, it is quite understandable. Attendants always had to rush during the service because of the flight's lenght. I was not hungry so I had the water and left the sandwich. I had too many cookies in Frankfurt!
Nothing really interesting to say about this flight. We followed the same route than always, flying over Wiesbaden, Bonn, Cologne and Düsseldorf in Germany. We entered the Netherlands by Enschede and then straight into Schiphol. We arrived 10 minutes in advance.
We arrived to B14, which seems to be with B11 and B16 the Lufthansa gate at Amsterdam. Next to us there was an Olympic 737-400 with the Olympic Games livery, which I liked a lot. I said "Danke" to one of the attendants and she answered me "ich muß Ihnen danken!" ("I must thank you!"), which I thought was a really nice touch.
As soon as I disembarked, I started hearing Dutch. The only thing I could thought was oh God I already miss German. No offense, but Dutch is not a friendly language.
I left the airport in a few moments, since I didn't have any luggage to wait for. Schiphol is under rebuilding and the already finished parts look great.
My mother was waiting for me and we catched the train to The Hague from there.
The Return
My mother and I arrived to Schiphol at 5 pm and went to the Lufthansa Business Class check-in desks. Everything was doing fine until the lady asked me to show her my carry-on luggage. She then asked me to put it in the balance. It was 13 kg. She said I'd have to check it, since the limit is 10 kg. I answered I have flown with the same luggage from Buenos Aires, São Paulo and Frankfurt and never had a single problem. She said it was true, but those were long-houl flights. My luggage was OK for the FRA-EZE flight, but not for the AMS-FRA. So, I'd have to check it in Amsterdam and pick it up in Frankfurt. I told her that was simply impossible, nor I wanted to do so.
I left the Lufthansa counters and went to the KLM check-in area. There, I took two of my school books off the bag and asked my mom to take them till I get back. I went back to the LH counter and checked-in at the Economy counter, which was less crowded. The Business lady told her colleague, in Dutch, "beware because his hand luggage is 13 kg". She asked me, on a really polite way, to put in the balance and...Surprise! It was 10 kg! I was then given both boarding passes for my flight to Frankfurt and for the following one to Buenos Aires.
Then I headed to the Lufthansa Ticket desk. I asked for an address where I could write to, complaining about this. I never had a single problem with any Lufthansa employee never anywhere but at Schiphol, where I already had trouble twice. I don't know what the hell happens to them but I ask for an apology. I always choose Lufthansa for my flights and I don't want to be treated like an idiot as compensation. I already sent a letter to LH Amsterdam.
We then went for something to eat in the 3rd floor of the airport. There's a nice place, called something like Wings, over there.
Finally, at 18:00 I said bye to my mom and went through security. Security was quite slow, like always, because there are only two machines for all the Schengen passengers. Buying a third won't hurt, I promise!
I headed for Lufthansa lounge, which is owned by GlobeGround and adminstrated by bmi British Midland. It is located on a first floor, therefore it has great views of the terminal. Its decoration is all blue, white and light brown: bmi colours. Attention however, was OK, not as nice as in Lufthansa's. To my surprise, on this very big place there were only 3 people and me.
I made myself a tomato juice, with salt and pepper and read an NRC Handelsblad, which had two big interesting articles - one realted to the A380 and another one to KLM.
At 19:00 I left the lounge and went to the See Buy Fly Press kiosk. I bought a Le Monde newspaper and a De Groene Amsterdammer magazine. I handled my Flying Dutchman card and earned some miles. I guess just a few since the price was €5.10.
I then went really slowly to B-pier, where I also walked a little bit. I watched all the Transavia birds waiting for its flights to Italy and Spain, an Iberia leaving for Madrid and an Avrolino of Austrian Arrows/Tyrolean in white colours. I would not like to be inside an Avrolino on a flight to Vienna, which lenghts about 2:30 hours.
Boarding was announced just when I arrived to our gate, B09. That's what I call synchronisation. When I gave the boarding pass, the lady told me I have given her the one to Buenos Aires instead the one to Frankfurt. I found strange, yet nice, that she knew that EZE means Buenos Aires.
Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) to Frankfurt Rhein-Main (FRA)
08 May 2004
Lufthansa LH4681
Airbus A320-200
D-AIPE "Kasel"
Seat 20A (Economy - window)
Estimated/Actual time of departure: 19:55/20:15 (GMT +2)
Estimated/Actual time of arrival: 21:00/21:00 (GMT +2)
[photoid=236064][photoid=60139]
I boarded one of the very first and was greeted by two female attendants. None of them made a single comment about my luggage, which perfectly fitted in the overhead compartments. Boy, that lady was really painful...
The seat in the center of my row of three remained empty, while the aisle seat was occupied by a Dutch middle-aged man who turned to be flying to Santiago, i.e. the same flight than me. He was a really interesting and funny person.
A few minutes later, the captain said that because of heavy winds at Frankfurt, we would be arriving a little bit late.
When service started, we both asked the flight attendant why this change from service to boxes. She told us it was a new policy applied on less-than-2-hour flights. Wie schade!
There were clouds all over our route, so I just spent the whole flight talking with my neighbour.
Landing was good and we parked at B10, which wasn't that far from B46, where our flight to Buenos Aires/Santiago would be leaving.
Transfer at Frankfurt Rhein-Main (FRA)
My neighbour, his friend and I went first of all to the passport control. There were only two desks open, so it took quite a lot of time to pass it. Bundesgrenzschutz agents apparently have better things to do than working on a Saturday night.
Since my neighbour was a Senator member, we then went to the Lufthansa Business Class located opposite to B44. We asked the lady if we had time enough for a drink. She said that even though boarding had already started, the plane would be leaving at 22:20, so we had plenty of time. She was making lots of jokes and laughing. I'm starting to love Lufthansa's Frankfurt ground staff!
The lounge was not full not empty either. I had a beer with some peanuts and they had white wine. At 22:00 we decided it was time to leave, which we did. I took with me an ABC Spanish newspaper.
When we arrived to the gate, we were one of the very last passengers. We all had to show our passports just to confirm we were the same person than printed in our boarding passes. I wonder why this procedure is only done in ultra-Schengen flights. In my opinion, it should be also implemented in the intra-Schengen routes.
Frankfurt Rhein-Main (FRA) to Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE)
08 May 2004
Lufthansa LH526
Airbus A340-600
D-AIHI
Seat 37C (Economy - aisle)
Estimated/Actual time of departure: 22:20/22:45 (GMT +2)
Estimated/Actual time of arrival: 07:35/07:35 +1 (GMT -3)
Note: Hotel India is the latest incorporation to the Lufthansa fleet, therefore it has not been baptized yet, nor there are pictures of it in the database.
We again entered the plane through Business class, which convinced me even more that this was a marketing campaign. And again I promised myself I will fly the new Lufthansa Business someday.
Almost all the passengers were already in their seats, and so was my new neighbour. I didn't have any trouble finding a place for my luggage, which again fitted perfectly in the overhead bin.
After the doors were closed, the captain made an announcement. He said the in-flight entertainment system in Economy class was not working properly, but he decided not to delay even more our departure. However, we would be able to watch all the movies and the route map. "The problem with the IFE had to do with the fact that this plane has been received by Lufthansa three days ago", he said. I thought it has nothing to do with it, since you guys already own 8 A346s - you should know how to use the IFE. But oh well, I am not a big fan of the IFE either.
The security video was replaced by a manual "show", just like in the short-houl planes. I didn't pay attention to it, except for the fact that the purser repeated exactly the same English message than the video. The one that starts with "Ladies and gentlemen, we're now ready for take off..."
As soon as we reached the flying altitude, the Cocktail Service started. All the services on this flight were slow, even for Lufthansa long-houl standards, which are slow themselves. I had a tomato juice and was given also some salt and pepper, which I find better than having the attendant doing it for you. I like to decide how many salt and pepper I want.
This time we did have two dinner options: meat or chicken. I went for meat and it was Gulasch. There was also some salad and a cake. I had two 15-cl cans of Diet Coke. Everything was really tasty.
After dinner, liqueurs and spirits were served. Movies shown were Maid in Manhattan, Shanghai Knights and About Schmidt. However, I fell asleep after dinner. In total, I slept 8 hours!
