Well there is no HAM to US West Coastand flying to FRA beats taking a train or driving if you have to do security and airport shenanigans anyway.
How bad is train service? When I did Munich to Ulm, it was dull but otherwise uneventful...
Airplane or airport experiences...
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How bad is train service? When I did Munich to Ulm, it was dull but otherwise uneventful...
narf
Sgt. Maj. Buzzkill
It's good considering the distance - Kiel to Frankfurt is a 5h direct ride, so home to FRA would be 6h plus DB buffer, so about 7h.
Home to HAM is 1h, HAM to FRA is 1h, 1h transfer time in FRA - 4h faster, same number of security checks, same pre-flight buffer at the first airport, cheaper - getting to HAM by rental is cheaper for two than taking the train to FRA despite 50% train discount card, and the connecting flight costs negative a few hundred because weird airline pricing schemes charging extra for direct flights from affluent cities
my flight was 430€ return, cheapest I saw directly from FRA without the connecting flights was about twice that.
When I'm going to Frankfurt itself I usually take the train because not going to an airport at all makes up for most of the extra time the train takes. Driving is 1-2h slower depending on traffic and madness of the driver, and much more expensive... so I usually only drive in the summer because ?
Didn't think I'd have to explain the concept of distance to a 'Murican for Ulm-Munich the train service is dreamy - direct, more than once per hour, hardly any distance to cover.
Home to HAM is 1h, HAM to FRA is 1h, 1h transfer time in FRA - 4h faster, same number of security checks, same pre-flight buffer at the first airport, cheaper - getting to HAM by rental is cheaper for two than taking the train to FRA despite 50% train discount card, and the connecting flight costs negative a few hundred because weird airline pricing schemes charging extra for direct flights from affluent cities
my flight was 430€ return, cheapest I saw directly from FRA without the connecting flights was about twice that.When I'm going to Frankfurt itself I usually take the train because not going to an airport at all makes up for most of the extra time the train takes. Driving is 1-2h slower depending on traffic and madness of the driver, and much more expensive... so I usually only drive in the summer because ?
Didn't think I'd have to explain the concept of distance to a 'Murican
for Ulm-Munich the train service is dreamy - direct, more than once per hour, hardly any distance to cover.
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It's good considering the distance - Kiel to Frankfurt is a 5h direct ride, so home to FRA would be 6h plus DB buffer, so about 7h.
Home to HAM is 1h, HAM to FRA is 1h, 1h transfer time in FRA - 4h faster, same number of security checks, same pre-flight buffer at the first airport, cheaper - getting to HAM by rental is cheaper for two than taking the train to FRA despite 50% train discount card, and the connecting flight costs negative a few hundred because weird airline pricing schemes charging extra for direct flights from affluent cities
When I'm going to Frankfurt itself I usually take the train because not going to an airport at all makes up for most of the extra time the train takes. Driving is 1-2h slower depending on traffic and madness of the driver, and much more expensive... so I usually only drive in the summer because ?
Didn't think I'd have to explain the concept of distance to a 'Murican
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I forget how bigly Germany is. I hear a lot of complaints about German train service and from my perspective, any service is better than no service. For perspective, it’s like living in Cleveland and flying out of ohare.
that said, I wasn’t looking for a lecture just that the myriad of connections seemed excessive.
narf
Sgt. Maj. Buzzkill
That's why I flew out of Hamburg that's like living in Gary and flying out of O'Hare
that's like living in Gary and flying out of O'Hare 
Behold the reason for quite a lot of completely unnecessary airplane journeys and all the negatives that come with it.cheaper - getting to HAM by rental is cheaper for two than taking the train to FRA despite 50% train discount card, and the connecting flight costs negative a few hundred because weird airline pricing schemes charging extra for direct flights from affluent cities
People will literally add a trip from Frankfurt to Hamburg to their journey if they have the time to start their journey there and then connect through their home airport. Air fares can be absolutely ridiculous.
narf
Sgt. Maj. Buzzkill
It gets even more extreme if you bring BLL into the mix - I've often seen flights from there, further away, be even cheaper than connectors from HAM... if only there was a decent wheeled connection from Kiel :'(
marcos_eirik
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Also, using false destinations when booking and getting off at the connection (aka: skiplagging), can be risky.Behold the reason for quite a lot of completely unnecessary airplane journeys and all the negatives that come with it.
