I promised earlier to make a comparison of the Star Alliance carriers I have flown during this trip, after all I managed to cover 10 airlines, of which 6 in first class and 8 where I got to try a longhaul product in one way or another. So I do have some material to compare.
The comparison has been divided into several categories starting with check-in and lounges, continuing with inflight experiences, and finishing with arrivals services.
After each category there is also a hands up ^ and a hands down
.
The hands up will be given to airlines where I have had particularly good experiences in that category, The hands down will be given to airlines where I had a bad experience or where the airline did not live up to my expectations or the norm in that category.
Obviously this is not a complete Star Alliance comparison in any way and should be read and interpreted accordingly, I am just summarising some comments and reflections.
Check-in
During this trip check-in was hassle-free pretty much everywhere with the exception of Papeete/Tahiti where they used the priority check-in for the rebooked passengers from Air Tahiti Nui and all passengers irrespective of class had to use the economy check-in.
The Air NZ check-in service in Wellington was also well below what can be expected, even on days with exceptionally bad weather. The check-in agent tried to send me away from the airport even though I had both a both business class ticket and a gold card, I had no alternative flight to rebook to, no place to stay in Wellington, and my flight had not even been cancelled yet.
I have travelled enough not to base my opinions on one single experience, but it was still a very bad experience and not at all acceptable.
Back to the positive experiences instead.
Both Singapore Airlines and Thai Airways offered special first class check-in rooms in Singapore and Bangkok. In Singapore I was met already at the dedicated first class drop-off area outside terminal 2, I never even had to touch my luggage at the airport.
In Bangkok I had the pleasure to try the new Thai Royal First class check-in area which was a very positive surprise. The secluded check-in area was great, the check-in staff very friendly and professional and the escort through the airport formalities to the lounge was also a nice touch.
The first class terminal should of course also get a mention, without any doubt the smoothest check-in process on this trip as I didn’t even have to pass a check-in desk. Everything was taken care of while I was relaxing in the lounge. That check-in experience just can’t be beaten!
The Air New Zealand premium check-in room in Auckland was also a nice experience with the dedicated passport control and security check. Saved me a good amount of time on my two international departures.
You can also pay the departure tax in the check-in room, other passengers have to visit the bank at the airport to do that.
^ : Lufthansa F terminal FRA, Thai F BKK, SQ F SIN, Air NZ AKL
: Air NZ PPT, Air NZ WLG
Lounges
My favourite lounge was without any doubt the Lufthansa first class lounge in Frankfurt (and the terminal of course, but these are basically the same except that the lounge doesn’t offer check-in and limousine transfer).
The drinks selection in Frankfurt was the most extensive I have ever seen in an airport lounge, and the food selection in the restaurant was also pretty spectacular with several hot dishes, nice desserts, cold cuts, and plenty of other things.
In both the lounge and the terminal I will also give very high marks to the staff who were both friendly, attentive and professional, overall this was a very decent first class experience.
A competitor to the Lufthansa lounges in Frankfurt would be Cathay Pacific The Wing in Hong Kong. It is not a designated Star Alliance lounge, but of course it was still great to get a chance to try it.
Hungry lounge guests have several options including a noodle bar, several snacks bars, and the very extensive self-service buffet in The Haven restaurant in the first class lounge.
The service was also very attentive and waitresses passed regularly through the first class lounge to take drink orders, the only thing I did not like were the chairs which were very low, too low for somebody of my height.
Otherwise I would like to mention the Air New Zealand lounges and the Air Canada Maple leaf lounges, two nice surprises.
Basically all Air NZ lounges I visited were fantastic with the exception of the small international lounge in Christchurch. All the lounges offered plenty of food (including hot food in some lounges) and plenty to drink including an impressive selection of wine, beer and spirits. Especially the Air NZ Sydney lounge was a highlight, it is now one of my favourite lounges.
The Air Canada Maple Leaf lounges was also a nice surprise, after having seen the poor UA lounges I was very surprised to see the standard of the lounges across the border.
Among the less impressive lounges I am sure nobody is surprised if I say UA domestic Red Carpet Clubs. Even though some of these “clubs” are actually not bad, the food and the drinks selection is. There is virtually nothing to eat, virtually nothing to drink, and don’t even think about getting a glass of wine for free.
What is even more fascinating is that UA elite members have to pay an annual fee to get inside these mostly crappy places, even the top-tier ones, I just find that very strange.
