MBS MillionMiler

This is my first trip report...So while I’m open to criticism, please don’t go too hard on me. It is a long one, but there was a lot of flying...Sorry, no photos.

*A award, using United miles. First class on the overwater flights, business class in Europe, and Y class on my domestic segments between MBS (Saginaw, MI) and ORD. Main purpose of the trip was to finally see Paris as well as get to Pamplona, Spain to run with the bulls (which I did, and survived). My itinerary was MBS-ORD-LHR-CDG-MUC-BCN-PNA-BCN-FRA-ORD-MBS.

MBS-ORD (United Express Flight #7507, CRJ)

Typical, uneventful UX flight, had my Exit Row 8 all to myself, on an otherwise rather full plane. The only difference was upon boarding, I recognized the FA, whom I’ve flown with at least twice before...Donna was superb and after doing a full drink service (on this 40 minute flight) came back and chatted with me as she’d done last time we recognized each other about 3 months prior.

Upon arrival in ORD, I was finally able to grace the gates of United’s International First Class lounge, located in the middle of the C terminal. Upon entering, I was asked for my boarding pass and welcomed me into the lounge. Two agents working there that day, but the lounge was rather quiet, at any given time, there were no more than 8 people present. I intentionally took a later flight to London so I could experience the lounge, and I’ve got to say, it was worth it. The food was surprisingly good, a nice spread of items laid out, including the far left ‘pod’, which I think over the next two hours, I single-handedly cleaned out…A delicious smoked salmon on those mini rye breads, and mini shrimp cocktails (two nice-sized shrimp in a small bowl on top of cocktail sauce and a lemon). My only complaint was that once the stock was depleted, they were not replenished for the rest of my time there. Other selections included mini sandwiches, fresh fruit, rolls, nut cups, and a full selection of medium-shelf boozes and beers. I was in an ‘Asian’ mood, so I had a Sapporo, and later, a glass of champagne, and later a cognac, then back to another Sapporo.

ORD-LHR (United flight #928, 777)

Left the F lounge for C16, where I found a zoo...A complete contrast to the F lounge. As expected, a very senior crew, any one of the FA’s could have passed as my grandmother. I settled into 3J (window and aisle). I was immediately asked if I wanted champagne, OJ, or water. As I sipped champagne, I refreshed myself on the controls of the F suite...It had been quite some time since I’d seen one other than the backs of them from business class. (My only other F suite experiences were 3-4 times on double upgrades, all on domestic flights). The door closed with 7 of 11 seats taken, and as I learned later, only three of us were not employees. I was the first person approached for everything, so as a PremExec, I guess I might have been tops on the status pole. All in all, the service wasn’t bad, but wasn’t very warm and friendly either...Two of the FA’s wreaked of attitude, but with the kindness I was throwing at them, they had no choice but to be cordial at best.

The menu:

Champagne: Brut, Pol Roger

White Wine: Burgundy: Rully Chardonnay 1998, Joseph Drouhin; Stellenbosch: Chardonnay 2001, Lanzerac; Chardonnay: Alderbrook Dry Creek Valley Sonoma 1999

Red Wine: Bordeaux: Margaux Cabernet 1995, Chateau Rauzan Segla; Cotes-du-Rhone: Syrah Gigondas 2000; Pinot Noir: Robert Mondavi Napa Valley 2000

To Begin: Lemon Grass spiked shrimp and scallops –or- Spicy Roasted Pork Latin Wraps.

Garden Salad: With Mozzarella and Asian sesame ginger or parmesan pepper dressing, assorted breads.

Main Course:

Filet Mignon with roasted shallot and balsalmic demi glaze, baked potato with cheddar, vegetable medley; Roasted Duck confit with Port wine sauce, apple onion mashed potatoes, vegetable medley; Veal scaloppini with piccata sauce, saffron risotto and rataouille; Three cheese ravioli with roasted artichoke hearts, mushroom or vodka sauce.