While it is not technically illegal, it will certainly violate the terms and conditions under which the ticket was issued. You can therefore risk that the airline cancels your return trip (if you did it on the outbound), additionally they can cancel other trips if you have more trips booked, they can also cancel your frequent flyer account and void your points, and even black-flag you from all of their flights in the future.
narf
Sgt. Maj. Buzzkill
The way I recall LH terms, they reserve the right to "recalculate the fare" if you don't do all flights in the booked order 
They do indeed and even sued a passenger over it. Great guys all around... NOT!
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Which reminds me, my recent airline/airport experience:
Fly HAM-FRA-LAX with LH, the flights were fine... got to see my suitcase again two weeks later on the carousel in HAM
Based on the various stickers, it flew with me to Frankfurt... followed me to Los Angeles a day later... never got shipped to my Vegas address that was valid for five more days while my colleague's suitcase made it to Vegas on day 2... mine spent the next two weeks partying in LA, it seems... flew back to Frankfurt on my plane, was scheduled to return to Hamburg one flight after mine but a) someone in LA used the red RUSH stickers and b) our plane from LA was early so it ended up getting a new sticker for my flight to Hamburg, covering the "BULK" notice... which probably led to some luggage handler throwing it out onto the carousel
Now to enjoy the LH claims process for replacement purchases
Reminds me of my experience going to Romania on LH with my wife and our 8 months old daughter. Wedding are awesome when the only clothes you have are shorts and a t-shirt.
CrzRsn
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A couple of notes from my recent JFK-CDG-MAD-AMS-JFK trip.
1. JFK Terminal 1 security makes no sense at all. I have TSA PreCheck, but the way they have the lines set up at JFK is such that PreCheck and regular security merge after the ID check. At that point everyone puts their stuff on the same xray conveyor, everyone has to remove their electronics, everyone has to remove their liquids etc. The regular passengers have to remove their shoes and go through the xray machine while the PreCheck passengers have to tell a TSA agent that they have PreCheck and they're allowed to keep their shoes on and go through the metal detector. Problem is, once your through the metal detector, you then have to wait for your carryon luggage which is stuck behind everyone elses luggage. So the conveyor gets backed up while people go through the xray machine, and you end up having to stand there like an idiot clogging the narrow passage waiting for your stuff.
2. AF's A380 was a huge let down. See my previous post. Adding to that, the meal was also the worst I've had in my last 6 transatlantic flights.
3. CDG was a mess as always.
4. A hot meal on a regional flight? Wow! Got some sort of chicken meal on the MAD-AMS leg.
5. Hooray for AMS adding US passports to those allowed to use the automated passport control lanes!
6. I was very impressed with KLM's 787-9. It was a lot quieter than expected, a very smooth ride, great IFE, decent seat with a surprising amount of recline (I was in Economy Comfort). The main meal was pretty good too, but the pizza we got for the "evening snack" was incredible, I actually asked for a second.... and a third. The electrochromic windows were pretty slow to respond, but I was impressed with the range they were capable of.
Side note. Plane next to us at AMS had this crazy jetbridge design I've never seen before. It was actually cantilevered over the wing to door 3L. Seems like an overly complicated system that doesn't provide enough benefit to justify the extra cost over a standard jetbridge.
1. JFK Terminal 1 security makes no sense at all. I have TSA PreCheck, but the way they have the lines set up at JFK is such that PreCheck and regular security merge after the ID check. At that point everyone puts their stuff on the same xray conveyor, everyone has to remove their electronics, everyone has to remove their liquids etc. The regular passengers have to remove their shoes and go through the xray machine while the PreCheck passengers have to tell a TSA agent that they have PreCheck and they're allowed to keep their shoes on and go through the metal detector. Problem is, once your through the metal detector, you then have to wait for your carryon luggage which is stuck behind everyone elses luggage. So the conveyor gets backed up while people go through the xray machine, and you end up having to stand there like an idiot clogging the narrow passage waiting for your stuff.
