A Most Interesting Travel Day and the Upgrade That Wasn’t

Starting the final full day of our trip, we took an earlier train to Brussels at the suggestion of an employee in the Brugge station and had ample time to catch the Deutsche Bahn ICE train in Brussels Midi that would stop at FRA (Frankfurt Airport) three hours later.

A woman and her young son boarded later and held the same reserved seat numbers - 41-42 in Car 29 - and kindly said she’d find them a seat elsewhere. Brian headed off and found a train official (our “conductor’), a friendly woman who took one look at the ticket Kathy proffered and said “This ticket is dated yesterday..”

Why yes, so it was. How this happened is still beyond us, especially since TripIt recorded today’s date when we forwarded the information.

Fortunately, we weren’t removed or asked to pay a fine. The employee thought it was amusing and helped us find other vacant seats, and mother and child had their facing seats and table.

Before…

After…

We got off the train at FRA and quickly found our way to the Airport Hilton. We’d stayed next door at the Hilton Garden Inn with grandson Blane during last July’s heatwave and dined in the Hilton simply because it was close and air conditioned.

The friendly young trainee checked us in and sent us to

Room 9123, where we were greeted with a shock.

Kathy just requalified for Hilton Diamond through 2025, but we were still flabbergasted as we wandered through the huge suite. Wow! This would rank the highest among our most lavish ever accommodations.

How will we utilize the boardroom?

The bedroom is magnificent.

There’s even a small but well equipped kitchen.

And the lovely gifts and welcome card  on the coffee table…

Wait a minute. That’s not our name on the card!

Down we went to revisit the front desk. The girl was mortified, apologetic, and perhaps a little worried about her future Hilton career. She’d transposed two numbers and now we’re back where we belong in 9132 rather than 9123.

In a room…

With a tub.

We found it quite hilarious. Thank goodness for the trainee’s career path that we read the welcome card rather than unpack immediately and settle in for a soak in that large presidential tub.

It’s certainly been a day for small numbers making a big difference. All’s well that ends well.

And in a funny postscript, Deutsche Bahn has just emailed us a survey to ask our opinions about TODAY’S trip. We’ll never know, but we’ve made it to FRA.