meetingup

thank you for the reply, and very detailed trip report! This is great for me to see as my first LH F class experience is coming up in a couple of weeks.

Pingtung

Street food for breakfast


Batu Caves

Pingtung

Gorgeous departures level at KUL


Thai check-in area

Check in took a bit of time as the agents, who all but one were actually Malaysian Airlines agents, had some trouble getting me checked in and my bag tagged, but they were eventually able to get everything straight. At one point, they were having trouble printing the onward F boarding pass as the printer just wouldn’t print one that was legible, but 6 tries later it finally worked. Good thing they had a whole stack of those F BP’s to try on!


Forest created in the middle of the terminal


Quiet satellite terminal

I had heard that the KLIA was unterutilized and it sure looked like that to me. The satellite terminal has 27 gates and features a large number of shops and space, but around noon when I was there, the satellite terminal averaged one departure every 20 or so minutes. Is there a huge rush of flights at some point or do most of the 27 gates just never get utilized?


Entrance to the Royal Silk Lounge


Dining Area


Some of the seating area in the lounge

The lounge is great for an outstation and offers a decent selection of warm items like chicken curry with rice. The large windows illuminate the lounge nicely and there is a decent amount of seating space to accommodate *G flyers on other airlines.

The walk to the gate area was quick and the security check, done at the gate, was professional and quick. The flight was crowded and with the usual congregation of passengers near the podum, it made for a crowded entrance way.

KUL-BKK
TG436
777-200
Business


777-200 ready for departure to Bangkok


Again, I just love glass jetways


Full Business Cabin

The business seats were similar to the shell design in the SQ A330. It’s hard to really judge the seat quality on a flight less than 2 hours, but it was perfectly acceptable for a flight of that duration.


Empty Satellite Terminal


I really enjoyed this camera view


Moments after departure from KUL


Stir-fried chicken thigh main, excellent meal!

The meal was great and service was decent, a good first impression of Thai Airways. I spent the remaining part of the flight making use of the AVOD. It took me a bit of time to figure out how to navigate through the screens using the remote, so I didn't find it the most intuitive system to use. The large screen size did make movie watching all the more enjoyable. Pretty soon we were on our final approach into Bangkok.


Arrival into Bangkok


Parked at a remote stand

We arrived at a remote stand and were bussed to the terminal – there was no special bus for Business class passengers and we waited to fill the bus before leaving. Upon arrival at the terminal and going up the escalator, I was met by a Thai representative who led me to an empty security checkpoint and then onto the F lounge (I guess no cart service for bus arrivals?). It was time to experience the famed BKK FCL.

Pingtung

Thanks for all the kind words everyone!

I am thankful that I have the time now to go travel around and I hope that you will get a chance one day to do the same, it is always an experience you'll never forget.

To be honest, I never set foot in C or Y, but in F we were 5/8. I do believe that we were at least 75% full in C and Y and probably close to 90% when I last checked the seatmaps.

That BOS-MUC leg is really short for a long haul so make the most of it!

Flyingfox

Thanks for the teriffic report.

I think it's mean of Lufthansa to NOT set out the "new" mattress for the F seat on the A-340 and A-330.

I mean, they do it for the exact same seat on the 747 now, right? So they acknowledge that it is needed for THAT SEAT. They put it in the "extra" seat since they are now blocking it for the single passenger to have two seats (and I know the "true beds" are not up and running yet), I realise this, but why not actually give their other F passengers the improved comfort as well? Is it an issue with storage for the mattresses on the Airbus?

Genius1

Very nice trip report - well written and good pictures. I particularly liked the sunset picture over SIN.

I must admit I do not find the nuts placed around the MUC LH F lounge very hygienic.

I note that both of your LH Business Class shorthaul segments had the main course meals spilt over the crockery - were they handed to you like that?! If they were, that's really not good enough! Must say I wasn't particularly impressed with my one and only experience of LH J from FRA-LHR a couple of years ago.

I really do like the look of SQ's and TG's regional J products.

The refit of the LH F seats on the A330/A340/B747 fleet can't come soon enough.

Look forward to the rest of the report ^

brahms77

Very cool report!

I am going to be doing LH F for the first time in October with my wife and we are excited about visiting LH FTL in FRA and the LH F service.

Looking forward to your next installments.

By the way, when transiting in FRA, were you given FTL access as LX F customer?

Pingtung

I suspect the cabin limitations are the reason. If they were to add the mattress seat they would have to go with something like a 1-1-1 instead of the 1-2-1 layout they have now. A simple solution is to just use a proper duvet.

I can understand the viewpoint that the nuts can be a harbinger of bacteria if people continue to put their hand in it, but hey, you only live once

They were wrapped with tin foil, but yes they were like that when I unwrapped the hot dish.

I wasn't quite transitioning in FRA as I did layover for the evening there, but yes I was given access - anyone with a same day F pass on LH or LX will have access (I did get funny looks at the FCL in ZRH though).

