I wanted to change my United award ticket after I started
travelling and it was easy really. A few
caveats, I’m a 1K member, so there was no fee, (a fee may apply to general
members), also I was not changing my city pairs or connection point, and
finally I verified availability before booking.
That said, the process went smoothly really.
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| Lufthansa Cityline E190 Coach Seat Recline |
Geneva was proving to be a bit dull, so I wanted to grab an
earlier flight into Frankfurt. I had
booked an overnight connection and was happy to get to the Sheraton Frankfurt
Airport in time to grab a bite in the outstanding club lounge. Lufthansa had plenty of availability too, so
it was looking promising.
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| Business Class Seats Lufthansa Cityline E190 |
The one complication was that I had no way to economically
call United (this type of change can’t be made online). Google Voice is charging for calls
originating from outside the US and I never signed up for Skype. Luckily my girlfriend was able to help. I gave her my United number, pin, directions
on the flight I wanted changed, and an overview of what to expect. After a few minutes, I got an itinerary
update from United and a reply email reporting success. Easiest flight change ever, I didn’t even
have to wait on hold.
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| Intra Europe Lufthansa Snack |
Another bonus is that I went from coach on a full CRJ-900 to
coach on a 40% full ERJ-190. The E-190is a great 100 seat plane and there was plenty of space for everyone. The flight from Geneva to Frankfurt was only
an hour and light snack was served in coach.
It was a bumpy flight, but things went smoothly on arrival. My bag quickly appeared at baggage claim and
it was a quick walk across the terminal to the Sheraton.
The Sheraton Frankfurt Airport hotel is my favorite airport
hotel in the world. I even stayed there
when I was visiting Frankfurt rather than going to a hotel downtown (the rail
link form the airport is fast and reasonably priced). The hotel service is very good and the club
lounge has an outstanding breakfast (including omelet station) and dinner
presentation. The rooms are fresh and
well maintained too.
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| Sheraton Frankfurt Airport Club Level Room |
Things did not go as smoothly the following morning. I was scheduled on the first flight to
Stockholm at 7:10 AM. The security lines
were long and slow (last time I went through the First Class Terminal with no problems), so I didn’t have much time to grab a bite in the lounge (also packed
with long lines). I soon had to go to
the gate and the plane was at a remote parking position so a bus ride was
required. I always like being one of the
last to board so I am not stuck on the bus forever.
That idea didn’t go well because the first bus filled up and
pulled away with 12 passengers waiting for the next bus, which pulled up
immediately. Then we waited for 30
minutes until we were told the plane left without us. We were rebooked on the next flight 2 hours
later and given €250 cash vouchers (really, they just added $315 to my checking
account). I’m fine with being paid $100
an hour to sit in the Senators lounge and waiting for the next flight.
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| Lufthansa A321 Intra Europe Snack and Seat |
The flight to Stockholm was fast and enjoyable with great
views heading north. The aircraft was a
new A321 and the middle seat was empty. The
sandwich was good too. Upon landing
there was a cabin announcement apologizing to those that missed the earlier
flight and informing us that our checked bags had already arrived. I quickly grabbed my bag, bought a ticket for
the Arlanda Express train and was heading into Stockholm.
