Chain Reaction

There is so much to this story I just don’t know where to start. So how about I start by saying this has been one of the most eventful travel experiences I have ever had.

It started back in Colorado Springs a couple days ago (but it all seems like one long day now). For the first time in my extensive travel career, I made the airplane late. Well, it was actually TSA who was responsible; but that’s not important. As the gate pulled away from the plane, the flight attendant received a call. The next thing that happened was that I was paged. (That’s never a good thing. You don’t want to be “that guy” on an airplane.) To make a very long story short, TSA had a problem with my pistol and had not put it on the plane. I wound up off the plane, in TSA’s office, then back on the plane per the pilot’s direction (rather than on a later flight). I was surprised that they had not loaded my bag onto the plane and that it took them 45 minutes after check in to contact me with their concerns.

According to my row-mate, they announced something about a gun and everyone was looking strangely at me when I returned to the aircraft. But NO ONE complained about the flight being late in front of me. As the plane took off, I realized that people were likely drawing some much more imaginative scenarios in their heads. “Thirty year old male in top physical condition with a military hair cut and a strange gun that TSA has a problem with then suddenly does not have a problem with.” And this right on the heels of the Navy shooting the pirates. It was much more fun to just sit there stoically rather than tell them that the gun in question was just a souped up bb gun!

When we deplaned (only the bureaucracy of airlines would use deplane instead of exit like the rest of the world) in Denver, I saw my luggage being unloaded. I had been concerned it would not make it onto the Denver flight with the confusion at the Colorado Springs airport. I only had about 35 minutes to make my connection on the Denver to Frankfurt flight, so I rapidly went the length of the airport and then to a new terminal and finally onto the Luftansa flight. While it was probably well over a mile between my two gates, it was less than half of that if you were to cross over outside (like the luggage carts).

I started feeling lucky for the first time on the trip when I realized that I had an empty seat next to me on the plane. This is luxury fit for a king when you are used to traveling cramped in economy class and NEVER seem to get that free upgrade. My coveted empty seat was one of the only ones on the plane and gave me the aisle and window seats together for a combined space about 4 feet across. With the help of a sleep aid earplugs, eye shades, a neck pillow, my extra seat, and a ridiculously early morning wakeup, I slept a near record of almost 7 hours on the flight. My luck seemed to be continuing.

In Frankfurt, I exercised my newly earned rights to the travel lounges. As a freshly minted Premier Executive, I can use these lounges on international flights. This is a real treat for frequent fliers. And to boot, the lounge in Frankfurt has free showers and outstanding food (also free). My luck was simply on a roll!

Stay tuned for “The rest of the story” tomorrow for me (maybe late tonight for those of you in the USA). What this means is that I am about to fall asleep and can't responsibly blog anymore. You’ll find out why tomorrow.