Ever been happy to be late?

yagoceron · Post by **yagoceron** » 16 Sep 2005, 22:24

It happened a few years ago but despite being delayed for many hours it was of my best flights if not the best.

I was flying from Madrid to New Delhi with Lufthansa.

Things started badly when I saw that the flight to Frankfurt was in fact a Spanair flight. That day I learned what codeshare was

That flight arrived late at Frankfurt and I missed for a few minutes my flight to New Delhi. This being only daily you can imagine how annoyed I was.

The Lufthansa agents at the gate said I'll have to fly the next day.

The things was I had a friend waiting for me at New Delhi's airport and I could not contact him.

So I went to a Lufthansa desk in the terminal and I started to explain how annoyed I was. The agent there said I'll have to fly the next day. I can't remember if I was rude but frankly I don't think so. But anyway, she was not very friendly either but she was efficient and she said I could fly that same day but I'll have to fly to Copenhagen.

I don't know why but I've always liked Scandinavian countries (without having been there) so I thought that it was better than staying in Frankfurt although it would mean waiting for a three or four hours my flight to Copenhagen and once there another three hours for my flight to New Delhi.

And believe me if you want but once I arrived at Copenhagen I was delighted. I'm not very fond of Frankfurt's Airport but the one in Copenhaguen is absolutely beautiful, or it was then

Time flew by as I was so interested in the airport... SAS hostess passing by may have also something to do with it

And then the best part of it, due to overbooking in economy, the Lufthansa agent in Frankfurt booked me in Business or was it First. I frankly can't remember as it was such a long time ago. What I remember is the perfect service I received on board. The seats were great as was the food.

Well that's it I hope my story wasn't to long.

Ah yes... for the return I flew in Economy in a Lufthansa 747 cramped like chicken... that was probably my worst experience in a plane

waldova · Post by **waldova** » 16 Sep 2005, 23:21

Wauw indeed! I looked like you won the jackpot on that day! At least they made one passenger happy!! You see, there is always a solution! And this time it was better then the forsene part!!

Post by **sn26567** » 17 Sep 2005, 17:12

Great story. Sometimes it pays also to check in late, when all Y seats are allocated...

Harry-Spotter · Post by **Harry-Spotter** » 17 Sep 2005, 18:20

It happened to me too, when SAbena was still there. I was booked on a BRU-BOS flight and when I got at the gate they said that the flight was overbooked and the I had two choices: I could fly to BOS via LHR or fly with Sabena the next day. I didn't hesitate for a second and I took the first choice, I dreamed to go to LHRand they also gave me about 300 euros. Then I got to LHR and saw all the planes I wanted to see and flew on a 747 fot the first time in my life. The flight was great, I was seated on the upper deck and the food was delicious, it was lamb. Then we were diverted to Bangor due to thunderstorm at Boston and the airport had been closed. I eventually got at BOS five or six hour later than the SN flight but I had lived a great experience.
The flight back to Bru was with Sabena and I got upgraded to business class because of the troubles of the inbound flight; I had the time of my life flying on the A330-200.
This was for me a great experience and unfortunately my last flight with Sabena.
Cheers

heathrow · Post by **heathrow** » 17 Sep 2005, 19:07

That would be great! I would rather connect in tones of places then go direct!

Vinnie-Winnie · Post by **Vinnie-Winnie** » 17 Sep 2005, 20:14

Wow!!!

What a bunch of lucky people U all are!!!!

Never experienced that kind of amazing but unfortunate events!

