Covid era travel

[Sam]

What AE said. Hope you can enjoy the time off somehow, at any rate, Wouter.

Top work from the security people allowing a(t least one) piece of checked luggage on board without its owner boarding the plane, too. Hard to see any scope for that being used for evil.

[Nocturnal Submission]

07.00: wake up, shower, get dressed, pack bags
08.11: barely catch the bus to Eindhoven Centraal
08.47: catch the train to Schiphol Airport
10.15: get in line
11.30: finally arrive at check-in. Hand over bags for 13.05 flight to Washington DC.
11.40: get in line for pre-security gates
12.15: get through gates, take flight of stairs up to get in carry-on luggage check line
14.45: finally make it through carry-on luggage security
14.50: get through passport queue
14.55: get to gate. Plane has left about 20 minutes ago.
15.15: get to KLM transfer desk. Huge line
16.45: leave queue with just as many people in front of us as behind us
17.15: get train back to Eindhoven; cancel as many holiday bookings as I can
19.06: get bus back home
19.31: arrive home
22.20: flight has landed, finally able to file missing bag report. Only delivery option offered: pick up my bags in Washington Dulles airport. Request delivery option that doesn't feel like a kicking when I'm down.

The day had not gone exactly as I had planned it.

I thought that this all happened today. I was going to congratulate you on your ability to detail the events so calmly.

I'd have been sitting in a darkened room humming quietly to myself by the end of that sort of day.

[Wouter D]

I thought that this all happened today. I was going to congratulate you on your ability to detail the events so calmly.

When things started to go South, I started to document times in my google calendar just in case I would need the information later to fortify reimbursement/insurance claims. So now I can just read from the calendar events. I knew that I wouldn't be in the right state of mind to reconstruct it later.

Thanks to Sam and AE too. Contingency planning is underway (quite fancy some days in Luxembourg by car), but I do need my luggage back first.

[Sporting]

Top work from the security people allowing a(t least one) piece of checked luggage on board without its owner boarding the plane, too. Hard to see any scope for that being used for evil.

What I was thinking.

[Tactical Genius]

What I was thinking.

This happens quite often, especially in cases where you make you flight but your luggage doesn't. as happened to me when I went to Florida in November.

[Sporting]

Yes, but you travelling without your luggage is one thing, the reverse is another.

[Wouter D]

After a glorious 1 hours and 58 minutes in a phone queue, the lady on the other side of the line managed to make the system return our bags to our home, so my socks are back underway to me. Rejoice!

Sitting on the couch for two hours waiting to get through a phone queue is not my idea of a good time, but in total I spent 6.5 hours standing in various queues yesterday, so today's experience is substantially better.

[ursus arctos]

I was wondering if they were going to suggest you could get them out of the hold of a plane on the tarmac at Schiphol.

[Tactical Genius]

Yes, but you travelling without your luggage is one thing, the reverse is another.

Indeed, what normally happens if you do not make your flight is your bags are unloaded from the plane, why this didn't happen in this case is very strange as the count is done at the gate and the systems tells them who is or isn't is on the plane, mybe they didn't bother due to the shortage of baggages staff available and didn't want to hang around and miss their window.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Our Med cruise went very well, after we'd endured the 3 hour queue to get on the plane at MCR. That was, to be fair, as much Easyjet's fault as the airport's - the queue for "bag dropoff only" for people pre-checked in took at least an hour because they had about 3 out of 14 desks open, before we had to join the back of the c.500m queue for security (which was at least moving quite smoothly, just overwhelmed). Our trip out was 2 weeks ago so hopefully it's better now. Coming back in was possibly the fastest I've ever got back into the UK at Manchester, which was always a fucking shambles before Covid.

One thing easyjet hadn't told passengers going on flights to Italy was that you needed the super-duper FFP2 - NR covid masks to board a flight, not the flimsy blue things the NHS has been handing out in the UK. We were told this by the helpful security person who processed us, so went and bought some in Boots before going to the gate, but there were people at the gate being refused boarding onto the plane for the want of these masks who had to run back to Boots to try and buy theirs.

[San Bernardhinault]

I am currently in Denver airport. The actual flying part of this trip has been very seamless and efficient. (Two flights left to fuck that up). Bags got delivered in Albuquerque fine. Planes all on time. The only downsides have been that my routing changed multiple times as a result- presumably- of multiple changes to flight schedule which seems to be happening a lot.