Breakfast consisted of the same cheese omelette, fruit salad and yoghurt than in the other flight. Nevertheless, I wasn't hungry and only ate the omelette and had a cup of coffee and an orange juice. With breakfast, the crew also gave the customs and immigration forms for Argentina and Chile.
A few moments before touching Ezeiza's runway 11, the captain decided to abort the landing and restarted the engines at its fastest speed. All the passengers were surprised and some also scared. The purser after that said "Ladies and gentlemen, as you have noticed, we have not landed", which I found was very funny as an annoucement. Then the Captain explained that we have had very fast tail winds, which made our landing very unsafe, so he decided to land from the other side of the runway, against the wind.
Once we finally were on the ground, the purser made the normal "Welcome to Buenos Aires" speech, but he also wished a very nice day to all the mothers onboard, which I thought was another nice Lufthansa touch.
Passport control was done in a breeze, with all the desks open - very strange on a Sunday morning. Customs were also done very fast, since I had nothing to declare.
From Ezeiza to Buenos Aires' downtown I took the Manuel Tienda León bus, which costs 15 pesos, about 6 US dollars. The bus leaves from Terminal B (Aerolíneas Argentinas) and takes you to Madero Avenue, just next to the Sheraton Hotel. It is by far the cheapest option to get to the city (if you are only one person) and it is also comfortable. There are buses every 30 minutes and the journey lasts between 45 minutes and 1 hour, depending on the traffic. You buy your ticket at Manuel Tienda León office, located at Ezeiza's arrivals area. More info you can find at http://www.tiendaleon.com.ar (Spanish/English).
Well, this was my trip report. I hope you enjoyed it and I'm sorry for the mistakes.
Cheers
Marcos
Again I went visiting my mother in Holland this week. I shuttle between Argentina and the Netherlands every two months. As always, I chose Lufthansa for this flight - they offer the best prices and connecting times from South America to Europe, and I am a Frequent Traveller with their milleage programme.
Here I go. Enjoy your reading.
Trip Report
To Ezeiza I went with my dad, who drove me there. As the flight left almost at 4 pm, we decided we could have lunch at the airport, which was not a bad idea.
I checked-in very quickly in the empty Lufthansa Business Class counters. The attendant was always smiling and gave me both boarding cards, for this flight and the following one to Amsterdam. I was also given an invitation for the Lufthansa lounge. Interesting; I always enter those lounges with my Frequent Traveller card, no need of invitation. I only had carry-on luggage, which always makes things faster.
We then had luch at one of Ezeiza's restaurants. This one was located just next to the arrivals section of the terminal. I had a beef with french fries, which was very good.
After luch I said bye-bye to my dad and went through security. No big lines, just five persons behind me. I should say the whole airport was empty that day.
Anyway, passport control took a little bit longer, due to the very few desks opened this Saturday afternoon. However I believe it didn't last more than 10 minutes. At 14:30 I officially left Argentina.
Now that I was on the air-side of the airport I went to the lounge. Lufthansa does not have its own lounge at Ezeiza, as other airlines, such as American, United and Iberia, do. They share the Salón de las Américas with Air France and Grupo TACA, among others. The Salón de las Américas is located just opposite of gate 3.
I gave the invitation to a pretty young-lady, who welcomed me on a very friendly way. I started then to inspect the area. The Salón consists of two rooms, one very big and another quite small. The smaller one is the smoking area. There is a good selection of beverages and a respectable one of food, mostly snacks. Seats are very comfortable and so are the tables. There are two free Internet-connected computers. It really surprises me how the majority of the lounges in Argentina have free Internet access, while the European ones don't. Maybe we Argentineans are more addict to Internet than others?
There is a wide selection of newspapers and magazines, mostly German and French-speaking. Since I was flying on May 1st, there were no Argentinean newspapers. I took a Paris Match and an indian tonic and comfortably seated in one of the armchairs. Oh, the pleasure of being a frequent flier!
At 15:20 I left the lounge. I bought a magazine in the kiosk and then started spotting the planes which were parked. Of course I could see lots of Aerolíneas Argentinas. In addition to that, there were some United, American, Air France and Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano aircrafts. In the meantime a Varig 737-300 arrived from Rio de Janeiro. Our big bird was a little bid delayed, apparently because of adverse weather conditions in Santiago de Chile. I was not worried at all - Lufthansa always manages to leave late and arrive on time. It finally appeared at 15:30.
