Boarding in HKG was far more civilized than in Sydney. I was happy to be in familiar environment as I have to admit HKG is one of my favorite 5 airports in the world.
The same settling experience than on my previous flight. This one seemed to be completely booked though. I was pretty tired at this point and the 3 Mojito from the Clubhouse might have contributed to that. I fell asleep right away and woke up right before meal service. Even though I planned not to eat I felt hungry all of a sudden so I ordered the steak. It was of excellent quality (almost as good as it get's in the air). After that I quickly changed into the Pyjama and went to sleep - for a full 7.5 hours.
Breakfast was served soon. As usual with breakfast on-board a plane I was not impressed. It was rather dull and hearing good things about the VS Arrivals Lounge I passed and decided to freshen up a little and get changed.
We had a very early arrival into Heathrow airport. I think it was 4:45am and the airport was DESERTED. Never seen Heathrow like this (usually it is a zoo) but I like experiences as this because it always fascinates me how different places look when not a soul is around. I proceeded to Arrivals and Border Patrol. Having a EU Passport makes things very easy at LHR but of course at this time there is no line whatsoever anyway.
Making my way down through the baggage hall (only with carry on baggage at this point) I proceeded to the Arrivals Lounge which was open already. The staff VERY friendly at such an early hour. Very pleasant experience indeed. I hopped into the shower which was a luxury after this long trip. Then it was breakfast time. The selection of breakfast items is pretty good and the quality once again excellent for lounge food.
Here are just 2 impressions of that morning. The food pictures came out too blurred, apologies for that!
Only one piece of the puzzle was missing: The flight to Frankfurt. This became a little bit tricky due to the bad weather in FRA and once again I'm thankful for the privilege of being able to use a lounge in the hustle and bustle of air travel.
First I had to make my way from the VS Arrival Clubhouse to Terminal 3 I believe (?) - It was far and by that I mean FAR. I had a large shopping bag, my heavy laptop-bag and a rollaboard. Arriving at the LH Check-In to get my boarding pass I decided to ditch the Trolley as it was pretty heavy and not really within limits for intra EU travel anyway. Check-In was smooth and friendly. Interesting feature: While being a member of BMI Diamond Club for 6 years now and having earned and burned hundreds of thousands of miles this is the first time I ever held a bmi boarding pass in my hands. And it isn't even a bmi flight.
Making my way through security it was time to encounter the first 'Business Penguins' on my journey. Oh LHR how I love you!
I find the distances at Heathrow horrible, but again it's good exercise so I won't complain at this time. Having about 2.5h time, first I visited the Star Alliance Lounge. Nothing new or exciting here. I proceeded quickly to the bmi Lounge which was also much closer to my departure gate. This was my first time at this lounge and I think it came out very neat! Poor bmi, soon you will probably end in the dark throat of BA. I miss you and your people already! My flight (as mentioned earlier) would be delayed for another 1:30h due to bad weather in FRA. I happily spent the time in the lounge. The connection to FRA was in Business Class which translated into Lufthansa Language: Economy Class with a curtain to part the cabin and a shrimp cocktail for breakfast. May I say: YUCK! Thankfully it was only a 1:10h flight.
Arrived in Frankfurt, I received my bag that I checked in LHR. Not that one I gave to VS in SYD. What a surprise... Being LH Senator and not living in germany one is entitled to a 'On the Spot' cash compensation - in this case the CSR gave me 200 EUR cash. This is one of the nicer features of the program. [The bag reached me the next day around 3PM]. It was time to pick up my rental car. In Germany that means for me: Sixt. All other companies are horrible, especially AVIS. Hertz is so-so but in FRA I do not recommend them at all.
I hope you enjoyed coming with me on this journey!
Cheers
S.