I cannot really say I was impressed by the lounges in Japan either. Even though the lounges are quite nice the selection of food and drinks is very limited. In the ANA Signet lounge at Haneda airport in Tokyo, a dedicated gold lounge, there was nothing at all to eat and only coffee, soft drinks and Japanese whiskey to drink. That’s very poor.
^ : Lufthansa F-lounges/terminal FRA, Air NZ lounges, CX The Wing HKG
: UA Red Carpet Clubs in the US, Japanese lounges
Boarding
In most countries priority boarding was offered for business class/first class/Star gold passengers with the exception of the majority of the European airports (as usual).
After having given poor reviews on my US experiences (lounges, inflight service etc) I really want to give them some credit for consistently offering priority boarding, I was allowed to board first on every single flight departing from a US airport on this trip.
Otherwise the smoothest and most hassle-free boarding process was without any doubt the one in Frankfurt when heading for Toronto.
The limousine transfer from the first class terminal to the aircraft just can’t be beaten and the escort service onboard the plane was also very nice, I actually think that the escort was an even greater experience than the limousine transfer, they really make you feel like a VIP when being escorted past all the other passengers onboard the plane.
^ : Lufthansa F FRA, UA domestic flights
: Intra-European flights (SK, LH, BD among others)
Cabin
The new Air New Zealand Business Premier cabin definitely made a good impression on me, especially on the Osaka-Auckland flight on a B777 where they used a blue neon lighting in the ceiling before departure from Osaka and a red neon lighting during the breakfast service before landing in Auckland.
Check the photos I took of the cabin before departure from Osaka (on the Osaka-Auckland flight) and I’m sure you’ll agree with me.
The Singapore Airlines First class cabin was also one of the highlights, even though most people here have probably seen plenty of photos of it by now it is really a different thing being there yourself.
When you enter the aircraft and see the clean and empty cabin with marble interior and the light brown leather seats it is hard not to get impressed.
Otherwise I don’t really have any complaints about any of the cabins, the only real disappointment was to see the UA economy class cabins, especially onboard the Boeing 737s. These cabins should definitely need a revamp.
^ : Air NZ Business Premier, SQ F
Seats
This is a hard one, I don’t think I will be able to give a full ranking of the first class seats since there were several weeks between some of the flights, and basically none of the seats were uncomfortable.
On the whole I remember being very happy with the Singapore Airlines SkySuite in F, the ANA F suite and the Swiss F seat.
I was particularly happy with the latter, the Swiss first class seat was extremely comfortable and it was nice to have the ottoman in front of the seat which could be moved by a button on the seat control and used as a footrest.
The Swiss seat was also very comfortable when reclined to a bed, with a mattress and a duvet it really felt like a proper bed and I slept very well onboard. The Swiss first class seat also had the largest table of all the airlines, it was massive.
I think overall the Swiss seat was the best one I got to try, but it is difficult to say and in all fairness I did not sleep properly onboard ANA and SQ.
Regarding the Lufthansa first class seat onboard the Boeing 747 it was fine, I like travelling on the upper deck, but a 2-2 configuration isn’t really up to today’s standard.
Space wasn’t really a problem on my flight though, I was in emergency exit seat 83A and the seat next to me (83C) remained empty, according to checkmytrip (which I checked in the FCT) 83C seemed to have been properly blocked as I am Star Alliance gold.
But comparing the Lufthansa seat with the large and spacious seats (suites) onboard Swiss, ANA and Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa still has a bit to go.
I also got to try the new Business Premier onboard Air New Zealand. On the whole the seat was nice and comfortable, especially to be a business class seat, but there were some drawbacks.
I had a lot of problems finding the socket for the earphones, it is very well hidden in a really stupid place and can easily be confused with the power socket, on both my Business Premier flights I ended up getting help from the crew to find the socket.
As some other people have also reported it would be nice to be able to recline the seat a bit more, especially on longhaul daytime flight where you may want to get some rest but no proper sleep. The bed part of the seat was also slightly too hard.
^ : Swiss F, ANA F, SQ F
Crew and inflight service
Just like with the seats it is hard to rank service. The service offered onboard is very much linked to the culture of the airline (the country where it’s based), as is the perceived service by the passenger.
On this trip the only flight I was really disappointed with was the United Airlines flight in F from JFK to LAX where the service just did not live up to what can be expected on a 6-hour flight at the very front of an aircraft with three cabins.
During the remaining four hours of the flight after the meal service the FAs were rarely to be seen, they did not check on the passengers and I was only offered more drinks one single time during those four hours. Even though I try to be optimistic I just can’t say the service was nice and attentive, it really wasn’t.
