All the airlines are running promotions to help one maintain some level of elite status with that airline this spring. So, we took advantage of sub $500 flights to Frankfurt. Starting in Miami, we went through Dallas on the way over and returned through Chicago. All on American Airlines.
We departed Miami at about 11am for Dallas on flight 893. I have status with American and was upgraded to First Class a few days before the trip. An uneventful 2 1/2 hour flight to DFW, but I was a bit nervous since our scheduled connection was slightly more than an hour, which usually isn't enough since I'm generally the last one off the plane. It always amazes me just how long it takes to board and deplane an aircraft. It always reminds me of the clowns getting out of the VW at the circus, it never ends! Well, for better or worse, sitting in first class means that we're directly above the forward cargo door where my wheelchair is loaded and unloaded. Well, this time we unfortunately didn't have our cameras out and ready as my heavy electric wheelchair came shooting down the conveyor belt plummeting to earth. After they picked up all the pieces out on the ramp, they delived the chair to the jetway near the aircraft door in many more pices than I had left it with them in Miami, namely one piece! They wheeled me out of the aircraft in the little aisle chair and I was greeted with several apologetic customer service and gate agents from the airline, and as I don't consider myself a VIP by any means, I didn't take their presence as a positive thing. When I first saw my chair I did inquire about when the next flight directly back to Miami. Things weren't good, but after quite a bit of banging to reassemble various parts I determined that we'd at least give it a go and we headed into the terminal to begin the trek from Termial A to Terminal D. Fornunately once we found our gate, we also found a 'broke' plane and a delayed departure time. We wandered around the DFW airport for a few hours after dealing with customer service relating my 'broke' chair and who to send the bill to; and even more courteous was being bumped up the Business class for our inconvienience--a nice gesture for a 10 hour overnight flight. I once again boarded early using the little aisle chair, then come the masses. The flight had many seats open in both business and coach (and I assume first class as well), maybe the reason for the low fares.
We arrived in Frankfurt at about 9:30am on April 11th, and within seconds of the last passenger deplaning two strong men in semi-medical looking attire appeared with an ailse chair and promptly lifted me from the plane's seat to the aisle chair and rolled me out into the jetway where my chair had been waiting for me. Once again it incurred a bent legrest, but once bent back into place we were off. We were also met by a nice young girl, Rebecca, who escorted us through immigration (or total lack thereof), baggage claim, and the exit door (aka Customs). She was really a great help when it came to finding the train
More to come, with pictures, of the train ride from the airport to Mainz, our brief stay at the Mainz Hilton, and our return trip.
9/25/10
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