Damn! I wish they had "Exceptional" ratings when I was a kid! Hehehehehe... Peaches n Bea...
Damn! I wish they had "Exceptional" ratings when I was a kid! Hehehehehe... Peaches n Beans is back!!!
Member since:17.02.2003
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ok... as most of you know by now... I am an American living in the UK... but... how I got here is a horror story in itself...
first off... let me say that when I came to England... flying Lufthansa had been only my third flight ever... (the previous two being the same day from Toledo, Ohio to Chicago, Illinois... then Chicago to Newark, New Jersey...) so I was relatively inexperienced when it came to flying...
I was expecting a lot of baggage checks and so forth... I was prepared for that... but ... I wasn't prepared for waiting ages to get on a Lufthansa flight...
Let's start off with a bit of history of the actual company before I degrade it further...
***HISTORY***
According to the Lufthansa website... the company was renamed in 1933 after "Deutsche Luft Hansa Aktiengesellschaft"... the original name for the airline... joined "Deutsche Aero Lloyd" (DAL) and "Junkers Luftverkehr" in 1919...
As for that exciting flying anorexic duck of a logo... it came from the DAL... along with the colors that are just beyong tacky together... blue and gold... GAGS
In 1945... when Germany lost the war... Lufthansa was shut down... (perhaps it should have stayed that way...)
In 1951 ... The Federal Transport Minister sets up a committee to resume post war German airlines in order to improve the economy and transportation... and in 1954... Lufthansa changes
its name once again to "Deutsche Lufthansa Aktiengesellschaft" ... and on April 1, 1955... flights are scheduled once again and the airline comes back to life... (DAMN IT)
Oooooo and then in 1990... Lufthansa is finally able to resume its flights into Berlin due to Germany's reunification... 55 years later... (yikes... think about that layover... hehe)
1997 marks Lufthansa, Air Canada, SAS, Thai Airways und United Airlines creating the "Star Alliance", the world's first multilateral airline grouping according to the website... AKA... the world's first open collaboration of airlines coming together to increase their prices and lower the standards and service that they were once reknown for...
And then... in December of 2002... Lufthansa has a majority of its flights arrive and depart late to their destinations... causing the days around Christmas to be behind schedule for more than 8 hours... (hence... where I come in...)
***MY STORY***
My lover and I had agreed that I would come to live with him in England after spending the whole summer together in the US... back in Ohio... and so I booked my flights through www.expedia.com and thought that I had a decent value with Lufthansa... flying from Newark, New Jersey... to Frankfurt, Germany... and then ending finally in Birmingham, England... for $416.00 plus taxes and fees and so forth... it came out to $648.38...
So... when December 24 came around... I was packed up and ready to attempt my first flights ever... and despite the fact that I was as white as a ghost through everything... I survived... My two previous flights had me in the air for 3 hours... so I felt a bit more at ease... and I arrived in Newark around 10 am... and I did a bit of duty free shopping... just enough to mull around until my Lufthansa flight started to board at 2 pm... (1400)...
Well... when I checked in my luggage at the Lufthansa station... we were informed that all Lufthansa computers were down... and they wanted the people in line to sign a waiver so that we wouldn't complain or sue... or anything like that if our luggage got lost... I don't think anyone who actually read the form signed it...
Anyways... when I step up to hand them my luggage... the computers pop back on... thank goodness... and then we were told that those on my flight... would have to wait about 2 more hours than our departing time due to a delay in the flight arriving from Frankfurt...
4pm (1600) arrives... and goes... and we hear nothing from the Newark International Airport... or from the Lufthansa boarding team... so... several people got angry and demanded to know what the hell was going on... It was Christmas eve and Lufthansa was ruining spirit of the Holidays with lack of information...
Around 8pm... (2000) an announcement comes over the loudspeakers... informing the passengers on our flight that the plane would arrive at 10pm (2200)... and we would leave around 10:45pm (2245)...
