Trip Reports - LH Business - LAX/Rome/Venice/Frankfurt

Well, this is my first trip report. I would welcome any feedbacks.

Here it goes:

My parents and I embarked on the trip to Italy for first time. I have been to London and Paris so I knew certain things to do but Italy was very different.

***** 7/6 LAX International terminal ******
LAX was bit hectic due to 7/4 shooting at the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Police still had some section of the Intl terminal blocked off from the public. Luckily, Lufthansa check in was in the section that was not blocked off. We checked in with LH Business line pretty quickly. Economy check in line was long though.

LH agent gave us boarding pass for LAX-FRA segment but told us the we need to re check in FRA for FRA-FCO segment. She also gave us the $15 certficate to Daily Grill restaurant since there were no LH or Star Alliance Business Lounge. So, we said great and headed toward the Daily Grill. That's when police started asking people to evacuate the Intl terminal. Everyone complied and evacuated. I overheard from security officer that there was a suspcious package.Even saw bomb squad going into the Intl terminal.

I think after about 1 hour, we were allowed into the Intl terminal. We proceeded to the gate. This was the start of our trip.

***** 7/6 LH 451 LAX to FRA ******
LH flight was a lot less memorable than the LAX experience. We got in the business section and sat down. Having flown United almost exclusively for last 3 years, this was my first experience with LH. The business class seat pitch was bit disappointing. LH had a lot less room compared to UA. Anyway, we took off little bit late due to LAX chaos.

We were offered wipes and lunch menu. FAs handed us the menu which UA no longer does. The menu had multiple pages with multiple languages (German, English, and Spanish).

They were:

Dinner
Hors d'oeuvre:
* Seared Scallop and Shrimp served with Fennel Salad

or

* Grilled Breast of Chicken with Asian style Slaw

Main Entree (one choice of)

* Salmon with curried Vegetable Crust, Champagne Sauce and Pearl Barley

* Tenderloin of Beef accompanied by Red Wine Demi-Glace, Turnip and Carrot Hash, and Horeseradish Mashed Potato

* Spinach Ravioli filled with Gorgonzola enhanced by Alfredo Sauce, ****ake Mushrooms and Tomato Concassee with Chives

Cheese and Dessert (one choice of)
* Cheddar, Emmental and Goat Cheese
* Haagen Daza Dulce de Leche Ice Cream
* Fruit Salad
They were edible and LH wines were a lot better than the UA wines. Also, FAs frequently went back and forth serving drinks. UA FAs doesn't do it like LH FAs. The service from LH FAs were great.

Enterainment was great. 15 channels of Video.
They were showing Gosford Park (which I didn't care for at all. This movie was pretty bad. I enjoyed reading Agatha Christies's Ten Little Indian better than watching the movie), I'm Sam (this was pretty good.), and other movies that I can't think of now.

About 2 hours before landing, the FAs started serving breakfast:

* Fresh Fruit
* Roll and Croissant
* Variety of Cold Cuts

About 10 hours later, we landed on the Frankfurt airport.

LH
* Check In - 4 out of 5
* Lounge - None but the certificate for Daily Grill made it up. 4 out of 5
* Seat - 3 out of 5
* Food - 3 out of 5
* Service - 5 out of 5. I just wish UA FAs would be like LH FAs.
* Entertainment System - 4 out of 5. I would have given them 5 stars if they handed us the noise cancelling headphone like UA.

Overall, LH gets http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starsmilie.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starsmilie.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starsmilie.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starsmilie.gif stars. It beats my previous UA trips to Europe.

To be continued...

So far, so good http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Thanks for your report.
You are the first one in this section of Flyertalk who gives a positive comment about LHs inflight entertainment system in C http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Here is another -

It is much better than what I remember of the LH IFE in Y class http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

***** 7/7 Frankfurt Airport *********
We finally arrived at the Frankfurt Airport in the afternoon and proceed it to check in counter. They didn't have special line for Business or Star Alliance Gold members. Luckily there wasn't too many people at the counter yet.

