Thanksgiving 2013 in Maldives: Austin to Frankfurt

• Introduction
• Austin to Frankfurt
• Frankfurt Layover & Frankfurt to Rome
• Rome Layover
• Rome to Bangkok
• Bangkok to Male via Singapore
• Conrad Maldives
• Male to Manchester via Colombo and Abu Dhabi
• Heading back to Austin

____________________________________________________________________________________

It was freezing cold in Austin and most of the United States the week of Thanksgiving and we were happy and excited to be getting some sun and warmth in the Maldives. We had booked a revenue flight on American to Denver via Dallas as part of hitting the 30k miles required to hit Executive Platinum.

I was looking forward to switching over to AA/Oneworld after United hugely devalued their miles but we've been having constant flight delays on AA flights we were taking which I'm partly blaming on the aging MD80 fleet. It was no difference this time as there was a water leak in the forward galley but thankfully they managed to get it fix with "only a 45 minute" delay to Dallas. The delay ate into our layover time in Dallas but we still did manage to squeeze a early lunch in the Amex Centurion Lounge. 

Early lunch in the Amex Lounge

Thankfully the flight to Denver was uneventful but more importantly, it left and arrived on-time! It would have really sucked to have the flight delayed or cancelled and missing the Frankfurt flight. After a quick check-in with no issues having our luggage short checked to Rome, we headed for the American Airlines lounge which we got in thanks to my Amex Platinum card. I knew ahead of time that the United lounge that Lufthansa uses was nothing special and the AA lounge was actually way close to the Lufthansa gate.

Lufthansa Check-in Area

AA Lounge

We arrived at  the departure gate right as boarding was about to begin. There was a sizeable crowd that we manage to squeeze through to get into the first class line and soon enough we were in the exclusive confines of the upper deck of the 747 taking us to Frankfurt today.

A stewardess was on-hand to greet us and help us get settled into our seats before bringing around some champagne for me and water for Lydia prior to take-off. We had a slight delay due to loading of luggage and I spent the extra delay enjoying more champagne while enjoying the beautiful Denver sunset.

 

Once we were airborne, the pursuer came to say hi and to make sure everything was per our liking. The dinner service started soon after with an amuse bouche of salmon roe followed extra servings of caviar and vodka. Instead of the tiered appetizer plates we had the last time we flew first class on Lufthansa, the stewardess came around with the trolley full of appetizers and told us to take as many choices as we wanted. I opted for all the three choices and to my surprise and beets and cheese was my favorite. I had the beef for my main course which was nothing special although Lydia very much enjoyed her butter poached lobster. The cheeses looked to good to pass on when the cart came through so I had a sample of everything although I did end up just taking small bites from each of the sample. The vanilla bean caramel flan was also really good especially with the specially ordered scoop of ice-cream that was supposed to be part of the other dessert.

Both of us were really stuff after that wonderful meal. Since we were planning on heading out during our layover in Frankfurt and I was the one driving, I opted out of further drinking and instead headed to get some sleep on my favorite bed in the sky. I love the view of the stars while lying in bed!

After 6-7 hours of good sleep, it was time to get changed and enjoy a couple of cups of cappuccino before we made our way into Frankfurt. I was happy that the sun was out and what looked like amazing weather waiting for us for our drive around Frankfurt.