It’s very notable that with the federal mandate for masking removed between flying out and back, the masking in airports and on the first flight is maybe 15% from 100% 9 days ago.

[ursus arctos]

Say hi to the demonic stallion

[San Bernardhinault]

The Demonic Stallion ignores those of us who just change planes here. It waits for those outside, guarding the no-man’s-land between airport and city.

[ursus arctos]

Of.course, but going to see it helps spend the time

As does visiting all of the New World Order facilities

[San Bernardhinault]

Fortunately my time between disembarking the previous plane and boarding this next one was under an hour. There’s no time for New World Order sightseeing, and therefore no chance to be turned into one of their slaves.

[ursus arctos]

I don't think you would have the time anyway, given your Illuminati obligations

[San Bernardhinault]

The Illuminati are in no rush. They can wait.

[Wouter D]

Indeed, what normally happens if you do not make your flight is your bags are unloaded from the plane, why this didn't happen in this case is very strange as the count is done at the gate and the systems tells them who is or isn't is on the plane, mybe they didn't bother due to the shortage of baggages staff available and didn't want to hang around and miss their window.

Yeah, that, and the plane was already delayed for 1.5 hours, so if they would wait any longer they would risk having to pay all passengers who did make it onto the plane the EU-regulated delay compensation.

[ad hoc]

This is just a travel story, but I have just discovered that you can't buy a Lufthansa ticket with a debit card. Absolute madness. Causes me a massive hassle and means they lose money. Insane corporate decisions

[ursus arctos]

Is it a Turkish thing?

https://www.lufthansa.com/ke/en/methods-of-payment

Available everywhere and at any time. Pay for your lufthansa.com online booking conveniently and securely with your debit card.



What is a debit card?

Debit cards are linked to an account and, in most cases, are only offered in combination with a current account provided by a bank. A debit card number is 13 to 19 digits long and is printed on the front of the card along with the dates of the card’s validity. The debit card’s three-digit security number is usually on the back of the card, in or near the signature strip.

Note: bank cards or EC cards with a V-Pay or Maestro logo are often also designated as debit cards. These cards enable you to withdraw money from ATMs worldwide and to pay in shops without using cash either by entering your PIN or providing your signature. However, not all of these cards have an online payment function. The bank that issued your card will certainly be able to give you more information in this regard.

Difference compared to credit cards: in contrast to credit cards, when you make a cashless payment with a debit card, the relevant amount will be debited from your linked current account within a few days. Payments are therefore only possible if you have sufficient funds in your account. With a credit card, on the other hand, amounts are debited only at certain intervals, usually once a month.

You can pay with the following debit cards at lufthansa.com:

Corporate debit cards:

• Degussa Corporate Debit Card
  Accepted Degussa Corporate cards start with 528159.
• AirPlus Corporate Debit Account
  Accepted AirPlus Corporate cards start with 122088 or 192088.

International Debit cards:

• MasterCard Debit
• Visa Debit
• Visa Electron

[ad hoc]

It's certainly true in Turkey (I've just been on the phone with them and they said it is an absolute policy here) . However if it is not policy in German I have no way of booking the ticket in Germany as far as I can tell.

[ursus arctos]

Not quite "available everywhere and all the time" it appears.

I wonder if it is somehow tied to currency controls.

[Tactical Genius]

It's certainly true in Turkey (I've just been on the phone with them and they said it is an absolute policy here) . However if it is not policy in German I have no way of booking the ticket in Germany as far as I can tell.

Have you tried an online travel agency like going via Skyscanner or Kayak?

[ad hoc]

Have you tried an online travel agency like going via Skyscanner or Kayak?

Yes. But because it's Lufthansa policy not to accept debit cards they don't work either.

I think an actual bricks and mortar travel agent might work which I may try tomorrow (today was the last day of the Eid holiday so they weren't open)

[San Bernardhinault]

The missus is in South Florida for work this week. She suggested I fly down today and we drive down the Keys tomorrow. All so good and sensible so far.

But I've just discovered that there is a Formula 1 Grand Prix in Miami this weekend, so I guess we're going to have to work hard at avoiding any chaos that brings to tomorrow's drive...