capedreamer

Hi All - A couple disclaimers before I start:

1) This is my first time writing a trip report, so please forgive any newbie mistakes or faux pas.
2) There won't be any pictures (as explained here), so you can unsubscribe now if that's a show stopper for you.

If you're still reading, here's the backstory: As a result of a desire to take advantage of these two offers and questionable planning on my part, I'm flying SFO-YYZ-FRA-JNB-CPT-JNB-FRA-YYZ-SFO-IAD-VIE-HKG-VIE-IAD-SFO over a 3-week period, with the CPT-JNB-FRA-YYZ-SFO-IAD-VIE-HKG portion taking place over a ~3-day span.

All flights will be on Star (AC, LH, SA, UA, OS) and in J. I didn't intend on writing a trip report, but posters in my original thread on this trip wouldn't take no for an answer, so I'm going to try my hand at this for the first time. As noted in the other thread, these will be short summaries of each flight focusing on more noteworthy events and observations rather than full-fledged reports. Here goes!

UPDATE 1: After discovering this little snafu the night before my IAD-VIE-HKG flight on OS, I called OS to be rerouted IAD-BOS-ZRH-HKG on LX instead. As such, the overall itinerary is now SFO-YYZ-FRA-JNB-CPT-JNB-FRA-YYZ-SFO-IAD-BOS-ZRH-HKG-VIE-IAD-SFO, a total of 49,415 miles over 15 segments.

UPDATE 2: Unable to sleep and realizing that even with the new outbound routing, I would lose the better part of a day in HKG, I decided to see if I could change the return as well. After some initial resistance, OS agreed rebook my return via FRA on LH, giving me an extra 12 hours in HKG and negating the need for an overnight stay in VIE. The latest itinerary is now SFO-YYZ-FRA-JNB-CPT-JNB-FRA-YYZ-SFO-IAD-BOS-ZRH-HKG-FRA-IAD-SFO, a routing that is actually shorter than either of the previous iterations at 49,313 miles.

I'm disappointed that I won't get to experience OS's J product and its much-lauded cuisine, but I'm looking forward to flying LX long-haul J for the first time, especially on the brand new B77W. And while I don't love LH's J seat, I do view the A388 and B748 as upgrades over the B77E and B763 that would have operated the original OS routing. Moreover, whereas my original IAD-VIE-HKG-VIE-IAD booking was all in P, I'm now booked in Z for IAD-BOS-ZRH, P for ZRH-HKG, and C for HKG-FRA-IAD, and the extra miles help compensate for the last minute stress and long-distance minutes.

Itinerary:
1) AC738 / SFO-YYZ / J / B763
2) AC876 / YYZ-FRA / J / B789
3) LH572 / FRA-JNB / J / B748
4) SA327 / JNB-CPT / J / A346
5) SA346 / CPT-JNB / J / A343
6) LH573 / JNB-FRA / J / B748
7) AC873 / FRA-YYZ / J / B77W
8) AC753 / YYZ-SFO / J / A320
9) UA1959 / SFO-IAD / F / B739
10) UA822 / IAD-BOS / F / A320
11) LX53 / BOS-ZRH / J / A343
12) LX138 / ZRH-HKG / J / B77W
13) LH797 / HKG-FRA / J / A388
14) LH418 / FRA-IAD / J / B748
15) UA712 / IAD-SFO / F / B739

capedreamer

Segment 1
Flight: AC738
Route: SFO-YYZ
Date: 8/25/16
Equipment: Boeing 767-300ER
Registration: C-GSCA
Cabin: J

Living at the southern end of Potrero Hill means a quick (and cheap) Uber ride to SFO. With boarding originally scheduled for 10:55am, I left my home at 9:55am. 15 minutes and $13 later, I was through security (thank you, Nexus/Pre✓!) and heading to the domestic United Club in Terminal 3E. Opened in late 2015, this lounge is much nicer (and generally less crowded) than the larger UC in the International Terminal. On the topic of UA vs. AC domestic lounge food, UA is now the hands-down winner (thanks to AC's recent cut-backs). Although I was just stopping by for a quick Americano, the staff was bringing out lunch options when I arrived, and I saw multiple salads, soups, and other light snacks that all looked quite appetizing.

A late inbound aircraft meant that boarding was delayed by an hour. The flight itself was uneventful and quite pleasant, thanks to a great cabin crew.

That being said, I have to point out that the B763s in AC's fleet, still equipped with the prior generation J product (titled "Project XM") introduced a decade ago, are really showing their age. Today's bird had no running water (meaning no water for handwashing, no flushing toilet, and no coffee, tea or any other hot beverage) and several passengers in J had to be reseated due to issues with their seats. Mine had to be reset halfway through the flight. Also, the power outlet did not work (though the USB port did). AC recently rolled out a new IFE system throughout its fleet, and the new software seems to run extremely slowly on the old hardware. Not sure if this was a one-time bug, but while watching Steve Jobs — a great film, btw! — I exited the movie to sneak a peek at the route map, and upon returning to the movie, I wasn't given the option to resume where I left off.

