Wed 3 Nov (FRA-IAH, Houston)
First part of the service is of course the aperitif service with snack tidbits; in this case, a packet of mini-pretzels.
Aperitif service
This run aperitifs served; this run aperitifs collected. This hand wax on; this hand wax off. Alright it wasn't that quick, but after our tray tables were cleared the meals were wheeled out. Good to know that LH is wise in that despite our early time of departure (10am) they "accurately" serve lunch rather than brunch or breakfast (!) which sometimes ridiculously happens on some other airlines.
I selected the German traditional favourite of stewed meat (can't remember what it was) sided with red cabbage and potato dumplings. I swear I've heard LH prop this on a F menu before; it'd be a pity if it were and the only thing different was the serving size and method. Then again, I guess some folk in F will kill just to have some of the more basic delicacies instead of a bowl of melon soup or filet steak with cannelloni and walnuts.
LH440 Lunch
The main was delicious, or as delicious as most comfort food can get (it had flavour was the main thing). The side salad of lettuce, carrot and feta was alright and the tea cake - or at least that's what I guessed it to be - was adequate. A decent meal all around, which actually still leaves something to be desired for the Y meals of other airlines around the world, oddly enough.
Trays were cleared after lunch and then some of us tried to get some sleep. Others wandered around the cabin having conversations until either they felt the need to nod off, move on or were shooed away by the FAs in case of the anti-congregation laws. The timing of this flight was interesting. We left at around 10am and virtually arrive at our destination a mere few hours later, except we spend about 10 hours in the air. It's as if it would be better to pretend you've just frozen or slowed down time considerably, and then when you hit the ground everything is back to full speed again. Or, let sleep do the job of putting the times back in place for you!
I had a couple of naps before getting up and walking about. Had a nice chat with
seacarl and
seacarl+1 who were savvy enough to snag the exit row. Others joined us in conversation before...yep, you guessed it...the crew came to break us up. So then it was back for another nap.
Sleeping in LH's old Y seats wasn't too bad, although it was made a little easier by wearing PJs. (I had packed my QF F PJs with me in my carry-on and changed into them for the flight).
Many hours of sleep later and, for some others, enduring hours upon tortuous hours of overhead, mono-channel loopback IFE, we were nearing IAH. A hot snack was proffered before landing; I chose the more substantial option of the two presented, which was a nice baked salmon.
LH440 Refreshment before landing
A small sweet ring-shaped cake and a solitary bread roll rounded up the snack.
Preparations for landing were put into action. I managed to beat most of the post-meal bathroom rush and used it myself as well as changing back into civilian (civil?
) clothes. IAH was just as gloomy if not more wet than when we left FRA. Barely a thing could be seen from the skies and landing in IAH meant not being able to see the ground until we were just about to!
Once we were on the ground we were bid a good day by our purser who again gave a special mention to those who were members of "Flyertalk com". Obviously someone (perhaps another FTer) had briefed our purser on our travels as our purser wished us well (in a most interesting manner) for our events in IAH and PHX. Everyone else on board who wasn't in on the Do probably sat there puzzled like anything.
The announcement was barely audible again; I'll let you decide how much you can hear:
:arrow: this is the landing video into IAH [VIDEO: Youtube - 9 min 11 sec]
Well, they say everything's bigger in Texas. Yep, so are the immigration queues
Well, at least the majority of the crowd who were residents of the USA had no problems breezing through. The rest of us who lacked APEC cards (most of us) had to line up in the considerably long lines. Our crew had finished their long debriefing and even beat many of us through the entry procedures! Once I had got through immigration, there was a considerable walk to baggage claim. Of no surprise, once we had arrived the bags had already made a few rounds on the belt.
Welcome to Houston
Once out in the arrivals spillout, there was much confusion as to what to do next. How do we get to the hotel? Do we wait for someone? There was no one with signs that explained what we had to do, and the spillout was quite devoid of FTers for a while. Eventually, we seemed to work out that a few of the Sheraton shuttles were outside and they were our means of getting to the hotel. FTers piled onto full shuttles as we had a quick ride to our rather non-imposing looking Sheraton.
Hotel: Sheraton North Houston at George Bush Intercontinental
Booked: Standard Room
Received: Junior Suite
Lobby Lounge at the Sheraton North Houston
A horde of FTers who had not decided to join those in FRA had already marked their territory at the Sheraton. A very lovely welcoming spread had been put out for us, but the lot who had just arrived a little bit tired off a 10 hour hop across the pond were set out to get our stuff into rooms. I met up with my fellow Australian,
Bundy Bear, of whom I would be sharing a room with for IAH and SEA.
We were checked in with special welcome and a Junior Suite awaited us thanks to a last minute upgrade opportunity. Although the hotel had recently undergone a renovation, the decor and furnishings still gave a dated look to the place. The price was definitely right, though (and even better with the deal nutted out by the SMD2 team).