This story is about Lounge 080 at the Bengaluru (BLR) international airport in October 2018. I was booked on a late-night Etihad flight to London via Abu Dhabi, departing BLR around 4 am, as all middle eastern flights offer connectivity to Europe and beyond. I was super tired after a long day’s work at the office, and after battling the infamous Bengaluru traffic, clearing the immigration queue at the airport and security scrutiny, I gunned straight to Lounge 080 (it was called Above Ground or something else back then), checked-in and found a corner with a nice armchair and dozed off for a good one hour.
Lounge 080 at Bengaluru Airport
When the final boarding call was announced for my flight, I woke up and as custom, walked up to the boarding gate which was a good 10-min away, crossed the air bridge, entered the plane, and even reached my seat. It was then I realized, my cabin bag was nowhere to be found. I had only my shoulder bag with me. Panic bells started ringing as I had a few gifts for my friends in London, and most importantly a brand-new jacket that I’d need as soon as I land at Heathrow. I retraced all the steps in my head and quickly figured I forgot my bag in the lounge.
I rushed back the aisle to the plane's entrance and explained my situation to the flight attendants. I offered to simply walk back to the lounge and get my bag, but apparently for security reasons in India, passengers are not supposed to de-board the aircraft once they’re in. Everyone around was equally confused about what to do. Luckily, I had a picture of my bag on my phone and showed it to the flight’s ground staff and the flight attendant and told them it must be in the lounge, for sure. To add to the mayhem, there were only 10 minutes left to push off. Finally, one ground staff radioed the lounge and described my bag and said they’ll check. After a tense (for me) couple of minutes, the lounge rep radioed in saying the bag was found and they were getting it to the plane. Time was ticking and the flight attendants had started giving me accusatory stares. A couple of passengers also boarded the flight in the meanwhile, probably wondering why I’m waiting at the door. I think the lounge rep (the same person who checked me in) must’ve dashed the 10 min walk to the plane from the lounge, but he was finally there with my bag, with just two minutes to push off. I was so relieved I got my bag and hugged the rep, and after handing over it to me, he says, “Have a safe trip, sir, please don’t repeat this.” It was also the first time I saw the flight attend close the aircraft's door, right behind me.
Said bag in question
Long story short, the lounge won me over that night not by offering amazing views, food options, spa service, or drinks, but just by good old customer service and empathy! ❤️
#LiveLoveLounge #PPturns30