The meal options on this flight were:

Veal stew, tomato and vegetable sauce, cauliflower au gratin, fine French green beans;
Green curry chicken, rice pilaf, carrots, edamame beans;
Flame-seared loin of cod, red pepper, tomato, almond sauce, orzo and vegetable medley; or
Cheese tortellini, Italian-style tomato sauce, mozzarella

I had the cod, and it was in line with my (low) expectations.

As alluded to earlier, what saved this flight was the great work of Sharon and Gabrielle serving the J cabin. Their friendly attitude and attentive service made overlooking all the other issues quite easy. Kudos to them!

We made up some time along the way and arrived at the gate at 7:50pm, 25 minutes behind schedule.

One final question / observation: What is AC's official policy with respect to Y passengers using J bathrooms? If there is a policy against it, I rarely hear it announced like many other airlines do, and enforcement seems inconsistent from flight to flight.

Mileage Tally: 2,259/49,313

The Lev

AC's official policy is use the washroom in the fare class you have paid - i.e. no Y in J. They do occasionally announce it but isn't part of the standard announcement.

Things get a bit confusing on the 777/787 where PE is supposed to have access to one of the lavs by door 2 but typically they access both along with the J passengers.

On narrowbodies FA's will occasionally tell someone marooned by a food cart to use the J lav's - but that isn't "policy".

capedreamer

Thanks for the clarification.

If that's the case, they should really announce it (and maybe put up a rope like UA does!).

capedreamer

Segment 2
Flight: AC876
Route: YYZ-FRA
Date: 8/28/16
Equipment: Boeing 787-9
Registration: C-FGEO
Cabin: J

After a weekend pit stop in Toronto to catch up with old friends and celebrate the birthday my mom (who was en route to PVG from YOW) and my best friend's mom share, I resumed my little jaunt on Sunday night. I took the Union Pearson Express, whose fare has come down to a quite reasonable C$12, to YYZ, printed my boarding passes (thanks to AC's unpredictable mobile boarding pass availability), proceeded through security (I really wish Canada would implement something like Pre✓ so Nexus members wouldn't have to take out their laptops), and headed to the International Maple Leaf Lounge.

Much has been made of AC's noticeable cutbacks to the food offerings in its Domestic and Transborder MLLs, but as of August 28, 2016, the International MLL at YYZ still had a relatively respectable selection comprising a couple salads, a couple soups, veggies and dip, and a few hot entrées. The make-your-own pho station that was there on my last visit a couple months ago seems to have disappeared. While I can do without faux-Vietnamese food, I have to say that the pathetic water pressure and temperature of the showers and the excruciating internet speed at AC's flagship lounge are rather unacceptable. The lounge can also get quite crowded at peak times, as it was on this occasion.

I headed to the gate at the scheduled boarding time of 8:50pm, but boarding was delayed by ~20 minutes. After a relatively long boarding process (for a B789), we pushed back at 10:10pm, 30 minutes behind schedule. I'm a big fan of AC's new business class cabin, especially on the B787. While the colour palette lacks some warmth, the seat is very comfortable and the IFE system is excellent.

This being a late-night departure, AC offered its "late evening express supper" service, which is an abbreviated meal service with two entrée and one dessert choice(s) instead of the standard four and two, and where all courses are served at once. On this flight, the mains were:

Thai red curry chicken, steamed jasmine rice, edamame, bok-choy; or
Roasted cod loin, lemon thyme butter, Golden Jewel Blend grain medley, balsamic roasted vegetables

The dessert was just fresh seasonal fruit. Dinner also came with a simple (and tiny) mixed greens salad, (barely) warm bread, and a cheese course of Oka, Camembert, Cheddar, crackers, and grapes.

Because I try to maintain a fairly healthy diet and saw that the dinner options planned for my upcoming LH leg were quite rich, I decided to order a DBML (Diabetic Meal) based on some advice I saw on FT. This turned out to be a big mistake, at least as far as AC's interpretation is concerned. As noted in this PSA, do not order the DBML on AC unless you want a meal that is eight parts white rice, a tiny portion of plain chicken, and a few sad, steamed vegetables. Thankfully, not everyone opted to have dinner, so there were extras of both regular entrée choices. I decided to go with the cod, which was exactly as forgettable as I've come to expect for AC's J catering.