By this time... I had called my family... and my lover... and let them know of the delays... and I was worried about my next flight from Frankfurt to Birmingham... because when the flight was on time... I was going to arrive with some extra time to spare in Frankfurt... but.. with this new schedule... I would be sitting in Frankfurt for Christmas because my flight to Birmingham would have flown and landed and sat around in queue for 4 hours...
When the Lufthansa flight finally did arrive... it was about 10pm... and I was beyond tired... and I learned that I was 1 out of 18 people on the entire 250 some person flight that could speak English...
Boarding was fine... tossing my carryon luggage into the overhead compartments were comical... and finding my seat was like a rat hunting for a piece of cheese with a German map...
After finally sitting down... and waiting for the rest of the flight to fill up... I decided to get a book out and read a bit... When it seemed that everyone had arrived on the plane... I relaxed a bit more...
And then... the Mother of ALL carryons came aboard... this elderly woman who spoke perfect German asked the smiling flight attendants to help her find places to hold her Christmas presents... All six bags full...
So... because my seat was directly in front of the bathroom stalls... I had a wall behind my chair... and guess where they put the presents... YUP... smashed them behind my seat and then I was told in fractured English... "You cannot sleep or lean back... enjoy your flight"...
Well... needless to say I was a bit miffed... but I let it go because I just wanted to cross the Atlantic safely... I wanted to get to England and kiss the feet of my lover as I reached solid land once again...
The meals were better than the majority of my mother's cooking... so there wasn't any complaints there... Though... not being able to recline in my seat and having to drink soda/pop... rather than tea was getting on my nerves... Tea was not allowed until just before landing in Germany... (That is what the flight attendant told me)...
When I informed one of the male flight attendants that I was scared stupid of flying across water... he smiled and said ... "Yes."... and walked away...
Then... I got yelled at by the same flight attendant who stuffed the presents behind my chair... for falling asleep in the chair and adding pressure to the packages...
I was getting seriously pissed off... But.. being the extremely nervous wreck that I was... I kept silent and secretly wished that I could get out of the plane and swim to England...
Around 9:30 am the next day... Christmas day... we arrived in Frankfurt... we made great time... and I was only 1 hour late for my flight to Birmingham... but... (and I can only thank Frankfurt International Airport for this)... there was someone holding up a sign for passengers that missed their flights because of the major delay...
I was transported via shuttle bus to an airplane with just me, a screaming 5 year old, and her dad who was ignoring her temper tantrums... and guess what... I was on another Lufthansa flight...
This one wasn't too bad... though... the propellers scared me poo-less... and I confined myself in one of the bathrooms through the majority of the flight... even when the manly looking female flight attendant asked me if I wanted tea... I politely said no...
When I finally arrived in Birmingham... after my terrible ordeal... I went to the luggage retrieval area... and found that yes... my luggage had been lost due to the flight being delayed that long... and I was asked by the airport to wait an extra hour because they were sure that my luggage would come in on the next flight from Frankfurt...
Luckily it did...
And now comes the clencher... I will have to return to the US on the same airline that caused me all this stress... Yes... in Late June... I will return to the air on Lufthansa because I can't get my money back from the flight... changing to a different airline would cost $200 additional dollars... and I don't want to pay anymore money to them...
So... when I go back home... I want you to watch the news and skies... because if I have a trip home like I did coming to England... there is going to be hell to pay...
Thank you... hehe... and now I am going to drink some tea and soak in the bath tub to relax myself... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
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i hope i dont have the same trouble as you did, when i travel so asia using this German airline, we will see. if i remember i will let you now how i get on,
tartantribe 18.03.2003 20:40
WHAT a nightmare. Really unfortunate experience for you. Remind me not to fly Lufthansa any time soon- although I am beginning to think all airlines are eeeevil. Christine
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From_The_Continent 08.03.2001 ·
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Feb 25th, 2003
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