Sonntag, 24. Mai 2015

In the Air, again

Well, it’s not been a great start: Friday morning we got up at 4:45 am, had an easy drive to Munich Airport, got upgraded in regard to parking (the cheap open lot we had booked was full and we got a voucher for the parking garage closeby the Terminal) and check-in and controls went smooth. All fine and we were happy.

About half an hour before boarding the Delta plane to Atlanta, they made an announcement that they are having a technical problem and need one technical part to be delivered from London/Heathrow. Departure time was pushed back for three hours first, but then, at scheduled departure time (10:10 am) we’ve been told that the part won't be on the plane from London and that therefore they have to cancel the flight. Never before, we have had a cancellation that fast, usually they let people wait and check out all options, but not so yesterday. Apparently, main reason was not the oil temperature gauge (which had to be replaced) but the „timed-out“ crew.

Anyway, they also announced that other planes to the U.S. are fully booked because of Lentern holidays starting in Germany and Memorial Day Weekend in the U.S. No chance to get another flight on the same day. So, we waited quite a bit, first to be let out of the boarding area, then to get the luggage back, at the ticket counter for re-booking and, finally, for the bus. Most passengers were brought to a Marriott Hotel in nearby Freising. Though we could have driven home, we accepted the hotel offer, because didn’t want to stand in traffic jams on the autobahn twice and get up very early again on the next morning. We had to inform our tourism contact in Georgia to cancel one night in our Atlanta hotel and to re-arrange our itinerary. It’s been so annoying!

In the afternoon we took the train from Freising to Munich to get some distraction, after return we were fed in the hotel with salads and pasta, got free drinks and were picked up again by bus at 5:30 am this morning. In contrast to yesterday, long lines this morning at the check-in counters since all people arrived at the same time. Flight (see pic taken over Greenland) - not completely booked this time - departed at 8:15 am and landed at 12:20 p.m. - after 10 hours - in Atlanta, the capital of Georgia. Thanks to Global Entry we made it to our downtown Hilton Hotel in record time: not quite 1,5 hours from touch-down to the hotel by public transport (shuttlebus/train). At 2 pm we were on the road again to check out things in Atlanta in record time, in 24 hours instead of two days.

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