Kazan to Samara to Frankfurt to London
We have a big day today, flying from Kazan to Samara and then Frankfurt on the same flight, then connecting to London Heathrow, and then self-connecting to Los Angeles.
We woke at 0400 and were out of the hotel into a pre-ordered taxi at 0450. It was a longish 45 min ride to the airport with some unusual turns, as if we were going in the wrong direction.
Kazan’s airport was small and only ticketed passengers could enter. There was a customs check before we checked-in. During our wait afterwards, the taxi driver came back as he had found my keys on the floor of the taxi. They must have dropped out while I was checking something. Good man, as he would have had to battle some red tape to get into the terminal.
The Lufthansa A319 flight to Samara was short, but a snack of a sandwich roll was served along with a variety of drinks including sparkling wine. As we approached Samara, we saw the big Volga River.
At Samara, we had a change of crew and the plane filled up completely. An American woman sat near us and we had some interesting chats. She works as an interpreter for a team of surgeons who fix up children with heart defects.
The second leg on Lufthansa to Frankfurt was longer and we had a nice hot meal. The choice was chicken with spaghetti or beef and gravy with potatoes. Despite no inflight entertainment the flight went quickly.
At Frankfurt airport, we had a remote gate. Once inside the terminal building we changed our boarding pass so that we would be seated together for the next leg to London Heathrow.
It was a quick transfer to a Lufthansa A321 waiting at another remote gate for the flight to Heathrow. After a sandwich and drinks on board, we landed minus our luggage.
Luggage gone astray
Actually, we waited at the carousel at Heathrow. We waited and waited. Then an announcement came on calling our names. At the counter, the ground handler explained that our luggage had been left behind in Kazan. He thought that the manual bag tag showing “LHR” without first showing “FRA” may have caused confusion. I didn’t buy that as there was only one Lufthansa flight. I thought it was more likely that our bags had missed the tight connecting time in Frankfurt.
We were offered up to GBP60 per person on a reimbursement basis. Some items would be reimbursed on a 100% basis while others at 100% if the luggage wasn’t found and 50% if the luggage was eventually found.
That sounded a little too difficult to claim especially since Lufthansa’s Auckland office had been closed since March this year. We were given a note to take to the ticketing counter upstairs for a full payment in advance.
London to Los Angeles
We continued to Terminal 3 for our check-in with Air New Zealand. Our friends Catherine and Eric were there waiting for us. They were joining us on staff tickets for the flight to Los Angeles.
Check-in was smooth with no problems. You just never know travelling on staff tickets! We were given our paid upgrades in Business Class on the upper deck of the 747.
The very nice London-based English crew took two hours to get the meal started. And another two hours to finish it off! They started with two crew members and assisted by another two, then three, four and briefly five and six others! Kim was in disbelief at how slow they were. But for me, being a daylight flight, I didn’t mind enjoying each course of my meal leisurely.
I slept and dozed a little as we had had an early start in Kazan. As we were flying over Los Angeles, the plane made a sudden pull-up manouver. It was followed by a second but less sudden move. Kim, a highly experienced flight attendant with 17 years experience knew something wasn’t right. [Edit: We never got to the bottom of what went on.]
At Los Angeles, Eric and Catherine took a little longer to clear immigration. Kim waited for them while I shuttled to the Furama Hotel ahead of them. I shared the room with Catherine while Kim with Eric.
Mountains as we descended into Los Angeles.