MrRant

You all make it sound like Lufthansa's product is as good as any airline. The sad truth is that it is not. It is probably among the worst. You could take several airlines, and all the points on the list would not be true: Swiss, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Korean, Singapore Airlines, Air Canada. Both western and Asian Companies. And most of them don't have to go through FRA, which makes them even better.

All of the above have great food, good service, flat beds on business class, great connectivity on economy class (most has 220 V PC power plugs), great in-flight entertainment, better lounges and much better economy class seats.

Most of them have great and innovative A380's. Look at Qantas for example, completely re-inventing the economy class seat:

http://www.qantas.com.au/travel/airl...ward/global/en

And the A380's are not even close to be configured the same:

Korean Air A380 has 407 seats, two large lounges.
Qantas A380 has 440 seats, bars and great economy class.
Lufthansa A380 has 526 seats, no features.

Off course it has to do with the economy/business class ratio as well (Air France has 544 seats, but they have great flat-bed business class). Overall i have not found a worse configuration than Lufthansa's.

The price for intercontinental business or economy class flights is about the same for all the above airlines.

So WHY do i keep travelling with Lufthansa? I guess it is just the closest hub to where i live, and the code sharing and Star Alliance partnership with SAS makes anything else too difficult.

snn47

You fail to appreciate that safety was and is always the first priority in aviation.

While it’s true that FRA/MUN security can be annoying at times, at least those airports reacted within a few weeks to threats, and are consistent until today. This is not something I can say for those US-airports I arrived and departed shortly after 911. They needed years before security was increased, and when they finally did FRA still checked twice before passengers boarded. For me it’s also unacceptable if security is not consistent throughout an airport, like CDG where LH-guests can be close to a strip-search, while at the same time in the AF-Terminal passengers get barely checked at all.

There are many things one can complain about LH if you did not have the pleasure flying with some of Lufthansas partner-airlines (Air India) and enjoyed their hubs/destinations. Service varies with personal and their motivation, as you can read throughout this forum, however LH crew and ground staff incl. 3rd party, are mostly above average compared to what I experienced with others Star Arrogance partners, e.g. fondly remembering a 24h duration for MIA-CLT-FRA flight with US. There is more then just being on time, if you're late, with LH you receive most of the time information about delays and connecting flights before and after arrival. US sent me on a wild goose chaise, forwarded me from one to the next ground staff, just to learn after an hour that my plane just left. I could have made it if US-crew and -ground staff would have checked and told me.

Except for comment on LH-Lounges, your comments about FRA/MUN were about airport infrastructure and services, which LH can influence only to some degree.

mamb0

True. But even as SEN I preferred bus gates departures and arrivals. Reducing the gate roulette and most of the time the walking. A42 anyone? (yes, I am the lazy kind. Walking is nice in the park pulling the dog, not the tumi and trying to evade hordes of fellow passengers)

TWAB747nomore

I don't think LH sucks at all. I like the airline alot and it beats most of the US carriers

stefan76

I agree with the above post on that one. I like LH. I think their product is consistent and overall the flight crew is friendly.
I would love to have an airline like LH here in the States. Here you get barked at when you board the plane.
At least on LH you get a forced smile and proper service.
Like others said, seat configuration is standart compared to other airlines. Legroom is a little cramped sometimes but it is bearable.
Airport issues has nothing to do with the airline. I do agree with you the staff at FRA and MUC airport is one of the unfriendliest I have ever encountered.

seat 1a

FRA security is the worst !??

Try any NA airport , or why not ZRH

Bus gates , gods gift

Jasper2009

Gift?!? I don´t want to experience his punishment in that case.

weero

welcome to FT MrRant ^ !

What makes you think that LH is an on-time airline? They are reliably late with arriving, later with processing the manifest, and even more late when departing again. Other than AC and the dead SR, I do not recall an airline which was more systematically late than LH.

Not all pax perceive buggery as the pinnacle of inflight entertainment. While it certainly has its place a a top discipline of the Mile High Club, especially when performed with a purser or comparable rank, most folks are probably just happy getting drunk and ogle movies.

harryhv

There are a few workarounds:

There's a workaround to get those business-class seats to lie flat by activating the manual recline operation. Works best if you are in a bulkhead row with no seat in front.

Regarding the ten-minute wait with the doors closed after the bus arrives alongside the aircraft, this is really unacceptable. The workaround is to position yourself near the back door and unobtrusively activate the emergency exit as soon as the bus stops.

To create space in the overcrowded lounge, my friend wears a T-shirt saying "Ask me about Jesus", somehow noone sits next to him.

And if you don't like the food, the entertainment or the cushions you can bring your own.

But you can't get away from the overdone security.

Oh and you missed commenting on the LCC-like line at the business-class check-in between 8 and 10am every day at FRA (for USA flights), would have to be the world's worst premium check-in experience.

William S

Lufthansa is good. You know where you have them even when blindfolded whether you fly y, c or f. But hey since we are in rant mode, their food in intraeuropean c is below par...

NewbieRunner

I used to think gate departures were preferable to any bus gates... but not any more at least in FRA

My longhaul flight on the A380 arrived at B28 (instead of C16 as previously announced). My connecting flight departs from B46 for a change instead of the usual B3x bus gate. Rather than going through security to the FCL B, I decided to clear immigration and walk to the FCT.

There was a short gueue at immigration but it's better than having to clear security in Pier B and I won't have to walk to the departure gate from the FCL.

The FCT is a ghost town.

TPJ

This is a good point but not for LH - that is only using these airports - but for FRA and MUC Airport Authorities. Taking all these airport challenges into consideration, I still think LH is a very efficient airline (that has never lost my airline for the last 4 years).

snn47

Frankfurt does not have enough gates for all flights, which should improve when the new Z-Gates in Terminal 1 are operational. For the less frequently flown to airports (e.g. BHX) you are likely to have a bus-gate, while for the frequently attended airports like CDG, LHR or BRU you'll mostly have a normal gate, however you are likely to walk the distance all the way to the end of the A-Terminal.

weero

It was only a matter of time that the BDSM crowd would follow the buggery enthusiasts... ...

NA-Flyer

Which airport in this world that does