Two days and two nights of travel adventures

Dubai airport First Class lounge

I never thought I would exceed my travel adventure story about the 50 hour journey from hell that took my family and me from Luang Prabang to Bangkok almost two years ago. But as a travel adventure story, this one comes a close second: how I traveled from Ljubljana to Bangalore over two days and two nights, a total of 46 hours.

Spoiler: it wasn't completely bad, there was a silver lining after all.

It started on a Saturday morning with a 6 hour train ride from Ljubljana to Munich. The time passed quickly enough as I was reading the Lonely Planet guide and making plans what sights I would visit when I arrive on Sunday. It would be the second time in India for me, after 19 years and I was full of anticipation what has changed since then and what hasn't.

I arrived at the Munich airport two hours before my 10PM flight. And I was surprised to see that the eight check-in counters for my airline (name of airline withheld because I still haven’t decided whether it is the worst airline ever or the best) were open and the airline employees were sitting there, doing nothing. There were no passengers to check-in. All the passengers were standing in one giant queue along the entire length of the hall. One glance to the flight display board clarified it all: my flight was cancelled.

My heart sank. India, you were so close, but now you seem so far away!

All I could do was to switch my mind to Asian travel mode, be patient, get in the giant queue and wait and see what happens next. After one hour of waiting I realized that I was still standing on the exactly same black marble tile on the floor of the hall as an hour ago. The queue hadn’t moved a bit. The situation was starting to look less and less hopeful.

An airline official came out to assure us passengers that the one airline employee who was issuing replacement flights at the head of the giant queue wasn't the only one on customer service duty. Supposedly there were four more employees working in the back office. At the rate it was going, I wasn't sure by when they would be able to process all of us.

Still, there was nothing to do but wait. All of us who were waiting were in the same situation and soon we were looking out for each other’s luggage so that we could take turns strolling, getting drinks (OK, beers, it was Munich after all), going to the toilet, calling friends and family, Tweeting about our misery and doing whatever else one does when in a situation like this.

Shortly before midnight they announced that the counter was closing and that we should come back in the morning.

What?!

And they couldn't have told us sooner that there was no way they were going to process all of us who were waiting patiently for the last four hours before they close the counter? At that point some passengers lost their tempers and words flew and I started composing in my head something about the worst airline ever. To placate the tempers, the airline employees at least made an effort to take down each of our telephone numbers, promising that even after they close the counter, their travel office would still be working and they would find us replacement flights and they would call us during the night to tell us what time to report back in the morning for our new flights. They specifically instructed us to keep our phones switched on so that we wouldn't miss the phone call of salvation.

Right.

For the record, I did keep my phone on just in case someone actually would call. But I also set my alarm so that I would wake up early enough to be back at the counter first thing in the morning when it reopened. With all the wasted time standing in the queue and having to get up early I only got 4 hours of sleep that night.

The next morning I hurried back to the counter. Three people were already there ahead of me, but compared to the situation from the previous night, that wasn't bad at all. Again I waited patiently while each passenger was issued a replacement flight after some deliberation about the best option with various airlines which of course took time. We were also informed that we are not entitled to food vouchers because those apply only when a flight is delayed but not in our situation when the flight was cancelled. So we don't get to eat although we do get to stand in the queue for endless hours.

The worst airline ever.

At last it was my turn at the coveted counter! The employee who was handling my situation was actually quite nice and promptly informed me that he can’t find me a replacement flight. I just stood there, speechless, determined not to move until he figures something out. He then asked his colleague which airlines fly to Bangalore. Now, I don’t know much about airline ticketing systems but shouldn't they have a functionality that tells them which airlines service a given destination? His colleague pulled out her smartphone and Googled it! I’m serious. The results were a bunch of Indian domestic airlines that weren't much use in getting me there from Munich. The two of them then disappeared into the back office, for all I know probably to use one of the airline aggregator sites that I use when I book my own flights.

A whole hour and fifteen minutes later the employee that was servicing me finally, triumphantly, emerged from the back office with a piece of paper. He apologized profusely, saying I’m sorry over and over while handing me the form and explaining that the only possibility that he could find was to book me on a different airline in first class.

First class. In my confusion I quickly checked my mental calendar to cross off the possibility that it was April fool’s.

First class. On a night flight. And I would be entitled to use the first class lounge. A dream come true.

Yes, it may sound silly, but I have been dreaming that one day, perhaps, before I die, I might get the opportunity to experience the comfort of a first class flight. This ever since my many night flights to South Africa, when they made us, the cattle class passengers, board the airplane through the front door so that we had to pass through the first and business class sections, where we could clearly see how some other passengers would spend the night in comfort, while we would be squeezed in our economy class seats.

I was still struggling to believe it came true. They booked me on first class. The best airline ever.

It's funny how in my first class reverie I immediately forgot about the non existent food vouchers and the sleep deprived night behind me and that my flight was in the afternoon which meant I would still have to hang around the airport for several hours.

I got to fly on the Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft currently in the world. It’s a beast of an aircraft and I imagine it must take exceptional skill to fly a machine of such enormous size and weight. Surprisingly, boarding is relatively quick due to the fact that they open four doors, one each for first and business classes on the upper deck and two for economy class on the lower deck. So the unfortunate souls who have to fly economy class don't even see the luxury of us privileged first class passengers.

And the first class seat! It’s not even a seat, it’s a cabin, complete with a minibar. After takeoff I reclined my seat into a flat bed. Unfortunately I didn't get to experience any food service because I instructed my personal flight attendant to not wake me up for food as I preferred to sleep.

First class cabin

What a journey! Like so many travel adventures before, I never would have imagined such an ordeal possible until it actually happened.

But wait, would it have occurred to me that something of a similar proportion could happen again on my way back? No?

To be continued…