Other than the UA transcon flight and the economy class flight on this trip (where the service was obviously not spectacular) I really have a hard time to say that one airline was a lot better than the others without being unfair, I just have too many great flights to try to compare.
Personally I like professional service in the air, attentive without being intrusive. I also like FAs who put a personal touch on the service, people who are happy to chat with the passengers and improvise a bit, even if it doesn’t say in the handbook they have to.
Based on these preferences I was very very happy with the service onboard ANA in F simply because the service was so genuine and the crew really took so much pride in what they did. Perhaps the service itself wasn’t exceptional and their command of English not 100%, but they worked very hard and really tried to make the most out of whatever they did.
I think the LAX-NRT flight was overall the best flight I have ever taken.
I was also very happy with the service onboard Air New Zealand, a service also pretty close to my personal preferences. The Air NZ crews were very professional and respectful and always treated me appropriately, but at the same time they were laid-back and you could chat and joke with them if you wanted to. Out of the seven business class flights with Air NZ on this trip I have to be quite picky to find things to complain about regarding the service, the service was consistently good on all flights.
Regarding Singapore Airlines I have already given quite a few comments about the service in my report. As many other people have reported the service in first class is simply fantastic and absolutely flawless.
They definitely get my vote for the most coordinated and polished inflight service of all airlines, they had an amazing ability to keep track of orders and what people were eating and drinking and when it was time for refills, and they never ever forgot an order.
The service was probably also the most attentive of all the airlines and I sometimes saw FAs standing at the back of the first class cabin looking for things to do rather than chatting with the colleagues in the galley. The service on the Singapore-Bangkok flight where I was the only passenger in first class was probably the most attentive service I have ever experienced onboard a plane, for obvious reasons.
The only thing I missed onboard SQ was a slightly more personal touch on the service. Even though the service was exceptional and just couldn’t get more attentive it felt a little bit too polished and perhaps a bit too much “by the book”. That’s just my personal reflection though and not a complaint in any way, we all have our personal preferences.
When it comes to Lufthansa and Swiss the service was very good on both airlines, but it was a bit more formal and not quite as relaxed as some of the other airlines. I still think both airlines offered very good service though, everything was done very properly and all crews were very attentive. It was just a different kind of service from the laid-back Kiwis and the efficient Singapore Airlines girls.
I have flown many many times with Lufthansa before and so far have not had a single bad experience when it comes to inflight service, it tends to be pretty consistent. Swiss was a new airline to me though since they only recently joined Star Alliance.
^ : ANA F, Air NZ (although the service was very good on almost all flights)
: UA p.s F
Menu
My vote for the nicest looking menu will without any doubt go to Swiss.
The Swiss F menu had a beautiful cover with a photo of a Swiss landscape and also the insight was very nice with plenty of colour photos and some trivia about the origin of the food and wines. The menu was also printed in four languages: English, French, German and Chinese.
ANA gets my vote for the most original menu which came in a grey "box". The “box” contained both the drink list and the menu.
There are two photos of the menu and the “box” in the LAX-Tokyo instalment.
I will also mention Air New Zealand and give a hands up for offering menus on all flights in business class with a proper meal service, even flights as short as three hours, that would not have happened in other parts of the world.
I really missed a proper wine list though, especially on the longhaul flight.
^ : Swiss F, ANA F
Meals
As already mentioned several times I was very very impressed by the meal service onboard ANA in F and the amount of food onboard, they needed four full A4 pages in the menu just to mention all the food they had on offer onboard.
They really offered a gourmet à la carte restaurant onboard in F and everything on the menu could be ordered at any time during the flight, and they actually did that, there was never any “you would make it easier for us if you eat when the other passengers eat” as has been reported on other airlines offering “eat whenever you want”-service in first class.
Two other nice surprises were the Thai Airways flight in F between Bangkok and Hong Kong and the inflight service onboard Air New Zealand shorthaul flights.
Regarding the Thai experienced I was very very impressed by the extensive meal service they had in F on a fairly short route like BKK-HKG (just over two hours) with a five-courses meal. Especially the main course (Japanese salmon teriyaki) was delicious, as a matter of fact the whole meal service was surprisingly good after having read some mixed comments about Thai.
Air New Zealand once again gets a honourable mention for offering such a nice service on shorthaul flights in business class. I had four shorthaul business class flights on this trip with Air NZ (3-4 hours of length) and on each flight I was offered a full three courses meal with appetizer, a choice of three main courses, cheese and dessert. Everything was presented in a nice menu and all dishes served separately. This is certainly a lot more than you get on most intra-European flights of similar length for example.
The only real negative experience was once again the United Airlines p.s flight in F between New York and Los Angeles which did not impress me at all.