Still got around 50 years who know one day maybe

bigjulie · Post by **bigjulie** » 17 Sep 2005, 22:09

In 1997 when my brother & I were on our way back to Sydney from Paris we were up-graded to business class on an overnight sector, we asked the f/a if she could see that we had the same seat numbers oin the NRT to SYD sector, she did that, we got the same seat #'s, but the plane was in a different seating configuration, which meant we ended up in economy section, I was

about that, but, this is what happens sometimes, with different seat configs.

vc-10 · Post by **vc-10** » 20 Sep 2005, 22:04

My dad flew to Luisville in the US through Washington DC but his flight had been booked for the day before he flew and got on 6 different aeroplanes, only 2 of which boarded and only on of which took off. he missed most of his conference and it took him 4 flights to get back to Washington and found that Virgin has sold all their tickets for 3 days. He slept on the floor for a night and when the BA ticket counter opened he went and booked ' the first flight out of this dam*med hell hole' and got first class on a 777 back to LHR!!! And he didn't have to pay because of his job!

regi · Post by **regi** » 21 Sep 2005, 10:38

happened to me on a China Airlines flight AMS-BKK. Serious over booking. A group was told there was no seat. The tour leader exploded, shouting , threathening, useless behaviour.
An older guy from China Airlines just blinked to me and another single passenger. We moved aside. The staff asked the angry guy that if they would stay at the airport untill the other day, or if they would accept the free hotel and restaurant in Amsterdam. The group was delighted because it was for free (AMS...) But I was asked if I didn't mind to be seated in business class. Not really, no problem.
So, stay cool, and watch and stay polite. The drinks are on China Airlines.
The leather seats and champagne were a nice touch.

yagoceron · Post by **yagoceron** » 21 Sep 2005, 11:24

regi wrote:So, stay cool, and watch and stay polite.

Yes it is a great rule to follow in daily life and one that is very effective when travelling.

As a Flight Coordinator I've been twice obliged to tell a passenger to calm down or he would not board the plane. Once we even needed to call the airport security.

chunk · Post by **chunk** » 22 Sep 2005, 10:21

On two occasions flying to Houston I have been glad to be late. The connection from the ABZ flight to the IAH one is not tight....but not great if there is a delay at ABZ at 0620. On both occasions the flight from Aberdeen was late, so late in fact they decided (without notifying me!) that all connecting pax to IAH (and there are always a good number on that flight - oil traffic) were too late and gave my seat away. So I get to the gate (after the fastest run I have had in 10 years) and they are boarding the last of the PAX....and had given my seat away! No Economy left so they just put me upstairs on the 747 instead. This has happened twice...though the second time was odd in that I actually got through the gate area onto the plane to find someone sat on my seat. With the same seat number on the boarding pass.....

The only problem with the WBC on the 747 on this occasion was that I was sat next to this woman from Arkansas that tried to convert me into a new born christian for the first two hours. A swift few glasses of red wine and the KLM noise cancelling headphones sorted that little problem out! Even then she tried again for the 30 minutes I didn't have the headphones coming into land!

vc-10 · Post by **vc-10** » 22 Sep 2005, 16:11

why not say 'parise the lord' to her and then she might think that you are a born again christian and shut up!!!

regi · Post by **regi** » 22 Sep 2005, 17:54

I would have scared her by saying that talking about religion on airplanes after 9/11 is considered as an act of terrorism. Where is the airmarshall?

chunk · Post by **chunk** » 23 Sep 2005, 10:29

I thought I scared her enough by saying that I travel to the Middle East all the time and that I wanted to go to Beirut on ma holidays (I have since been....). Don;t think she believed me until she saw the passport stamps when I was filling out the green immigration form.....turns out it just encouraged her try harder to convert me as I was going to, and I quote, "these islamic hell holes"!???

Yes..ok Mary of Nazareth, you just go back to Sh*tsville, Arkansas and I'll go to Muscat or Dubai - who's in hell now!

bigjulie · Post by **bigjulie** » 24 Sep 2005, 22:02

yagoceron wrote:
regi wrote:So, stay cool, and watch and stay polite.
Yes it is a great rule to follow in daily life and one that is very effective when travelling.

As a Flight Coordinator I've been twice obliged to tell a passenger to calm down or he would not board the plane. Once we even needed to call the airport security.

Politeness has it's own rewards(if you are polite you will be in a better position to get the things you want out of life); so stay polite at all times