Hello and greetings from Munich! Those are words I didn’t expect to type yesterday morning during my 2 hour ground delay in Chicago. As you might recall from previous installments of this live blog trip report, I nearly missed my flight to London yesterday. Missing that flight would have been catastrophic so I’m quite thankful to be sitting here in Munich.
I’m currently waiting to begin my 3rd itinerary of the weekend. With this 3rd and final record locator I’m beginning a OneWorld business class trip from Munich to Chicago. My return to Munich is during Oktoberfest where I will actually be taking some time off work to explore Munich; and drink heavily.
Getting To Munich From London
Getting to London on time was nothing short of a miracle. So, by comparison, getting to Munich has been a breeze! I flew here on a British Airways’ Airbus A319 which left London at approximately 9AM. Interestingly, I’d say well more than 1/3 of the flight was full of Americans. I guess Munich is a popular destination at the moment given some very attractive economy class fares offered by OneWorld.
The flight departed on time, but that’s about all I can say about my flight to Munich. See, I fell asleep before takeoff and didn’t wake up until we had about 20 minutes left to go. Even then I only woke up to use the restroom before returning to my seat to again sleep until touchdown. One of the perks of getting such little sleep on the transatlantic sector is that it’s easy to sleep after that.
Before I knew it we landed on the runway and I shot awake. It was a short taxi to the gate and before long I was on the jet-bridge en route to the border patrol checkpoint.
A Terrible Border Patrol Experience
Well, the border patrol agent who I spoke with was lovely. She stamped my passport within 30 seconds of approaching the counter. So with respect to her, the process was fine. What was not fine were the lines leading up to each counter. That is to say, there were no lines.
The immigration checkpoint was a congested mess of EU and non-EU passport holders. Everyone was trying to queue on their own without any guidance. There were 4 open border patrol lanes, but there were no less than 30 lines. One 2 agents manned desks to process EU passports. The remaining two agents processed “all other passports.” That wasn’t communicated until people reached the front of the line. From there arriving passengers had to shuffle and push people to get in the right line. It was overall just a terrible experience.
To make matters even worse, the airport was and is hot! There doesn’t appear to be air conditioning throughout the main terminal. This means everyone waiting in line is hot and sweating on top of being frustrated. Overall it just did not make for a pleasant experience.
Reaching The Halfway Point
After clearing the border patrol checkpoint and getting another stamp in my passport I officially reached the halfway point of the trip. If you’ve ever done a mileage run before, you know that the halfway point is by far the WORST part of the trip.
I say this because here is my current situation. I haven’t showered in well over 24 hours and most of that time has been on airplanes so as you can imagine, I’m gross. Nothing in the world sounds better than a hot shower right now. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to any lounges in Munich that offer showers so instead I have to wait until I get to my hotel in Helsinki.
On top of feeling gross, I’m exhausted and as a result have a headache. The first time I ever felt like this when mileage running worried me. However, after doing this a few times I’ve learned to push past this feeling. I want more than anything to nap, but I know I need to stay awake. By staying awake until I make it to my hotel I will hopefully be able to get a decent night sleep tonight. Therefore I’m drinking way more caffeine then I typically would in a given day.
Lastly, I was almost not allowed into the secure area of the airport. I arrived in Munich at 12PM and my flight to Helsinki doesn’t leave until 7PM. The Finnair check-in desk doesn’t open until 2 hours before 7PM so if I had to check a back or didn’t have a mobile boarding pass I would have to wait in the warm departures hall. Luckily, I only have a backpack with me and I was able to retrieve my mobile boarding card before departing for Munich.
Airport Lounge Europe Munich
I was happy to clear security with a mobile boarding card because it meant that I could spend my 5 hour layover from the comfort of a lounge. I’ve been spending this particular layover in the Airport Lounge Europe; a Priority Pass lounge.
The lounge isn’t great, the space is quite small, but surprisingly throughout the time I’ve been here it’s never been crowded. The lounge has remained quiet the whole time I’ve been here. Additionally, the lounge offers traditional lounge fare of cured meats, cheeses, pastries, and an assortment of beverages. Sure you can’t get a hot meal in this lounge, but you can get enough food to tie you over until your next meal.
This lounge also offers complimentary WiFi to all guests. The Wifi is much faster than the free WiFi found in the main terminal so it’s been a great place to get some work done during my long layover.
Lastly, the lounge has air conditioning. No, I’m not kidding, it’s advertised on the Priority Pass website. Apparently the Munich airport doesn’t believe in air conditioning because everywhere outside of this lounge is a million and one degrees. Inside the lounge however the air is a crisp 72 degrees!
What Did I Do During A 5 Hour Layover?
Again, this is the question I get asked most often, what do you do with all this time? Usually when I’m asked the question I stare blankly into space and say “I don’t know?” because honestly I don’t. When I got to the airport I had no idea how I was going to kill 5 hours, but somehow here we are.
During my 5 hour layover I spent much of my time writing various blog posts and organizing photos. I also spend about an hour reading a book I brought with me and spend about an hour watching a show on Netflix. Before I knew it the 5 hours were up and it’s time to head to the gate to catch my next flight.
Next Stop Helsinki
After leaving this lounge I board a Finnair Business Class flight to Helsinki. Keep in mind that this is intra-Europe business class which isn’t that nice, but it should come with a meal.
Once I land in Helsinki I have no idea how I’m getting to the hotel I booked just two days ago. I believe there is a train that runs to/from the airport to downtown Helsinki, but I have no idea when or how often it runs. I also have no idea how much the train costs. However, I will figure all of that out when I get there.
From there I hope walk from the train to the hotel where I will finally be able to take a much-needed shower! I’m not sure if I’ll make it out tonight, but I plan on waking up early and walking the city in the morning. Then I head back to the airport to catch my Finnair Business Class flight from Helsinki to Chicago. I’ve been anticipating this flight for some time now and I can’t wait to get on board.
More than likely you won’t hear from me until I’m back in Chicago. I may provide an update of my walking tour of Helsinki, but that all depends on what time I make it to the airport and if I have enough time to write. Otherwise, the next post you see from this trip should be the full, detailed review of Finnair’s long-haul business class product.
