Australia to the Netherlands (via Cook Islands & Japan)

[craven morehead]

Flight 10: EW7184 Hamburg - Amsterdam
Airbus A320
Departure time: 18:15
Arrival time: 19:15

The final flight of this trip was also the shortest - a 45 minute hop over to the Netherlands.

Once again my United status came in handy for this flight. Star Alliance status doesn’t mean anything when flying on Eurowings, but Lufthansa, United and ANA status does. United Gold gets you priority check-in and priority boarding. (Priority check-in easily saved me half an hour of waiting in line.) It also grants you access to the Lufthansa Senator Lounge, provided you have something other than a “Basic” ticket. I had a “Smart” fare (which includes checked luggage and an on-board snack) as was welcomed in.*

*only after the guy on the desk had a long conversation with his colleague about access for United Gold members.

The Lufthansa Senator lounge in Hamburg was quite nice. It had a small selection of hot food, a small selection of lukewarm food that probably should have been hot, a large selection of cold beer and lots of newspapers/magazines. But my favourite part of the lounge was the outdoor terrace overlooking the runways.

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Our A320

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This was another pleasant short flight. Passengers with a Smart fare were offered a choice of a cheese sandwich or carrot cake. Other things were available for purchase. This was the cake:

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Wifi was available on the flight. Everyone had access to 10 minutes of free wifi. I was able to extend this for free using the Boingo account that came with my 28 Degrees MasterCard.

Approaching Amsterdam...

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We arrived at the gate 10 minutes early, then waited 45 minutes for someone to connect the airbridge!

How good is that outdoor terrace , especially relaxing with a weissbier

 

[BudgetFly]

Wow, great to follow that journey... My mouth was watering at the sushi pics!

 

[GarrettM]

Hope you'll be adding pics to this from time to time Mattg. Always wanting to see more of the Netherlands.

 

[J_seeker]

Thanks for the great TR Mattg. Very motivating. You've done some extensive research to plan this trip.

 

[JohnM]

Travelling around Europe, learning Dutch and enjoying life! Oh, and a bit of work as well.

Gosh, you have a good life @Mattg .

 

[rginoz]

Really enjoyed your Trip Report, Mattg. Your pics of Utrecht brought back some fond memories from my visit there earlier this year. And I'll be off to Japan in a few weeks time, visiting Tokyo and Hiroshima, and a few places in between. I've not been to Japan for many years, so I'm looking forward to the adventure. Your experiences with the various lounges shows how lucky we are in Australia with the offerings in our various lounges. Enjoy the Netherlands, it's a great country to visit.

 

[Carmilla5]

Matt absolutely loved this trip. So much great info and photos. I only wish I had half the FF knowledge you have to get the system working for me! More study I guess! All the best in Utrecht! Lisa

 

[QF WP]

Finally got around to finishing reading your TR after bookmarking it!

Two of my favourite countries - Japan and Germany. You brought back fond memories of my two trips to Japan and seeing Itsukushima Shrine again. Nice to know it hasn’t changed.

Let me know if you are in Amsterdam and need any assistance - I have a lovely Dutch client - pity I spoke to her last week before reading this TR.

 

[snabbu]

How good is that outdoor terrace , especially relaxing with a weissbier

Exactly my thoughts! In that glorious sunshine with a nice cold beer overlooking the runway, brilliant.
Great report Mattg.

 

[boomy]

Lovely TR thanks for sharing your journey and enjoy your time in AMS.

 

[Mattg]

Exactly my thoughts! In that glorious sunshine with a nice cold beer overlooking the runway, brilliant.
Great report Mattg.

Absolutely! It’s the hidden gem of Hamburg Airport IMHO.

I was back there again a couple of weeks ago and it was just as good as the first visit.

 

[JohnK]

Very nice trip report @Mattg.

 

[stm1sydney]

That beef dish on VA91 AKL-RAR is fantastic! Best dish I can remember on any short haul flight ever.