Trip Reports - LH ZRH-FRA-DRS




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f4free
Apr 5, 03, 9:49 am
I happen to have some time to spare - why not write a quick trip report?

Well, first of all, I was very lucky this morning. I slept in - without missing my flight! Knowing that after only 2.5 hours of sleep my wakening would be a difficult task, I had precisely instructed the taxi company to call me at home should I not answer the doorbell. And that was my saviour. With just seconds to spare I caught my train to Zurich Airport, getting me there roughly 50 minutes prior to my 7 am departure.

Check-In

Since my new MX *Gold card has not arrived yet, I was curious to find out if my printout of the MX website indicating gold status would be enough. The friendly but still sleepy check-in agent had no problems with it. When I asked about chances to use my expired upgrade voucher, she told me that I had chances for an operational. The evening flight yesterday had cancelled due to a technical. I got through passport control in a second, and had 15 min to check out the star alliance lounge in ZRH everybody raves about. No agent was to be found, so I just got comfortable in the left section (* Gold). Beverage and bar selections were pretty much standard, and they offered cookies, nuts and gummybears from open jars as well as croissants. They did have a rechauffe so they might have warm food later on during the day. Soon I grabbed some papers at the lounge and made my way to the gate. At check-in, my chances of an op-up disappeared, as they still had four open seats in the main cabin. And I was in the last row. Ugh! Trying to use my voucher, the agent called the ticket desk, checked the expiration date and out of luck I was. Oh well, I guess I'll just chuck it. Security screening was uneventful.

LH3749 ZRH-FRA B737 23A

No real window, restriced recline, extra-narrow seat - not good. What happend to select seating? It looks like LH didn't pick up my MX status ... Luckily I had pleasant seat neighbors (except that he was good-sized and kept trying to peek out of the window in the row in front of us, reducing my space even further). Service was sandwich or croissant and beverages. Being in the back of the plane, it did take a long time until I got served. The cheese sandwich was a little bit dry, but OK. Croissants were not warm. Coffee was horrible. Orange juice was standard. No second beverage service. No additional service items offered.
Swiss definitely beats LH on this route. Their croissants are warm, and their coffee is actually almost drinkable. They offer a chocolate and a refreshing towel, and come around at least twice for drinks and twice for croissants. Landing in FRA was slightly behind schedule leaving me with no time to check out the lounge.

To be continued ...


Bretteee
Apr 5, 03, 11:12 am
I agree with you that the coffee on Swiss is excellent. On many airlines it is pretty bad.

airoli
Apr 5, 03, 12:53 pm
... looking forward to the next part. Enjoy your weekend!

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truly yours. airOli (http://www.olimade.com/airoli).


f4free
Apr 6, 03, 4:01 am
PART II

After an easy transfer through FRA without rushing I got to gate A2, a busgate, for my flight to DRS. Boarding was already in process, so I was on the bus within three minutes.

LH 154 FRA-DRS 8D B737

My exit row seat offered minimal extra legroom but had no recline. Better than my last seat, and OK for a short flight. The security briefing was a slightly comical. The main cabin FA didn't have the masks ready, while the purser was doing the speech. "And now we will show you how to use the oxygen masks in the event .... Oh. Du hast was? (Mike goes out). Aha. (Mike goes out.) OK then, we won't show you the oxygen masks. We won't fly high enough , and if you really need them you'll find out quick enough anyway. There are exit rows ... blabla."
After rearranging bags (I don't know why everybody keeps putting there bags near the exits - they ALWAYS take them away. Those seats are occupied by frequent flyers! They should KNOW - this costs at least 5 min. every time!) we were on our way quickly.
Oh, this one business man had offered a lady in front of me his seat in C so he could sit next to his daughter. She gladly accepted, but her friend accross the aisle began to complain, and also tried to sit in C next to the person who gave up her seat. No chance, a lot of commotion and some laughs is what happened.
This flight was beverage service only. They came around twice. Service was more or less friendly, but not really warm-hearted. Swiss FAs really have (usually) a better attitude.
The decent was slightly bumpy. Our arrival was pretty much on time. All in all, an OK flight.

Dresden airport is incredibly nice! It looks like it was opened yesterday. I like the architecture, even the smell of the place is new. Dresden also changed a lot since the wall came down. A lot of new infrastructure - the recent floods seem to have actually helped the city. Everything looks brand-new now. Wow.

Hilton Dresden also is great. Extremely friendly. The most personal welcome I have ever had at a Hilton. Very nice view from the corner room. 12 restaurants !!! Lovely pool, sauna and whirlpool! And a terrific fruit plate with chocolates !!! (Really, the best fruit plate I have ever seen.) Unfortunately no Exec lounge. And, the concierge never got my message about opera tickets. Luckily it's not sold out.

Next part: My return flight (hopefully in C).

Uli
Apr 6, 03, 4:44 am
Thank you, already waiting for the next part!

airoli
Apr 22, 03, 4:51 pm
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by f4free:
Next part: My return flight (hopefully in C). </font>And when will I have the pleasure to read the next part? Or are you busy writing other things for this forum?? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif



------------------
truly yours. airOli (http://www.olimade.com/airoli).



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