Thursday April 11
Vilshofen to Munich to Atlanta to home
Amy was pretty quiet this morning, so I was mostly asleep until 4:45am. My alarm wasn’t set to go off until 5am, but I got up anyway. I put my overnight things into my suitcase and had it outside the door right at 5:15am. I left the cabin and went to the lounge, where they had pre-packaged apple turnovers for us to grab for breakfast, and I made myself tea.
At 5:40am, they came into the lounge and said we could board the bus. Our suitcases were already on board, and we have a 1.5-hour ride to the Munich airport. Ernie was sitting in the front row of the bus, and I didn’t want to sit that far up front, so I sat further in the back.
The bus stopped first at Terminal 2, and Ernie got off (I yelled good-bye to him). Then it went to Terminal 1 – my flight was to depart from a C gate, and the driver said the first stop was for A & B, so waited until the next stop (as did Dawna and Ron). We went into the terminal, and we each searched for the Delta check-in area. After asking a couple of different people, I finally found the check-in in the B area. A few days ago, I went to Delta’s website and saw that Delta One for my Munich to Atlanta 10.5-hour flight was only $800, so I upgraded myself.
I went into the Delta One line (there was a LONG line for regular check-in). I had also checked, and Delta One checked bags could be up to 70 pounds, so I knew I was safe. I put my suitcase on the scale, and it was 22.3kg – 50 pounds exactly!
I was told to go through security that was right next to the Delta check-in area, even though it was labelled for “B.” It took me 40 minutes to get through – missing the TSA Pre-Check, which doesn’t exist in Europe. When I got through, I saw there was a different security line over to one side, and I suspect that might have been the upgraded air security line, which no one told me about.
With my upgraded air came access to the Airport Lounge World. I had a couple of hours until I needed to go to my gate, so I had some breakfast and did some work, and then went to the gate and boarded my plane.
The layout on the plane was different than the First Class I had on Air France lgst September – I actually preferred Air France’s layout. They had the little “pods” with a divider so if you were sitting next to someone you didn’t know, you had some privacy. I also felt like it was wider.
On DeltaOne, there is a little “divider” area between the two seats, which is where the tray is stored. It was about a foot wide, but that is all that separated me from the person sitting next to me. The seats on the sides were more private, but they were all occupied.
I had previously selected the chicken meal and when I asked was told they would be serving after we reached altitude. I do feel like more food and drinks were offered on Delta than on Air France. Right after I was seated, I was offered champagne or OJ (I took the OJ). Then soup and salad, and then the entrée, and then dessert.
I decided to try and nap for a couple of hours. The seat did recline to lay flat, and they provided a pillow and blanket, but it was very narrow. Not sure if I slept – even with my ear plugs and eye mask with Bluetooth speakers over my ears playing my white noise, I could hear noise around me.
A couple hours later, I sat up and tried to use my laptop, but it wouldn’t connect to their wifi. I watched a few movies on the screen – Disney’s Wish, Miracle Club, and got about halfway through Moonstruck. They served pizza or something else (sorry, can’t remember). There were also snacks offered every couple of hours.
We finally landed in Atlanta (10.5 hpur flight), I claimed my suitcase, and then walked a long way to customs/passport control. I have Global Entry, so I walked up to a machine, looked at it, and then got a green light. The passport officer said Robin, you’re good to go, and I walked through. There was a long line for those without Global Entry! I handed my suitcase back and left the area. I went to my terminal, and then into the Delta Sky lounge. I told the gal at the desk that I had DeltaOne on my flight from Munich to Atlanta, but I was in Economy from Atlanta to Denver. She said to scan my DeltaOne boarding pass, and for the future, just scan the first-class ticket and don’t worry about which flight it was.
Was it worth the $800? Worth every penny.
This lounge was quite crowded, but I found a seat. I had some lemonade and snacks and had about an hour and a half to wait, so I again tried to connect to the wifi on my laptop and wasn’t successful, so I used my tablet. My flight was delayed a bit, but not a huge amount.
My flight from Atlanta to Denver was a little over 3 hours long…. And it felt really long. I was in an exit row seat, so lots of legroom. I finished watching Moonstruck and read on my Kindle.
We were supposed to land at 7:17pm Mountain time, and I had scheduled an 8:20pm shuttle from Denver Airport to Loveland (where Alyx would pick me up). But our flight was late, so we didn’t land until 7:40pm. I walked very quickly through the airport, onto the train, and then to baggage claim. When you fly First Class, they put a “priority” tag on your bag, and it should have come up right at the start. It didn’t, but it wasn’t that far behind. I had barely gotten to baggage claim when my bag came out. Another very quick walk and I was at the shuttle stop at 8:15pm!
What an amazing trip! I walked 428,000 steps (174 miles) and climbed 448 flights of stairs. I visited 7 countries (15 cities/towns), slept in 11 different beds, took 2 cruises, 4 train rides, 4 flights, and traveled 2500km (1554 miles) in Europe. I visited two new countries (Belgium and Slovakia), bringing my total to 45 countries. And my two cruises brought me to 50 cruises.
And I did an amazing amount of work while I was traveling but couldn’t have done it without my awesome assistant (AKA my son Trevor).
Was such a long trip necessary? So far this year I’ve sold more in travel to Europe than I sold my entire 4th year in the travel industry. I was even able to do “on the spot” research for two of my clients. Without trips like this, I would not have the expertise needed to help my clients with their travels.
I’ve been asked a couple times what the highlight of the trip was, and I have to say that this time it was the people. Seeing friends and colleagues at the river cruise expos (and meeting new ones), spending time with Ines and Martin and their family, Easter with wonderful people in Prague, spending time with Amy, and meeting Carole and Karen (who I know will be lifelong friends). So happy to visit and meet wonderful people around the world!