Dessert:

International cheese selection, Havarti, Danish Bleu and Longhorn Cheddar; Ice cream with sundae toppings; Fresh seasonal fruit.

Prior to arrival:

Scrambled Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise sauce, Canadian bacon, asparagus or Breakfast deli plate, Black Forest Ham, turkey, salami, Swiss and Brie cheese.

I selected pork wraps for my appetizer. I was quite disappointed...I guess I’d been spending too much time at Bennigan’s or Fridays, as my idea of a ‘wrap’ involves a tortilla, lettuce and onion. It was a very salty and cold ham-bacon type meat wrapped over asparagus. Three small pieces. Neither filling nor very tasty. Salad was served from a cart, and asked which dressing, the FA looked surprised and tried to talk me out of my request for a little bit of each. Quite curtly, she said, “You know, one of these is sweet, the other is creamy...That can’t be very good together.” Thank you very much, but I rather enjoyed the cornucopia of flavors that the mixture offered. For my entrée, I selected the duck...Quite palatable, and the potatoes weren’t too bad.

Next cheese was served. I wasn’t going to have any, as I normally fly business class where you get cheese or dessert, not both…But this was F class, and even if I didn’t get offered the sundae, I surely was going to ask. Had a bite of Havarti and Bleu and a glass of Port followed by two very hard scoops of ice cream, but the hot fudge quickly took care of that.

Finished up, watched a movie…Reclined all the way, and slept about three hours when I woke for breakfast.

Prior to arrival, had the eggs benedict...Very good flavor, but I could have sent the English Muffin to the Detroit Red Wings to use as hockey pucks, VERY much on the hard side.

We landed about 20 minutes late, fine with me…I had three hours in LHR. Was met at the gate by a concierge, who whisked me off alone by a separate shuttle bus by myself to the other terminal where BMI was located—it was very a very cool experience, as I was carted all over LHR, and got to see some of the inner workings of the airport. BMI business lounge at LHR is big (2 levels), but the food selection rivaled that of a Red Carpet Club…Nothing really to ‘eat’. There are two lounges right near each other...The BMI business lounge, and the Diamond Club lounge. I visited both...The Diamond Club lounge was a little nicer and quieter, but smaller and didn’t offer any better food. I asked about a shower, since I didn’t get to use my arrivals because of the concierge taking me away separately, and was handed a towel. Shower was in the restroom, and I ended up passing...Was not very clean, very cramped with no place to change. Quite disappointing.

LHR-CDG (British Midland flight #175, F100)

My first experience with Intra-Europe business class. After experiencing US domestic F and C class, it was VERY disappointing as a whole, as comfort is far more important to me than service. But I understood before I even got on the plane that this was standard for Europe. Normal coach seats, but separated by movable curtains. There were three of us in Y, all seated in the same row, elbow to elbow...I moved across the aisle before takeoff. Service was the same as a short-haul domestic F flight, but with food. Was served a box which contained grapes, a mini KitKat bar, and a barely-edible chicken pasta salad, which any flavor was overshadowed by a horrible Dijon mustard sauce.

Paris Hotels:

Price DeGalles Hotel (Starwood Luxury Collection)

Excellent location, a block off Champs-Elysses near the Arc de Triomphe. Was given a nice-sized room on the 7th (of 8) floor. The room had a walk-out balcony and an INCREDIBLE bathroom—mostly marble, separate tub with 5’ X 5’ walk-in shower, toilet also in a separate room. Quite friendly service, and although a smaller hotel, a beautiful lobby. Was on a Starwood award (24K a night).

Checked out the night before I left, as my next flight was at 7AM from CDG. So I redeemed HH points at the CDG Airport Hilton. Was given a room upgrade (HH Gold) to the largest non-suite I’ve ever had (rooms ending in _30 at the end of the hall seem to be the biggest, which is what I had). Again, a great bathroom with separate walk-in shower. Hotel looked brand new, or recently renovated…Rooms and lobby both immaculate. My only gripe was I was seated in the restaurant, where I waited 20 minutes, and no one still had come around to even bring a menu. I walked out. So I went to the HH Club lounge where my dinner became cheese, fruit, champagne, and Heineken.