Boarding started at 16:00. First, connecting passengers from Chile, then Business and Star Gold and assistance-required persons and finally Economy. Queuing seems to be a national sport in Argentina - people were up waiting in front of the gate already at 15:30, half an hour before any message was said. I boarded one of the very last, just like always.
Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE) to Frankfurt Rhein-Main (FRA)
01 May 2004
Lufthansa LH527
Airbus A340-600
D-AIHE "Leverkusen"
Seat 39H (Economy - aisle)
Estimated/Actual time of departure: 15:55/16:30 (GMT -3)
Estimated/Actual time of arrival: 10:20/10:20 +1 (GMT +2)
[photoid=267818][photoid=240614]
When I entered the plane I was greeted with the classical "Hallo, guten Abend!" by two flight attendants, a male and a woman. I answered "Hallo, neununddreißig-ha (39H) bitte" and was told to go to the second aisle. Then we had to pass through the last rows of Business. I am convinced this is done on purpose by the Lufthansa marketing agents. They want Economy passengers to see how comfortable they could fly if they paid Business. From my point of view, the new Business Class looks simply amazing, even better than the old First. I wish I could try it someday.
I found my seat quickly and put my luggage in the overhead bins. My neighbour was already installed. A few moments later, the purser said "Boarding completed, danke" and the security video started. Lufthansa has a new security video for its A340-600, which is however still very similar to the old. I guess a "normal" passenger would not realize the differences. As always, the video is in German and Spanish, plus a short English version. Actually, the English version is only:
"Ladies and gentlemen, we're now ready for take off. Please ensure your seat belts are fasten and your tables are in the up-right position. For more information, please read the small instructive located in the seat pocket in front of you. Our cabin attendants will be happy to assist you. Thank you for flying with Lufthansa."
As soon as we reached the cruising altitude, service started. First, the so-called Cocktail Service. Lufthansa seems to be the only airline that still has these cool features in Economy. After dinner, they also offer liqueurs and spirits. Nice touches that make flights nicer. My "cocktail" was an apple juice. My neighbour's, a Campari Orange. The napkins we were given had an advertisement printed. A good advertising policy, except for the fact that they were written in German - a language about half of the passengers didn't speak.
Then, in the TVs we could see an advertising of the new "Lufthansa BodyBelt". The BodyBelt is the old nécessaire, which is not free anymore in Economy. It costs €5. After that, we were showed EuroNews.
Surprisingly, there was only one dinner option: ravioli with meat. I don't know if they run out of other possibilities or what. I din't asked either as I was fine with the ravioli. On the tray there were also a salad and a strange sort of apple pie. I had a Warsteiner beer to drink. The food was, like always, very good. We were also given hot bread. I spent the dinner chatting with my neighbour, an Argentinean Tango teacher.
After dinner I read the Lufthansa magazine, which is called Lufthansa Magazin. That name is almost as original as the "There's no better way to fly" slogan. Lufthansa Magazin was dedicated this April to Buenos Aires, with lots of interesting articles. Even though they started with the left foot (Spanish expression), LH Magazin is now very good and interesting; not only advertising, as in the past.
Movies shown were How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Anger Management and Blood Work. I didn't watch them and spent my time reading magazines and newspapers. Among them, a Bunte magazine I found on the plane. Not that I am a fan of those kind of magazines, but it is always funny to see pictures the marriage of Prince Johan Friso of Holland. Meanwhile, Free Shop was available. I managed to sleep 4 hours.
We followed a very strange route on this flight. For some unknown reason, we avoided Uruguay. Instead, we followed river Paraná until the Iguazú falls. Then we entered Brazil and flew over Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza. We flew over the Canary Islands and entered Europe through Spain. Then the Pyrénées mountains, southern France, Lyon, the Alps and Switzerland. We entered Germany by the south: Baden-Württemberg, then Hessen and finally Frankfurt. I found very nice to see the Alps from 30,000 feet.
Breakfast was served when we were flying just over Madrid. It was the classical cheese omelette, a fruit salad and a yoghurt. Very tasty.