As the name would suggest, the "express supper" service was quite efficient, which was great for those who wanted to sleep on a flight with just under seven hours of time in the air. I usually have a hard time sleeping on planes, but was actually able to catch a few hours of shut-eye in this case.

On TATL flights, AC provides an à la carte breakfast order card guests fill out prior to departure. There seem to be a few different iterations floating around, and the one on this flight was identical to what 24left shared here. Like 24left, I'm a big fan of soy (and almond) milk. There was some confusion as to the availability of soy milk on this flight, but remembering this advice from yyznomad, I persisted, and after speaking to three different crew members, found success!

We landed just after 11:00am taxied for 25 minutes to a remote stand (of course...this being FRA). But unlike more painful remote stand experiences in the past, this one was quite efficient. The crew made sure to let J passengers deplane first, and the bus we boarded closed its doors and left for the terminal as soon as all the J passengers got on (instead of waiting for it fill up).

After taking the SkyLine train and proceeding through FRA's highly efficient security, I made my way to LH's enormous Senator Lounge in Concourse Z, from where I'm writing this post. The lounge is stylish, bright, and not crowded at all. It is well stocked with German goodies (including Bircher muesli, my all-time favourite breakfast item), offers fast and stable WiFi, and is equipped with very nice showers supplying fantastic water pressure. AC could really learn something for its Star partner in this area, though to be fair, I hear the MLL at FRA is actually quite nice. (It is located in Concourse B, where North America-bound flights leave from, so I intend to check it out on my return.)

I still have seven (!) hours to kill before my next leg to JNB (looking forward to trying the B748 and LH's new J cabin for the first time!), so I'm going sign off now to do some reading and terminal exploring. For those of you still reading despite the lack of photos, thanks for following along!

Mileage Tally: 6,212/49,313

1Newflyer

Rope is a good idea

cooleddie

Pictures or it didn't happen! j/k

offerendum

Nice comment

capedreamer

Haha...thanks, offerendum. But I know cooleddie and I know he meant it as a joke.

capedreamer

Segment 3
Flight: LH572
Route: FRA-JNB
Date: 8/29/16
Equipment: Boeing 747-8
Registration: D-ABYT
Cabin: J

Having taken thorough advantage of LH's fantastic Concourse Z Senator Lounge, I made my way to Gate Z69, located at the very end of the concourse, for the scheduled boarding time of 9:30pm. LH's boarding process begins with families traveling with "small" children, which was interpreted rather liberally by a few parents on this flight. Nevertheless, priority boarding for F and J passengers commenced shortly thereafter, and I soon found myself settled into seat 84A on the upper deck of this beautiful aircraft.

A few words on LH's "new" business class cabin here. The cabin stylings and aesthetics are fantastic; very classy and "on-brand" for LH IMO. The seats themselves, however, are rather disappointing, especially for a product that was only rolled out in 2012. Being so late to the lie-flat game in business — BA introduced the first fully lie-flat J seat in 2000 and VS pioneered the herringbone layout with direct aisle access for every J seat in 2003 — one may have expected LH to announce its long-overdue "arrival" to this market with a bang. Instead, the German carrier decided to opt for a product one (and arguably two) generations behind many of its competitors, ostensibly to keep its much-lauded F product sufficiently differentiated. In addition to not providing direct aisle access at every seat, this J product also has the dubious honour of being the most "footsie"-friendly seating arrangement flying today. While I had previously wondered whether other reviewers were being somewhat hyperbolic in their ridicule of this "feature", I can now put those doubts to rest — the threat is real! And one final note of complaint: The IFE system is also decidedly not state-of-the-art, with a screen size and resolution that were noticeably inferior to what I experienced on AC half a day earlier.

But what LH lacks in hard product, it more than makes up for in soft. If I were to overlook the seat, I would rank this flight on par with some of the best J experiences I've had on premium Asian carriers like SQ, NH, and CX. The crew on this flight was absolutely fantastic, working tirelessly to provide friendly and professional service throughout the flight. From the moment we stepped on board, Ernesto and his colleagues serving my section of the cabin sprang into action, greeting everyone with a smile, taking coats and jackets, helping with luggage, and serving multiple rounds of pre-departure beverages — all while maintaining a distinctly German mix of grace and efficiency that one just does not encounter on North American carriers.

After an on-time departure and quick climb out, the crew resumed its beehive of activity with dinner order-taking and beverage and nuts service. I found it interesting that instead of having one (or one set of) crew member(s) dedicated to taking orders and another responsible for serving drinks and nuts to all passengers in a cabin, LH takes a more "individualized" approach. What I mean by this is that Ernesto (in my case) would take dinner and drink orders and then serve drinks and nuts to my seatmate and I in 84A and 84C before moving on to the other side of the aisle, then the next row, etc. I had never seen this done before and found it preferable because it makes for a more personalized and less robotic experience.