CDG-MUC-BCN (Lufthansa #1925, CRJ; Lufthansa #5858, ARJ)

Check-in at CDG was quite disorganized, it was actually hard to find where to line up for the overhead ‘Lufthansa Business Class’ signs. Actually stood in the wrong line for 10 minutes before I figured out I was in the ‘group check-in’ (unmarked) line. Visited the LH lounge at CDG, very small and kind of dark…Only food were some extra-dry pre-packaged muffins…Didn’t stay for more than 10 minutes…Even more disappointing ‘business class’ experience than the BMI trip to Paris…Seating on the CRJ was typically tight, especially considering I had someone next to me. Service was fair, breakfast consisted of a cold deli-type plate, rolls, and a drinkable yogurt. Arrived the new MUC terminal, but didn’t have time to visit the lounge, as I only had a 35 minute layover. MUC-BCN was a little more comfortable, but only because I did not have someone right next to me. I was at least expecting the typical 2-3 (coach) layout found on the ARJ in the US, but somehow they managed to squeeze 3-3 seating on those, and again, very uncomfortable overall. But this flight had the best service of the two previous…The F/As constantly coming around to check on us. On this flight, I was handed a menu, but more like a pamphlet, which also gave some pretty interesting reading on grouping food into ‘colors’. 8 pages, with the following food selections:

Orange, pineapple, and gooseberries offered with acerola lime vinaigrette.

Bread and rolls and a selection of chilled breakfast specialties including corn-fed chicken, bell pepper dip, provolone, mozzarella balls and basil cream cheese.

Entrée: Choice of fried egg and potato quiche with vegetables –or- Omelet filled with Turkey and herbs, offered with asparagus and Béchamel sauce.

I selected the omelet, which was among the best breakfasts I’ve had at 30,000 feet since I brought an Egg McMuffin onto a domestic flight two years prior. It was very hot and fluffy, and the appetizers were quite tasty as well. I washed them down with a Warsteiner beer, which was served VERY cold.

Upon arrival in BCN, I had three hours, so I went searching for lounges…As I tried to enter the Spanair lounge, the doorman (a friendly gent with a British accent) asked me for my credentials…I showed my Red Carpet Club and my *Gold card. He asked which carrier I was flying, I said I’m outbound on Iberia, but I just came off of LH in business class. Apparently, that’s not good enough and turned me away…I politely talked my way into him letting me in, and I was most thankful. It’s hard to understand all of the admission rules for the alliance lounges…I didn’t think I’d have any problem at all considering all of the credentials above. Nice size lounge with pretty good food selection, but mostly of the snack variety…I tested three different Spanish beers from the self-service area, and had a glass of wine as well. Drink selection was quite good.

BCN-PNA (Iberia #8413, DH8)

Expecting a ‘party flight’ on my way to Pamplona to run with the bulls, I was surprised that it was mostly families and business people, with only a few couples and individuals coming in for the huge San Fermin party. Not expecting much on this all coach flight on a turbo prop, I was pleasantly surprised by Iberia’s affiliate carrier, Air Nostrum. They bill their entire service as ‘regional business class’, ‘yeah right’, I thought as I boarded, “I’m a little sick of that joke half the time I get on United Express”…But it really was like business class, at least the European variety. Two F/As for the 50-passenger cabin, two rounds of drink service, as well as finger sandwiches served off of trays (reminded me of a garden party the way the servers walk around with the appetizers). Service and food both very good on this 1:15 flight.

Upon arrival in PNA, I knew I was in for trouble when I arrived and I saw my friend’s flight from MAD was cancelled…We planned on arriving within 10 minutes of each other, but he’d now be along much later. My dismay went 10-fold when the luggage spun around, and mine was nowhere to be found. I stood in line for 1:20 waiting to get help. Long story short, my friend showed up 4 hours later, but unfortunately my luggage still didn’t…It arrived 20 hours later (the following afternoon) despite there being 3 more BCN-PNA flights that day.