About 45 minutes before landing, we were showed a video regarding Frankfurt airport. It was very well done and, if I didn't knew the airport, it would have been very helpful. It also mentioned that passengers going to Mannheim, Strasbourg and Heidelberg can catch the Lufthansa Airport Bus, and the ones going to Stuttgart and Cologne the Lufthansa AIRail. New features I didn't know.
Landing at Frankfurt was good. We disembarked at gate B20.
Transfer at Frankfurt Rhein-Main (FRA)
At the gate there were four Bundesgrenzschutz (German Border Police) checking some persons' passports. There was also a drug-detecting dog. New measures, apparently.
I asked in the Lufthansa Transfer Desk where was located the Business Lounge, and was told that it was next to gate B44. I walked all the way to it. Entering with my Frequent Traveller card was not a problem at all. I only had to show my boarding pass and the card and the lady told me "Herzlich Willkommen, Herr Roca". Again, that's why I like being a Frequent Traveller!
The lounge was really crowded and I had a hard time finding a seat. I finally did. I also noted myself for a shower, which I never was able to have - when I left, there still were 13 persons before me. I am happy they plan to expand the lounges. Those are certainly not enough for all Business, LH Frequent Traveller and Star Gold passengers.
However, those German cookies they offer are simply great. They remember me my childhood; my grandma always made those when I was a kid. I had lots of cookies with a Kaffee-Schokolade, a mixture of coffee and hot chocolate. I also took a Frankfurter Rundschau and a La Vanguardia Spanish newspaper.
I left the lounge at noon and slowly walked towards the A-pier. Passport control was done in a breeze. There was a considerable queue for non-EU nationals, though.
I arrived to A16 at 12:15 and boarding was just starting. We were bussed to the plane. In the bus, a recorded tape asked us in German and English to please board through the first door if our seats were in rows 1-14 and through the rear door if our seats were in rows 15 onwards.
Frankfurt Rhein-Main (FRA) to Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS)
02 May 2004
Lufthansa LH4676
Airbus A321-200
D-AISD "Chemnitz"
Seat 12F (Economy - window)
Estimated/Actual time of departure: 12:35/12:40 (GMT +2)
Estimated/Actual time of arrival: 13:40/13:30 (GMT +2)
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This flight was half empty and almost all the passengers came from other connecting flights, most of them from the US. As I had the whole row of three for myself, I spent the whole flight reading La Vanguardia.
The service on this flight has been reduced. Now Lufthansa offers small boxes, containing a sandwich and a glass of water. Although I will miss the big selection of beverages, it is quite understandable. Attendants always had to rush during the service because of the flight's lenght. I was not hungry so I had the water and left the sandwich. I had too many cookies in Frankfurt!
Nothing really interesting to say about this flight. We followed the same route than always, flying over Wiesbaden, Bonn, Cologne and Düsseldorf in Germany. We entered the Netherlands by Enschede and then straight into Schiphol. We arrived 10 minutes in advance.
We arrived to B14, which seems to be with B11 and B16 the Lufthansa gate at Amsterdam. Next to us there was an Olympic 737-400 with the Olympic Games livery, which I liked a lot. I said "Danke" to one of the attendants and she answered me "ich muß Ihnen danken!" ("I must thank you!"), which I thought was a really nice touch.
As soon as I disembarked, I started hearing Dutch. The only thing I could thought was oh God I already miss German. No offense, but Dutch is not a friendly language.
I left the airport in a few moments, since I didn't have any luggage to wait for. Schiphol is under rebuilding and the already finished parts look great.
My mother was waiting for me and we catched the train to The Hague from there.
The Return
My mother and I arrived to Schiphol at 5 pm and went to the Lufthansa Business Class check-in desks. Everything was doing fine until the lady asked me to show her my carry-on luggage. She then asked me to put it in the balance. It was 13 kg. She said I'd have to check it, since the limit is 10 kg. I answered I have flown with the same luggage from Buenos Aires, São Paulo and Frankfurt and never had a single problem. She said it was true, but those were long-houl flights. My luggage was OK for the FRA-EZE flight, but not for the AMS-FRA. So, I'd have to check it in Amsterdam and pick it up in Frankfurt. I told her that was simply impossible, nor I wanted to do so.