No installment tomorrow - but will resume on Sunday.

luvFclass

[QUOTE=Pingtung;16335900]I spent some more time in the Munich FCL and before my flight, I decided to take a shower, but this time I requested the room with a bathtub. I am now a proud owner of a Munich FCL rubber duckie.



Easter themed rubber duckie (an egg is on its back)

Fantastic Trip report pingtung. Missus luvFclass is so jealous of your MUC FCL Easter themed miss ducky!^^

Brings back memories of our trip in March to some of the same places you visited in F. MUC/BKK.

My next trip over in spring 2012 can"t come soon enough.

Keep them TR's coming.

Cheers,

LFC

OttoMH

Awesome TR! Can't wait to see the TG F stuff..!

Pingtung

Upon arrival, I was warmly greeted and, along with my mother, who I had met in Kuala Lumpur and who would be returning back to the states in C class going across the Pacific, were escorted into one of the private rooms. Since the lounge was fairly quiet at the time, 6 lounge attendants were standing near the bar and all lined up to welcome us to the lounge, what an introduction!

We had about 10 hours until both of our departure times, so we would be spending quite a bit of time in the room. Throughout our stay, whenever I left the room, attendants would look to see if I needed anything, making it extremely difficult to just take a walk in the lounge without having someone staring at you.


Waiting area in between the men’s and women’s restroom


Private bathrooms as is the norm in all of the First Class Lounges

Every time I would make a trip to the restroom, the attendant there would welcome me and direct me to the men’s room. In the afternoon when there were 4 or so of us in the lounge altogether, the number of lounge attendants was reduced to 2 or 3, still plenty enough to take care of us. There were so few of us that the restroom attendant would clean the bathroom and replace the hand towel used after every use (or if there was nothing to replace, would obviously know that you didn’t wash your hands) - a special lounge indeed.

If you wanted something to eat, you could walk over to the buffet area, but don’t even think about touching any of the food. A lounge attendant will take your order and bring your request to where you are sitting. Now while this is nice and all, I find this to be overkill and would prefer a self service approach for the buffet area.


I had some fruit tarts early in my stay, they were great


One of the private rooms


Main lounge area with various newspapers on the table

I arranged for the spa treatment to be given to my mother who found the treatment relaxing. She is used to therapeutic messages so didn’t have much to say about the spa treatment.

After killing a few more hours using the wi-fi and taking a few walks around the main terminal, I headed over to the dining area around 6pm for a meal.

I ended up ordering a bowl of soup and a pork cutlet which was filling and something that would suffice until the midnight departure. The dining options were fairly impressive - some of the items were displayed in the buffet area, but others existed only in the menu.


Seated dining area in the FCL


Pork Cutlet with fries

The attentiveness in the FCL is almost too much, and about 2 hours before my mother’s departure time, she headed over to the Royal Silk Lounge for the increased freedom. For those that like to be waited on hand and foot, this lounge does just that – it provides a true first rate lounge service. For those that enjoy a bit of freedom from constant eyes, the FCL can be a slightly uncomfortable place, but the service is just fabulous.

About 2 ½ hours before departure, I grabbed a shower (I am an evening shower person so I wanted to try and mimic my usual routine) in the FCL.


Box full of shower goodies


Sink in the shower room

Without about an hour to go before departure, I elected to head to the gate area as I was getting antsy to do some walking before an 11 hour flight. As I was heading out, the lounge attendant informed me that they would take me when it was time, but I let her know that I wanted to walk around a bit and would head to the gate myself. She informed me of the gate information and when I should be at the gate and wished me a pleasant flight.

The terminal does get fairly warm in the afternoon sun, but they have air conditioning units throughout the terminal to provide relief. I'm sure it would be astronomically expensive to provide central air conditioning throughout so this is a good compromise.


View of the terminal earlier in the day, the air conditioning fan is front and right-center


Gate area during boarding

There didn’t appear to be a dedicated F/C line once they started boarding Y so I just waited around until the lines thinned out, I was in no rush. The sign noting the flight information for this plane was merely a piece of printed paper stating TG930 PARIS – why are there no displays here?


On my way to experience the 77W in F

francophile

Excellent photos, Pingtung.

What, you don't like to look at HSBC propoganda about being the "World's Local Bank" when you board and disembark an aircraft?

RobbieRunner

I am totally blown away by the reporting.

'nuff said..... except...

Thank you.

brahms77

Pingtung, nice update! the 10 hour transit is quite long even though you have the FCL facilities to enjoy! By the way, in the Spa lounge, there seems to be steamed sauna and jacuzzi tub (this I have seen before)... I was wondering if they would allow both my wife and I (we are traveling in F with TG to SYD in October) to use both the sauna and the tub after our 1 hour massage We have about 4 and half hours to kill before our flight (after long long flight from EZE on LH and LX F! ). Sauna would be really nice.

lincoln76

A great trip report not only requires good photos but more importantly the story/descriptions and so far, Pingtung you have totally nailed it! It takes a long time to upload and describe that magical journey, but we will be patiently waiting for your BKK-CDG TG F journey report!