Unlike AC, LH apparently does not subscribe to the philosophy that a late-night departure should imply an abbreviated dinner experience. While an "express meal" option is available, the full multi-course service is standard (and seemed to be what most guests seated around me opted for). LH e-mailed the menu for my flight about four days before departure, a very welcome feature I can only hope AC will adopt some day. On this evening, the menu offered:

Appetizers
Sliced tuna with wakame seaweed salad, miso sauce and sesame;
Smoked duck breast with apple celery salad; or
Cottage cheese dressed with sun-dried tomatoes and basil, herbed oil, toasted pine nuts and arugula

Salad
Seasonal leaf salad with wasabi dressing

Main Courses
Veal steak with pepper sauce, green beans, carrots and potato gratin;
Salmon steak served with dill sauce, romanesco and kohlrabi stew and mashed potatoes with herbs; or
Rigatoni pasta with Mediterranean vegetables and pesto

Cheese and Dessert
Rock salt cheese, hay cheese and goat cream cheese with onion chutney;
White and dark chocolate mousse with marinated strawberries; or
Fresh fruit

Although I had previously ordered a DBML for this itinerary, I quickly cancelled it upon landing in FRA after witnessing AC's interpretation of what a diabetic should eat (apparently, mostly white rice). I wasn't sure if my update would be processed in time for this leg, given it was less than 12 hours away. Apparently, it was! Another point to LH's IT and operational capabilities.

Since the original intent behind my DBML experiment was to avoid starch and carbs as much as possible, I asked Ernesto if it would be possible to have all three appetizers in place of an appetizer and a main. Ernesto indicated no problem provided there was at least one of each appetizer left after accounting for everyone else's orders. That turned out to be the case, and I was able to enjoy three refreshing and surprisingly filling salads — tuna, duck, and goat cheese and tomato (plus the regular side salad of mixed field greens) — followed by some fresh fruit. My neighbour ordered the veal steak and told me it was very good, too. I had previously heard pretty mediocre feedback regarding LH's J catering, but at least compared to AC (my benchmark for most things, as must be evident by now), this meal was leaps and bounds superior.

After dinner, I went to wash up for bed. I was glad to see that in addition to individual amenity kits, LH keeps its bathrooms well-stocked with shaving kits, mouthwash, and sanitary facial wipes. As an aside, I was (literally) taken aback by the toilet seat on the B748, which closes automatically when flushing. This has not been my experience with AC's B787s, which I would have assumed uses the same technology. Does anyone know why?

After watching an extremely boring first half of The Meddler, I fell asleep for a few hours and woke up to the sound and smell of breakfast being prepared. The breakfast menu for this flight comprised:

Fresh fruit;

Parma ham and Alp cheese;

and

Scrambled egg with chives, sweet and spicy cocktail tomato compote; or
Belgian waffles with cherry compote and homemade vanilla sauce

Of course, LH being a European carrier, both dinner and breakfast came with a fantastic selection of warm breads and baked goods. No AC Viagra bread here.

Because I planned on having my regular breakfast of yogurt and cereal in the lounge, I just opted for some black coffee. But both the eggs and the waffles my neighbours ordered looked and smelled quite delicious.

After completing breakfast service, the crew prepared the cabin for landing. We soon arrived in JNB on schedule, and thus concluded my first time on the B748 and in LH J.

Given the length of this post and since I experienced them less than 12 hours apart, I thought I'd prepare a quick summary comparing LH and AC's J products. Given that both flights were 1) late-night departures, 2) international red-eyes, 3) roughly equivalent in length, and 4) on each carrier's newest aircraft and in each carrier's newest J cabin, I believe the comparison is quite relevant and fair.

Seat: AC
IFE: AC
Food: LH
Crew/Service: LH
Overall Experience: LH

While some may argue that at the end of the day, the most important element of a business class product is the sleep it provides (i.e., the seat), I would take LH over AC in J any day based on this flight (admittedly a very small sample size). My general takeaway is that like many Asian and Middle Eastern carriers, LH still strives to make flying J a "special" experience — a small but illustrative example being the bright yellow sunflowers that adorn each breakfast cart — whereas AC (and its North American peers) seem to take a much more pragmatic and transactional approach.

While deplaning, I thanked Ernesto and his colleagues for a fantastic flight, and will be submitting an online comment after this.

Mileage Tally: 11,592/49,313

roadwarrier

Oh wow! Looks like a hectic MR. Looking forward to the rest.

offerendum

OK, at FT you never know

capedreamer

Sad but true!

Madone59

^^ Thanks for sharing. That is a lot of flying.

capedreamer

Thanks! In Cape Town now and still have quite a few miles left to go!