It happened again: two more days and nights of travel adventures

The accidental tourist: sightseeing in Abu Dhabi

My flight back from Bangalore was at 4:20 AM. I so hate these early morning flights because you can't really get any sleep. In India you have to report to the airport three hours before the flight (trust me, you do) and it takes about an hour and a half to get from where I was staying to the airport which means I would have to leave the hotel shortly before midnight. So there was no point in having a room that night or going to sleep. I just went to the airport in the evening and hung around the departure area. I was able to read for a few hours but then I became too tired and just strolled around. During all this time, my flight was announced on the flight departure board and no delays were mentioned.

Finally they opened the check-in counters at around 1AM. An airline employee checked each of our flight tickets before they allowed us to queue for check-in. I was stopped with the explanation “We have delay ma’am. We will be rebooking on another airline.”

I couldn’t believe it! It was happening again!

Several other passengers were diverted as well and we were all instructed to wait by the side until our name was called. Right. And Santa Claus really exists.

After about half an hour, some of the passengers who were waiting in my group decided to approach the airline employee who was monitoring the entrance to the check-in queue. Eventually he started letting them in. What was that all about, I thought we were supposed to wait? I approached the guy as well and he said “To Munich? Yes, you can check-in.” Why then did we have to wait in the first place?

The worst airline ever.

At check-in, the lady instructed me to go to my departure gate for the flight to Munich immediately after we land in Abu Dhabi because my transfer time would be tight. So that’s how they handle a flight delay in India. They send the passengers off to Abu Dhabi and let them deal with it. Oh well, I was too tired by then to care.

After check-in there come lengthy procedures to get our passport stamped, our boarding pass stamped to indicate that our passport was stamped, security screening, another stamp on the boarding pass to indicate that we passed security, another gate to check that our boarding pass was stamped with both previous stamps and another stamp to confirm that it was so… I have never held a boarding pass with so many official stamps on it.

Anyway, by the time I reached the departure gate it was almost boarding time. Or not. The flight was delayed by an additional hour on top what was already announced. I was now sure that I would miss my connecting flight from Abu Dhabi to Munich. Arrgh… I dozed off sitting upright on the plastic seat.

When we reached Abu Dhabi, I decided to first go to the departure gate for the flight to Munich, just in case the flight might be waiting for transfer passengers or delayed. But no such luck, the flight had already left.

And off I went to the transfer desk. No surprise, there was a mob of waiting passengers in various states of anger, frustration and despair milling around the transfer desk. Some people were standing patiently while others just pushed and shoved towards the counter.

The worst airline ever. Why couldn’t they set up a proper queue and handle the passengers as efficiently as possible? Or, as one other passenger mentioned: Aren’t they supposed to be competent? It was just one big chaotic mess.

The only way I was going to get to the counter was to do what everyone else was doing: just push and shove like the rest of the mob. It took me just an hour and a half to get to the counter, which I considered record time. The lady behind the counter was sympathetic. She gave me two food vouchers, one for breakfast and one for lunch and told me to come back in the afternoon.

Ah well, all that shoving for nothing. But she did say that the crowds would disperse later in the day and they would have more time to handle my case. So I went for a coffee and croissant in one of the coffee shops in the airport that didn’t accept food vouchers. Vouchers were only accepted at the food court which was at that time packed with discontented passengers and I wasn’t feeling like eating fast food for breakfast. But thanks anyway, dear airline, for the vouchers which I never used, I guess it’s the thought that counts.

When I returned to the transfer desk in the early afternoon there was still quite a queue of passengers. At that time, the pushing and shoving crowd had already pushed and shoved their way to new flights. The rest of us, mostly Europeans, were now standing in a queue, each waiting our turn. Many of the passengers ahead of me were angry and they yelled at the airline employees behind the counter. One guy was especially hostile when they offered him a 2AM flight but no hotel for the night. They said take it or leave it and he stormed off. I hoped so much I wouldn’t be given the same option because I had already hardly slept the night before and I dreaded having to stay up until 2AM.

After two hours of waiting, it was my turn at the counter. The guy asked if I would accept a flight the next day, to Rome and then to Munich. He seemed surprised when I enthusiastically said yes. At that point it was much more important to me to get some sleep and I didn’t mind spending the night in a hotel. Because the airport hotel was already full, I got to stay in a luxurious hotel in downtown Abu Dhabi, courtesy of said airline, for which I still haven’t decided whether to name it as the worst airline ever. In the end, they did come through for me.

The Corniche in Abu Dhabi

So, Abu Dhabi. What am I going to do, what shall I see? There wasn’t much time left in the day and I had no idea where to go. I knew nothing about the city or the country. Middle Eastern countries were never on my travel list because as a solo female I wouldn’t consider going there. While I was waiting for my luggage to be retrieved from the luggage hold, I quickly Googled sights in Abu Dhabi. If I had more time I would definitely have visited the Ferrari theme park. But it was already too late in the day. Since my hotel was downtown, I just strolled on the seashore walkway, the Corniche. I have always been in awe of futuristic megacities and while Abu Dhabi doesn’t quite compare to some of the Asian cities or the nearby Dubai, I was still impressed.

In the end, it all turned out well, I returned home eventually (just 27 hours later than planned) and I got to visit Abu Dhabi on the way as well. Not so bad from the worst airline ever.

Now, should I fly them again? And hope that after their crappy customer service I would be compensated with an unforgettable travel experience?