Arnur
Jan 6, 02, 8:37 am
5 Dec CGN-MUC LH 914 (946) 0920 - 1015 A 320 Seat 14E
I made it to the airport by 0815 and found to my dismay that my flight was delayed by about one hour - precisely the hour necessary for my transfer at MUC. However, the friendly check-in lady found a seat on LH 946 for me, which was just about to depart. No time for the lounge, obviously, and a middle seat on a full plane, but since they were turning people away, I guess I should be glad I made it.
Departure was delayed by a few minutes to load the additional passengers and then we were on our way to Munich. Usual drinks-only service in economy class. Nevertheless they served everybody on the 45 minutes flight. Business class had quite nice looking sandwitches served from a basket.
Transiting in Munich
Following a long walk from A to C on the elevated walkway, I found out that the Business Class Lounge in B was only accessible to US-bound passengers (along with the rest of departure area B, of course). Lufthansa opened the SEN lounge in C for Business Class passengers and FTLs, which unfortunately means the lounge was fairly crowded. Nice selections of pastries and good coffee, along with the usual free bar.
5 Dec MUC-SVO LH 3362 1125 - 1625 B737-300 Seat 21C
Despite a fairly full load, the seat next to me remained empty, for which I was very grateful on a three hour flight. Before take-off and later during the flight an Italian gentleman complained rudely about the lack of overhead bin space and it took several flight attendants to calm him down. Otherwise, the flight was quite pleasant.
The meal service was decent enough for economy class - they served a warm chicken dish with steamed rice, plus a Greek side salad and desert. There was an open bar service during the whole flight and the flight attendant came through several times with coffee, water and other drinks. The main luxury was the extra space awarded by the empty center seat, which made the flight much more bearable.
Arrival in Moscow was on-time, immigration took about 50 minutes, by which the luggage of course had arrived.
8 Dec SVO-FRA LH 3251 1910 - 2045 A319 Seat 9F
I arrived about two hours before departure at the airport, customs took barely a minute to clear. Lufthansa had four check-in counters open and check-in took about two minutes with no line in sight. Passport control took about ten minutes. There isn't really much to do at the terminal besides wandering around, if one is not into duty-free shops, of which there were plenty. Lufthansa uses a third-party ("Classic") lounge at the airport, which is - of course - only open to Senators. With having plenty of flights per day between FRA, MUC, TXL (as well as DUS in the past) and SVO, one would assume that they have a lounge for their FTL cardholders as well. So I had a very much overpriced (US$ 6) beer at the airport bar and watched the crowds.
Boarding was quick and the load was quite light at maybe 30 percent. As I had tried to change to an earlier flight - and was told that the previous ones were full in economy class - I was surprised about this small load. I meant plenty of space on this 2 hours, 40 minutes flight. The service consisted of a beef and rice dish, plus the usual side salad and desert. The main course was quite decent. There were several drink services throughout the flight. On leaving the aircraft, I grabbed a menu from business class:
Hors d'oeuvre
Chicken Tikka, Mango Chutney and Garden Greens, presented with Dressing, Bread, Rolls and Butter.
Entrees
Seafood Medley featuring Salmon, Cod and Shrimp, offered with Orange Tarragon Sauce, tourné Carrots, Asparagus Tips and Saffron Tomato Rice.
Barbecued Chicken with roasted Vegetable Sauce, accompanied by Yellow Bell Pepper and fried Potatoes with Thyme.
Cheese and Desert
Fourme d'Ambert and Emmental Cheese
Pear Belle Hélène with Whipped Creame
Chocolate
Arrival in Frankfurt was on-time and the plane docket at gate C7. As my connection was from A25, I took the sky train to terminal A. It altogether took about ten minutes to get to the Lufthansa Business Class Lounge at the far end of terminal A. The lounge was quite empty on a Saturday evening, the bar was well stocked and there were the usual snack items. The rest of my transit time was spent at the new internet station, which actually offered quite a quick connection. I hope we will see more internet stations in Lufthansa lounges in the future...
8 Dec FRA - CGN LH 162 2200 - 2240 Seat 8F A320
This flight had a very low load factor as well, with about 25 seats being taken. No attempt at service was made in economy class, as the plane started to descend virtually five minutes after reaching the flight level. Arrival was on-time and baggage was quick.
All in all, I was quite pleased with the Lufthansa service on this medium distance flight. As I usually fly Lufthansa on shorter sectors - preferring other carriers on longer routes - having a hot meal on LH was a novel experience for me. Ground services were quite efficient and the staff was friendly. What LH needs, however, is a better lounge network for their FTL members.
