A while ago we went out and in the course of it I single-handedly discovered the number one rule of fine dining: If you run a restaurant, whatever you do, desserts need to be brilliant. Since they are the last thing in the whole experience, they are what people will remember and, what’s more, their quality will influence the memory people will have of the entire meal.

Then, this week I travelled back from Canada (more on this soon) and thereby discovered that this rule holds for all sorts of enterprises. Let me explain. While I was waiting in queue for boarding, the agent called me up and swapped my boarding pass for one with a large C on it. In the world of compulsive travelling, we call this the joker: The airline deemed you worthy enough a customer to upgrade you into business class. And so a dreadful night in cramped mass quarters turned into a nice and comfortable session with plenty of Pinot Grigio and chocolate.

Unfortunately, this experience ended with the passport checks at Zurich airport. The immigration hall for long-distance flights has very little waiting room and the airport operator doesn’t deem it necessary to install any crowed control mechanisms, such as the zig-zag rows you find in America or the UK. Instead they dump the entire content of seven wide-body jets into this room. You can imagine the ensuing chaos, waiting times, and general frustration.

And thus what could have been the memory of being treated very nicely by the airline turned into a memory of the failure of the airport operator. Had the security checks at Montreal airport been horrible, I wouldn’t even remember that. But since they failure was at the end of the journey, it overshadows everything.

Which also answers the question when the people handing out the airport awards are doing their surveys. Zurich always scores top ranks.