I left the Lufthansa counters and went to the KLM check-in area. There, I took two of my school books off the bag and asked my mom to take them till I get back. I went back to the LH counter and checked-in at the Economy counter, which was less crowded. The Business lady told her colleague, in Dutch, "beware because his hand luggage is 13 kg". She asked me, on a really polite way, to put in the balance and...Surprise! It was 10 kg! I was then given both boarding passes for my flight to Frankfurt and for the following one to Buenos Aires.
Then I headed to the Lufthansa Ticket desk. I asked for an address where I could write to, complaining about this. I never had a single problem with any Lufthansa employee never anywhere but at Schiphol, where I already had trouble twice. I don't know what the hell happens to them but I ask for an apology. I always choose Lufthansa for my flights and I don't want to be treated like an idiot as compensation. I already sent a letter to LH Amsterdam.
We then went for something to eat in the 3rd floor of the airport. There's a nice place, called something like Wings, over there.
Finally, at 18:00 I said bye to my mom and went through security. Security was quite slow, like always, because there are only two machines for all the Schengen passengers. Buying a third won't hurt, I promise!
I headed for Lufthansa lounge, which is owned by GlobeGround and adminstrated by bmi British Midland. It is located on a first floor, therefore it has great views of the terminal. Its decoration is all blue, white and light brown: bmi colours. Attention however, was OK, not as nice as in Lufthansa's. To my surprise, on this very big place there were only 3 people and me.
I made myself a tomato juice, with salt and pepper and read an NRC Handelsblad, which had two big interesting articles - one realted to the A380 and another one to KLM.
At 19:00 I left the lounge and went to the See Buy Fly Press kiosk. I bought a Le Monde newspaper and a De Groene Amsterdammer magazine. I handled my Flying Dutchman card and earned some miles. I guess just a few since the price was €5.10.
I then went really slowly to B-pier, where I also walked a little bit. I watched all the Transavia birds waiting for its flights to Italy and Spain, an Iberia leaving for Madrid and an Avrolino of Austrian Arrows/Tyrolean in white colours. I would not like to be inside an Avrolino on a flight to Vienna, which lenghts about 2:30 hours.
Boarding was announced just when I arrived to our gate, B09. That's what I call synchronisation. When I gave the boarding pass, the lady told me I have given her the one to Buenos Aires instead the one to Frankfurt. I found strange, yet nice, that she knew that EZE means Buenos Aires.
Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) to Frankfurt Rhein-Main (FRA)
08 May 2004
Lufthansa LH4681
Airbus A320-200
D-AIPE "Kasel"
Seat 20A (Economy - window)
Estimated/Actual time of departure: 19:55/20:15 (GMT +2)
Estimated/Actual time of arrival: 21:00/21:00 (GMT +2)
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I boarded one of the very first and was greeted by two female attendants. None of them made a single comment about my luggage, which perfectly fitted in the overhead compartments. Boy, that lady was really painful...
The seat in the center of my row of three remained empty, while the aisle seat was occupied by a Dutch middle-aged man who turned to be flying to Santiago, i.e. the same flight than me. He was a really interesting and funny person.
A few minutes later, the captain said that because of heavy winds at Frankfurt, we would be arriving a little bit late.
When service started, we both asked the flight attendant why this change from service to boxes. She told us it was a new policy applied on less-than-2-hour flights. Wie schade!
There were clouds all over our route, so I just spent the whole flight talking with my neighbour.
Landing was good and we parked at B10, which wasn't that far from B46, where our flight to Buenos Aires/Santiago would be leaving.
Transfer at Frankfurt Rhein-Main (FRA)
My neighbour, his friend and I went first of all to the passport control. There were only two desks open, so it took quite a lot of time to pass it. Bundesgrenzschutz agents apparently have better things to do than working on a Saturday night.
Since my neighbour was a Senator member, we then went to the Lufthansa Business Class located opposite to B44. We asked the lady if we had time enough for a drink. She said that even though boarding had already started, the plane would be leaving at 22:20, so we had plenty of time. She was making lots of jokes and laughing. I'm starting to love Lufthansa's Frankfurt ground staff!