The food was way too heavy for my taste, but OK, I realise the food was suited for Americans and not for visiting Europeans, however there is still no excuse for the wine, four reds were mentioned in the drink list, only one of them had been loaded onboard. Offering only one red wine on a six-hour premium flight in first class is just not acceptable, especially considering the price of the ticket.
Finally, it would be a shame to do a comparison of the inflight meals without mentioning Singapore Airlines.
SQ certainly gets my vote for having the best food onboard, all the food I had was very good and they do an excellent job with the table setting and the presentation of the food. "Book the Cook" is also a big plus.
^ : ANA F, Thai F BKK-HKG, Air NZ shorthaul flights, SQ F
: UA premium service F JFK-LAX
Inflight entertainment
Well one thing is true, nothing beats Singapore Airlines Krisworld! Krisworld is easily the most extensive inflight entertainment system I have ever seen.
Out of the airlines I tried, four airlines offered AVOD onboard: All Nippon Airways, Air New Zealand (in Business Premier), Singapore Airlines and Swiss.
I am not sure if Air Canada had AVOD as well since the proper inflight entertainment was not turned on during the short flight between Toronto and Montreal on the A330.
In all cases except SQ the selection was limited to around 15-20 movies, a few documentaries, a few TV-series episodes, and a few CDs, which is still perfectly adequate for a flight of a few hours.
Lufthansa did not offer AVOD on the Boeing 747 which was a drawback for such a fine airline, although first class had personal video players. Fortunately AVOD is now installed onboard many Lufthansa aircrafts.
Otherwise Air New Zealand was again a positive surprise, not only do they offer AVOD onboard the new Business Premier, the personal DVD-player was also a nice touch.
On international flights operated by A320 they offer a personal DVD-player to passengers in business class, and there is a selection of 18 titles which is actually comparable to the movie selection offered on most longhaul flights with AVOD. The only drawback was that it was a bit cramped to have both the DVD-player and the meal tray on the table at the same time, but I managed pretty well.
^ : SQ (Krisworld), Air NZ
: Lufthansa, Thai Airways
Arrivals service
Travelling in a premium cabin you can be pretty sure to be one of the first passengers off the plane, many airlines even close the curtains between first class and business class to make sure first class passengers can get off before everybody else. This is something I especially got to experience in Bangkok where SQ still did this even though I was the only passenger in first class.
The priority tags that have been put on my luggage on all 34 flights have also worked pretty well.
In Asia it actually worked every single time, BKK, SIN, KUL, HKG, NRT, HND are some of the cities where it worked exceptionally well.
The priority tag also worked very well in the Pacific region, my bags were consistently among the first after both international and domestic flights in New Zealand and also among the first in Rarotonga and Papeete. Only in Sydney did it not work one of the times.
In Europe and North America it is hit or miss whether the priority tags work or not. The only country in Europe where I have almost consistently good experiences of the priority tag is Germany.
Otherwise two experiences stand out from the rest: Singapore and Hong Kong.
In Singapore on arrival from Sydney I made it from the plane, through immigration and baggage reclaim, to the taxi stand in just 15 minutes, and that’s with two pieces of checked luggage.
That’s the quickest arrival in my life, at least when arriving on an international longhaul flight with checked luggage.
The second experience was the Thai Airways arrivals service in Hong Kong where all first class passengers were met at the gate and taken through the massive terminal to immigration by an electric car. I was standing in the immigration line on the other side of the airport before most other passengers had probably even left the plane, on top of that the good priority baggage handling also made the arrival very smooth and quick.
^ : Thai Airways in HKG, Singapore Airlines in SIN
And finally: The very best ones according to jacob_m...
Best check-in: Lufthansa FRA (the F terminal) and Thai Airways BKK
Best ground service: I have to mention the great Air NZ staff in Rarotonga, otherwise ANA
Best lounge: Lufthansa First class lounge/terminal FRA
Best flight: ANA F LAX-NRT (special mention for Air NZ KIX-AKL, no reason given though
)
Best seat: Swiss F
Best cabin Air NZ C (the Business Premier)
Best menu: Swiss F
Best food: Singapore Airlines F
Best food selection: ANA F (+ Singapore Airlines with Book the Cook)
Best food presentation: Singapore Airlines F
Best drinks: Singapore Airlines F
Best crew: ANA F (although that's a really hard one!)
Best amenity kit: Singapore Airlines F
Best inflight entertainment system: Singapore Airlines Krisworld
Best arrivals experience: Singapore after SYD-SIN with SQ