Success! The trip was not in vain. I secured my Lufthansa COVID-19 duck!
I arrived early at the First Class Terminal, 5:40am to be exact. Thankfully, the woman from the previous day was not there and I was instead warmly welcomed by a trio of staff. One staff member recognized me from a prior visit to the First Class Lounge and said, “Welcome home Mr. Klint.”
The lounge really has not changed much – it was so nice to be back. I was the first passenger to arrive and had it to myself for nearly an hour.
I informed the agent who escorted me through security that my entire trip was premised upon collecting a corona duck. She chuckled, not in a scornful way, and invited me to make myself comfortable. I ordered an espresso and shortly thereafter she brought me over the duck!
I smiled. Oh how I would have enjoyed the previous day so much more if I had not been warned the duck might not be available.
Later on, I secured another special-edition duck from the shower attendant commemorating the Olympic Games.
By this time it was only 6:00am and I still had four hours before it was time to board my flight to Los Angeles. I used that time to discreetly re-photograph the entire lounge (and do it again when the sun rose) and then enjoy a lovely breakfast. The menu is still very limited, but I’m told the full menu will return at one point.
Finally, at just before 10:00am I was summoned and told it was time to go downstairs for the car ride to my flight. The FRA-LAX flight was full and I shared a VW van with two other passengers.
Onboard, I was warmly welcomed at the door and escorted to my seat. The mission was already accomplished, but now came the joy of actually flying Lufthansa First Class…the reason why most people choose to fly Lufthansa.
Congrats on the duck! Also @Matthew, another question I had that’s a bit off topic is when you travel to somewhere other than Germany, how do you speak to locals? Do you speak English or do you use google translate?
I try my best to greet them in the local language and then ask if they speak English or German in that language before I begin speaking further.
Cool! Thanks for responding!
Congrats! Safe travels home.
Congrats! They look great
Wait, most people don’t fly Lufthansa First Class just for the ducks?
Nice work. I missed you by a few hours. Currently in the lounge with my covid and Olympic duck spoils. Hope you had a nice flight home.
Congratulations for doing something many would never dream of! Glad you got the bonus duck too.
Awesome Matthew!!!
your story made it to the LH company intranet lol
Superb! This is a fantastic story and ending. Those who don’t get simply don’t understand the collector’s heart. Nostalgia and moments like these are so needed by many these days.
Congratulatons! This has made my day. I would have been sad had you not got the duck. You even got 2!!!! Guten Flug!
Congrats!! As I said before , You’re one lucky duck!!
Congrats on your duck! That is so something I would do!
Glad it worked out, Matthew. You were certainly a man on a mission and not to be denied. Bravo.
So happy for you!!!
Pathetic.
Excellent! Nice looking carry-on bag. What is that?
Glad you made it. do you plan to post a review (first class terminal and flight) to know how’s the experience right now?
For sure. Full review of FCT and Lufthansa First coming soon.
I would love to read it, please do get it out when you have a chance!
I had a feeling this trip would not be in vain….glad to read it was successful!
I literally want to say how incredibly privileged, pathetic and elitist this sounds, yet I pause and remember I have done pretty much the same thing to attend a musical performance. I recall flying to London, attending a performance by the incredible Samantha Barks on “Oliver”, and flying home the next morning. Of course I flew in steerage class, not FC.
Beautiful bird. I’m so glad Lufthansa didn’t retire them.
Me too.
Herzlichen glueckwunsch zur ente:)
Lustig!
Toll gemacht matthew!
Danke!
This is one of the heart warming stories we need in this time. As a LH employee I feel very proud and honoured about your feedback about our product and my fellow employees. Thank you!
That’s badass, dude! Two nice flights, two ducks, some time in the FCT, a profitable post, and I’m going to assume… Spaghettieis in Mainz. That’s a good Labor Day weekend.
Only one nice flight. I flew to FRA in UA Y. 😉
How did you organize your flight ? Miles or Money?
Miles.
Love reading this!
Just curious — what are the most recent protocols for Americans entering Germany? What’s your go-to source for reliable up-to-date info on that?
Dammit.. how’d you get the Olympic one?
I got the Covid duck, but they only had the black ones in the shower.
“Oh how I would have enjoyed the previous day so much more if I had not been warned the duck might not be available.”
You were right to have been warned. Always better to underpromise and overdeliver.