We went to Business Lounge located near A25 gate and used the showe facility. It was good but not as good as UA Arrival facility in LHR. Business Lounge had some food but was crowded with people and smokers.

LH
Check In 2 out of 5
Business Lounge 2 out of 5 - It would have been better if there were no smokers...

***** 7/7 LH 3870 FRA - FCO ***********
Boarded the A320 plane to Rome. Business class seats were practically same as Economy class. LH had little middle seats for left side of the plane which was interesting. I guess there are a lot of small kids travelling in the Europe. Flight was uneventful. FAs asked us if we wanted snack but we refused. We were just ready to go to Rome. No Entertainment system at all. Service again was great.

LH
Business Class - 2 out of 5
Entertainment System - none
Meal - did not try.
Service - 5 out of 5

******** 7/7 - 7/12 Rome, Pompei ********
Arrived at Rome in the evening. Proceeded to the official taxi line but taxi drivers were very evasive about the price to the hotel. They said it's what ever the meter said. Well, I said no thanks to them since I read in FT that taxi drivers in Rome weren't the best ones. So, I went to Hotel Reservation counter and asked whether they had shuttle to the hotel. She said yes and it was E$10.50 per person. It was cheaper than the taxi and less hassle. We got on the shuttle after 20 minutes, and went to our hotel - Marriott Hotel - Grand Hotel Flora.

Hi Lax,
thanks for the trip report. I guess these things are funny but also interesting to read!

I had the pleasure of flying LH and UA business transatlantic from FRA to IAD.

I must say that YES, BIG TIME, the seating is mmmmuucch better in UA than in LH. This is something that LH definitely has to work on when people pay $ 3.000 for Business Class!!

But other than that, the two lines - which are among the very best - do not differ very much..

Cheers, Martin

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by eMailman:
Here is another -

It is much better than what I remember of the LH IFE in Y class http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>


I don't know if I ever want to fly LH Y class over Atlantic. It looked like people were cramped in since flight was full. I think LH Y seat pitch is a lot worse than UA Y. I will take UA Y(Economy Plus) any day over LH Y over Atlantic flights.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Uli:
Thanks for your report.
You are the first one in this section of Flyertalk who gives a positive comment about LHs inflight entertainment system in C http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif</font>


Uli, I do actually enjoy the entertainment system on most planes (I do not sleep in the planes regardless of flight duration). LH was good in that they offered various movies - new, classics, documentary, and both in English / German.

I flew in Y across the Atlantic twice - before I had status.

Some of the issue is perception. After flying F regularly across the pond, C seemend a bit crowded http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

LH checkin in FRA has Biz/elite and First checkin in a separate corner of Terminals A and B. If you travel via FRA again be shure to use those extra areas as there is typically much less people there. BTW: The elite checkin-area in Terminal A even has an extra entrance through security into the A/B Gates area...

May I add a question about LAX intl. departures on LH? I will fly ex LAX in August on the 7pm LH flight to FRA (on an F award ticket). Don't they have lounges there (you say so in your trip report)? Temporarily? LH schedule mentiones I could use RG, NZ and ANA lounges (maybe they are in other terminals?).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ralfkrippner:
May I add a question about LAX intl. departures on LH? I will fly ex LAX in August on the 7pm LH flight to FRA (on an F award ticket). Don't they have lounges there (you say so in your trip report)? Temporarily? LH schedule mentiones I could use RG, NZ and ANA lounges (maybe they are in other terminals?).</font>

The AirNZ lounge is in T2, but it's not worth the walk - it's usually crowded, only has packaged snacks and there is no seperate F section.

Cheers, Zac

That lounge also gets very busy as it is used by VS as well

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by lax 100K:
Business class seats were practically same as Economy class. LH had little middle seats for left side of the plane which was interesting. I guess there are a lot of small kids travelling in the Europe. </font>

Noooooo! You'll find this on the majority of European carriers operating intra-European services. The seats convert from three seats to two, by re-arranging the arm rests. This creates the little seat in the middle, which is not an assignable seat.