The lounge was not full not empty either. I had a beer with some peanuts and they had white wine. At 22:00 we decided it was time to leave, which we did. I took with me an ABC Spanish newspaper.
When we arrived to the gate, we were one of the very last passengers. We all had to show our passports just to confirm we were the same person than printed in our boarding passes. I wonder why this procedure is only done in ultra-Schengen flights. In my opinion, it should be also implemented in the intra-Schengen routes.
Frankfurt Rhein-Main (FRA) to Buenos Aires Ezeiza (EZE)
08 May 2004
Lufthansa LH526
Airbus A340-600
D-AIHI
Seat 37C (Economy - aisle)
Estimated/Actual time of departure: 22:20/22:45 (GMT +2)
Estimated/Actual time of arrival: 07:35/07:35 +1 (GMT -3)
Note: Hotel India is the latest incorporation to the Lufthansa fleet, therefore it has not been baptized yet, nor there are pictures of it in the database.
We again entered the plane through Business class, which convinced me even more that this was a marketing campaign. And again I promised myself I will fly the new Lufthansa Business someday.
Almost all the passengers were already in their seats, and so was my new neighbour. I didn't have any trouble finding a place for my luggage, which again fitted perfectly in the overhead bin.
After the doors were closed, the captain made an announcement. He said the in-flight entertainment system in Economy class was not working properly, but he decided not to delay even more our departure. However, we would be able to watch all the movies and the route map. "The problem with the IFE had to do with the fact that this plane has been received by Lufthansa three days ago", he said. I thought it has nothing to do with it, since you guys already own 8 A346s - you should know how to use the IFE. But oh well, I am not a big fan of the IFE either.
The security video was replaced by a manual "show", just like in the short-houl planes. I didn't pay attention to it, except for the fact that the purser repeated exactly the same English message than the video. The one that starts with "Ladies and gentlemen, we're now ready for take off..."
As soon as we reached the flying altitude, the Cocktail Service started. All the services on this flight were slow, even for Lufthansa long-houl standards, which are slow themselves. I had a tomato juice and was given also some salt and pepper, which I find better than having the attendant doing it for you. I like to decide how many salt and pepper I want.
This time we did have two dinner options: meat or chicken. I went for meat and it was Gulasch. There was also some salad and a cake. I had two 15-cl cans of Diet Coke. Everything was really tasty.
After dinner, liqueurs and spirits were served. Movies shown were Maid in Manhattan, Shanghai Knights and About Schmidt. However, I fell asleep after dinner. In total, I slept 8 hours!
Breakfast consisted of the same cheese omelette, fruit salad and yoghurt than in the other flight. Nevertheless, I wasn't hungry and only ate the omelette and had a cup of coffee and an orange juice. With breakfast, the crew also gave the customs and immigration forms for Argentina and Chile.
A few moments before touching Ezeiza's runway 11, the captain decided to abort the landing and restarted the engines at its fastest speed. All the passengers were surprised and some also scared. The purser after that said "Ladies and gentlemen, as you have noticed, we have not landed", which I found was very funny as an annoucement. Then the Captain explained that we have had very fast tail winds, which made our landing very unsafe, so he decided to land from the other side of the runway, against the wind.
Once we finally were on the ground, the purser made the normal "Welcome to Buenos Aires" speech, but he also wished a very nice day to all the mothers onboard, which I thought was another nice Lufthansa touch.
Passport control was done in a breeze, with all the desks open - very strange on a Sunday morning. Customs were also done very fast, since I had nothing to declare.
From Ezeiza to Buenos Aires' downtown I took the Manuel Tienda León bus, which costs 15 pesos, about 6 US dollars. The bus leaves from Terminal B (Aerolíneas Argentinas) and takes you to Madero Avenue, just next to the Sheraton Hotel. It is by far the cheapest option to get to the city (if you are only one person) and it is also comfortable. There are buses every 30 minutes and the journey lasts between 45 minutes and 1 hour, depending on the traffic. You buy your ticket at Manuel Tienda León office, located at Ezeiza's arrivals area. More info you can find at http://www.tiendaleon.com.ar (Spanish/English).
Well, this was my trip report. I hope you enjoyed it and I'm sorry for the mistakes.
Cheers
Marcos
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