- Part 1 – Introduction, and the stay-cation
- Part 2 – Belgium
- Part 3 – Paris
- Part 4 – Coming Home & Summary
By Basil K.
Headed Home
Because we had a relatively early morning departure for our three flight trip home, we opted to spend the last night at the Sheraton CDG Airport. All I can say is that the hotel is basically a necessary evil. My problems with the hotel were multiple:
- The person checking us in had no idea what terminal the hotel was in and directed us to ask the concierge, who had a line three deep to ask questions.
- I had to remind them that I get a Platinum amenity
- My card key was not programmed for the Club Lounge
- The Club Lounge was not staffed in the morning, and there was no coffee
- At checkout they hit me with a 3 Euro “local tax” – the first time in my life I have ever had to pay anything for an SPG room that uses points, with the exception of $2 I once paid at the W NYC because we had a suite and there is a specific tax on suites in NYC.
I cannot recommend the hotel, but it is the only one “built into” CDG. As it turns out, it was good we stayed there since it saved the hassle of what is a very long and expensive cab ride to CDG from Paris.
I think that deep down inside, nearly all of us who are frequent/frugal travelers are a bit like MacGyver, in that we want to have some kind of challenge to overcome on a trip that either scores us some points, an upgrade, a travel voucher, or some combination, thanks to our knowledge of programs and ability to charm airline staff. Up until the final day of our trip, I had no use for this arsenal of skills. However, our departure day provided that opportunity. After the short shuttle train ride to our designated terminal from the Sheraton, we arrived at the Lufthansa counter to see that the first of our three flights (CDG to FRA) was cancelled. Rather than despair, I licked my chops. This was the opportunity to get on the Paris to Houston non-stop that I craved so badly. My first stop was at the Lufthansa desk, where they were no help at all. “We only do tickets – go to the other desk over there.” The other desk had a line 10 deep and noone helping priority passengers. So, like MacGyver taking out some dental floss and a pen and fashioning something to rapell down El Capitan, I whipped out my United 1K Million Miler card and headed straight for United. After only pleading my case for about 30 seconds, they booked us on the flight in business first. As a result we landed at 1 pm versus 7 pm. Richard Dean Anderson would have been proud …