I made it to the airport by 0815 and found to my dismay that my flight was delayed by about one hour - precisely the hour necessary for my transfer at MUC. However, the friendly check-in lady found a seat on LH 946 for me, which was just about to depart. No time for the lounge, obviously, and a middle seat on a full plane, but since they were turning people away, I guess I should be glad I made it.
Departure was delayed by a few minutes to load the additional passengers and then we were on our way to Munich. Usual drinks-only service in economy class. Nevertheless they served everybody on the 45 minutes flight. Business class had quite nice looking sandwitches served from a basket.
Transiting in Munich
Following a long walk from A to C on the elevated walkway, I found out that the Business Class Lounge in B was only accessible to US-bound passengers (along with the rest of departure area B, of course). Lufthansa opened the SEN lounge in C for Business Class passengers and FTLs, which unfortunately means the lounge was fairly crowded. Nice selections of pastries and good coffee, along with the usual free bar.
5 Dec MUC-SVO LH 3362 1125 - 1625 B737-300 Seat 21C
Despite a fairly full load, the seat next to me remained empty, for which I was very grateful on a three hour flight. Before take-off and later during the flight an Italian gentleman complained rudely about the lack of overhead bin space and it took several flight attendants to calm him down. Otherwise, the flight was quite pleasant.
The meal service was decent enough for economy class - they served a warm chicken dish with steamed rice, plus a Greek side salad and desert. There was an open bar service during the whole flight and the flight attendant came through several times with coffee, water and other drinks. The main luxury was the extra space awarded by the empty center seat, which made the flight much more bearable.
Arrival in Moscow was on-time, immigration took about 50 minutes, by which the luggage of course had arrived.
8 Dec SVO-FRA LH 3251 1910 - 2045 A319 Seat 9F
I arrived about two hours before departure at the airport, customs took barely a minute to clear. Lufthansa had four check-in counters open and check-in took about two minutes with no line in sight. Passport control took about ten minutes. There isn't really much to do at the terminal besides wandering around, if one is not into duty-free shops, of which there were plenty. Lufthansa uses a third-party ("Classic") lounge at the airport, which is - of course - only open to Senators. With having plenty of flights per day between FRA, MUC, TXL (as well as DUS in the past) and SVO, one would assume that they have a lounge for their FTL cardholders as well. So I had a very much overpriced (US$ 6) beer at the airport bar and watched the crowds.
Boarding was quick and the load was quite light at maybe 30 percent. As I had tried to change to an earlier flight - and was told that the previous ones were full in economy class - I was surprised about this small load. I meant plenty of space on this 2 hours, 40 minutes flight. The service consisted of a beef and rice dish, plus the usual side salad and desert. The main course was quite decent. There were several drink services throughout the flight. On leaving the aircraft, I grabbed a menu from business class:
Hors d'oeuvre
Chicken Tikka, Mango Chutney and Garden Greens, presented with Dressing, Bread, Rolls and Butter.
Entrees
Seafood Medley featuring Salmon, Cod and Shrimp, offered with Orange Tarragon Sauce, tourné Carrots, Asparagus Tips and Saffron Tomato Rice.
Barbecued Chicken with roasted Vegetable Sauce, accompanied by Yellow Bell Pepper and fried Potatoes with Thyme.
Cheese and Desert
Fourme d'Ambert and Emmental Cheese
Pear Belle Hélène with Whipped Creame
Chocolate
Arrival in Frankfurt was on-time and the plane docket at gate C7. As my connection was from A25, I took the sky train to terminal A. It altogether took about ten minutes to get to the Lufthansa Business Class Lounge at the far end of terminal A. The lounge was quite empty on a Saturday evening, the bar was well stocked and there were the usual snack items. The rest of my transit time was spent at the new internet station, which actually offered quite a quick connection. I hope we will see more internet stations in Lufthansa lounges in the future...
8 Dec FRA - CGN LH 162 2200 - 2240 Seat 8F A320
This flight had a very low load factor as well, with about 25 seats being taken. No attempt at service was made in economy class, as the plane started to descend virtually five minutes after reaching the flight level. Arrival was on-time and baggage was quick.
All in all, I was quite pleased with the Lufthansa service on this medium distance flight. As I usually fly Lufthansa on shorter sectors - preferring other carriers on longer routes - having a hot meal on LH was a novel experience for me. Ground services were quite efficient and the staff was friendly. What LH needs, however, is a better lounge network for their FTL members.