In Europe, carriers adopt a flexible cabin, rather than the fixed F/Y cabins on US carriers. This is a much better of way of dividing the cabin and increasing revenues, because you can have anything from 1 row of Business Class upwards. I've flown on flights in Europe with 20 rows of Business Class and just 2 rows of Economy!

Thanks for the report. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by ralfkrippner:

May I add a question about LAX intl. departures on LH? I will fly ex LAX in August on the 7pm LH flight to FRA (on an F award ticket). Don't they have lounges there (you say so in your trip report)? Temporarily? LH schedule mentiones I could use RG, NZ and ANA lounges (maybe they are in other terminals?).[/B]</font>

ralfkrippner, LH does not have lounge in LAX. You used to be able to use UA RCC when LH was in terminal 6. Now, LH hands out $15 certificate to Daliy Grill restaurant in the International Terminal. I guess you could use the Air New Zealand (T2), AC (T2), or UA RCC (T6). There is star alliance shuttle circling the terminals outside.

******** 7/7 - 7/12 Rome, Pompei ********
Arrived at Rome in the evening. Proceeded to the official taxi line but taxi drivers were very evasive about the price to the hotel. They said it's what ever the meter said. Well, I said no thanks to them since I read in FT that taxi drivers in Rome weren't the best ones. So, I went to Hotel Reservation counter and asked whether they had shuttle to the hotel. She said yes and it was E$10.50 per person. It was cheaper than the taxi and less hassle. We got on the shuttle after 20 minutes, and went to our hotel - Marriott Hotel - Grand Hotel Flora.

The check in was quick. The room was very small and we had view to the street.

Next few days, we walked a lot around Rome and visiting Vatican museum, Coliseum, Spanish Steps, Roman Forum, and other numerous sites.

Few things to avoid on tourist sites
* Do not go there around 9:30-11 AM. When we arrived at the Vatican Museum, we thought we would trampled by about 2,000+ plus people. Just imagine, having that many people in small hallway with no air consitioning http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif. It was not fun. It defintely made Sistine Chappel less appealing to view since you have wrestle with others to get good spots to view them.

* Do not buy anything near Vatican. They are highly overpriced. They charged me E$6.40 for bottle of Fanta which cost E$0.80 in the market http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif.

* Take water with you. This will be very helpful to cool you down.

Also, took the Naples/Pompeii/Sorrento day trip offered from the hotel's front desk.
The day started 7:00 AM and ended at 10:30 PM.
Mostly on the bus (about 8 hours on the bus) with very uncomfortable seats and minimal air conditioning. We stopped at Naples to drop people off for Capri tour and went around in the bus for 5 minutes tour of Naples. Then to Pompeii for about 2 hours tour. It was good but it was very hot (tour started about 1:30 PM to 3:30 PM - the hottest part of the day).
Pompeii was good to see but I would rather spent a day going around it next time. The next stop was the Sorrento. Well, it was great view outside the bus but we didn't stop at the beaches. We stopped at the shop where they were trying to sell us items made out of wood. We stayed about 30 minutes and left for Rome.

I would rate this tour http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsdown.gif. It's run by Carrani tours. They are very disorganized. I would not use their service next time.

We went to various restaurants near the hotel:
* Harry's Bar http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif (good food and good service)
* Hard Rock Cafe (average food, but had great service)
* Peperone http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsdown.gif(lousy service and lousy food)
* Hotel Restraunt (average food and average service).
and other small places.

Marriott Grand Hotel Flora
Staff - 3.5 out of 5
Room - 3 out of 5

I think I will stay at Westin Excelsor couple blocks down the street next time.

Took the taxi to Termini station. Costed about E$10 including luggage surcharges. Took Eurostar for 5 hours to Venice. First Class I think was waste of money. Nothing really different. Also, our compartment was filled with smokers http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif.

Finally arrived in Venice.

To be continued...

[Edited for spelling]


[This message has been edited by lax 100K (edited 07-19-2002).]

lax 100K, Great report about flights & sights. I'm looking forward to the next parts.