12. June 21, 2024: Not Quite a Wrap! And Airport Blues.

Well I truly thought the travelogue for this journey was complete and we were merely on the way home…. But it didn’t turn out to be uneventful. So here goes.

We left the lovely Hotel Kamp and wonderful Helsinki on an absolutely perfect sunny day with temperatures about 70 degrees. It was going to be a great midsummer eve for the Finns and while we had been invited to a Midsummer Eve Party, we had to decline since we were set to fly to Frankfurt at the end of today (June 21) to avoid having to take a very very early morning flight tomorrow and change planes in Frankfurt and then have a 6-hour layover. We opted to leave Helsinki this afternoon (5:45 pm flight) and spend the night at a hotel at the Frankfurt Airport and then leave tomorrow for SFO at a civil time in the afternoon. It does make for a more relaxing journey. All was good until we hit security at Helsinki. We went through the priority lane so it was a snap, but they pulled out the Marimekko shopping bag that we were carrying —requesting further inspection.

I laughed. The bag was taped with all the “tax-free” information which you are not allowed to remove until after you get the customs stamp, That’s why it was in a shopping bag and not in our luggage. I’ve done the tax free bit literally hundreds of times and I’m a pro at it. The glitch here was that we couldn’t do the tax free/customs actions at the Helsinki Airport since we were only going to Germany and since both countries are in the EU, it is not considered valid for tax-free; thus we had to keep it all wrapped until we leave Germany for the US where we would then be considered “leaving” EU. I knew all of this and had everything prepared. It’s gotten more complicated since EU, but I’ve done it many times. Had we done a connecting flight from Helsinki to US through Germany we could have done this all in Helsinki.

Anyway, when they pulled out the Marimekko bag, they said there was something suspicious in the bag. I said it was all purchased at Marimekko and was all for export tax free, and assured them there was no metal in there. I offered to show the receipt with all the items noted, but they refused to look at it. The manager came by and she was like a TSA Nazi!—so un-Finn-like. Just kept saying there was something wrong inside the bag and they would need to open it. I said if they opened it I could not go through with the customs office and the tax refund. This went back and forth and she finally just took the bag and tore the tax free tape that sealed the bag and cut it… What they were seeing was a ceramic plate that we purchased as a gift for someone. They said it did not x-ray; I told them I had already been through two other FinnAir flights with the same bag and no problems. They said that’s because the other Finnish Airports don’t have as sophisticated machines as they have in Helsinki. Anyway, I now have no idea what will happen when I go to the customs office tomorrow in Frankfurt.

Spent a bit of time in the FinnAir Lounge and then trekked to the very last gate to board our plane to Frankfurt. Flight was fine and even a good meal. Then the real fun began.

We deplaned and saw the sign for baggage— and followed the signs. Normally we do all carry-on, but sometimes at the end of the trip when heading home.. we just say “screw it, let’s check the bags and just carry on our computers and small carry on bag.” You need to know that Mike absolutely hates the Frankfurt airport. We have probably been through this airport changing planes about 50-75 times, and we truly do hate it. It’s huge; there are no moving walkways, and you seem to always have to walk miles to your gate. But somehow because it is so large, it seems like all planes (especially United) go through it. Last January we literally complicated our trip to go through Munich, just to avoid Frankfurt. Munich is a nice airport that works well.

So, we followed the signs to baggage claim and when we got there, there was no Helsinki flight listed on any of the carousels. Went to the info desk and we were told that we were in the wrong baggage area. We were in D and we needed to be in E… We had to go out the exit and I feared we could not get back into the baggage area because those doors lock behind you. Anyway, we walked about ¾ mile to the E section in the lobby area and found E, but we couldn’t get back inside to the baggage area. Went to another information desk and were told to walk all the way down to a “green wall” and then there would be a door; we needed to ring a bell at that door. More walking and we did as told. (It is Germany!) and we got into the E section luggage area. By now they were clearing out all the luggage that had not been claimed. The attendant was just lifting our bags onto a cart. We stopped her and took our bags. OK.. Success.

Then we needed to find the Airport Marriott which we knew was located in Terminal 1; we were now in Terminal 2. More walking and then one stop on the train, and we were in Terminal 1. But while you would normally just walk out and enter the Marriott there was construction, so you needed to walk more and then take an elevator up and walk over a bridge and then walk back into the hotel.

By the time we reached check in we were not only exhausted, but there was a long line to check in to the hotel because they had just one person working the check-in desk! Someone must have complained because they then announced that Bonvoy Members could check in on another floor, which we did.

Hopefully all goes well tomorrow and whatever happened today will be forgotten. We depart from Terminal 1, and the hotel is in Terminal 1 so it should be a piece of cake. Except for the questions I will need to answer at Customs to explain why the special export tape has been cut.

All told, 9,000 steps and 3.8 miles—all in airports.

Ain’t travel great.
See you stateside.
Fern