2. AF's A380 was a huge let down. See my previous post. Adding to that, the meal was also the worst I've had in my last 6 transatlantic flights.
3. CDG was a mess as always.
4. A hot meal on a regional flight? Wow! Got some sort of chicken meal on the MAD-AMS leg.
5. Hooray for AMS adding US passports to those allowed to use the automated passport control lanes!
6. I was very impressed with KLM's 787-9. It was a lot quieter than expected, a very smooth ride, great IFE, decent seat with a surprising amount of recline (I was in Economy Comfort). The main meal was pretty good too, but the pizza we got for the "evening snack" was incredible, I actually asked for a second.... and a third. The electrochromic windows were pretty slow to respond, but I was impressed with the range they were capable of.
Side note. Plane next to us at AMS had this crazy jetbridge design I've never seen before. It was actually cantilevered over the wing to door 3L. Seems like an overly complicated system that doesn't provide enough benefit to justify the extra cost over a standard jetbridge.
I’ve seen quite a few airports merge precheck and General. Seems pointless if the only benefit is the line and the security check itself is still a nightmare.
ScarFace88
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CrzRsn
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Noticed on my last trip to Europe that pilots can just pull up to the gate by themselves without having the 3 marshaller team like they do in the US.
Just found in an airport guide a page about the guidance system. Wonder why they don't use these in the US.
Seems a lot more efficient than having the marshall teams for every arriving aircraft. Don't remember seeing marshallers for departing aircrafts either in Europe.
Just found in an airport guide a page about the guidance system. Wonder why they don't use these in the US.
Seems a lot more efficient than having the marshall teams for every arriving aircraft. Don't remember seeing marshallers for departing aircrafts either in Europe.
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Noticed on my last trip to Europe that pilots can just pull up to the gate by themselves without having the 3 marshaller team like they do in the US.
Just found in an airport guide a page about the guidance system. Wonder why they don't use these in the US.
Seems a lot more efficient than having the marshall teams for every arriving aircraft. Don't remember seeing marshallers for departing aircrafts either in Europe.
They do have those in the USA as well, but sometimes they still use a marshaller at gates where these are available. Not sure why, maybe obstacle clearance for the wings.
Edit: First KORD taxi to gate video I looked at on youtube, you can see the board, and no marshaller:
CrzRsn
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Interesting! Guess I just never paid attention before. Or maybe never went been to an airport with the system (or both). Flight I arrived on at DTW yesterday ended up having to sit on the tarmac for 10ish minutes because the gate was ready but there was no ground team to guide us in.
CrzRsn
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Evacuation slide falls off plane midflight, lands in Massachusetts man's front yard
https://www.wcvb.com/article/evacua...ilton-massachusetts-man-s-front-yard/30065890
https://www.wcvb.com/article/evacua...ilton-massachusetts-man-s-front-yard/30065890
"not available in your region"
I guess it's this incident? That's quite the case of "get off my lawn"!
It’s weird when a process that you’ve been using for years changes fundamentally.
Ever since I started using the Global Entry kiosks at US immigration, it has been 1: insert passport, 2: look vaguely near the camera and wait for photo to be taken, 3: put fingers on fingerprint scanner, 4: do electronic paperwork. Done in under a minute and you’re off to the baggage claim (or customs, in my case). I usually do it half asleep.
Yesterday at DTW though, they used facial recognition. No passport needed, no fingerprints either, but all three or four of us who were used to the old process stood there feeling stupid and wondering why the machine wasn’t working.
After being instructed by someone, we all did get it to work and then continued wondering because we were then actually interviewed by a CBP officer. That hasn’t happened in years!
Ever since I started using the Global Entry kiosks at US immigration, it has been 1: insert passport, 2: look vaguely near the camera and wait for photo to be taken, 3: put fingers on fingerprint scanner, 4: do electronic paperwork. Done in under a minute and you’re off to the baggage claim (or customs, in my case). I usually do it half asleep.
Yesterday at DTW though, they used facial recognition. No passport needed, no fingerprints either, but all three or four of us who were used to the old process stood there feeling stupid and wondering why the machine wasn’t working.
After being instructed by someone, we all did get it to work and then continued wondering because we were then actually interviewed by a CBP officer. That hasn’t happened in years!