PNA-BCN (Iberia #8412, DH8)

Nothing different than the previous flight, except no sandwiches served. Only thing notable here was I arrived to the airport 5 hours early…Had to check out of the hotel, and went to the airport with my buddy. Wanted to catch the earlier flight to BCN. Stood in line, and after some punching in the computer, was told it was going to cost me. (I was thinking I could just go standby—no dice). As she punched away, I was thinking it would be comparable to the US$100 fee. Well, it was €18. I didn’t even argue.

Barcelona Hotel:

Tryp Aeropuerto Barcelona. For €77 a night, it was a bargain. (This was coming off paying a festival rate of over €200/night for a very ‘average’ hotel in Pamplona). Hotel was practically brand-new, I read where it opened last April. Very chic room with hardwood floors, and lots of gray and black tones to the room, very cool track lighting. Restaurant was pricey, even by business hotel standards…Not a big selection nor portions, but the food quality was very good. 24-hour shuttle was quite handy, and had no problem getting transportation to the airport at 5 am the next morning for my flight home.

BCN-FRA (Lufthansa #4303, A320)

Lufthansa has probably the worst location for checking in at BCN, the furthest from security. I arrived to a HUGE line, even for business class, and my wait was a good 45 minutes. Left me no time to shop or visit the Spanair lounge again (this time legitimately). Seating again was a cramped 3-3 in business class, but by now I was accustomed to this and expecting it. No middle seats were assigned in business, which is I guess what they TRY to do if possible. For the menu, see my above MUC-BCN flight, but varied cold meats on the appetizer and a different omelet and quiche. Very good again.

FRA-ORD (Lufthansa #430, 747)

After a brief visit to the disappointing LH Senator Lounge (their lounge for F passengers—but only food were some bad sandwiches and sickly-looking cold sausages), I proceeded to the gate. In FRA, the US-bound flights depart from a special area where I had my first passport control of this trip. (I was surprised that the only glance at my passport prior to this was on arrival at CDG where they glanced at it, and that was it—no new stamps L). Boarding was chaotic, redundant and not in the efficient German fashion which I expected. All flights in Europe prior to and including this one, there was no preboarding for premium class passengers or elites. Quite annoying and frustrating, if you ask me. With 400 people crammed into a small area to board a 747, it was the most claustrophobic experience of my trip. It’s not that difficult to allow a minute or two for F/C/elite passengers to have a jump on the masses, but nowhere in Europe did this take place on Lufthansa or BMI.

LH has their F upstairs, 16 seats total in a 2-2 layout…This made it appear much more spacious than US-based carriers’ C class upstairs. Comfort and personal space was inferior to UA’s F Suite, but was still excellent nonetheless with the 180 degree recline and huge seat pitch (especially in the exit row, where I was seated). Amenity kit was similar to UA’s. Service overall was little better than UA, definitely more friendly, but no more attentive. I noticed a little hole in the console, about 1/2 inch in diameter, didn’t know what that was for, until the F/A came and placed one single red rose in it…It was quite a pleasant surprise, not as if a flower makes or breaks a trip, but certainly a pleasant touch. (I planned on taking it off the plane to give to my girlfriend later, but realized that US Customs might take exception to my idea, so I reluctantly left it behind). The menu, specially selected and prepared by ‘dal Pescatore’ of Santini:

Hors d’oeuvre: Caviar with traditional garnishes; Smoked Marlin served with zucchini and red onions; eggplant and tomato flavored with basil and olive oil, salad with corn-fed chicken.

Salad: Presented with thyme vinaigrette or basil kefir dressing.

Entrée: Braised rib of beef with polenta and vegetables; Salmon enhanced by caper anchovy sauce and green asparagus; Cannelloni filled with ricotta, mascarpone, mozzarella and spinach, offered with tomato coulis and leaf spinach; roasted breast of duck with zucchini.

