Here is part 1 of the story. Also, I made significant edits on my original post as it was written right after a night of drinking in Amsterdam - it should flow much better now.

I met Dirk for breakfast in the hotel restaurant where I had the worst omelet and French toast. Even though our flight to Frankfurt was scheduled to depart at 21:30, we were told that we have to check out from the hotel by 12 noon. To add insult to injury, Delta Airlines' didn't provide stranded passengers with vouchers for transportation back to the airport. In other words, we are responsible for transportation to NY JFK Airport and being placed 60 miles away from the airport by the night before, the taxi fare won't come cheap. Delta Airlines incompetence never ceases to amaze me.

Because Dirk and I shared the same flight to Frankfurt, we decided that we should hang out and do something fun to pass time till departure. Instead of hiring a cab like most other stranded passengers, we rented a car. Since I didn't retrieve my luggage the night before, I was concerned that it may be lost. Dirk has to be the calmest and most optimistic German I have ever met. He kept telling me that it is "Lucky Saturday" and our fortunes would turn around; I should be able to find my luggage. So the first order of business that day was for us to drive our spiffy rented Pontiac Grand Prix to JFK to retrieve my luggage - only this time I would ask Singapore Airlines not Delta Airlines for assistance.

The Singapore Airlines staff was friendly, he said that he will check and call me back when he retrieves it. He said that if he doesn't get me on the phone, he will leave my luggage with the counter staff when I check in later. He is friendly, thoughtful, professional, and customer-oriented - the hallmarks of Singapore Airlines. I could have just easily flown from Boston to Frankfurt with other airlines; but instead I braved the hassle of traveling to New York to catch a flight from New York to Frankfurt by Singapore Airlines says a lot about my satisfaction with the company.

Since it was a gorgeous day, we spent the rest of the afternoon in Manhattan. Our drive back to NY JFK Airport was a breeze - there weren't any traffic at all. When I arrived at the flight check-in counter, my luggage was as they said right where it was. We checked in an hour and half before departure. We got into the plane at 21:00 and were in the air by 20:00. There were no chaos and everything was on time with Singapore Airlines.

After about 7 hours of flight time, I finally arrived in Frankfurt and went through immigration and custom without a hitch. But there is still one more problem: the flight from Frankfurt to Amsterdam has not been resolved yet. Dirk, a native of Frankfurt, was kind enough to stay with me in the airport to help me sort out the mess with KLM. After my inquiry at the KLM counter, I was confirmed the next flight out to Amsterdam but it came with a penalty of 115 Euros for changing flight. Bravo! my traveling nightmare was finally over. I said to Dirk then: "You know we never really celebrated our successful arrival in Frankfurt with a toast." We then immediately proceeded to the nearest beer garden for some good German beer. Dirk, you are right - it was "Lucky Saturday."

8/15/2006 6:25:11 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [2]

Travels