Bark-a-loungers, Tablecloths & Nutcups - Oh my!

Well, it took me 24 hrs to get here, but it was a nice ride here. I flew out of Moline to Chicago - got my nice Economy Plus seats. Had a whole dance team on our overbooked flight - boy, did they teacher need to go thru some airport training - they were a mess in security.


Had a 4 hr layover in O'Hare, but thanks to my kind brother, I spent most of that time in the Red Carpet Lounge - thanks for the pass, hermano! I felt like such a poser - had no idea what it would be like nor what really to expect. It's basically a lounge area, club chairs everywhere, many people on their laptops, a bar in the back with free drinks (beer, wine, soda...) and a snack bar with cookies, crackers & cheese, veggies & dip... very nice ladies running the place... and super quiet! Weird part was that there were a bunch of kids in there... not what I expected!



Headed to my gate just before boarding to hear them calling out a bunch of names. Well, my last name, as you know is not easy to pronounce, so when i heard something similar, I decided to check it out. Sure enough, they did call me and said they needed my Econ Plus seat (WHAT?!) but they were bumping me to BUSINESS CLASS!!!!!!!!!! I about jumped for joy right there. Again, feeling like a poser!

As you can see from the above photo, I was in a bark-a-lounger for the 8+ hr flight. SOOOO wanted to take many pics, but had to act semi-cool, like I was supposed to be there and not act like a kid in the candy store. Took me a bit to figure out the chair, the lounger part... Needless to say I slept super well!! A little champagne, couple glasses of vino helped as well :) Oh, and the food... wow... airlines can serve crunchy vegetables!! When they came around for our dinner selections, they greeted us by our names and asked what our 2 choices were... we then got linen tablecloths put on top of our trays and had real silverware, glasses and dishes... Unreal!

Although the best comment of the entire flight happened early on... we got little cups filled with hot nuts...oh yum!! They came around and refilled them "Would you like more hot nuts, ma'am?" and at the end... "Are you done with your nut cup, ma'am?" Couldn't help but smirk! :) Mature, I know!

Going from such a luxurious flight to Lufthansa's pack 'em in flight to Dubai was a bit of a let down - was crammed in next to the window, but they had free drinks there as well. Was fascinating flying over the gulf and seeing all the boats all lit up. Duabi airport is huge - before you get to the passport control, many people (not us) had to stand in the Eye Scan line... Passport control was ridiculous - literally over an hour in line... we landed at 11:30, our hotel is 15-20 min away - we didn't get here til 1:30+

Our hotel is lovely - I have a room with a view of the skyline. Weather is perfect...

Welcome to Dubai!!