Cheese and Dessert: Italian Cheese selection, served with grapes; cassata with chocolate crème, amaretti cake with on a vanilla mocha mirror; Fine Chocolates.

Unfortunately, the wine list was separate, and I believe it fell out of the ‘book’ Lufthansa gives you as a menu…I can’t find it for the life of me.

The appetizers came around on a cart. When I couldn’t decide, the F/A recommended I take all three, and was presented to me on a tiered rack, one plate above the other. When I said that I really just wanted some caviar, she said she’d be back around again and give me some at that point…How could I argue? Salad was okay, but I think UA’s was better. For the entrée, I selected the cannelloni…Nice size portion, but not much flavor. Prior to arrival, I had sea bass (selected in lieu of more pasta or soup), followed by fresh fruit.

Arrived ORD 30 minutes late, and my disappointment with ground services for premium passengers continued...Despite the ‘priority’ tag on my bag (not a separate F tag like UA), I waited a good 40 minutes after they started coming down for mine. For once, this was definitely an issue…I had 18 minutes to make my connecting flight to MBS after I cleared customs. I somehow whisked through everything and arrived at my gate exactly 10 minutes before scheduled departure time...AND WAS DENIED BOARDING, despite seeing the plane’s door still open on the tarmac. I was flamingly mad, grouchy from the long journey which began in BCN that day 14 hours prior, and desperate to make it home for a wedding rehearsal I had that night. Long story short, they didn’t let me on, I missed the rehearsal. They did rebook me on the next flight 3 hours later, but not much consolation.

ORD-MBS (United Express)

On top of missing my flight, this one was already running 30 minutes late well in advance of departure. We still sat on the ground for 30 more minutes because of (?) bad weather to the west (we were heading east, and ORD was clear with unlimited ceiling), and were passed taxiing, next to take off. FINALLY took off, and arrived 45 minutes late, or in my case 3:45 late. It was appreciated that the F/A at least brought us water. (She’s was no Donna).

All in all, a good trip, a few things I wasn’t accustomed to, I still am hung up on what I call ‘horrible’ ground services for premium passengers on the ground with European carriers—no pre-boarding, luggage coming down last, no ticket jackets, sub-par lounges. But for all I got for 100,000 miles (including the intra-Europe except BCN-PNA-BCN), a good deal for the miles.


[Edited to correct lounge in LHR, not ORD. Thanks to the below post]


[This message has been edited by MBS PremExec (edited 07-29-2003).]

asnovici

What a great report!

I think you were talking about the BMIlounge at LHR,not ORD, when you mentioned it was two-story affair.

I am glad to hear that the drink selections at lounges are not that bad in Europe (still). I have been known to sample a one or two beverages myself on my trips

Thanks for the report!

JohnG

Great report ! A great use of miles, only a 100K for all that flying !

pallensf

Very nice indeed!

Loved the details and all the comments...

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Patrick A. Inouye, LMT
volunteer trip reports moderator

greg

Great report! Underscores most peoples' experience with LH: great onboard F product diminished by their appalling airport services- substandard lounges and chaotic boarding.

sllevin

The 3-3 layout in the ARJ is typical in Europe -- in fact, when PSA (certainly the American launch customer for the BAe 146, the early model) first started flying them, they were laid out 3-3; complaints, however, forced them to move to a 2-3 layout.

I can't imagine the 3-3 layout! Ugh!

Great report, though!

Steve

DADISGARYK

...wanted to add my own "great report"

MBS MillionMiler

Addendum to the trip..."The long story short" of the story was rude, unprofessional treatment by ACA and their lack of care for their passengers...It prompted me to send UA/ACA a letter about the incident, complete with names and ID#'s documented.

Today in the mail, I received a $100 travel voucher, which I'm more than happy with.

Uli

Hey,

dont say anything about the sausages in the LH lounge in FRA --- I L-O-V-E them !!!!

Besides, your report was great, thank you!

flamboyant 1

Thanks for your nice report!